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SYSTEMATIC    THEOLOGY 


SYSTEMATIC   THEOLOGY 


COMPENDIUM    AND    COMMONPLACE-BOOK 

DESIGNED    FOR    THE    USE    OF 

THEOLOGICAL   STUDENTS 


BY 

AUGUSTUS  HOPKINS  STKONG,  D.  D. 

PRESIDENT   AND   PROFESSOR   OF    BIBLICAL    THEOLOGY   IN   THE 
ROCHESTER   THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY 


EOCHESTEB 

PRESS    OF    E.     R.     ANDREWS 

1886 


/     / -3 


COPYRIGHT, 

BY   AUGUSTUS   HOPKINS   STRONG, 

1886. 


TO 


JOHN  B.  TKEVOK,  ESQ., 


THE   STEADFAST  FRIEND   OF   THEOLOGICAL   EDUCATION, 

THROUGH  WHOSE  LIBERALITY  THE  AUTHOR  IS  ENABLED   TO   PRESENT  HIS 

WORK  IN  ITS  ENLARGED   AND  AMENDED   FORM, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  GRATEFULLY 

INSCRIBED. 


PEEFACE. 


THIS  work  is  an  enlarged  and  amended  edition  of  the  author's 
"  Lectures  on  Theology,"  printed  in  1876  for  the  use  of  students  in 
the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  It  contains  nearly  four  times 
the  amount  of  matter  embraced  in  the  former  volume.  The  main 
text  remains  substantially  the  same,  although  important  additions 
have  been  made  to  the  treatment  of  the  intuition  of  the  divine 
existence,  the  classification  of  the  attributes,  the  statement  of  the 
doctrine  of  decrees,  the  teaching  as  to  race-sin  and  race-responsibil- 
ity, ability  or  inability,  the  ethical  theory  of  the  atonement,  and 
the  final  state  of  the  wicked.  The  section  on  the  moral  nature  of 
man  ( conscience  and  will )  is  new ;  a  few  minor  paragraphs  of  the 
older  book  have  been  omitted;  and  the  work  has  been  somewhat 
altered  in  arrangement. 

The  author's  aim  has  been  not  so  much  the  writing  of  a  theology 
for  theologians  as  the  construction  of  a  hand-book  for  the  use  of 
students  for  the  ministry.  The  main  text  is  intended  to  serve  as 
the  basis  for  daily  recitation ;  the  matter  in  smaller  print  is  added 
by  way  of  proof,  explanation,  or  illustration.  To  save  labor  to  the 
reader,  Scripture  passages  referred  to  in  the  text  have  been  printed 
in  full  in  the  appended  notes — the  Eevised  English  Version,  except 
where  otherwise  indicated,  being  used,  and  the  readings  of  the 
American  Committee  being  generally  preferred.  Minute  references 
are  given,  under  each  head,  to  the  various  books  which  may  serve 


Viii  PREFACE. 

as  additional  sources  of  information  or  suggestion.  The  writers 
referred  to  are  not  mentioned  as  authorities  :  it  has  been  the  aim, 
in  genera],  to  indicate  not  only  the  authors  whose  views  are  favored, 
but  also  those  who  best  represent  the  views  combated,  in  the  text. 
The  editions  used  are  those  found  in  the  Library  of  the  Seminary  for 
whose  students  the  text-book  was  originally  written  ;  fortunately 
these  editions  are,  in  general,  the  latest. 

It  has  been  thought  well  not  only  to  give  references  to  the  best 
writers  on  the  subjects  treated,  but  also  to  introduce  brief  quota- 
tions from  them,  with  a  view  to  familiarize  the  reader  with  their 
general  doctrinal  position  and  to  stimulate  him  to  further  reading 
of  the  works  themselves.  Many  of  these  quotations  are  followed 
by  explanatory  or  critical  remarks,  and  in  the  smaller  print  consid- 
erable space  is  not  unfrequently  given  to  notes  upon  matters  that 
could  not  be  fully  treated  in  the  text,  such  as  the  history  of  sys- 
tematic theology,  the  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch,  heathen  sys- 
tems of  morality,  heathen  trinities,  the  Mosaic  history  of  creation, 
the  Sabbath,  objections  to  the  evolutionary  theory  of  the  origin  of 
man,  a  tabular  view  of  theories  of  imputation,  notes  on  depravity, 
guilt,  and  penalty,  the  humanity  of  Christ,  the  Old  Testament 
sacrifices,  the  doctrine  of  election,  union  with  Christ,  ordination  to 
the  ministry,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  second  coming 
of  Christ. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  books  are  sometimes  referred  to  which  can 
hardly  be  called  the  best  sources  of  information  :  in  such  cases  the 
intention  has  often  been  to  help  the  theological  student  to  use 
intelligently  the  books  he  has ;  in  other  words,  to  enable  the  pos- 
sessor of  few  books,  and  those  not  the  best,  to  get  from  them  all 
the  good  he  can. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  element  of  Scriptural  exposition  that 
has  been  admitted.  Under  each  of  the  chief  doctrines,  the  main 
passages  relied  upon  for  proof  are  somewhat  fully  explained  ;  while 


PREFACE.  IX 

the  attempt  has  been  made  to  condense  the  results  of  the  best 
modern  exegesis  into  the  few  words  of  explanation  immediately  fol- 
lowing many  of  the  minor  passages  cited.  Although  much  material 
for  private  study  is  thus  added,  the  author  does  not  regard  the 
work,  even  in  its  present  form,  as  more  than  an  outline  which  needs 
to  be  filled  in  by  the  fuller  expositions  and  discussions  of  the  class- 
room. It  is  to  be  judged  by  its  aim  —  to  provide  a  basis  and  start- 
ing-point, a  source  of  elementary  knowledge  and  a  stimulus  to 
thought,  in  preparation  for  the  oral  instruction  of  a  Theological 
Seminary. 

To  three  living  persons  the  author  desires  to  express  his  peculiar 
obligation.  Two  of  these  are  his  former  teachers  :  President  Noah 
Porter,  of  Yale  College,  and  President  Ezekiel  G.  Robinson,  of 
Brown  University;  to  the  former  he  owes  his  first  insight  into 
philosophy ;  to  the  latter  his  first  insight  into  theology.  The  third 
name  is  that  of  Professor  William  G.  T.  Shedd,  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  from  whose  various  writings  the  author  has 
for  many  years  derived  constant  stimulus  and  suggestion.  The 
sincerity  and  warmth  of  this  threefold  recognition  are  not  lessened 
by  the  fact  that  the  views  presented  in  this  volume  are  in  some 
respects  peculiar  to  the  author. 

The  usefulness  of  the  work,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  greatly  increased 
by  the  very  copious  indexes  of  subjects,  of  authors,  and  of  Scripture 
passages.  For  the  preparation  of  these,  thanks  are  due  to  the  Rev. 
Robert  Kerr  Eccles,  M.  D.,  recently  a  student  of  the  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary,  but  now  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Salem,  Ohio,  with  whom  the  work  has  been  a  labor  of  love.  For 
the  good  measure  of  typographical  accuracy  which  has  been  secured, 
grateful  acknowledgements  are  made  to  Mr.  Charles  Augustus 
Strong,  the  author's  son  and  pupil. 

In  the  view  of  the  author,  the  aim  of  a  course  of  theological  study 
is  not  to  crowd  upon  the  pupil  a  ready-made  system,  but  rather  to 


X  PREFACE. 

put  him  in  possession  of  the  most  important  Biblical  and  scientific 
materials  of  theology,  to  cultivate  in  him  the  habit  of  theological 
thinking,  and  to  enable  him  for  himself  to  master  certain  of  the 
strategic  points  of  doctrine,  from  which  he  may  afterwards  advance 
his  lines  with  safety  and  success.  In  the  hope  that  the  present  work 
may,  in  these  respects,  be  serviceable  to  those  who  are  preparing  for 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  it  is  now,  with  all  its  imperfections, 
committed  to  the  care  and  blessing  of  Christ,  the  great  head  of 
the  church, —  to  whom,  as  the  author  and  perfecter  of  our  faith,  be 
eternal  glory ! 

KOCHESTER  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY, 
ROCHESTER,  MAY  1,  1886. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PREFACE, vii-x 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, _ xi-xxiii 

ERRATA  AND  ADDENDA, xxv-xxvii 

PART  I.— PROLEGOMENA, 1-28 

CHAPTER  I. —  IDEA  OF  THEOLOGY,  _ .  _ 1-13 

I.— Definition  of  Theology, 1 

II.  — Aim  of  Theology, 1-2 

III. — Possibility  of  Theology  —  grounded  in, 2-9 

1.  The  existence  of  a  God, 2-4 

2.  Man's  capacity  for  the  knowledge  of  God, 4-7 

3.  God's  revelation  of  himself  to  man, 7-9 

IY. —  Necessity  of  Theology, 9-11 

V.—  Relation  of  Theology  to  Religion, _ 11-13 

CHAPTER  II.  —  MATERIAL  OF  THEOLOGY, 14-19 

I.—  Sources  of  Theology, 14-18 

1.  Scripture  and  Nature, _  14-16 

2.  Scripture  and  Rationalism, 16 

3.  Scripture  and  Mysticism, _  17 

4.  Scripture  and  Romanism,  _  _ _' 17-18 

II.  —  Limitations  of  Theology, 18-19 

CHAPTER  III. — METHOD  OF  THEOLOGY, 20-28 

I. —  Requisites  to  the  study  of  Theology, 20-21 

II. — Divisions  of  Theology, 21-22 

III.—  History  of  Systematic  Theology, 23-27 

IV.—  Order  of  Treatment, 27-28 

V.— Text-books  in  Theology, _ 28 

PART  II.  — THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD, 29-57 

CHAPTER  I. — ORIGIN  OF  OUR  IDEA  OF  GOD'S  EXISTENCE, 29-38 

I.— First  Truths  in  General, 30-31 

II.—  The  Existence  of  God  a  First  Truth, 31-34 

1.  Its  universality, 31-32 

2.  Its  necessity, _  32-33 

3.  Its  logical  independence  and  priority, 33-34 

III.  —  Other  supposed  Sources  of  the  Idea, 34-36 

IV.  —  Contents  of  this  Intuition, . .                                               37-38 


Xll  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  II. — CORROBORATIVE  EVIDENCES  OF  GOD'S  EXISTENCE,.  39-50 

I. —  The  Cosmological  Argument, 40-41 

II. —  The  Teleological  Argument, 42-45 

III. —  The  Anthropological  Argument, __r 45-47 

IV. —  The  Ontological  Argument, 47-50 

CHAPTER  III. —  ERRONEOUS  EXPLANATIONS  OF  THE  FACTS, 51-57 

L— Materialism, 51-53 

II. — Materialistic  Idealism, 53-55 

III.  —  Pantheism, 55-57 

PART  III.— THE  SCRIPTURES  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD,  58-114 

CHAPTER  I. —  PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS, 58-71 

I. —  Reasons  a  priori  for  expecting  a  Revelation  from  God, 58-59 

II. —  Marks  of  the  Revelation  man  may  expect, 60-61 

III. —  Miracles  as  attesting  a  Divine  Revelation, 61-67 

1.  Definition  of  Miracle,. 61-62 

2.  Possibility  of  Miracles, 62-63 

3.  Probability  of  Miracles, 63-64 

4.  Amount  of  Testimony  necessary  to  prove  a  Miracle, 64-65 

5.  Evidential  Force  of  Miracles, 65-66 

6.  Counterfeit  Miracles, 66-67 

IV.— Prophecy  as  attesting  a  Divine  Revelation, 67-69 

V. — Principles  of  Historical  Evidence  applicable  to  the  Proof  of 

a  Divine  Revelation, 69-71 

1.  As  to  Documentary  Evidence, 69-70 

2.  As  to  Testimony  in  General, 70-71 

CHAPTER  II. —  POSITIVE  PROOFS  THAT  THE  SCRIPTURES  ARE  A 

DIVINE  REVELATION, 72-114 

I. —  Genuineness  of  the  Christian  Documents 72-82 

1.  Genuineness  of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament, 72-80 

1  st.  The  Myth-theory  of  Strauss, 76-77 

2d.    The  Tendency-theory  of  Baur, 77-79 

3d.    The  Romance-theory  of  Renan, 79-80 

2.  Genuineness  of  the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament, 80-82 

The  Authorship  of  the  Pentateuch, 81-82 

II.  —  Credibility  of  the  Writers  of  the  Scriptures, 82-84 

III.—  Supernatural  Character  of  the  Scripture  Teaching, 84-91 

1.  Scripture  Teaching  in  General, 84-86 

2.  Moral  System  of  the  New  Testament, 86-89 

Heathen  Systems  of  Morality, 86-89 

3.  The  Person  and  Character  of  Christ, 89-91 

4.  The  Testimony  of  Christ  to  himself, 91 

IV.— Historical  Results  of  the  Propagation  of  Scripture  Doctrine,  91-94 

CHAPTER  III. — INSPIRATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES, 95-114 

I. — Definition  of  Inspiration, 95-96 

II.— Proof  of  Inspiration,  _ 96-97 

III.— Theories  of  Inspiration, 97-102 

1.  The  Intuition-theory, -  -  97-98 

2.  The  Illumination-theory, 99-100 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  Xlll 

3.  The  Dictation-theory, 100-102 

4.  The  Dynamical  theory, 102 

IV. —  The  Union  of  the  Divine  and  Human  Elements  in  Inspira- 
tion, . 102-104 

y._  Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Inspiration, 105-114 

1.  Errors  in  matters  of  Science, 105-107 

2.  Errors  in  matters  of  History, 107-108 

3.  Errors  in  Morality, _  108-109 

4.  Errors  of  Reasoning, 109-110 

5.  Errors  in  Quoting  or  Interpreting  the  Old  Testament, 110 

6.  Errors  in  Prophecy, 111 

7.  Certain  Books  unworthy  of  a  Place  in  inspired  Scripture,.  111-112 

8.  Portions  of  the  Scripture  Books  written  by  others  than  the 

Persons  to  whom  they  are  ascribed, 1 12-1 13 

9.  Sceptical  or  Fictitious  Narratives, 113-114 

10.  Acknowledgment  of  the  Non-inspiration  of  Scripture  T^ach- 

ers  and  their  Writings, _          114 

PART  IV.— THE  NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD,  115-233 

CHAPTER  I. — THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD, 115-143 

I. — Definition  of  the  term  Attributes, _  115 

II.— Relation  of  the  Divine  Attributes  to  the  Divine  Essence,...  116-118 

III.—  Methods  of  Determining  the  Divine  Attributes, 118 

IV.—  Classification  of  the  Attributes, 118-120 

V.— Absolute  or  Immanent  Attributes, 120-130 

First  Division. —  Spirituality,  and  Attributes  therein  in- 
volved,   120-122 

1.  Life, 121 

2.  Personality, 121-122 

Second    Division.  —  Infinity,  and  Attributes  therein  in- 
volved,    122-125 

1.  Self-existence,  _. 123-124 

2.  Immutability, 124-125 

3.  Unity, 125 

Third  Division.— Perfection,  and  Attributes  therein  in- 
volved,   ..'  125-130 

1.  Truth, 126-127 

2.  Love, 127-128 

3.  Holiness, 128-130 

VI.— Relative  or  Transitive  Attributes, 130-140 

First  Division. — Attributes  having  relation  to  Time  and 

Space, . 130-132 

1.  Eternity,. __ 130-131 

2.  Immensity,. 131-132 

Second  Division. — Attributes  having  relation  to  Creation,  132-137 

1.  Omnipresence, 132-133 

2.  Omniscience, 133-136 

3.  Omnipotence, 136-137 

Third  Division. — Attributes  having    relation  to  Moral 

Beings, . 137-140 

1.  Veracity  and  Faithfulness,  or  Transitive  Truth,..          137 


XIV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

2.  Mercy  and  Goodness,  or  Transitive  Love,  ._ _  137-138 

3.  Justice  and  Kighteousness,  or  Transitive  Holiness,  138-140 
VII. — Rank  and  Relations  of  the  several  Attributes, 140-143 

1.  Holiness  the  Fundamental  Attribute  in  God, 140-141 

2.  The  Holiness  of  God  the  Ground  of  Moral  Obligation, 141-143 

CHAPTER  II. — DOCTRINE  OF  THE  TRINITY, 144-170 

I. —  In  Scripture  there  are  Three  who  are  recognized  as  God,___  145-155 

1.  Proof s  from  the  New  Testament, 145-151 

A.  The  Father  is  recognized  as  God, 145 

B.  Jesus  Christ  is  recognized  as  God, 145-150 

C.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  recognized  as  God, 150-151 

2.  Intimations  of  the  Old  Testament, 152-155 

A.  Passages  which  seem  to  teach  Plurality  of  some 

sort  in  the  Godhead, 152-153 

B.  Passages  relating  to  the  Angel  of  Jehovah, _          153 

*    C.     Descriptions  of  the  Divine  Wisdom  and  Word,  ...  153-154 

D.  Descriptions  of  the  Messiah, 154-155 

II. —  These  Three  are  so  described  in  Scripture,  that  we  are  com- 
pelled to  conceive  of  them  as  distinct  Persons, 155-157 

1.  The  Father  and  the  Son  are  Persons  distinct  from 

each  other, __          155 

2.  The  Father  and  the  Son  are  Persons  distinct  from 

the  Spirit, 155 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  Person, 155-157 

III. —  This  Tripersonality  of  the  Divine  Nature  is  not  merely  eco- 
nomic and  temporal,  but  is  immanent  and  eternal, 157-159 

1.-  Scripture  Proof  that  these  distinctions  of  Personality 

are  eternal, 157-158 

2.  Errors  refuted  by  the  Scripture  Passages, 158-159 

A.  The  Sabellian, 158-159 

B.  The  Arian, 159 

IV. —  While  there  are  three  Persons,  there  is  but  one  Essence,  _._  159-161 

V.—  These  three  Persons  are  Equal, 161-166 

1.  These  Titles  belong  to  the  Persons, 161-162 

2.  Qualified  Sense  of  these  Titles, 162-164 

3.  Generation  and  Procession  consistent  with  Equality,  __  164-166 
VI. — The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  inscrutable,  yet  not  self -contra- 
dictory, but  the  Key  to  all  other  Doctrines, 166-170 

1.  The  Mode  of  this  Triune  Existence  is  inscrutable, 166-167 

2.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  self -contradictory,  _  167-168 

3.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  has  important  Relations  to 

other  Doctrines, 168-170 

CHAPTER  III.— THE  DECREES  OF  GOD, 171-182 

I. — Definition  of  Decrees, 171-172 

II.—  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Decrees, 172-176 

1.  From  Scripture, 172-173 

2.  From  Reason, 173-176 

A.  From  the  Divine  Foreknow]  edge, 173-175 

B.  From  the  Divine  Wisdom, 175 

C.  From  the  Divine  Immutability, 175 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  XV 

D.     From  the  Divine  Benevolence, 175-176 

III. —  Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Decrees,  _ .  _ _ _  _  176-181 

1.  That  they  are  inconsistent  with  the  Free  Agency  of  Man,  176-178 

2.  That  they  take  away  all  Motive  for  Human  Exertion,  _  178-179 

3.  That  they  make  God  the  Author  of  Sin, _  179-181 

IV.—  Concluding  Remarks, _  181-182 

1.  Practical  Uses  of  the  Doctrine  of  Decrees, 181 

2.  True  Method  of  Preaching  the  Doctrine,  _ 181-182 

CHAPTER  IV. —  THE  WORKS  OF  GOD,  OR  THE  EXECUTION  OF  THE 

DECREES,  _.. 183-233 

SECTION  I. —  CREATION, 183-202 

I. —  Definition  of  Creation, 183 

II.— Proof  of  the  Doctrine, 184-186 

1.  Direct  Scripture  Statements, 184-186 

2.  Indirect  Evidence  from  Scripture, 186 

III.  — Theories  which  oppose  Creation, 186-191 

1.  Dualism, 186-189 

2.  Emanation, 189 

3.  Creation  from  Eternity, 190-191 

4.  Spontaneous  Generation, 191 

IV.—  The  Mosaic  Account  of  Creation, 191-195 

1.  Its  Twofold  Nature, 191-193 

2.  Its  Proper  Interpretation, 193-195 

V.—  God's  End  in  Creation, 195-198 

1.  The  Testimony  of  Scripture, 195-196 

2.  The  Testimony  of  Reason, 196-198 

VI. — Relation  of  the  Doctrine  of  Creation  to  other  Doctrines, ...  198-202 

1.  To  the  Holiness  and  Benevolence  of  God, 198-199 

2.  To  the  Wisdom  and  Free  Will  of  God, 199-200 

3.  To  Providence  and  Redemption, 200-202 

SECTION  II. —  PRESERVATION, 202-207 

I. —  Definition  of  Preservation, 202 

II. — Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Preservation, 202-204 

1.  From  Scripture, 202-203 

2.  From  Reason, 203-204 

III. — Theories  which  virtually  deny  the  Doctrine  of  Preservation,  204-206 

1.  Deism, 204-205 

2.  Continuous  Creation, 205-206 

IV. — Remarks  upon  the  Divine  Concurrence, _.  206-207 

SECTION  III.— PROVIDENCE, 207-220 

I. —  Definition  of  Providence, 207-208 

II. —  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Providence, _._  208-211 

1.  Scriptural  Proof, ._ ___  208-210 

2.  Rational  Proof, __  210-211 

III.—  Theories  opposing  the  Doctrine  of  Providence, 211-214 

1.  Fatalism, _  211-212 

2.  Casualism, __ __ 212-213 

3.  Theory  of  a  merely  General  Providence, _  213-214 

IV. —  Relations  of  the  Doctrine  of  Providence,..  .  215-220 


XVI  TABLE    OF   CONTENTS. 

1.  To  Miracles  and  Works  of  Grace, 215 

2.  To  Prayer  and  its  Answer, 215-219 

3.  To  Christian  Activity, 219-220 

4.  To  the  evil  Acts  of  Free  Agents, 220 

SECTION  IV. —  GOOD  AND  EVIL  ANGELS, ._ 221-233 

I.  —  Scripture  Statements  and  Intimations, 221-230 

1.  As  to  the  Nature  and  Attributes  of  Angels, 221-223 

2.  As  to  their  Number  and  Organization, _  223-224 

3.  As  to  their  Moral  Character, 225 

4.  As  to  their  Employments, 225-230 

A.  The  Employments  of  Good  Angels,  _  .fc 225-227 

B.  The  Employments  of  Evil  Angels, _  227-230 

II. —  Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Angels, 230-232 

1.  To  the  Doctrine  of  Angels  in  General, 230-231 

2.  To  the  Doctrine  of  Evil  Angels  in  Particular, 231-232 

III. —  Practical  Uses  of  the  Doctrine  of  Angels, 232-233 

1.  Uses  of  the  Doctrine  of  Good  Angels, 232-233 

2.  Uses  of  the  Doctrine  of  Evil  Angels, 233 

PART  V.— ANTHROPOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  MAN,  234-357 

CHAPTER  I. —  PRELIMINARY, 234-260 

I.—  Man  a  Creation  of  God  and  a  Child  of  God, 234-238 

IL— Unity  of  the  Race, 238-243 

1.  Argument  from  History, _. _  239-240 

2.  Argument  from  Language, _.          240 

3.  Argument  from  Psychology, 240-241 

4.  Argument  from  Physiology,  _ 241-243 

III. — Essential  Elements  of  Human  Nature,  _ 243-248 

1.  The  Dichotomous  Theory,... 243-244 

2.  The  Trichotomous  Theory, 244-248 

lY.-Originof  The  Soul, 248-254 

1.  The  Theory  of  PreSxistence, 248-250 

2.  The  Croatian  Theory, _._  250-252 

3.  The  Traducian  Theory, _ 252-254 

V.  — The  Moral  Nature  of  Man,... 254-260 

1.  Conscience, 254-257 

2.  Will, 257-260 

CHAPTER  II. —  THE  ORIGINAL  STATE  OF  MAN, 261-272 

I.—  Essentials  of  Man's  Original  State, 261-267 

1.  Natural  Likeness  to  God,  or  Personality, 262 

2.  Moral  Likeness  to  God,  or  Holiness, 262-263 

A.  The  Image  of  God  as  including  only  Personality,  264-265 

B.  The  Image  of  God  as  consisting  simply  in  Man's 

Natural  Capacity  for  Religion, 265-267 

II. — Incidents  of  Man's  Original  State,  _ 267-272 

1.  Results  of  Man's  Possession  of  the  Divine  Image, 267-268 

2.  Concomitants  of  Man's  Possession  of  the  Divine  Image,  268-269 

1st.    The  Theory  of  an  Original  Condition  of  Savagery,  269-271 
2nd.  The  Theory  of  Comte  as  to  the  Stages  of  Human 

Progress,. 271-272 


TABLE   OF   CONTEXTS.  XV11 

•CHAPTER  III. — SIN,  OR  MAN'S  STATE  OF  APOSTASY, 273-357 

SECTION  I.— THE  LAW  OF  GOD, _ 273-282 

I.— Law  in  General, 273-275 

II.— The  Law  of  God  in  Particular, 275-281 

1.  Elemental  Law, 275-279 

2.  Positive  Enactment.. 279-281 

III.— Relation  of  the  Law  to  the  Grace  of  God, _ 281-282 

SECTION  II.— NATURE  OF  SIN, _ 283-295 

I.  —  Definition  of  Sin,. 283-289 

1.  Proof, 283-287 

2.  Inferences, 288-289 

II.  — The  Essential  Principle  of  Sin, 289-295 

1.  Sin  as  Sensuousness, 289-291 

2.  Sin  as  Finiteness, 291-292 

3.  Sin  as  Selfishness, 292-295 

SECTION  III.  —  UNIVERSALITY  OF  SIN, ' 295-301 

I.  —  Every  human  being  who  has  arrived  at  moral  consciousness 
has  committed  acts,  or  cherished  dispositions,  contrary  to 

the  Divine  Law, _ 296-298 

II. — Every  member  of  the  human  race,  without  exception,  pos- 
sesses a  corrupted  nature,  which  is  a  source  of  actual  sin, 
and  is  itself  sin, _ 299-301 

SECTION  IV. —  ORIGIN  OF  SIN  IN  THE  PERSONAL  ACT  OF  ADAM,  302-308 
I. — The  Scriptural  Account  in  Genesis, __ 302-304 

1.  Its  General  Character  not  Mythical  or  Allegorical,  but 

Historical, 302 

2.  The  Course  of  the  Temptation,  and  the  resulting  Fall,  302-304 
II. — Difficulties  connected  with  the  Fall,  considered  as  the  per- 
sonal Act  of  Adam,  _ 304-308 

1.  How  could  a  holy  being  fall  ?._ 304-305 

2.  How  could  God  justly  permit  Satanic  Temptation  ?_._  305-306 

3.  How  could  a  Penalty  so  great  be  justly  connected  with 

Disobedience  to  so  slight  a  Command  ? __          306 

III. — Consequences  of  the  Fall  —  so  far  as  respects  Adam, 306-308 

1.  Death, 306-307 

A.  Physical  Death,  or  the  Separation  of  the  Soul 

from  the  Body, 306-307 

B.  Spiritual  Death,  or  the  Separation  of  the  Soul 

from  God, 307 

2.  Positive  and  formal  Exclusion  from  God's  Presence, . .  307-308 
SECTION  V.— IMPUTATION  OF  ADAM'S  SIN  TO  HIS  POSTERITY,..  308-334 

Scripture  Teaching  as  to  Race-sin  and  Race-responsibility,  308-310 
I. — Theories  of  Imputation, 310-334 

1.  The  Pelagian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Man's  Natural 

Innocence, 310-313 

2.  The  Arininian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  voluntarily  appro- 

priated Depravity, 314-318 

3.  The  New-School  Theory,  or  Theory  of  uncondemnable 

Vitiosity, „  318-322 


XV111  TABLE    OF    CONTEXTS. 

4.  The  Federal  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Condemnation  by 

Covenant, 322-325 

5.  Theory  of  Mediate  Imputation,  or  Theory  of  Condem- 

nation for  Depravity, 325-328 

6.  Augustinian  Theory,  or  Theory  of   Adam's  Natural 

Headship, 328-333 

Exposition  of  Rom.  5  :  12-19, ._  331-333 

Tabular  View  of  the  various  Theories  of  Imputation,          334 

II. —  Objections  to  the  Augustinian  Theory  of  Imputation, 335-340 

SECTION  VI.  —  CONSEQUENCES  OF  SIN  TO  ADAM'S  POSTEKITY,  ..  340-355 

I.— Depravity, 340-345 

1.  Depravity  Partial  or  Total  ? _ 341-342 

2.  Ability  or  Inability? 342-345 

II.— Guilt, 345-350 

1.  Nature  of  Guilt, 345-347 

2.  Degrees  of  Guilt, 347-350 

III.— Penalty, 350-355 

1.  Idea  of  Penalty, _ 350-352 

2.  Actual  Penalty  of  Sin, 352-355 

SECTION  VII. — THE  SALVATION  OF  INFANTS,. 355-357 

PART  VI.— SOTERIOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SALVA- 
TION THROUGH  THE  WORK  OF  CHRIST  AND 
OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT,.. 358-493 

CHAPTER  I.  —  CHRISTOLOGY,  on  THE  REDEMPTION  WROUGHT  BY 

CHRIST, 358-425 

SECTION  I. —  HISTORICAL  PREPARATION  FOR  REDEMPTION, 358-360 

I.—  Negative  Preparation,  in  the  History  of  the  Heathen  World,  358-359 
II.—  Positive  Preparation,  in  the  History  of  Israel, 359-360 

SECTION  II.— THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST, 360-380= 

I.— Historical  Survey  of  Views  respecting  the  Person  of  Christ,  360-363 

1.  The  Ebionites, 360-361 

2.  The  Docetae,. 361 

3.  The  Arians, 361-86& 

4.  The  Apollinarians, 36$ 

5.  The  Nestorians, 362 

6.  The  Eutychians, 362-363 

7.  The  Orthodox  Doctrine, 363 

II.— The  two  Natures  of  Christ,— their  Reality  and  Integrity, ..  364-368 

1.  The  Humanity  of  Christ, 364-367 

A.  Its  Reality, ....- 364-365 

B.  Its  Integrity, 365-367 

2.  The  Deity  of  Christ, 367-368 

III  —  The  Union  of  the  two  Natures  in  one  Person,  _ 368-380 

1.  Proof  of  this  Union, 368-370 

2.  Modern  Misrepresentations  of  this  Union, 870-374 

A.  The  Theory  of  Gess  and  Beecher,  that  the  Hu- 
manity of  Christ  is  a  Contracted  and  Metamor- 
phosed Deity, 370-372 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  XIX 

B.     The  Theory  of  Dorner  and  Rothe,  that  the  Union 
between  the  Divine  and  the  Human  Natures  is 

not  completed  by  the  Incarnating  Act, 372-374 

3.  The  Real  Nature  of  this  Union, 374-380 

SECTION  III.  — THE  Two  STATES  OF  CHRIST, 380-387 

I.—  The  State  of  Humiliation, _  380-384 

1 .  The  Nature  of  Christ's  Humiliation, 380-382 

A.  The  Theory  of  Thomasius,  Delitzsch,  and  Crosby, 

that  the  Humiliation  consisted  in  the  Surrender 

of  the  Relative  Attributes, 380-382 

B.  The  Theory  that  the  Humiliation  consisted  in  the 

Surrender  of  the  Independent  Exercise  of  the 
Divine  Attributes, 382 

2.  The  Stages  of  Christ's  Humiliation, 382-384 

Exposition  of  Philippians  2  :  5-9, __  384 

II.— The  State  of  Exaltation,.. ___r 384-387 

1 .  The  Nature  of  Christ's  Exaltation, 384-385 

2.  The  Stages  of  Christ's  Exaltation, _ .  _  385-387 

SECTION  IV. —  THE  OFFICES  OF  CHRIST, 387-425 

I.—  The  Prophetic  Office  of  Christ, 388-390 

1.  The  Nature  of  Christ's  Prophetic  Work, 388 

2.  The  Stages  of  Christ's  Prophetic  Work, 388-390 

II  —  The  Priestly  Office  of  Christ, 390-424 

1.  Christ's  Sacrificial  Work,  or  the  Doctrine  of  the  Atone- 

ment,   390-422 

A.  Scriptural  Methods  of  Representing  the  Atonement,  390-393 

B.  The  Institution  of  Sacrifice,  especially  as  found  in 

the  Mosaic  System, 393-397 

C.  Theories  of  the  Atonement, 397-418 

1st.    The  Socinian,  or  Example  Theory  of  the 

Atonement, 397-400 

2nd.  The  Bushnellian,  or  Moral-influence  Theory 

of  the  Atonement, 400-403 

3rd.    The  Grotian,  or  Governmental  Theory  of 

the  Atonement, 403-405 

4th.    The  Irvingian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  gradu- 
ally extirpated  Depravity, 405-407 

5th.    The  Anselmic  or  Commercial  Theory  of  the 

Atonement, 407-409 

6th.    The  Ethical  Theory  of  the  Atonement, 409-418 

First,  The  Atonement  as  related  to  Holi- 
ness in  God, _ .  410-412 

Exposition  of  Romans  3  :  25,  26, 41 1 

Secondly,   The  Atonement  as  related  to 

Humanity  in  Christ, 412-416 

Exposition  of  2  Corinthians  5  :  21, 415 

D.  Objections  to  the  Ethical  Theory  of  the  Atonement,  418-421 

E.  The  Extent  of  the  Atonement, 421-422 

2.  Christ's  Intercessory  Work, 422-424 

III.— The  Kingly  Office  of  Christ, 424-425 


XX  TABLE   OF   CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER  II. —  THE  RECONCILIATION  OF  MAN  TO  GOD,  OR  THE  AP- 
PLICATION OF  REDEMPTION  THROUGH  THE  WORK 

OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT, _ 426-493 

SECTION  I. —  THE  APPLICATION  OF  CHRIST'S  REDEMPTION,  IN  ITS 

PREPARATION,  _ 426-436 

I. —  Election, __ 427-434 

1 .  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Election, 427-431 

2.  Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Election, 431-434 

II.— Calling, 434-436 

A.  Is  God's  General  Call  Sincere?. 435-436 

B.  Is  God's  Special  Call  Irresistible  ? 436 

SECTION  II  — THE  APPLICATION  OF  CHRIST'S  REDEMPTION,  IN  ITS 

ACTUAL  BEGINNING, __  436-483 

I.  — Union  with  Christ, 438-447 

1 .  Scripture  Representations  of  this  Union, 438-441 

2.  Nature  of  this  Union, 441-444 

3.  Consequences  of  this  Union, 411  117 

II. — Regeneration, 447-460 

1.  Scripture  Representations, 448-449 

2.  Necessity  of  Regeneration, 449-450 

3.  The  Efficient  Cause  of  Regeneration, 450-454 

4.  The  Instrumentality  used  in  Regeneration, 454-456 

5.  The  Nature  of  the  Change  wrought  in  Regeneration, . .  456-460 
III.— Conversion, 460-470 

1.  Repentance, 462-464 

Elements  of  Repentance, 462-463 

Explanations  of  the  Scripture  Representations, 463-464 

2.  Faith,... 465-470 

Elements  of  Faith, 465-466 

Explanations  of  the  Scripture  Representations, 466-470 

IV.  —  Justification, 471-483 

1.  Definition  of  Justification, 471 

2.  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Justification, 471-474 

3.  Elements  of  Justification, 474-477 

4.  Relation  of  Justification  to  God's  Law  and  Holiness,  .  477-478 

5.  Relation  of  Justification  to  Union  with  Christ  and  the 

Work  of  the  Spirit, 478-480 

6.  Relation  of  Justification  to  Faith, 480-482 

7.  Advice  to  Inquirers  demanded  by  a  Scriptural  View  of 

Justification, 482-483 

SECTION  III.  —  THE  APPLICATION  OF  CHRIST'S  REDEMPTION,  IN 

ITS  CONTINUATION, 483-493 

L— Sanctification, 483-490 

1 .  Definition  of  Sanctification, 483-484 

2.  Explanations  and  Scripture  Proof, 484-487 

3.  Erroneous  Viewrs  refuted  by  the  Scripture  Passages,  ..  487-490 

A.  The  Antinomian, 487-488 

B.  The  Perfectionist, 488-490 

II.— Perseverance, --  491-493 

1.  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Perseverance, 491-492 

2.  Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Perseverance, 492-493 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  XXI 

PART  VII.— ECCLESIOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE 

CHURCH, 494-553 

CHAPTER  I. — THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  CHURCH,  OR  CHURCH 

POLITY, 494-519 

I.— Definition  of  the  Church, 494-497 

1.  The  Church,  like  the  Family  and  the  State,  is  an  Insti- 

tution of  Divine  Appointment, _ 496-497 

2.  The  Church,  unlike  the  Family  and  the  State,  is  a 

Voluntary  Society, _ 497 

II.—  Organization  of  the  Church, 497-503 

1.  The  Fact  of  Organization,.. 497-500 

2.  The  Nature  of  this  Organization, 500-501 

3.  The  Genesis  of  this  Organization,  _ 502-503 

III.— Government  of  the  Church, 503-517 

1.  Nature  of  this  Government  in  General, 503-509 

A.  Proof  that  the  Government  of  the  Church  is 

Democratic  or  Congregational, 504r-506 

B.  Erroneous  Views  as  to  Church  Government,  re- 

futed by  the  Scripture  Passages, _  507-509 

(a)  The  World-church  Theory,  or  the  Ro- 

manist View, 507-508 

(b)  The    National-church    Theory,    or    the 

Theory    of    Provincial    or    National 
Churches, 508-509 

2.  Officers  of  the  Church, 509-516 

A.  The  Number  of  Offices  in  the  Church  is  two,...  509-510 

B.  The  Duties  belonging  to  these  Offices, 510-512 

C.  Ordination  of  Officers, 512-516 

(a)  What  is  Ordination? 512-513 

(b)  Who  are  to  Ordain? 513-516 

3.  Discipline  of  the  Church,. 516-517 

A.  Kinds  of  Discipline, 516-517 

B.  Relation  of  the  Pastor  to  Discipline, 517 

IV.—  Relation  of  Local  Churches  to  one  another,  _ 517-519 

1.  The  General  Nature  of  this  Relation  is  that  of  Fellow- 

ship between  Equals, 517-518 

2.  This  Fellowship  involves  the  Duty  of  Special  Consulta- 

tion with  regard  to  Matters  affecting  the  common  In- 
terest,   518 

3.  This  Fellowship  may  be  broken  by  manifest  Departures 

from  the  Faith  or  Practice  of  the  Scriptures  on  the 

part  of  any  Church, _ 518-519 

CHAPTER  II. —  THE  ORDINANCES  OF  THE  CHURCH, 520-553 

I.  — Baptism, 520-538 

1.  Baptism  an  Ordinance  of  Christ, 520-522 

2.  The  Mode  of  Baptism, 522-527 

A.  The  Command  to  Baptize  is  a  Command  to  Im- 

merse,  522-526 

B.  No  Church  has  the  Right  to  Modify  or  Dispense 

with  this  Command  of  Christ,  .  .  526-527 


XX11  TABLE    OF   CONTEXTS. 

?>.  The  Symbolism  of  Baptism, 527-530 

A.  Expansion  of  the  Statement  as  to  the  Symbolism 

of  Baptism, _ 527-528 

B.  Inferences  from  the  Passages  referred  to, _  528-530 

4.  The  Subjects  of  Baptism, 530-538 

A.  Proof  that  only  Persons  giving  Evidence  of  being 

Regenerated  are  proper  subjects  of  Baptism,..  530-531 

B.  Inferences  from  the  Fact  that  only  Persons  giving 

Evidence  of  being  Regenerate  are  proper  Sub- 
jects of  Baptism, _ _ .  531-534 

C.  Infant  Baptism 534-538 

(a)  Infant  Baptism  without  Warrant  in  the 

Scripture, 534-535 

(b)  Infant    Baptism  expressly   Contradicted 

by  Scripture, •_ 535-536 

(c)  Its    Origin  in   Sacramental    Conceptions 

of  Christianity, _ 536 

(d)  The  Reasoning  by  which  it  is  supported 

Unscriptural,  Unsound,  and  Dangerous 

in  its  Tendency, ._ 536-537 

(e)  The  Lack  of  Agreement    among  Pedo- 

baptists, 537 

(f)  The  Evil  Effects  of  Infant  Baptism, ....  537-538 
II.— The  Lord's  Supper, 538-553 

1.  The  Lord's  Supper  an  Ordinance  instituted  by  Christ, .          539 

2.  The  Mode  of  Administering  the  Lord's  Supper, 539-541 

3.  The  Symbolism  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 541-543 

A.  Expansion  of  the  Statement  as  to  the  Symbolism 

of  the  Lord's  Supper, _  541-542 

B.  Inferences  from  this  Statement, 542-543 

4.  Erroneous  Views  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 543-546 

A.  The  Romanist  View, 543-545 

B.  The  Lutheran  and  High  Church  View, 545-546 

5.  Prerequisites  to  Participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper 546-553 

A.  There  are  Prerequisites, 546 

B.  Laid  down  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 546 

C.  The  Prerequisites  are  Four, 546-550 

First, — Regeneration,' 546-547 

Secondly, — Baptism 547-548 

Thirdly,—  Church  Membership, 548-549 

Fourthly,— An  Orderly  Walk, 549-550 

D.  The  Local  Church  is  the  Judge  whether  these 

Prerequisites  are  fulfilled, 550-551 

E.  Special  Objections  to  Open  Communion, 551-553 

PART  VIII. — ESCHATOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FINAL 

THINGS, 554-600 

I. —Physical  Death, 1. 554-562 

That  this  is  not  Annihilation,  argued, 

1.  Upon  Rational  Grounds, 555-558 

2.  Upon  Scriptural  Grounds, 558-562 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  xxiii 

II. — The  Intermediate  State, _ .  562-566 

1.  Of  the  Righteous, 563-564 

2.  Of  the  Wicked, _ 564 

Refutation  of  the  two  Errors : 

(a)  That  the  Soul  sleeps,  between  Death  and  the 

Resurrection,  _ 564-565 

(b)  That  the  Suffering  of  the  Intermediate  State 

is  Purgatorial, 565 

Concluding  Remark,  _ 566 

III.— The  Second  Coming  of  Christ, 566-574 

1 .  The  Nature  of  Christ's  Coming, _  567-568 

2.  The  Time  of  Christ's  Coming, 568-569 

3.  The  Precursors  of  Christ's  Coming, 569-571 

4.  Relation  of  Christ's  Second  Coming  to  the  Millennium,  571-574 
IV.—  The  Resurrection, 575-580 

1.  The  Exegetical  Objection, 576-577 

2.  The  Scientific  Objection, 578-580 

V.— The  Last  Judgment, 580-584 

1.  The  Nature  of  the  Final  Judgment, 581-582 

2.  The  Object  of  the  Final  Judgment, 582-583 

3.  The  Judge  in  the  Final  Judgment, _ .  583-584 

4.  The  Subjects  of  the  Final  Judgment, _          584 

5.  The  Grounds  of  the  Final  Judgment, 584 

VI.—  The  Final  States  of  the  Righteous  and  of  the  Wicked, 585-600 

1.  Of  the  Righteous, _ 585-587 

A.  Is  Heaven  a  Place  as  well  as  a  State  ? 585-586 

B.  Is  this  Earth  to  be  the  Heaven  of  the  Saints  ?...  586-587 

2.  Of  the  Wicked, 587-600 

A.  Future  Punishment  is  not  Annihilation, 588-589 

B.  Punishment  after  Death  excludes  new  Probation 

and  ultimate  Restoration, 590-592 

C.  This  future  Punishment  is  Everlasting, 592-594 

D.  Everlasting  Punishment  is  not  inconsistent  with 

God's  Justice,. 594-597 

E.  Everlasting  Punishment  is  not  inconsistent  with 

God's  Benevolence, 597-599 

F.  Preaching  of  Everlasting  Punishment  is  not  a 

hindrance  to  the  success  of  the  Gospel, 599-600 


INDEX  OP  SUBJECTS, 603-706 

INDEX  OF  AUTHORS, _ 707-729 

INDEX  OF  SCRIPTURE  TEXTS, 731-747 

INDEX  OF  APOCRYPHAL  TEXTS, 749 

INDEX  OF  GREEK  WORDS,  _ 751-756 

INDEX  OF  HEBREW  WORDS, .  757-758 


ERRATA   AND  ADDENDA. 


Page  17,  line  17  from  bottom,  for  Vaughn,  read:  Vaug-han. 
Page  22,  last  line,  add  : 

Zockler,  Handbuch  der  theologischen  Wissenschaften,  2  :  606-769. 
Page  25,  line  2,  for  Lepsius,  read :  Lipsius. 

Page  36,  line  6  from  bottom,  for  E.  J.  Baird,  read:  Samuel  J.  Baird. 
Page  37,  line  14  from  bottom,  and  page  323,  line  10  from  bottom,  for  Summa  Doctrina,  read : 

Summa  Doctrinee. 
Page  28,  line  13  from  bottom,  add: 

Butler,  Analogy  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion. 
Page  50,  bottom,  add: 

Some  things  are  given  to  us.  Among  these  things  are  "grace  and  truth"  (John  1 : 17;  c/.  9). 
But  there  are  ever  those  who  are  willing  to  take  nothing  as  a  free  gift,  and  who  insist 
on  working  out  all  knowledge,  as  well  as  all  salvation,  by  processes  of  their  own.  Pela- 
gianism,  with  its  denial  of  the  doctrines  of  grace,  is  but  the  further  development  of 
a  rationalism  which  refuses  to  accept  primitive  truths  unless  these  can  be  logically 
demonstrated.  Since  the  existence  of  the  soul,  of  the  world,  and  of  God  cannot  be 
proved  in  this  way,  rationalism  is  led  to  curtail,  or  to  misinterpret,  the  deliverances  of 
consciousness,  and  hence  result  certain  systems  now  to  be  mentioned. 
Page  54,  line  10  from  top,  odd  : 

Cousin,  Hist.  Philos.,  2:239-343;  F.  E.  Abbot,  Scientific  Theism,  171-177;  Veitch's 
Hamilton  (Blackwood's  Philosophical  Classics),  176-191. 

Page  55,  line  10  from  bottom,  omit  the  three  sentences  beginning :  "  Yet  this  seems  to  be,  etc." ; 
"In  the  London  Spectator,  etc." ;    "It  is  the  extinction,  etc."    This  matter  is,  for  sub- 
stance, transferred  to  page  87,  line  27  from  bottom. 
Page  56,  line  3  from  bottom,  add  : 

On  the  fact  of  sin  as  refuting  the  pantheistic  theory,  see  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the 
Supernatural,  140-164. 
Page  63,  line  13,  add :  See  also  Gloatz,  "Wunder  und  Naturgesetz,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken, 

1886 :  403-546. 
Page  66,  line  24  from  top,  add  : 

West,  in  Defence  and  Confirmation  of  the  Faith  ( Elliott  Lectures  for  1885),  80-129. 
Page  67,  line  4,  add :  See  Buckley  on  Faith- healing,  in  Century  Magazine,  June,  1886 :  221-236. 
Page  72,  line  18,  for  sense  which,  read :  sense  in  which. 
Page  74,  line  14  from  bottom,  instead  of  A.  D.  63,  read:  A.  D.  64 ;   line  13  from  bottom,  instead 

of  58,  read:  63. 
Page  79,  line  26  from  top,  odd  : 

Salmon,  Introd.  to  N.  T.,  6-31 ;  A.  B.  Bruce,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  7 :  no.  38. 
Page  86,  line  1,  and  page  133,  line  26,  for  Supernatural,  read:  Superhuman. 
Page  95,  line  13  from  bottom,  and  page  142,  line  21  from  bottom,  for  Priestly,  read:  Priestley. 
Page  96,  line  14,  for  apostles,  read:  apostles'. 

Page  107,  line  10,  add :  Zb'ckler,  Die  Urgeschichte  der  Erde  und  des  Menschen,  137-163. 
Page  109,  line  18,  for  Jellet,  read:  Jellett. 
Page  124,  line  26,  for  Spencer,  read;  Spenser. 
Page  134,  line  23  from  bottom,  omit  quotation-marks  before  the  word :  maintained ;   line  15 

from  bottom,  omit  quotation  marks  after  the  word :  antecedents. 
Page  142,  line  4  from  bottom,  add: 

See  also  art.  on  the  Metaphysics  of  Oughtness,  by  F.  L.  Patton,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  1886  r 
127-150. 


ERRATA    AND   ADDENDA.  XXVI 1 

Page  147,  line  4  from  bottom,  after  "the  works  of  thy  hands,"  add: 

3  :  3,  4  — Christ  is  the  builder  of  the  house  of  Israel;  "but  he  that  built  all  things  is  God"  = 
Christ  is  God,  since  the  maker  must  be  greater  than  his  work,  and  the  Maker  of  all 
things  must  be  divine. 

Page  149,  line  8,  add : 

Eph.  5  :  5— "kingdom  of  Christ  and  God." 

Page  166,  line  6  from  bottom,  after  applicatce,  add:  "  [quotation  marks]. 

Page  164,  line  13  from  bottom,  add:  James  S.  Candlish,  The  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Page  167,  line  13  from  bottom,  for  Neither,  read :  No  one. 

Page  169,  line  22,  add: 

Jeremy  Taylor:  "He  who  goes  about  to  speak  of  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  and 
does  it  by  words  and  names  of  man's  invention,  talking  of  essence  and  existences 
hypostases  and  personalities,  priority  in  coequality,  and  unity  in  pluralities,  may  amuse 
himself  and  build  a  tabernacle  in  his  head,  and  talk  something  —  he  knows  not  what ; 
but  the  renewed  man,  that  feels  the  power  of  the  Father,  to  whom  the  Son  is  become 
wisdom,  sanctiflcation,  and  redemption,  in  whose  heart  the  love  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
shed  abroad  — this  man,  though  he  understand  nothing  of  what  is  unintelligible,  yet  he 
alone  truly  understands  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity." 

Page  174,  line  10,  instead  of  f orsees,  read :  foresees. 

Page  181,  line  7  from  bottom,  for  Andrew,  read :  Andrew  Fuller. 

Page  186,  line  6,  for  Maccabees,  read:  2  Maccabees. 

Page  190,  line  15,  change  the  comma  to  a  period,  and  omit  the  words :  indeed  it  is  impossible 
to  conceive  of  its  not  having  had  a  beginning. 

Page  195,  line  15  from  bottom,  after  Creation,  add:  Zockler,  Die  Urgeschichte  der  Erde  und 
des  Menschen,  1-77 ;  Reusch,  Biblische  Schopf  ungsgeschichte. 

Page  196,  line  28,  for  maintainance,  read :  maintenance. 

.Page  210,  line  28,  add: 

Charles  Kingsley,  Two  Years  Ago:  "He  [Treluddra]  is  one  of  those  base  natures 
whom  fact  only  lashes  into  greater  fury,—  a  Pharaoh,  whose  heart  the  Lord  himself  can 
only  harden  " — here  we  would  add  the  qualification :  '  consistently  with  the  limits  which 
he  has  set  to  the  operations  of  his  grace.' 

Page  218,  line  1,  for  Monad,  read:  Monrad. 

Page  221,  line  4,  for  exeution,  read :  execution. 

Page  238,  line  8,  add :  Zockler,  Die  Urgeschichte  der  Erde  und  des  Menschen,  81-105. 

Page  243,  line  21  from  bottom,  add:  Zb'ckler,  Urgeschichte,  109-132. 

Page  250,  line  26,  for  breaths,  read:  breathes. 

Page  253,  line  15  from  bottom,  for  creation,  read:  creatian. 

Page  264,  line  10,  for  combatted,  read :  combated. 

Page  274,  line  5,  for  is  the  only  mode,  read :  is  only  the  mode. 

Page  282,  after  line  14  from  bottom,  insert : 

Law  reveals  God's  love  and  mercy,  but  only  in  their  mandatory  aspect :  it  requires 
in  men  conformity  to  the  love  and  mercy  of  God ;  and  as  love  and  mercy  in  God  are 
conditioned  by  holiness,  so  law  requires  that  love  and  mercy  should  be  conditioned 
by  holiness  in  men.  Law  is  therefore  chiefly  a  revelation  of  holiness :  it  is  in  grace  that 
we  find  the  chief  revelation  of  love ;  though  even  love  does  not  save  by  ignoring  holi- 
ness, but  rather  by  vicariously  satisfying  its  demands. 

Page  283,  last  line,  for  nXttn,  read:  KBH  5  line  6  from  bottom,  for  tlDXn,  read:  HKDn. 

Page  291,  line  18,  odd: 

This  theory  confounds  sin  with  the  mere  consciousness  of  sin  ;  on  Schleiermacher,  see 
Julius  Muller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  341-349. 

Page  291,  line  2  from  bottom,  add  : 

London  Spectator  on  Mephistopheles  in  Goethe's  Faust:  — "The  great  drama  is  radi- 
cally false  in  its  fundamental  philosophy.  Its  primary  notion  is  that  even  a  spirit  of 
pure  evil  is  an  exceedingly  useful  being,  because  he  stirs  into  activity  those  whom  he 
leads  into  sin,  and  so  prevents  them  from  rusting  away  in  pure  indolence.  There  are 
other  and  better  means  of  stimulating  the  positive  affections  of  men  than  by  tempting 
them  to  sin." 

Page  292,  line  27,  odd  : 

On  Hegel's  view  of  sin,  a  view  which  denies  holiness  even  to  Christ,  see  Julius  Muller, 
Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  390-407. 


"  THE  EYE  SEES  ONLY  THAT  WHICH  IT  BEINGS  WITH  IT  THE  POWER 

OF  SEEING." — Cicero. 

"  OPEN  THOU  MINE  EYES,  THAT  I   MAY  BEHOLD  WONDKOUS  THINGS 

OUT  OF  THY  LAW." — Psalm  119  :  18. 

"  FOE  WITH  THEE  IS  THE  FOUNTAIN  OF  LIFE  I    IN  THY  LIGHT  SHALL 

WE  SEE  LIGHT." — Psalm  36  :  9. 

"  FOE  WE  KNOW  IN  PAET,  AND  WE  PEOPHESY  IN  PAET  :  BUT  WHEN 
THAT  WHICH  IS  PEEFECT  IS  COME,  THAT  WHICH  IS  IN  PAET 
SHALL  BE  DONE  AWAY." — 1  Cor.  13  :  9,  10. 


SYSTEMATIC   THEOLOGY. 


PAET    I. 

PEOLEGOMENA. 


CHAPTER   I. 

IDEA    OF   THEOLOGY. 

I.  DEFINITION. — Theology  is  the  science  of  God  and  of  the  relations 
between  God  and  the  universe. 

Though  the  word  '  theology '  is  sometimes  employed  in  dogmatic  writings 
to  designate  that  single  department  of  the  science  which  treats  of  the  divine 
nature  and  attributes,  prevailing  usage,  since  Abelard  (A.  D.  1079-1142) 
entitled  his  general  treatise  "Theologia  Christiana,"  has  included  under 
that  term  the  whole  range  of  Christian  doctrine. 

Theology,  therefore,  gives  account  not  only  of  God,  but  of  those  relations 
between  God  and  the  material  and  spiritual  universe  in  view  of  which  we 
speak  of  Creation,  Providence,  and  Redemption. 

John  the  Evangelist  is  called  by  the  Fathers  '  the  theologian,'  because  he  most  fully 
treats  of  the  internal  relations  of  the  persons  of  the  Trinity.  Gregory  Nazianzen  (328) 
received  this  designation  because  he  defended  the  deity  of  Christ  against  the  Arians.  For 
a  modern  instance  of  this  use  of  the  term  '  theology '  in  the  narrow  sense,  see  title  of  Dr. 
Hodge's  first  volume :  "Systematic  Theology;  Vol.  1:  Theology."  But  theology  is  not 
simply  "  the  science  of  God,"  nor  even  "the  science  of  God  and  man."  It  also  gives 
account  of  the  relations  between  God  and  the  universe. 

Yet  theology  does  not  properly  include  other  sciences— it  merely  uses  their  results ; 
see  Wardlaw,  Theology,  1 :  1,  2.  Physical  science  is  not  a  part  of  theology.  As  a  mere 
physicist,  Humboldt  did  not  need  to  mention  the  name  of  God  in  his  "Cosmos"  (but 
see  Cosmos,  2 :  413,  where  Humboldt  says :  "  Psalm  104  presents  an  image  of  the  whole 
Cosmos  ").  On  the  definition  of  theology,  see  Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  1, 
2 ;  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theology,  art. :  Theology ;  H.  B.  Smith,  Introd.  to 
Christ.  Theol.,  44;  c/.  Aristotle,  Metaph.,  10,  7,  4;  11,  6,  4;  and  Lactantius,  De  Ira  Dei,  11. 

II.  AIM. — In    denning    theology  as    a  science,    we  indicate  its  aim. 
Science  does  not  create  ;  it  discovers.     Science  is  not  only  the  observing, 
recording,  verifying,   and  formulating  of  objective  facts ;    it  is  also  the 
recognition  and  explication  of  the  relations  between  these  facts,  and  the 
synthesis  of  both  the  facts  and  the  rational  principles  which  unite  them,  in 
a,  comprehensive,  rightly  proportioned,  and  organic  system. 

Theology  answers  to  this  description  of  a  science.  It  discovers  facts  and 
relations,  but  does  not  create  them.  As  it  deals  with  objective  facts  and 


Z  PROLEGOMENA. 

their  relations,  so  its  arrangement  of  these  facts  and  relations  is  not  optional, 
but  determined  by  the  nature  of  the  material  with  which  it  deals. 

In  fine,  the  aim  of  theology  may  be  stated  as  being  the  ascertainment  of 
the  facts  respecting  God  and  the  relations  between  God  and  the  universe, 
and  the  exhibition  of  these  facts  in  their  rational  unity,  as  connected  parts 
of  a  formulated  and  organic  system  of  truth. 

Scattered  bricks  and  timbers  are  not  a  house,  and  facts  alone  do  not  constitute 
science.  Science  =  facts  +  relations.  Whewell,  Hist.  Inductive  Sciences,  I.,  Introd.,  43 : 
There  may  be  facts  without  science,  as  in  every  common  mind ;  there  may  be  thought 
without  science,  as  in  early  Greek  philosophy.  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian  Faith,  14 — 
"  The  pursuit  of  science  is  the  pursuit  of  relations."  Everett,  Science  of  Thought,  3 : 
"  Logy  "  (e.  g.  in  "  theology  "),  from  Adyos,  =  word  +  reason,  expression  +  thought,  fact 
+  idea  ;  cf.  John  1 :  1 — "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word." 

Because  theology  deals  with  objective  facts,  we  refuse  to  define  it  as  "the  science 
of  religion";  versus  Am.  Theol.  Rev.,  1850:  101-126,  and  Thornwell,  Theology,  1:  139. 
Both  the  facts  and  the  relations  with  which  .theology  has  to  deal  have  an  existence  en- 
tirely independent  of  the  subjective  mental  processes  of  the  theologian.  A  true  theology 
thinks  over  again  God's  thoughts  and  brings  them  into  God's  order,  as  the  builders  of 
Solomon's  temple  took  the  stones  already  hewn,  and  put  them  into  the  places  for  which 
the  architect  had  designed  them.  We  cannot  make  theology,  any  more  than  we  can 
make  a  law  of  physical  nature.  As  the  natural  philosopher  is  "  naturae  minister  et  in- 
terpres,"  so  the  theologian  is  the  servant  and  interpreter  of  the  objective  truth  of  God. 
On  the  Idea  of  Theology  as  a  System,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  in  Faith  and  Philosophy,  125-166. 

III.  POSSIBILITY. — A  particular  science  is  possible  only  when  three  con- 
ditions combine,  namely,  the  actual  existence  of  the  object  with  which  the 
science  deals,  the  subjective  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  know  that 
object,  and  the  provision  of  definite  means  by  which  the  object  is  brought 
into  contact  with  the  mind. 

In  like  manner,  the  possibility  of  theology  has  a  threefold  ground  :  1.  In 
the  existence  of  a  God  who  has  relations  to  the  universe  ;  2.  In  the  capacity 
of  the  human  mind  for  knowing  God  and  certain  of  these  relations  ;  and  3. 
In  the  provision  of  means  by  which  God  is  brought  into  actual  contact  with 
the  mind,  or  in  other  words,  in  the  provision  of  a  revelation. 

We  may  illustrate  the  conditions  of  theology  from  selenology— the  science  not  of 
"  lunar  politics,"  but  of  lunar  physics.  Selenology  has  three  conditions :  1.  the  object- 
ive existence  of  the  moon ;  2.  the  subjective  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  know  the 
moon ;  and  3.  the  provision  of  some  means  (e.  g.  the  eye  and  the  telescope)  by  which 
the  gulf  between  man  and  the  moon  is  bridged  over,  and  by  which  the  mind  can  come 
into  actual  cognizance  of  the  facts  with  regard  to  the  moon. 

1.  In  the  existence  of  a  God  who  has  relations  to  the  universe.  It  has 
been  objected,  indeed,  that  since  God  and  these  relations  are  objects  appre- 
hended only  by  faith,  they  are  not  proper  objects  of  knowledge  or  subjects 
for  science.  We  reply  that  faith  is  only  a  higher  sort  of  knowledge. 
Physical  science  rests  also  upon  faith — faith  in  our  own  existence  and  our 
own  faculties,  in  our  primitive  cognitions  and  in  human  testimony — but  is 
not  invalidated  thereby,  because  this  faith,  though  unlike  sense-perception 
or  logical  deduction,  is  yet  a  cognitive  act  of  the  reason,  and  may  be  de- 
fined as  certitude  with  respect  to  matters  in  which  verification  is  unattain- 
able. 

The  objection  to  theology  mentioned  and  answered  above  is  expressed  in  the  words 
of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Metaphysics,  44,  531:  "  Faith— belief— is  the  organ  by  which 
we  apprehend  what  is  beyond  our  knowledge."  But  science  is  knowledge,  and  what  is 
beyond  our  knowledge  cannot  be  matter  for  science.  Pres.  E.  G.  Robinson  says  well, 


POSSIBILITY   OF    THEOLOGY.  3 

that  knowledge  and  faith  cannot  be  severed  from  one  another,  like  bulkheads  in  a  ship, 
the  first  of  which  may  be  crushed  in  while  the  second  still  keeps  the  vessel  afloat. 
Hamilton  consistently  declares  that  the  highest  achievement  of  science  is  the  erection 
of  an  altar  "  To  The  Unknown  God."  This  however  is  not  the  representation  of  Script- 
ure. Cf.  John  17 :  3— "this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee,  the  only  true  God  ;  "  and  Jer.  9 :  24— 
"  let  him  that  glorieth  glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth,  and  ^cnoweth  me,"  For  criticism  of  Hamilton, 
see  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy,  297-336.  Fichte :  "We  are  born  in  faith."  Goethe 
called  himself  a  believer  in  the  five  senses.  Balfour,  Defence  of  Philosophic  Doubt, 
277-295,  shows  that  intuitive  beliefs  in  space,  time,  cause,  substance,  right,  are  presup- 
posed in  the  acquisition  of  all  other  knowledge.  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian  Faith, 
14 :  If  theology  is  to  be  overthrown  because  it  starts  from  some  primary  terms  and 
propositions,  then  all  other  sciences  are  overthrown  with  it.  Mozley,  Miracles,  104,  de- 
fines faith  as  "unverified  reason." 

So  the  faith  which  gives  fit  material  for  theology  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  opinion  or  imagination.  It  is  simply  certitude  with  regard  to  spiritual 
realities,  upon  the  testimony  of  our  own  rational  nature  and  upon  the  testi- 
mony of  God.  Its  only  peculiarity  as  a  cognitive  act  of  the  reason  is,  that 
it  is  conditioned  by  holy  affection.  As  the  sciences  of  aesthetics  and  ethics, 
respectively,  are  products  of  reason  as  including  in  the  one  case  a  power  of 
recognizing  beauty  practically  inseparable  from  a  love  for  beauty,  and  in 
the  other  case  a  power  of  recognizing  the  morally  right  practically  insepa- 
rable from  a  love  for  the  morally  right,  so  the  science  of  theology  is  a 
product  of  reason,  but  of  reason  as  including  a  power  of  recognizing  God 
which  is  practically  inseparable  from  a  love  for  God. 

In  the  text  we  use  the  term  '  reason  '  to  signify  the  mind's  whole  power  of  knowing. 
Reason,  in  this  sense,  includes  states  of  the  sensibility,  so  far  as  they  are  indispensable 
to  knowledge.  We  cannot  know  an  orange  by  the  eye  alone ;  to  the  understanding  of 
it,  taste  is  as  necessary  as  sight.  Love  for  the  beautiful  and  the  right  precedes  knowl- 
edge of  the  beautiful  and  the  right.  Ullmann  draws  attention  to  the  derivation  of 
sapientia,  wisdom,  from  sapSre,  to  taste.  So  we  cannot  know  God  by  intellect  alone ; 
the  heart  must  go  with  the  intellect  to  make  knowledge  of  divine  things  possible.  By 
the  word  "  heart,"  the  Scripture  means  simply  holy  affection,  or  sensibility  +  will.  Cf. 
Ex.  35 :  25—"  the  women  that  were  wise-hearted  "  ;  Ps.  34  :  8—"  0  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good"=  a  right  taste 
precedes  correct  sight ;  Jer.  24 :  7 — "  I  will  give  them  a  heart  to  know  me  "  ;  Mat.  5 :  8 — '•  Blessed  are  the  pure 
in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God"  ;  John  7: 17— "If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching, 
whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  of  myself"  ;  Eph.  1 : 18—"  having  the  eyes  of  your  heart  enlightened,  that  ye 
may  know  "  ;  1  John  4 :  7,  8—"  Every  one  that  loveth  is  begotten  of  God  and  knoweth  God.  He  that  loveth  not  knoweth 
not  God." 

This  recognition  of  invisible  realities  upon  God's  testimony,  and  as  con- 
ditioned upon  a  right  state  of  the  affections,  is  faith.  As  an  operation  of 
man's  higher  rational  nature,  though  distinct  from  ocular  vision  or  from 
reasoning,  it  is  a  kind  of  knowing,  and  so  may  furnish  proper  material  for  a 
scientific  theology. 

Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  50,  follows  Gerhard  in  making  faith  the  joint  act  of  intel- 
lect and  will.  Hopkins,  Outline  Study  of  Man,  77,  78,  speaks  not  only  of  the  aesthetic 
reason  but  of  the  moral  reason.  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  91,  109,  145,  191— 
"Faith  is  the  certitude  concerning  matters  in  which  verification  is  unattainable." 
Emerson,  Essays,  2 :  96—"  Belief  consists  in  accepting  the  affirmations  of  the  soul— un- 
belief in  rejecting  them."  Morell,  Philos.  of  Religion,  38,  52,  53,  quotes  Coleridge: 
"  Faith  consists  in  the  synthesis  of  the  reason  and  the  individual  will,  .  .  .  and  by  virtue 
of  the  former  (that  is,  reason),  faith  must  be  a  light,  a  form  of  knowing,  a  beholding 
of  truth."  Faith,  then,  is  not  to  be  pictured  as  a  blind  girl  clinging  to  a  cross— faith  is 
not  blind—"  else  the  cross  may  just  as  well  be  a  crucifix  or  an  image  of  Gaudama." 

If  a  right  state  of  heart  be  indispensable  to  faith  and  so  to  the  knowledge  of  God, 
can  there  be  any  "theologia  irregenitorum,"  or  theology  of  the  unregenerate ?  We 
reply :  Just  as  the  blind  man  can  have  a  science  of  optics.  The  testimony  of  others 
gives  it  claims  upon  him ;  the  dim  light  penetrating  the  obscuring  membrane  corrob- 


4  PROLEGOMENA. 

orates  this  testimony.  But  as,  in  order  to  make  his  science  of  optics  satisfactory  or 
complete,  the  blind  man  must  have  the  cataract  removed  from  his  eyes  by  some  com- 
petent oculist,  so  in  order  to  any  complete  or  satisfactory  theology  the  veil  must  be 
taken  away  from  the  heart  by  God  himself  (c/.  2  Cor.  3 : 15,  16— "  a  veil  lieth  upon  their  heart. 
But  whensoever  it  [marg.  'a  man ']  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the  veil  is  taken  away  ").  See  Foundations  of 
our  Faith,  12,  13;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  1:  154-164;  Presb.  Quarterly,  Oct.,  1871,  Oct., 
1872,  Oct.,  1873;  Calderwood,  Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  99,  117;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dog- 
matics, 2-8;  New  Englander,  July,  1873:  481;  Princeton  Rev.,  1864:  122;  Christlieb, 
Modern  Doubt,  124, 125 ;  Grau,  Ueber  den  Glauben  als  hochste  Vernunft,  in  Beweis  des 
Glaubens,  1865 : 110 ;  Dorner,  Geschichte  prot.  Theol.,  228 ;  Newman,  Univ.  Sermons,  206 ; 
Hinton,  Art  of  Thinking,  Introd.  by  Hodgson,  5. 

2.  In  the  capacity  of  the  human  mind  for  knowing  God  and  certain 
of  these  relations.  But  it  has  been  urged  that  such  knowledge  is  impossi- 
ble for  the  following  reasons  : 

A.  Because  we  can  know  only  phenomena.     We  reply  :     (a)  We  know 
mental  as  well  as  physical  phenomena.    (6)  In  knowing  phenomena,  whether 
mental  or  physical,  we  know  substance  as  underlying  the  phenomena,  and 
as  manifested  through  them,     (c)  Our  minds  bring  to  the  observation  of 
phenomena  not  only  this  knowledge  of  substance,  but  also  the  knowledge 
of  time,  space,  and  cause,  realities  which  are  in  no  sense  phenomenal.    Since 
these  objects  of  knowledge  are  not  phenomenal,  the  fact  that  God  is  not 
phenomenal  cannot  prevent  us  from  knowing  him. 

Versus  Comte,  Positive  Philosophy,  Martineau's  transl.,  26,  28,  33— "In  order  to  ob- 
serve, your  intellect  must  pause  from  activity— yet  it  is  this  very  activity  you  want 
to  observe.  If  you  cannot  effect  the  pause,  you  cannot  observe  ;  if  you  do  effect  it, 
there  is  nothing  to  observe."  The  phrase  "Positive  Philosophy"  implies  that  all 
knowledge  of  mind  is  negative.  This  view  is  refuted  by  the  two  facts  of  ( 1 )  conscious- 
ness, and  (2)  memory;  see  Martineau,  Essays  Philos.  and  Theol.,  1 :  24-40,  207-212.  By 
phenomena  we  mean  "facts,  in  distinction  from  their  ground,  principle,  or  law"; 
"neither  phenomena  nor  qualities,  as  such,  are  perceived,  but  objects,  percepts,  or 
beings ;  and  it  is  by  an  afterthought  or  reflex  process  that  these  are  connected  as  qual- 
ities and  are  referred  to  as  substances";  see  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  51,  238,  520,  619- 
637,  640-645.  Phenomena  may  be  internal,  e.  g.  thoughts ;  in  this  case  the  noumenon  is 
the  mind,  of  which  these  thoughts  are  the  manifestations.  Qualities,  whether  mental 
or  material,  imply  the  existence  of  a  substance  to  which  they  belong— mind  or  matter : 
they  can  no  more  be  conceived  of  as  existing  apart  from  substance  than  the  upper  side 
of  a  plank  can  be  conceived  of  as  existing  without  an  under  side  ;  see  Bowne,  Review 
of  Herbert  Spencer,  47,  207-217.  Without  substance  in  which  they  inhere,  the  qualities 
of  an  object  have  no  ground  of  unity.  The  characteristics  of  substance  are  ( 1 )  being, 
(2 )  power,  (3)  permanence ;  see  McCosh,  Intuitions,  138-154  (Eng.  ed.,  161).  "  The  theory 
that  disproves  God,  disproves  an  external  world  and  the  existence  of  the  soul";  see 
Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  337,  363.  We  know  something  beyond  phenomena,  viz. : 
law,  cause,  force — or  we  can  have  no  science;  see  Tulloch,  on  Comte,  in  Modern 
Theories,  53-73 ;  see  also  Bib.  Sac.,  1874:  211 ;  Alden,  Philosophy,  44;  Hopkins,  Outline 
Study  of  Man,  87  ;  Fleming,  Vocab.  of  Philosophy,  art. :  Phenomena ;  New  Englander, 
July,  1875 : 537-539. 

B.  Because  we  can  know  only  that  which  bears  analogy  to  our  own  nat- 
ure or  experience.     We  reply  :     (a)  It  is  not  essential  to  knowledge  that 
there  be  similarity  of  nature  between  the  knower  and  the  known.     The 
mind  knows  matter,  though  mind  and  matter  are  opposite  poles  of  existence . 
(6)  Our  past  experience,  although  greatly  facilitating  new  acquisitions,  is 
not  the  measure  of  our  possible  knowledge.     Else  the  first  act  of  knowledge 
would  be  inexplicable,  and  all  revelation  of  higher  characters  to  lower  would 
be  precluded,  as  well  as  all  progress  to  knowledge  which  surpassed  our 
present  attainments,     (c)  Even  if  knowledge  depended  upon  similarity  of 


POSSIBILITY    OF   THEOLOGY.  5 

nature  and  experience,  we  might  still  know  God,  since  we  are  made  in 
God's  image,  and  there  are  important  analogies  between  the  divine  nature 
and  our  own. 

Versus  Herbert  Spencer,  First  Principles,  79-82—"  Knowledge  is  recognition  and  clas- 
sification." But  we  reply  that  a  thing-  must  first  be  perceived,  in  order  to  be  recog- 
nized, or  compared  with  something  else;  see  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  206;  Sir  Wm. 
Hamilton,  Metaphysics, 351,  352.  We  reject  Monism  in  both  its  forms:  1.  Materialism' 
which  says  that  mind  knows  matter  because  mind  is  matter;  and  2.  Idealism,  which 
says  that  mind  knows  matter  because  matter  is  mind.  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  486— 
"  Induction  is  possible  only  upon  the  assumption  that  the  intellect  of  man  is  a  reflex  of 
the  divine  intellect,  or  that  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  God."  Note,  however,  that 
man  is  made  in  God's  image,  not  God  in  man's.  The  painting  is  the  image  of  the  land- 
scape, not  vice  versa;  for  there  is  much  in  the  landscape  that  has  nothing  corresponding 
to  it  in  the  painting.  Idolatry  perversely  makes  God  in  the  image  of  man.  Murphy, 
Scientific  Bases,  122 ;  McCosh,  in  International  Rev.,  1875 :  105 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  1867 :  624. 

C.  Because  we  know  only  that  of  which  we  can  conceive,  in  the  sense 
of  forming  an  adequate  mental  image.     We  reply  :     (a)  It  is  true  that  we 
know  only  that  of  which  we  can  conceive,  if  by  the  term  '  conceive '  we 
mean  our  distinguishing  in  thought  the  object  known  from  all  other  ob- 
jects.    But,  (6)  The  objection  confounds  conception  with  that  which  is 
merely  its  occasional  accompaniment  and  help,  namely,  the  picturing  of  the 
object  by  the  imagination.     In  this  sense,  conceivability  is  not  a  final  test 
of  truth,     (c)  That  the  formation  of  a  mental  image  is  not  essential  to  con- 
ception or  knowledge,  is  plain  when  we  remember  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  both  conceive  and  know  many  things  of  which  we  cannot  form  a  mental 
image  of  any  sort  that  in  the  least  corresponds  to  the  reality;  for  example, 
force,  cause,  law,  space,  our  own  minds.     So  we  may  know  God,  although 
we  cannot  form  an  adequate  mental  image  of  him. 

Versus  Herbert  Spencer,  First  Principles,  25-36,  98— "The  reality  underlying  ap- 
pearances is  totally  and  forever  inconceivable  by  us."  Per  contra,  see  Mansel,  Pro- 
legomena Logica,  77,  78  (c/.  26) — "  The  first  distinguishing  feature  of  a  concept,  viz. : 
that  it  cannot  in  itself  be  depicted  to  sense  or  imagination."  Porter,  Human  Intellect, 
392  (see  also  429,  656) — "  The  concept  is  not  a  mental  image :  we  recall  an  individual  per- 
cept, one  or  many."  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton  :  "  The  unpicturabie  notions  of  the  intelligence." 
Martineau,  Religion  and  Materialism,  39,  40— "This  doctrine  of  Nescience  stands  in  ex- 
actly the  same  relation  to  causal  power,  whether  you  construe  it  as  Material  Force  or 
as  Divine  Agency.  Neither  can  be  observed ;  one  or  the  other  must,  be  assumed.  If  you 
admit  to  the  category  of  knowledge  only  what  we  learn  from  observation,  particular 
or  generalized,  then  is  Force  unknown ;  if  you  extend  the  word  to  what  is  imported  by 
the  intellect  itself  into  our  cognitive  acts,  to  make  them  such,  then  is  God  known." 
Spencer  himself  calls  the  inscrutable  reality  back  of  phenomena  an  infinite  and  ab- 
solute Force  and  Cause.  "  It  seems,"  says  Father  Dalgairns,  "  that  a  great  deal  is  known 
about  the  Unknowable."  See  McCosh,  Intuitions,,  186-189  (Eng.  ed.,  214);  Murphy, 
Scientific  Bases,  133;  Bowne,  Review  of  Spencer,  30-34;  New  Englander,  July,  1875: 
543,  544  ;  Oscar  Craig,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  July,  1883 :  594—602. 

D.  Because  we  can  know  truly  only  that  which  we  know  in  whole  and 
not  in  part.     We  reply  :     (a)  The  objection  confounds  partial  knowledge 
with  the  knowledge  of  a  part.     We  know  the  mind  in  part,  but  we  do  not 
know  a  part  of  the  mind.     (6)  If  the  objection  were  valid,  no  real  knowl- 
edge of  anything  would  be  possible,  since  we  know  no  single  thing  in  all 
its  relations.     We  conclude  that,  although  God  is  a  being  not  composed  of 
parts,  we  may  yet  have  a  partial  knowledge  of  him,  and  this  knowledge, 
though  not  exhaustive,  may  yet  be  real,  and  adequate  to  the  purposes  of 
science. 


6  PROLEGOMENA. 

Versus  Mansel,  Limits  of  Relig.  Thought,  97,  98.  Per  contra,  see  Martineau,  Essays, 
1 :  291.  The  mind  does  not  exist  in  space,  and  has  no  parts  (sides,  corners).  Yet  we  find 
the  material  for  mental  science  in  partial  knowledge  of  the  mind.  We  are  not  "geo- 
graphers of  the  divine  nature  "— Bowne,  Review  of  Spencer,  72— but  we  say  with  Paul, 
not  "  now  know  we  a  part  of  God,"  but  "  now  know  we  [God]  in  part "  (1  Cor.  13  : 12 ) ;  c/.  John  17  :  3 
— "  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee,  the  only  true  God ; "  Jer.  9  :  24—"  let  him  that  glorieth  glory  in 
this,  that  he  understandeth,  and  knoweth  me."  We  may  know  truly  what  we  do  not  know  exhaust- 
ively ;  see  Eph.  3  : 19 — "  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge."  Dorner :  "  Only  he  who 
knows  God,  knows  his  unfathomableness." 

E.  Because  all  predicates  of  God  are  negative,  and  therefore  furnish  no 
real  knowledge.     We  answer :     (a)  Predicates  derived  from  our  own  con- 
sciousness, such  as  spirit,  love,  and  holiness,  are  positive.     (6)  The  terms 
'  infinite '  and  '  absolute ',  moreover,  express  not  merely  a  negative  but  a  posi- 
tive idea — the  idea,  in  the  former  case,  of  the  absence  of  all  limit,  the  idea 
that  the  object  thus  described  goes  on  and  on  forever  ;  the  idea,  in  the  latter 
case,  of  entire  self-sufficiency.     Since  predicates  of  God,  therefore,  are  not 
merely  negative,  the  argument  mentioned  above  furnishes  no  valid  reason 
why  we  may  not  know  him. 

Versus  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Metaph.,  530— "The  absolute  and  the  infinite  can  each  only 
be  conceived  as  a  negation  of  the  thinkable ;  in  other  words,  of  the  absolute  and  infinite 
we  have  no  conception  at  all."  Hamilton  here  confounds  the  infinite,  or  the  absence 
of  all  limits,  with  the  indefinite,  or  the  absence  of  all  known  limits.  Per  contra,  see 
Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  248 ;  Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  272-  "  Negation  of  one 
thing  is  possible  only  by  affirmation  of  another."  McCosh,  Intuitions,  194,  note ;  Porter, 
Human  Intellect,  651,  652 ;  Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature,  363.  Yet  a  plane  which  is  un- 
limited in  the  one  respect  of  length  may  be  limited  in  other  respects,  such  as  breadth. 
Our  doctrine  here  is  not  therefore  inconsistent  with  what  immediately  follows. 

F.  Because  to  know  is  to  limit  or  define.     Hence  the  Absolute  as  un- 
limited, and  the  Infinite  as  undefined,  cannot  be  known.     We  answer  :    (a) 
God  is  absolute,  not  as  existing  in  no  relation,  but  as  existing  in  no  neces- 
sary relation  ;  and,    (6)  God  is  infinite,  not  as  excluding  all  co-existence  of 
the  finite  with  himself,  but  as  being  the  ground  of  the  finite,  and  so  unfet- 
tered by  it.     (c)  God  is  actually  limited  by  the  unchangeableness  of  his 
own  attributes  and  personal  distinctions,  as  well  as  by  his  self-chosen  rela- 
tions to  the  universe  he  has  created  and  to  humanity  in  the  person  of  Christ. 
God  is  therefore  limited  and  defined  in  such  a  sense  as  to  render  knowledge 
of  him  possible. 

Versus  Mansel,  Limits  of  Religious  Thought,  75-84,  93-95.  C/.  Spinoza :  "  Determinatio 
est  negatio  "  ;  hence  to  define  God  is  to  deny  him.  But  we  deny  that  all  limitation  is 
imperfection.  Man  can  be  other  than  he  is.  Not  so  God — at  least  internally.  But  this 
limitation,  inherent  in  his  unchangeable  attributes  and  personal  distinctions,  is  his  per- 
fection. Externally,  all  limitations  upon  God  are  self-limitations,  and  so  are  consistent 
with  his  perfection.  That  God  should  not  be  able  thus  to  limit  himself  in  creation  and 
redemption  would  render  all  self-sacrifice  in  him  impossible,  and  so  would  subject  him  to 
the  greatest  of  limitations.  Perfection  necessarily  implies  the  power  of  self -limitation. 
See  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  1 : 189,  195;  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  653 ;  Murphy,  Scientific 
Bases,  130;  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Inf.,  168;  McCosh,  Intuitions,  186;  Hickok,  Rational 
Cosmology,  85. 

G.  Because  all  knowledge  is  relative  to  the  knowing  agent ;  that  is,  what 
we  know,  we  know,  not  as  it  is  objectively,  but  only  as  it  is  related  to  our 
own  senses  and  faculties.     In  reply  :     (a)  We  grant  that  we  can  know  only 
that  which  has  relation  to  our  faculties.     But  this  is  simply  to  say  that  we 
know  only  that  which  we  come  into  mental  contact  with,  that  is,  we  know 
only  what  we  know.     But,    (6)  We  deny  that  what  we  come  into  mental 


POSSIBILITY    OF   THEOLOGY.  7 

contact  with  is  known  by  us  as  other  than  it  is.  So  far  as  it  is  known  at  all,  it 
is  known  as  it  is.  In  other  words,  the  laws  of  our  knowing  are  not  merely 
arbitrary  and  regulative,  but  correspond  to  the  nature  of  things.  We  con- 
clude that,  in  theology,  we  are  equally  warranted  in  assuming  that  the  laws 
of  our  thought  are  laws  of  God's  thought,  and  that  the  results  of  normally 
conducted  thinking  with  regard  to  God  correspond  to  the  objective  reality. 

Versus  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Metaph.,  96-116,  and  H.  Spencer,  First  Principles,  68-97. 
The  doctrine  of  relativity  is  derived  from  Kant,  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,  who  holds 
that  a  priori  judgments  are  simply  "  regulative."  But  we  reply  that  when  our  primitive 
beliefs  are  found  to  be  simply  regulative,  they  will  cease  to  regulate.  The  forms  of 
thought  are  also  facts  of  nature.  The  mind  does  not,  like  the  glass  of  a  kaleidoscope, 
itself  furnish  the  forms ;  it  recognizes  these  as  having  an  existence  external  to  itself ; 
see  Bishop  Temple,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1884 :  13.  W.  T.  Harris,  in  Journ.  Spec.  Phil- 
osophy, 1 :  22,  exposes  Herbert  Spencer's  self-contradiction :  "  All  knowledge  is,  not  ab- 
solute, but  relative ;  our  knowledge  of  this  fact  however  is,  not  relative,  but  absolute." 
On  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton's  theory  of  knowledge,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy, 
397-336;  J.  S.  Mill,  Examination,  1 : 113-134;  Herbert,  Modern  Realism  Examined;  Pres. 
M.  B.  Anderson,  art.:  "Hamilton,"  in  Johnson's  Encyclopedia;  McCosh,  Intuitions, 
139-146,  340,  341,  and  Christianity  and  Positivism,  97-123;  Maurice,  What  is  Revelation? 
Alden,  Intellectual  Philos.,  48-79  (esp.  71-79) ;  Porter,  Human  Int.,  523 ;  Murphy,  Scien- 
tific Bases,  103 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  Apr.,  1868  ;  341 ;  Princeton  Rev.,  1864 : 122 ;  Bowne,  Review  of 
H.  Spencer,  76;  Bowen,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Mar.,  1878:  445-448;  Mind,  April,  1878:  257; 
Carpenter,  Mental  Physiology,  117;  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  109-113;  Inverach, 
in  Present  Day  Tracts,  5 :  no.  29. 

3.  In  God's  actual  revelation  of  himself  and  certain  of  these  rela- 
tions. As  we  do  not  in  this  place  attempt  a  positive  proof  of  God's  exist- 
ence or  of  man's  capacity  for  the  knowledge  of  God,  so  we  do  not  now 
attempt  to  prove  that  God  has  brought  himself  into  contact  with  man's 
mind  by  revelation.  We  shall  consider  the  grounds  of  this  belief  hereafter. 
Our  aim  at  present  is  simply  to  show  that,  granting  the  fact  of  revelation, 
a  scientific  theology  is  possible.  This  has  been  denied  upon  the  following 
grounds. 

A.  That  revelation,  as  a  making  known,  is  nec3ssarily  internal  and  sub- 
jective— either  a  mode  of  intelligence,  or  a  quickening  of  man's  cognitive 
powers — and  hence  can  furnish  no  objective  facts  such  as  constitute  the 
proper  material  for  science. 

The  objection  here  mentioned  is  urged  by  the  idealistic  school  of  thinkers,  as  the 
objections  previously  considered  are  mainly  urged  by  those  who  incline  to  materialism. 
As  the  pendulum  of  thought  seems  now  about  to  swing-  once  more  in  the  direction  of 
idealism,  a  careful  examination  of  the  objection  before  us  is  indispensable.  It  may  be 
found  stated  in  Morell,  Philos.  of  Religion,  128-131, 143— "The  Bible  cannot  in  strict  ac- 
curacy of  language  be  called  a  revelation,  since  a  revelation  always  implies  an  actual 
process  of  intelligence  in  a  living  mind  " ;  F.  W.  Newman,  Phases  of  Faith,  152—"  Of 
our  moral  and  spiritual  God  we  know  nothing  without— everything  within  "  ;  Theodore 
Parker:  "Verbal  revelation  can  never  communicate  a  simple  idea  like  that  of  God, 
Justice,  Love,  Religion  "  ;  see  review  of  Parker  in  Bib.  Sac.,  18  :  24-27. 

In  reply  to  this  objection, 

(a)  We  grant  that  revelation,  to  be  effective,  must  be  the  means  of  induc- 
ing a  new  mode  of  intelligence,  or,  in  other  words,  must  be  understood. 
We  grant  that  this  understanding  of  divine  things  is  impossible  without  a 
quickening  of  man's  cognitive  powers.  We  grant,  moreover,  that  revela- 
tion, when  originally  imparted,  was  often  internal  and  subjective. 

(6)  But  we  deny  that  external  revelation  is  therefore  useless  or  impossible. 
Even  if  religious  ideas  sprang  up  wholly  from  within,  an  external  revelation 


5  PROLEGOMENA. 

might  stir  up  the  dormant  powers  of  the  mind.  Beligious  ideas,  however, 
do  not  spring  wholly  from  within.  External  revelation  can  impart  them. 
Man  can  reveal  himself  to  man  by  external  communications,  and  if  God  has. 
equal  power  with  man,  God  can  reveal  himself  to  man  in  like  manner. 

(c)  Hence  God's  revelation  may  be,  and,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  it  is, 
in  great  part,  an  external  revelation  in  works  and  words.  We  claim,  more- 
over, that  in  many  cases  where  truth  was  originally  communicated  internally, 
the  same  Spirit  who  communicated  it  has  brought  about  an  external  record 
of  it  and  so  has  insured  its  preservation  in  permanent  and  written  form. 

d)  With  this  external  record  we  shall  also  see  that  there  is  given  upon 
proper  conditions  a  special  influence  of  God's  Spirit,  so  to  quicken  our 
cognitive  powers  that  the  external  record  reproduces  in  our  minds  the  ideas 
with  which  the  minds  of  the  writers  were  at  first  divinely  filled. 

(e)  Internal  revelations  thus  recorded,  and  external  revelations  thus  in- 
terpreted, both  furnish  objective  facts  which  may  serve  as  proper  material 
for  science.  Although  revelation  in  its  widest  sense  may  include,  and  as 
constituting  the  ground  of  the  possibility  of  theology  does  include,  both 
insight  and  illumination,  it  may  also  be  used  to  denote  simply  a  provision 
of  the  external  means  of  knowledge,  and  theology  has  to  do  with  inward 
revelations  only  as  they  are  expressed  in,  or  as  they  agree  with,  this  objec- 
tive standard. 

We  may  illustrate  the  need  of  internal  revelation  from  Egyptology,  which  is  im- 
possible so  long  as  the  external  revelation  in  the  hieroglyphics  is  uninterpreted.  Ex- 
ternal revelation  (^a^epwo-is,  Rom.  1 : 19,  20)  must  by  supplemented  by  internal  revelation 
(aTTOKaAix/us,  1  Cor.  2 : 10-12).  Christ  is  the  organ  of  external,  the  Holy  Spirit  the  organ  of 
internal,  revelation.  In  Christ  (2  Cor.  1 :  20)  are  "  the  yea"  and  "the  Amen"=  the  objective  cer- 
tainty and  the  subjective  certitude,  the  reality  and  the  realization.  Revelation  objec- 
tive, as  at  Sinai;  subjective,  as  in  Elisha's  knowledge  of  Gehazi  (2  K.  5:26).  On  the 
whole  subject,  see  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3  :  37-43 ;  Nitzsch,  Syst.  Christ.  Doctrine,  72 ; 
Luthardt,  Fund.  Truths,  193;  Auberlen,  Div.  Rev.,  Introd.,  29;  Martineau,  Essays,  I  :  171,. 
280;  Bib.  Sac.,  1867:  593,  and  1872:  428;  Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  373-375;  Mead,  in  Boston 
Lectures,  1871 :  58. 

B.  That  many  of  the  truths  thus  revealed  are  too  indefinite  to  constitute 
the  material  for  science,  because  they  belong  to  the  region  of  the  feelings, 
because  they  are  beyond  our  full  understanding,  or  because  they  are  des- 
titute of  orderly  arrangement. 

See  Jacobi  and  Schleiermacher,  who  regard  theology  as  a  mere  account  of  devout 
Christian  feelings,  the  grounding  of  which  in  objective  historical  facts  is  a  matter  of 
comparative  indifference ;  see  Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doctrine,  2  :  401-403.  Allied  to  this  i& 
the  view  of  Feuerbach,  to  whom  religion  is  a  matter  of  subjective  fancy,  and  the  view 
of  Tyndall,  who  would  remit  theology  to  the  region  of  vague  feeling  and  aspiration,  but 
would  exclude  it  from  the  realm  of  science :  see  Feuerbach,  Essence  of  Christianity, 
translated  by  Marian  Evans,  and  Tyndall,  Belfast  Address. 

We  reply  : 

(a)  Theology  has  to  do  with  subjective  feelings  only  as  they  can  be  de- 
fined, and  shown  to  be  effects,  of  objective  truth  upon  the  mind.     These 
are  not  more  obscure  than  the  facts  of  morals  or  psychology,  and  the  same 
objection  which  would  exclude  such  feelings  from  theology,  would  make 
these  latter  sciences  impossible.     Moreover, 

(b)  Those  facts  of  revelation  which  are  beyond  our  full  understanding, 
may,  like  the  nebular  hypothesis  in  astronomy  or  the  atomic  theory  in 
chemistry,  furnish  a  principle  of  union  between  great  classes  of  other  facts 


were 
able, 
nous  ^^^i; 


NECESSITY    OF   THEOLOGY.  9 

otherwise  irreconcilable.  We  may  define  our  concepts  of  God,  and  even 
of  the  Trinity,  at  least  sufficiently  to  distinguish  them  from  all  other  con- 
cepts, and  whatever  difficulty  may  encumber  the  putting  of  them  into 
language  only  shows  the  importance  of  attempting  it  and  the  value  of  even 
an  approximate  success. 

(c)  Even  though  there  were  no  orderly  arrangement  of  these  facts,  either 
in  nature  or  in  Scripture,  an  accurate  systematizing  of  them  by  the  human 
mind  would  not  thereby  be  proved  impossible,  unless  a  principle  were 
assumed  which  would  show  all  physical  science  to  be  equally  irnpossil 
Astronomy  and  geology  are  constructed  by  putting  together  multitudinous 
facts  which  at  first  sight  seem  to  have  no  order.  So  with  theology.  And 
yet,  although  revelation  does  not  present  to  us  a  dogmatic  system  ready- 
made,  a  dogmatic  system  is  not  only  implicitly  contained  therein,  but  parts 
of  the  system  are  wrought  out  in  the  epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  as  for 
example  in  Eom.  5  : 12-19 ;  1  Cor.  15  :  3,  4 ;  8  :  6 ;  1  Tim.  3:16;  Heb.  6:1,2. 

We  may  illustrate  the  construction  of  theology  from  the  dissected  map,  two  pieces  of 
which  are  already  put  together.  Origen :  God  gives  us  truth  in  single  threads,  which 
we  must  weave  into  a  finished  texture.  Scripture  hints  at  the  possibilities  of  combina- 
tion, in  Rom.  5  : 12-19,  with  its  grouping  of  the  facts  of  sin  and  salvation  about  the  two 
persons,  Adam  and  Christ ;  in  Rom.  4  :  24,  25,  with  its  linking  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
and  our  justification ;  in  1  Cor.  8  :  6,  with  its  indication  of  the  relations  between  the  Father 
and  Christ ;  in  1  Tim.  3  : 16,  with  its  poetical  summary  of  the  facts  of  redemption  (see 
Commentaries  of  DeWette,  Meyer,  Fairbairn) ;  in  Heb.  6  : 1, 2,  with  its  statement  of  the  first 
principles  of  the  Christian  faith.  On  the  whole  subject  see  Martineau,  Essays,  1 :  29,  40  : 
Am.  Theol.  Rev.,  1859 : 101-126— art.  on  the  Idea,  Sources,  and  Uses  of  Christian  Theology. 

IV.  NECESSITY. — The  necessity  of  theology  has  its  grounds 
(a)  In  the  organizing  instinct  of  the  human  mind.  This  organizing 
principle  is  a  part  of  our  constitution.  The  mind  cannot  endure  confusion 
or  apparent  contradiction  in  known  facts.  The  tendency  to  harmonize  and 
unify  its  knowledge  appears  so  soon  as  the  mind  becomes  reflective ;  just  in 
proportion  to  its  endowments  and  culture,  does  the  impulse  to  systematize 
and  formulate  increase.  This  is  true  of  all  departments  of  human  inquiry, 
but  it  is  peculiarly  true  of  our  knowledge  of  God.  Since  the  truth  with 
regard  to  God  is  the  most  important  of  all,  theology  meets  the  deepest 
want  of  man's  rational  nature.  Theology  is  a  rational  necessity.  If  all 
existing  theological  systems  were  destroyed  to-day,  new  systems  would  rise 
to-morrow.  So  inevitable  is  the  operation  of  this  law  that  those  who  most 
decry  theology,  show  nevertheless  that  they  have  made  a  theology  for 
themselves,  and  often  one  sufficiently  meagre  and  blundering.  Hostility  to 
theology,  where  it  does  not  originate  in  mistaken  fears  for  the  corruption 
of  God's  truth,  or  in  a  naturally  illogical  structure  of  mind,  often  proceeds 
from  a  license  of  speculation  which  cannot  brook  the  restraints  of  a  com- 
plete Scriptural  system. 

"Every  man  has  as  much  theology  as  he  can  hold."  Consciously  or  unconsciously, 
we  philosophize,  as  naturally  as  we  speak  prose.  See  Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays, 
27-52 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  195-199. 

(6)  In  the  relation  of  systematic  truth  to  the  development  of  character. 
Truth  thoroughly  digested  is  essential  to  the  growth  of  Christian  character 
in  the  individual  and  in  the  church.  All  knowledge  of  God  has  its  influ- 
ence upon  character,  but  most  of  all  the  knowledge  of  spiritual  facts  in 


10  PROLEGOMENA. 

their  relations.  Theology  cannot,  as  has  sometimes  been  obj  ected,  deaden 
the  religious  affections,  since  it  only  draws  out  from  their  sources  and  puts 
into  rational  connection  with  each  other  the  truths  which  are  best  adapted 
to  nourish  the  religious  affections.  On  the  other  hand,  the  strongest  Chris- 
tians are  those  who  have  firmest  grasp  upon  the  great  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity; the  heroic  ages  of  the  church  have  been  those  which  have  witnessed 
most  consistently  to  them  ;  the  piety  that  can  be  injured  by  the  systematic 
exhibition  of  them  must  be  weak,  or  mystical,  or  mistaken. 

Some  theology  is  necessary  to  conversion — at  least,  knowledge  of  sin  and  knowledge 
of  a  Savior.  For  texts  which  represent  truth  as  nourishment,  see  Jer.  3  : 15— "feed  you  with 
knowledge  and  understanding"  ;  Mat.  4  :  4 — "man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God"  ;  1  Cor.  3  :  1,  2— "babes  in  Christ  ....  I  fed  you  with  milk,  not  with  meat"  ;  Heb.  5  :  14 
— "but  solid  food  is  for  full-grown  men."  Christian  morality  is  a  fruit  which  grows  only  from 
the  tree  of  doctrine.  Christian  character  rests  upon  Christian  truth  as  its  foundation  ; 
see  1  Cor.  3  : 12-15 — "I  laid  a  foundation,  and  another  buildeth  thereon."  See  Dorus  Clarke,  Saying  the 
Catechism ;  Simon,  on  Christ.  Doctrine  and  Life,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  July,  1884  :  433-449. 

(c)  In  the  importance  to  the  preacher  of  definite  and  just  views  of 
doctrine.     His  chief  intellectual  qualification  must  be  the  power  clearly 
and  comprehensively  to  conceive,  and  accurately  and  powerfully  to  express, 
the  truth.     He  can  be  the  agent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  converting  and  sanc- 
tifying men,  only  as  he  can  wield  ' '  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 
word  of  God  "  (Eph.  6  :  17),  or,  in  other  language,  only  as  he  can  impress 
truth  upon  the  minds  and  consciences  of  his  hearers.     Nothing  more  cer- 
tainly nullifies  his  efforts  than  confusion  and  inconsistency  in  his  statements 
of  doctrine.     His  object  is  to  replace  obscure  and  erroneous  conceptions 
among  his  hearers  by  those  which  are  correct  and  vivid.     He  cannot  do  this 
without  knowing  the  facts  with  regard  to  God  in  their  relations — knowing 
them,  in  short,  as  parts  of  a  system.     With  this  truth  he  is  put  in  trust. 
To  mutilate  it  or  misrepresent  it,  is  not  only  sin  against  the  Bevealer  of  it 
— it  may  also  prove  the  ruin  of  men's  souls.     The  best  safeguard  against 
such  mutilation  or  misrepresentation,  is  the  diligent  study  of  the  several 
doctrines  of  the  faith  in  their  relations  to  each  other,  and  especially  to  the 
central  theme  of  theology,  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  more  refined  and  reflective  the  age,  the  more  it  requires  reasons  for  feeling. 
Imagination  (poetry,  eloquence,  political  and  military  enthusiasm)  is  not  less  strong, 
but  more  rational.  Progress  from  "  Buncombe,"  in  forensic  oratory,  to  sensible  and 
logical  address.  In  pulpit  oratory,  mere  Scripture  quotation  and  fervid  appeal  are  no 
longer  sufficient.  The  preacher  must  furnish  a  basis  for  feeling  by  producing  intelligent 
conviction.  He  must  instruct  before  he  can  move.  Spurgeon :  "  We  shall  never  have 
great  preachers  until  we  have  great  divines.  You  cannot  build  a  man-of-war  out  of  a 
currant-bush,  nor  can  great  soul-moving  preachers  be  formed  out  of  superficial  stu- 
dents." Illustrate  by  mistake  in  physician's  prescription,  and  by  sowing  crop  of  acorns. 

(d)  In  the  intimate  connection  between  correct  doctrine  and  the  safety 
and  aggressive  power  of  the  church.     The  safety  and  progress  of  the 
church  is  dependent  upon  her  "holding  the  pattern  of  sound  words"  (2  Tim. 
1  :  13),  and  serving  as  "pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth"  (1  Tim.  3  :  15). 
Defective  understanding  of  the  truth  results  sooner  or  later  in  defects  of 
organization,  of  operation,  and  of  life.     Thorough  comprehension  of  Chris- 
tian truth  as  an  organized  system  furnishes,  on  the  other  hand,  not  only  an 
invaluable  defense  against  heresy  and  immorality,  but  also  an  indispensable 
stimulus  and  instrument  in  aggressive  labor  for  the  world's  conversion. 


RELATION    OF   TPIEOLOGY   TO    RELIGION.  11 

The  creeds  of  the  church  have  not  originated  in  mere  speculative  curiosity  and  logical 
hair-splitting.  They  are  statements  of  doctrine  in  which  the  attacked  and  imperiled 
church  has  sought  to  express  the  truth  which  constitutes  her  very  life.  Those  who  de- 
ride the  early  creeds  have  small  conception  of  the  intellectual  acumen  and  the  moral 
earnestness  which  went  to  the  making  of  them.  The  creeds  of  the  third  and  fourth  cen- 
turies embody  the  results  of  controversies  which  exhausted  the  possibilities  of  heresy 
with  regard  to  the  Trinity  and  the  Person  of  Christ,  and  which  set  up  bars  against  false 
doctrine  to  the  end  of  time. 

(e)  In  the  direct  and  indirect  injunctions  of  Scripture.  The  Scriptures 
urge  upon  us  the  thorough  and  comprehensive  study  of  the  truth  (John 
5:39,  marg.,  "Search  the  Scriptures"),  the  comparing  and  harmonizing 
of  its  different  parts  (1  Cor.  2:  13,  "comparing  spiritual  things  with 
spiritual "),  the  gathering  of  all  about  the  great  central  fact  of  revelation 
(Col.  1  :  27,  "which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory  "),  the  preaching  of 
it  in  its  wholeness  as  well  as  in  its  due  proportions  (2  Tim.  4  :  2,  "Preach 
the  word ").  The  minister  of  the  gospel  is  called  "a  scribe  who  hath  been 
made  a  disciple  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Mat.  13  :  52) ;  the  "pastors" 
of  the  churches  are  at  the  same  time  to  be  "teachers"  (Eph.  4  :  11)  ;  the 
bishop  must  be  "  apt  to  teach  "  (1  Tim.  3:2),  "  handling  aright  the  word  of 
truth  "  (2  Tim.  2  :  15),  "holding  to  the  faithful  word  which  is  according  to 
the  teaching,  that  he  may  be  able  both  to  exhort  in  the  sound  doctrine  and 
to  convict  the  gainsay ers  "  (Tit.  1 :  9). 

As  a  means  of  instructing  the  church  and  of  securing  progress  in  his  own  under- 
standing of  Christian  truth,  it  is  well  for  the  pastor  to  preach  regularly  each  month  a 
doctrinal  sermon,  and  to  expound  in  course  the  principal  articles  of  the  faith.  The 
treatment  of  doctrine  in  these  sermons  should  be  simple  enough  to  be  comprehensible 
by  intelligent  youth ;  it  should  be  made  vivid  and  interesting  by  the  help  of  brief  illus- 
trations ;  and  at  least  one-third  of  each  sermon  should  be  devoted  to  the  practical  appli- 
cations of  the  doctrine  propounded. 

V.  EELATION  TO  KELIGION. —Theology  and  religion  are  related  to  each 
other  as  effects,  in  different  spheres,  of  the  same  cause.  As  theology  is  an 
effect  produced  in  the  sphere  of  systematic  thought  by  the  facts  respecting 
God  and  the  relations  between  God  and  the  universe,  so  religion  is  an  effect 
which  these  facts  produce  in  the  sphere  of  individual  or  collective  life. 
With  regard  to  the  term  '  religion  ',  notice  : 

1.     Derivation. 

(a)  The  derivation  from  religare,  '  to  bind '  or  '  to  bind  back '  (man  to 
God),  is  negatived  by  the  authority  of  Cicero  and  of  the  best  modern  ety- 
mologists ;  by  the  difficulty,  on  this  hypothesis,  of  explaining  such  forms 
as  religio,  religens ;  and  by  the  necessity,  in  that  case,  of  presupposing 
a  fuller  knowledge  of  sin  and  redemption  than  was  common  to  the  ancient 
heathen  world. 

For  advocacy  of  the  derivation  of  relioio,  as  meaning  'binding  duty,'  from  religare, 
see  Lange,  Dogmatik,  1 :  185-196.  Lange  cites  rehellio,  from  rebellare,  and  optio,  from 
optare.  But  we  reply  that  many  verbs  of  the  first  conjugation  are  derived  from  obsolete 
verbs  of  the  third  conjugation. 

(6)  The  more  correct  derivation  is  from  relegere,  'to  go  over  again,' 
*  carefully  to  ponder. '  Its  original  meaning  is  therefore  '  reverent  observ- 
ance '  (of  duties  due  to  the  gods). 

For  the  derivation  favored  in  the  text,  see  Curtius,  Griechische  Etymologic,  5te  Aufl., 


12  PROLEGOMENA. 

384 ;  Fick,  Vergl.  Worterb.  der  Indoger.  Spr.,  2:221;  Vanicek,  Gr.-Lat.  Etym.  Worterb., 
2:829;  Andrews,  Latin  Lexicon,  in  voce;  Nitzsch,  System  of  Christ.  Doctrine,  7 ;  Van 
Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  75-77  ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  1:6;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3  : 18. 

2.  False  conceptions. 

(a)  Eeligion  is  not  merely,  as  Hegel  declared,  a  kind  of  knowing ;  for  it 
would  then  be  only  an  incomplete  form  of  philosophy,  and  the  measure  of 
knowledge  in  each  case  would  be  the  measure  of  piety. 

In  a  system  of  idealistic  pantheism,  God  is  the  subject  of  religion  as  well  as  its  object. 
Religion  =  God's  knowing  himself  through  the  human  consciousness.  The  Gnostics, 
Stapfer,  Henry  VIII,  show  that  there  may  be  much  theological  knowledge  without 
true  religion.  Inaccuracy  of  Chillingworth's  maxim  :  "  The  Bible  only,  the  religion 
of  Protestants."  bee  Hamerton,  Intel.  Life,  214;  Bib.  Sac.,  9:  374.  Oh  Hegel,  see 
Porter,  Human  Intellect,  59,  60,  412,  525,  529,  532,  536,  589,  650. 

(6)  Religion  is  not,  as  Schleiermacher  held,  the  mere  feeling  of  depend- 
ence ;  for  such  feeling  is  not  religious,  unless  exercised  toward  God  and 
accompanied  by  moral  effort. 

Position  of  Schleiermacher  in  German  theology,  as  transition  from  the  old  rationalism 
to  evangelical  faith.  "  Like  Lazarus,  with  the  grave-clothes  of  a  pantheistic  philosophy 
entangling  his  steps,"  yet  with  a  Moravian  experience  of  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul,  he 
based  religion  upon  the  inner  certainties  of  Christian  feeling.  But  though  faith  begins 
in  feeling,  it  does  not  end  there.  Valuelessness  of  mere  feeling  shown  in  emotions  of 

theatre-goers,  and  in  occasional  phenomena  of  revivals.    Cf.  James  1 :  27—"  Pure  religion 

is  this,  To  visit  the  fatherless" ;  2 : 17 — "faith  without  works  is  dead."  On  Schleiermacher,  see  Bib.  Sac., 
Apr.,  1852:  375;  July,  1883 :  534 ;  Liddon,  Elements  of  Religion,  lect.  i ;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik, 
1 : 14 ;  Julius  Muller,  Doct.  Sin,  1  : 175 ;  Hagenbach,  Encyclop.,  2te  Aufl.,  13  :  525-571 ; 
Fisher,  Essays  on  Supernat.  Orig.  of  Christianity,  563-570;  Caird,  Philos.  of  Religion, 
160-186.  On  emotional  excitement  in  preaching,  see  Kerfoot,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  April,  1884: 
167-184. 

(c)  Religion  is  not,  as  Kant  maintained,  morality  or  moral  action ;  for 
morality  is  conformity  to  an  abstract  law  of  right,  while  religion  is  essen- 
tially a  relation  to  a  person,  from  whom  the  soul  receives  blessing  and  to 
whom  it  surrenders  itself  in  love  and  obedience. 

Kant,  Kritik  der  praktischen  Vernunft,  Beschluss :  "  I  know  of  but  two  beautiful 
things,  the  starry  heavens  above  my  head  and  the  sense  of  duty  within  my  heart." 
But  the  mere  sense  of  duty  only  distresses.  Objections  to  the  word  "  obey  "  as  the  im- 
perative of  religion  :  ( 1 )  It  makes  religion  a  matter  of  will  only.  ( 2 )  Will  presupposes 
affection.  (3)  Love  is  not  subject  to  will.  (4)  It  makes  God  all  law  and  no  grace. 
(5)  It  makes  the  Christian  a  servant  only,  not  a  friend.  See  Shedd,  Sermons  to  the 
Natural  Man,  244-246;  Liddon,  Elements  of  Religion,  19.  Verms  Matthew  Arnold:  Re- 
ligion is  "  Ethics  heightened,  enkindled,  lit  up  by  feeling."  This  leaves  out  of  view  the 
receptive  element  in  religion,  as  well  as  its  relation  to  a  personal  God. 

3.  Essential  idea. 

Religion  in  its  essential  idea  is  a  life  in  God,  or,  in  other  words,  a  life 
lived  in  recognition  of  God,  in  communion  with  God,  and  under  control  of 
the  indwelling  Spirit  of  God.  Since  it  is  a  life,  it  cannot  be  described 
as  consisting  solely  in  the  exercise  of  any  one  of  the  powers  of  intellect, 
affection,  or  will.  As  physical  life  involves  the  unity  and  cooperation  of 
all  the  organs  of  the  body,  so  religion,  or  spiritual  life,  involves  the  united 
working  of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul.  To  feeling,  however,  we  must  assign 
the  logical  priority,  since  holy  affection  toward  God,  imparted  in  regenera- 
tion, is  the  condition  of  truly  knowing  God  and  of  truly  serving  him. 

See  Godet,  on  the  Ultimate  Design  of  Man -"God  in  man  and  man  in  God"— in 
Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1880;  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  5-79,  and  Religionsphilosophie,  255  : 


RELATION    OF   THEOLOGY    TO    RELIGION".  13 

Religion  is  "  Sache  des  ganzen  Geisteslebens."  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  81-85 ;  Julius 
MUller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2 : 227 ;  Nitzsch,  System  of  Christ.  Doctrine,  10-28 ;  Luthardt, 
Fund.  Truths,  147 ;  Twesten,  Dogmatik,  1 : 12.  Query :  Can  a  man,  in  strict  propriety  of 
speech,  be  said  to  "  get  religion  "  ? 

L     Inferences. 

From  this  definition  of  religion  it  follows  : 

(a)  That  in  strictness  there  is  but  one  religion.  Man  is  a  religious  being, 
indeed,  as  having  the  capacity  for  this  divine  life.  He  is  actually  religious, 
however,  only  when  he  enters  into  this  living  relation  to  God.  False  re- 
ligious are  the  caricatures  which  men  given  to  sin,  or  the  imaginations 
which  men  groping  after  light,  form  of  this  life  of  the  soul  in  God. 

Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  88-93 ;  Peabody,  Christianity  the  Religion  of  Nature,  18— 
"If  Christianity  be  true,  it  is  not  a  religion,  but  the  religion.  If  Judaism  be  also 
true,  it  is  so  not  as  distinct  from  but  as  coincident  with  Christianity,  the  one  religion  to 
which  it  can  bear  only  the  relation  of  the  part  to  the  whole.  If  there  be  portions  of 
truth  in  other  religious  systems,  they  are  not  portions  of  other  religions,  but  portions 
of  the  one  religion  which  somehow  or  other  became  incorporated  with  fables  and 
falsities." 

(6)  That  the  content  of  religion  is  greater  than  that  of  theology.  The 
facts  of  religion  come  within  the  range  of  theology  only  so  far  as  they  can 
be  definitely  conceived,  accurately  expressed  in  language,  and  brought  into 
rational  relation  to  each  other. 

(c)  That  religion  is  to  be  distinguished  from  formal  worship,  which  is 
simply  the  outward  expression  of  religion.  As  such  expression,  worship 
is  "formal  communion  between  God  and  his  people."  In  it  God  speaks 
to  man  and  man  to  God.  It,  therefore,  properly  includes  the  reading  of 
Scripture  and  preaching  on  the  side  of  God,  and  prayer  and  song  on  the 
side  of  the  people. 

On  the  relation  between  religion  and  worship,  see  art.  by  Prof.  Day,  in  New  England- 
er,  Jan.,  1882. 


CHAPTER   II. 

MATERIAL   OF    THEOLOGY. 

I.  SOURCES  OF  THEOLOGY. — God  himself,  in  the  last  analysis,  must  be 
the  only  source  of  knowledge  with  regard  to  his  own  being  and  relations. 
Theology  is  therefore  a  summary  and  explanation  of  the  content  of  God's 
self-revelations.  These  are,  first,  the  revelation  of  God  in  nature  ;  secondly 
and  supremely,  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  Scriptures. 

Ambrose :  "  To  whom  shall  I  give  greater  credit  concerning  God  than  to  God  him- 
self ?  "  Von  Baader :  "  To  know  God  without  God  is  impossible ;  there  is  no  knowledge 
without  him  who  is  the  prime  source  of  knowledge." 

1.  ScHpture  and  Nature.  By  nature  we  here  mean  not  only  physical 
facts,  or  facts  with  regard  to  the  substances,  properties,  forces,  and  laws  of 
the  material  world,  but  also  spiritual  facts,  or  facts  with  regard  to  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  constitution  of  man,  and  the  orderly  arrangement  of 
human  society  and  history. 

We  here  use  the  word  '  nature '  in  the  ordinary  sense,  as  including  man.  There  is 
another  and  more  proper  sense  of  the  word  'nature,'  which  makes  it  simply  a  complex 
of  forces  and  beings  under  the  law  of  cause  and  effect.  To  nature  in  this  sense  man 
belongs  only  as  respects  his  body,  while  as  immaterial  and  personal  he  is  a  supernatural 
being.  Free  will  is  not  under  the  law  of  physical  and  mechanical  causation.  As  Bush- 
nell  has  said :  "  Nature  and  the  supernatural  together  constitute  the  one  system  of 
God."  Drummond,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  232— "Things  are  natural  or 
supernatural  according  to  where  we  stand.  Man  is  supernatural  to  the  mineral ;  God  is 
supernatural  to  the  man."  We  shall  in  subsequent  chapters  use  the  term  '  nature '  in  the 
narrow  sense.  The  universal  use  of  the  phrase  "  Natural  Theology,"  however,  compels 
us  in  this  chapter  to  employ  the  word  '  nature '  in  its  broader  sense  as  including  man, 
although  we  do  this  under  protest,  and  with  this  explanation  of  the  more  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  term.  See  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Sept.,  1882 : 183  sq. 

(a)  Natural  theology. — The  Scriptures  assert  that  God  has  revealed  him- 
self in  nature.  There  is  not  only  an  outward  witness  to  his  existence  and 
character  in  the  constitution  and  government  of  the  universe  (Ps.  19  ;  Acts 
14  :  17  ;  Bom.  1  :  20),  but  an  inward  witness  to  his  existence  and  character 
in  the  heart  of  every  man  (Bom.  1  :  17,  18,  19,  20,  32  ;  2  :-15).  The  system- 
atic exhibition  of  these  facts,  whether  derived  from  observation,  history, 
or  science,  constitutes  natural  theology. 

Outward  witness:  Ps.  19  : 1-6— "The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God"  ;  Acts  14  : 17— "he  left  not  himself 
without  witness,  in  that  he  did  good,  and  gave  you  from  heaven  rains  and  fruitful  seasons  "  ;  Rom.  1  :  20— "for  the 
invisible  things  of  him  since  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things  that  are  made, 
even  his  everlasting  power  and  divinity."  Inward  witness :  Rom.  1  : 19— TO  yvtavrbv  TOV  tfeoi)  ="that  which 
is  known  of  God  is  manifest  among  them."  Compare  the  a.TTOKa\vnTerai.  of  the  gospel,  in  verse  17, 
with  the  a7roKa\v7TT6Tai  of  wrath,  in  v.  18— two  revelations,  one  of  opyrj,  the  other  of 
\apis ;  see  Shedd,  Homiletics,  11.  Rom.  1 :  32—"  knowing  the  ordinance  of  God  "  ;  12  :  5—"  they  show  the 
work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts."  Therefore  even  the  heathen  are  "  without  excuse  "  (Rom.  1 :  20). 
There  are  two  books :  Nature  and  Scripture— one  written,  the  other  unwritten :  and 
there  is  need  of  studying  both.  On  the  passages  in  Romans,  see  the  Commentary  of 
Hodge. 


SOURCES    OF   THEOLOGY.  15 

(6)  Natural  theology  supplemented. — The  Scriptures  declare,  however, 
with  equal  plainness,  that  the  revelation  of  God  in  nature  does  not  supply 
all  the  knowledge  which  a  Sinner  needs  (Acts  17  :  23  ;  Eph.  3  :  9).  This 
revelation  is  therefore  supplemented  by  another,  in  which  divine  attributes 
and  merciful  provisons  only  dimly  shadowed  forth  in  nature  are  made 
known  to  men.  This  latter  revelation  consists  of  a  series  of  supernatural 
events  and  communications,  the  record  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Script- 
ures. There  is,  indeed,  an  internal  work  of  the  divine  Spirit,  by  which 
the  outer  word  is  made  an  inner  word,  and  its  truth  and  power  are  mani- 
fested to  the  heart.  This  teaching  of  the  Spirit,  however,  is  not  a  giving 
of  new  truth,  but  an  illumination  of  the  mind  to  perceive  the  truth  already 
revealed.  Christian  experience  is  but  a  testing  and  proving  of  the  truth 
objectively  contained  in  Scripture.  While  theology,  therefore,  depends 
upon  the  teaching  of  the  Spirit  to  interpret,  and  upon  Christian  experience 
to  illustrate,  the  Scriptures,  it  looks  to  the  Scriptures  themselves  as  its  chief 
source  of  material  and  its  final  standard  of  appeal.  We  use  the  word  reve- 
lation, therefore,  henceforth,  to  designate  the  objective  truth  made  known 
in  Scripture. 

Acts  17 :  23— Paul  shows  that,  though  the  Athenians,  in  the  erection  of  an  altar  to  an 
unknown  God,  "  acknowledged  a  divine  existence  beyond  any  which  the  ordinary  rites 
of  their  worship  recognized,  that  Being  was  still  unknown  to  them ;  they  had  no  just 
conception  of  his  nature  and  perfections"  (Hackett,  in  loco).  Eph.  3  :  9— "the  mystery  which 
from  all  ages  hath  been  hid  in  God  "—this  mystery  is  in  the  gospel  made  known  for  man's  salva- 
tion. "  Experience,"  from  e-cperior,  to  test,  try.  Christian  consciousness  is  not  norma 
normans,  but  norma  normata.  Light,  like  life,  comes  to  us  through  the  mediation  of 
others.  Yet  the  first  comes  from  God  as  really  as  the  last,  of  which  without  hesitation 
we  say :  "  God  made  me,"  though  we  have  human  parents.  See  Calvin,  Institutes,  book 
I :  ch.  7—"  As  nature  has  an  immediate  manifestation  of  God  in  conscience,  a  mediate 
in  his  works,  so  revelation  has  an  immediate  manifestation  of  God  in  the  Spirit,  a 
mediate  in  the  Scriptures."  See  Twesten,  Dogmatik,  1  : 344-348;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol., 
1  :  15. 

(c)  The  theology  of  Scripture  not  unnatural. — Though  we  speak  of  the 
systematized  truths  of  nature  as  constituting  natural  theology,  we  are  not 
to  infer  that  Scriptural  theology  is  unnatural.  Since  the  Scriptures  have 
the  same  author  as  nature,  the  same  principles  are  illustrated  in  one  as  in 
the  other.  All  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  have  their  reason  in  that  same 
nature  of  God  which  constitutes  the  basis  of  all  material  things.  Christian- 
ity is  a  supplementary  dispensation,  not  as  contradicting,  or  correcting 
errors  in,  natural  theology,  but  as  more  perfectly  revealing  the  truth. 
Christianity,  indeed,  is  the  ground-plan  upon  which  the  whole  creation  is 
built — the  original  and  eternal  truth  of  which  natural  theology  is  but  a 
partial  expression.  Hence  the  theology  of  nature  and  the  theology  of 
Scripture  are  mutually  dependent.  Natural  theology  not  only  prepares  the 
way  for,  but  it  receives  stimulus  and  aid  from,  Scriptural  theology.  Natural 
theology  may  now  be  a  source  of  truth,  which,  before  the  Scriptures  came, 
it  could  not  furnish. 

See  Peabody,  Christianity  the  Religion  of  Nature,  lect.  2 :  Revelation  is  the  unveiling, 
uncovering  of  what  previously  existed,  and  excludes  the  idea  of  newness,  invention, 
creation.  "  The  revealed  religion  of  earth  is  the  natural  religion  of  heaven."  Compare 
Rev.  13  :  8—"  Tha  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  "=  the  coming  of  Christ  was  no 
make-shift;  in  a  true  sense  the  cross  existed  in  eternity ;  the  atonement  is  a  revelation 
of  the  heart  of  God.  Note  Plato's  illustration  of  the  cave  which  can  be  easily  threaded 


16  PROLEGOMENA. 

by  one  who  has  previously  entered  it  with  a  torch.  Nature  is  the  dim  light  from  the 
cave's  mouth ;  the  torch  is  Scripture.  Kant  to  Jacobi,  in  Jacobi's  Werke,  3  :  523—"  If  the 
gospel  had  not  previously  taught  the  universal  moral  laws,  reason  would  not  yet  have 
obtained  so  perfect  an  insight  into  them."  Dorner,  Hist.  prot.  Theol.,  252,  253:  Faith  at 
the  Reformation  first  gave  scientific  certainty ;  it  had  God  sure— hence  it  proceeded  to 
banish  scepticism  in  philosophy  and  science.  See  also  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian 
Faith,  333;  Bowen,  Metaph.  and  Ethics,  442-463;  Bib.  Sac.,  1874:  436. 

2.  Scripture  and  Rationalism.  Although  the  Scriptures  make  known 
much  that  is  beyond  the  power  of  man's  unaided  reason  to  discover  or  fully 
to  comprehend,  they  contain  nothing  which  contradicts  a  reason  conditioned 
in  its  activity  by  a  holy  affection  and  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
To  reason  in  the  large  sense,  as  including  the  mind's  power  of  cognizing 
God  and  moral  relations — not  in  the  narrow  sense  of  mere  reasoning,  or  the 
exercise  of  the  purely  logical  faculty — the  Scriptures  continually  appeal. 

A.  The  proper  office  of  reason,  in  this  large  sense,  is  :    (a)  To  furnish  us 
with  those  primary  ideas  of  space,  time,  cause,  right,  and  God,  which  are  the 
conditions  of  all  subsequent  knowledge,    (b)  To  judge  with  regard  to  man's 
need  of  a  special  and  supernatural  revelation,     (c)  To  examine  the  creden- 
tials of  communications  professing  to  be  such  a  revelation,     (d)  To  receive 
and  reduce  to  system  the  facts  of  revelation,  when  such  an  one  has  been 
properly  attested,     (e)  To  deduce  from  these  facts  their  natural  and  logical 
conclusions.     Thus  reason  itself  prepares  the  way  for  a  revelation  above 
reason,  and  warrants  an  implicit  trust  in  such  revelation  when  once  given. 

Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian  Faith,  318—"  Reason  terminates  in  the  proposition :  Look 
for  revelation."  Leibnitz :  "  Revelation  is  the  viceroy  who  first  presents  his  credentials 
to  the  provincial  assembly,  and  then  presides."  Reason  can  recognize  truth  after  it  is 
made  known  (e.  g.  demonstrations  in  geometry)  which  it  never  could  discover  of  itself. 
"Above  reason"  is  not  "against  reason."  See  Calderwood's  illustration  of  the  party 
lost  in  the  woods,  in  Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  126.  Path  blazed.  Luthardt,  Fund. 
Truths,  lect.  viii:  Reason  could  never  have  invented  a  self -humiliating  God,  cradled 
in  a  manger  and  dying  on  a  cross.  Lessing :  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  a  revelation  that 
reveals  nothing?  " 

B.  Rationalism,  on  the  other  hand,  holds  reason  to  be  the  ultimate  source 
of   all  religious  truth,  while  Scripture  is  authoritative  only  so  far  as  its 
revelations  agree  with  previous  conclusions  of  reason,  or  can  be  rationally 
demonstrated.     Every  form  of  rationalism,  therefore,  commits  at  least  one 
of  the  following  errors  :    '(a)  That  of  confounding  reason  with  mere  reason- 
ing, or  the  exercise  of  the  logical  intelligence,     (b)  That  of  ignoring  the 
necessity  of  a  holy  affection  as  the  condition  of  all  right  reason  in  religious 
things,  and   the   absence   of  this    holy    affection    in  man's   natural   state, 
(c)    That  of  regarding  the  unaided  reason,  even  in  its  normal  and  un- 
biased state,  as   capable  of   discovering,  comprehending,  and  demonstra- 
ting all  religious  truth. 

See  Fetich  in  Theology,  by  Miller,  for  criticism  of  Dr.  Hodge's  description  of  ration- 
alism as  an  "  overuse  of  reason."  It  is  rather  the  use  of  an  abnormal,  perverted, 
improperly  conditioned  reason.  See  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1 :  34,  39,  55.  "  Sanctified  in- 
tellect "=  intellect  accompanied  by  right  affections  toward  God,  and  trained  to  work 
under  their  influence.  Bishop  Butler:  "Let  reason  be  kept  to,  but  let  not  such  poor 
creatures  as  we  are  go  on  objecting  to  an  infinite  scheme  that  we  do  not  see  the  necessity 
or  usefulness  of  all  its  parts,  and  call  that  reasoning."  The  most  unreasonable  people 
in  the  world  are  those  who  depend  solely  upon  reason,  in  the  narrow  sense.  Compare 
•yiWts  (1  Tim.  6  :  20)  with  ewiyvtacrts  (2  Pet.  1:2).  See  Twesten,  Dogmatik,  1 :  467-500 ;  Julius 
MUller,  Proof -texts,  4,  5;  Hansel,  Limits  of  Relig.  Thought,  96. 


SOURCES   OF  THEOLOGY.  17 

3.  Scripture  and  Mysticism. 

A.  True  mysticism. — We  have  seen  that  there  is  an  illumination  of  the 
minds  of  all  believers  by  the  Holy  Spirit.     The  Spirit,  however,  makes  no 
new  revelation  of  truth,  but  uses  for  his  instrument  the  truth  already  re- 
vealed.    The  illuminating  work  of  the  Spirit  is,  therefore,  an  opening  of 
men's  minds  to  understand  the  Scriptures.     As  one  thus  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  Christianity,  every  true  believer  may  be  called  a  mystic.    True 
mysticism  is  that  higher  knowledge  and  fellowship  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
gives  through  the  use  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  means. 

"  Mystic  "=one  initiated,  from  MVW,  "to  close  the  eyes  "—probably  in  order  that  the 
soul  may  have  inward  vision  of  truth.  But  divine  truth  is  a  "mystery,"  not  only  as 
•something-  into  which  one  must  be  initiated,  but  as  uTrep/SaAAouao.  r»js  -yiWews  (Eph.  3 : 19)— 
surpassing-  full  knowledge  even  to  the  believer.  See  Meyer  on  Rom.  11 : 25.  The  Germans 
have  Mystik  with  a  favorable  sense,  Mysticismus  with  an  unfavorable  sense,— corres- 
ponding- respectively  to  our  true  and  false  mysticism.  True  mysticism,  in  John  16:13— 
"Spirit  .  .  guide  ...  into  all  truth" ;  Eph.  3:  9—" fellowship  of  the  mystery";  1  Cor.  2'  10— "God  hath  revealed 
them  to  us  by  his  Spirit."  Nitzsch,  Syst.  of  Christ.  Doct.,  35—"  Whenever  true  religion  revives, 
there  is  an  outcry  against  mysticism,  i.  e.,  higher  knowledge,  fellowship,  activity, 
through  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart."  C/.  the  charge  against  Paul,  that  he  was  mad, 
in  Acts  26  24,  25;  2  Cor.  5: 13— "beside  ourselves." 

B.  False  mysticism. — Mysticism,   however,  as  the  term  is  commonly 
used,  errs  in  holding  to  the  attainment  of  religious  knowledge  by  direct 
communication  from  God,  and  by  passive  absorption  of  the  human  activities 
into  the  divine.     It  either  partially  or  wholly  loses  sight  of    (a)  the  out- 
ward organ  of  revelation,  the  Scriptures ;   (6)  the  activity  of  the  human 
powers  in  the  reception  of  all  religious  knowledge  ;   (c)  the  personality  of 
man,  and,  by  consequence,  the  personality  of  God. 

In  opposition  to  false  mysticism,  we  are  to  remember  that  the  Holy  Spirit  works 
through  the  word  (Eph.  6  17— "sword  of  the  Spirit" ),  and  that  by  that  word  we  are  to  test  all 
new  communications  which  would  contradict  or  supersede  it  (1  Jo.  4: 1— "  try  the  spirits  " ;  Eph. 
5 . 10—"  prove  what  is  acceptable  to  the  Lord  " ),  e.  g.  Spiritualism,  Joseph  Smith,  Swedenborg.  Note 
the  mystical  tendency  in  Francis  de  Sales,  Thomas  a  Kempis,  Madame  Guyon,  Upham. 
Using  Scripture  ad  aperturam  libri.  False  abnegation  of  reason  and  will,  and  "  swallow- 
ing up  of  man  in  God  "—implying  that  God  and  man  are  one  substance,  and  that  man 
is  an  incarnation  of  God.  C/.  Ps.  16  •  7 — "  the  Lord,  who  hath  given  me  counsel :  yea,  my  reins  instruct 
me"  =  God  teaches  his  people  through  the  exercise  of  their  own  faculties.  Dorner, 
•Gesch.  prot.  Theol.,  48-59, 243 ;  Herzog,  Encyclopaedie,  art. :  Mystik,  by  Lange ;  Vaughn, 
Hours  with  the  Mystics,  1:  199;  Morell,  History  of  Philosophy,  58,  191-215,  556-625,  726; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1 :  61-69,  97, 104 ;  Fleming,  Vocab.  of  Philosophy,  in  voce ;  Tholuck, 
Introd.  to  Bltithensammlung  aus  der  morgenlfindischen  Mystik. 

4.  /Scripture  and  JRomanism.     While  the  history  of  doctrine,  as  show- 
ing the  progressive  apprehension  and  unfolding  by  the  church  of  the  truth 
implicitly  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  is  a  subordinate  source  of  theology, 
Protestantism  recognizes  the  Bible  as  the  only  primary  and  absolute  author- 
%. 

Romanism,  on  the  other  hand,  commits  the  twofold  error  (a)  Of  making 
the  church,  and  not  the  Scriptures,  the  immediate  and  authoritative  source 
of  religious  knowledge,  and  (6)  Of  making  the  relation  of  the  individual  to 
Christ  depend  upon  his  relation  to  the  church,  instead  of  making  his  re- 
lation to  the  church  depend  upon,  follow,  and  express  his  relation  to  Christ. 

In  Roman  Catholicism  there  is  a  mystical  element.    The  Scriptures  are  not  the  sole 
standard.    God  gives  to  the  world  from  time  to  time,  through  popes  and  councils,  new 
communications  of  truth.    See  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1 :  61-69.    In  reply  to  the  Romanist 
2 


18  PROLEGOMENA. 

argument  that  the  church  was  before  the  Bible,  and  that  the  same  body  that  gave  the 
truth  at  first  can  make  additions  to  that  truth,  we  say  that  the  unwritten  truth  was  be- 
fore the  church  and  made  the  church  possible.  The  word  of  God  existed  before  it  was 
written  down,  and  by  that  word  the  first  disciples  as  well  as  the  latest  were  begotten 

(1  Pet.  1 : 23—"  born  again by  the  word  of  God").    See  Robinson,  in  Mad.  Av.  Lectures,  387. 

The  Roman  Church  would  keep  men  in  perpetual  childhood— coming  to  her  for  truth 
instead  of  going  directly  to  the  Bible.  See  Dorner,  Gesch.  prot.  Theol.,  227 ;  Martensen, 
Christian  Dogmatics,  30—"  Romanism  is  so  busy  in  building  up  a  system  of  guarantees 
for  Christianity,  that  she  forgets  the  truth  of  Christ  which  she  would  guarantee." 
Schleiermacher,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  24.  George  Herbert ;  "  What  wretchedness  can  give 
him  any  room,  Whose  house  is  foul,  while  he  adores  his  broom !  "  Drummond,  Nat.  Law 
in  Spir.  World,  327 :  Romanist  semi-parasitic  doctrine  of  safety  without  spirituality. 

II.  LIMITATIONS  OF  THEOLOGY. — Although  theology  derives  its  material 
from  God's  twofold  revelation,  it  does  not  profess  to  give  an  exhaustive 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  the  relations  between  God  and  the  universe. 
After  showing  what  material  we  have,  we  must  show  what  material  we  have 
not.  We  have  indicated  the  sources  of  theology ;  we  now  examine  its 
limitations.  Theology  has  its  limitations 

(a)  In  thefiniteness  of  the  human  understanding.  This  gives  rise  to  a 
class  of  necessary  mysteries,  or  mysteries  connected  with  the  infinity  and 
incomprehensibleness  of  the  divine  nature  (Job  11:7;  Bom.  11 :  33). 

Job  11  •  7—"  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God  ?  Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ?  "  Rom.  11 :  33 
— "  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments '"  Every  doctrine,  therefore,  has  its  inexplicable  side. 
A  system  that  explained  all  would  be  untrue.  Here  is  the  proper  meaning  of  Ter- 
tullian's  saying :  "  Credo  quia  impossibile  est."  Drummond,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World :  "  A  science  without  mystery  is  unknown ;  a  religion  without  mystery  is  ab- 
surd." See  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Infinite,  491;  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Discussions,  22. 

(6)  In  the  imperfect  state  of  science,  both  natural  and  metaphysical. 
This  gives  rise  to  a  class  of  accidental  mysteries,  or  mysteries  which  consist 
in  the  apparently  irreconcilable  nature  of  truths,  which,  taken  separately, 
are  perfectly  comprehensible. 

Instance  divine  sovereignty  and  human  freedom.  Astronomy  has  its  centripetal 
and  centrifugal  forces.  The  child  cannot  hold  two  oranges  at  once  in  the  same  hand. 
F.  W.  Robertson's  conclusion.  Theology  helped  by  Bp.  Butler's  doctrine  of  conscience, 
and  by  Darwin's  doctrine  of  heredity. 

(c)  In  the  inadequacy  of  language.     Since  language  is  the  medium 
through  which  truth  is  expressed  and  formulated,  the  invention  of  a  proper 
terminology  in  theology,  as  well  as  in  every  other  science,  is  a  condition 
and  criterion  of  its  progress.     The  Scriptures  recognize  a  peculiar  difficulty 
inputting  spiritual  truths  into  earthly  language  (1  Cor.  2:  13;  2  Cor.  3: 
6;  12:  4). 

«  Cor.  2  13— "not  words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth";  2  Cor  3:  6— "the  letter  killeth"-,  12 r  4— "unspeakable 
words."  God  submits  to  conditions  of  revelation.  Language  has  to  be  created.  Words 
"  stagger  under  their  weight  of  meaning  "— c.  g.  "  day"  in  Genesis  1,  and  ayani)  in  N.  T.  "  As 
fast  as  we  tunnel  into  the  sandbank  of  thought,  the  stones  of  language  must  be  built 
into  walls  and  arches,  to  allow  further  progress  into  the  boundless  mine." 

(d)  In  the  incomplete-ness  of  our  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.     Since 
it  is  not  the  mere  letter  of  the  Scriptures  that  constitutes  the  truth,  the 
progress  of  theology  is  dependent  upon  hermeneutics,  or  the  interpretation 
of  the  word  of  God. 

Progress  of  commenting— from  homiletical  to  grammatical,  historical,  dogmatic- 
illustrated  in  Scott,  Ellicott,  Stanley,  Lightfoot.  John  Robinson :  "  I  am  verily  per- 
suaded that  the  Lord  hath  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  from  his  holy  word." 


LIMITATIONS   OF   THEOLOGY.  19 

(e)  In  the  silence  of  written  revelation.  For  our  discipline  and  proba- 
tion, much  is  probably  hidden  from  us,  which  we  might  even  with  our 
present  powers  comprehend. 

The  origin  of  evil ;  the  method  of  the  atonement ;  the  state  after  death.  Paul's  silence 
upon  speculative  questions  which  he  must  have  pondered  with  absorbing-  interest. 
John  Foster's  "gathering  questions  for  eternity."  On  Luther,  see  Hagenbach,  Hist. 
Doctrine,  2 :  338. 

(/)  In  the  lack  of  spiritual  discernment  caused  by  sin.  Since  holy 
affection  is  a  condition  of  religious  knowledge,  all  moral  imperfection  in 
the  individual  Christian  and  in  the  church  serves  as  a  hindrance  to  the 
working  out  of  a  complete  theology. 

The  spiritual  ages  make  most  progress  in  theology— witness  the  half -century  succeed- 
ing the  Reformation,  and  the  half-century  succeeding  the  great  revival  in  New  England 
in  the  time  of  Jonathan  Edwards. 

We  do  not,  therefore,  expect  to  construct  a  perfect  system  of  theology. 
All  science  but  reflects  the  present  attainment  of  the  human  mind.  No 
science  is  complete  or  finished.  However  it  may  be  with  the  sciences  of 
nature  and  man,  the  science  of  God  will  never  amount  to  an  exhaustive 
knowledge.  We  must  not  expect  to  demonstrate  all  Scripture  doctrines 
upon  rational  grounds,  or  even  in  every  case  to  see  the  principle  of  con- 
nection between  them.  Where  we  cannot  do  this,  we  must,  as  in  every 
other  science,  set  the  revealed  facts  in  their  places  and  wait  for  further 
light,  instead  of  ignoring  or  rejecting  any  of  them  because  we  cannot  un- 
derstand them  or  their  relation  to  other  parts  of  our  system. 

Theology  is  progressive,  in  the  sense  that  our  subjective  understanding 
of  the  facts  with  regard  to  God,  and  our  consequent  expositions  of  these 
facts,  may  and  do  become  more  perfect.  But  theology  is  not  progressive, 
if  by  this  be  meant  that  its  objective  facts  change,  either  in  their  number 
or  their  nature.  With  Martineau  we  may  say:  "Beligion  has  been  re- 
proached with  not  being  progressive;  it  makes  amends  by  being  imperish- 
able. "  Though  our  knowledge  may  be  imperfect,  it  will  have  great  value 
still.  Our  success  in  constructing  a  theology  will  depend  upon  the  pro- 
portion which  clearly  expressed  facts  of  Scripture  bear  to  mere  inferences, 
and  upon  the  degree  in  which  they  all  cohere  about  Christ,  the  central 
person  and  theme. 


CHAPTER  III. 

METHOD    OF   THEOLOGY. 

I.  REQUISITES  TO  THE  STUDY. — The  requisites  to  the  successful  study 
of  theology  have  already  in  part  been  indicated  in  speaking  of  its  limita- 
tions. In  spite  of  some  repetition,  however,  -we  mention  the  following : 

(a)  A  disciplined  mind.  Only  such  a  mind  can  patiently  collect  the 
facts,  hold  in  its  grasp  many  facts  at  once,  educe  their  connecting  principles 
by  continuous  reflection,  suspend  final  judgment  until  its  conclusions  are 
verified  by  Scripture  and  experience. 

On  opportunities  for  culture  in  the  Christian  ministry,  see  N.  Englander,  Oct.,  1875 : 
644.  Chitty,  to  a  father  inquiring-  as  to  his  son's  qualifications  for  the  law :  "  Can  your 
son  eat  sawdust  without  any  butter?  " 

(6)  An  intuitional  as  distinguished  from  a  merely  logical  habit  of 
mind — or,  trust  in  the  mind's  primitive  cognitions,  as  well  as  in  its  pro- 
cesses of  reasoning.  The  theologian  must  have  insight  as  well  as  under- 
standing. He  must  accustom  himself  to  ponder  spiritual  facts  as  well  as 
those  which  are  sensible  and  material ;  to  see  things  in  their  inner  relations 
as  well  as  in  their  outward  forms;  to  cherish  confidence  in  the  reality  and 
the  unity  of  truth. 

Yinet,  Outlines  of  Philosophy,  39,  40-"  If  I  do  not  feel  that  good  is  good,  who  will 
ever  prove  it  to  me  ?  "  Pascal :  "  Logic,  which  is  an  abstraction,  may  shake  everything. 
A  being  purely  intellectual  will  be  incurably  sceptical."  Calvin:  "Satan  is  an  acute 
theologian."  Dove,  Logic  of  Christian  Faith,  1-29,  and  esp.  25:  Demonstration  of  the 
impossibility  of  motion.  Hazard,  Man  a  Creative  First  Cause,  109:  Bottom  of  a  wheel 
does  not  move.  Cf.  1  Tim.  3 :  2— the  bishop  must  be  <ru><£p<oi>=sober-minded,  well-balanced. 

(c)  An  acquaintance  with  physical,  mental,  and  moral  science.     The 
method  of  conceiving  and  expressing  Scripture  truth  is  so  affected  by  our 
elementary  notions  of  these  sciences,  and  the  weapons  with  which  theology 
is  attacked  and  defended  are  so  commonly  drawn  from  them  as  arsenals, 
that  the  student  cannot  afford  to  be  ignorant  of  them. 

Advantage  to  the  preacher  of  taking  up,  as  did  F.  W.  Robertson,  one  science  after 
another.  Chemistry  entered  into  his  mental  structure  "  like  iron  into  the  blood."  See 
article  by  A.  H.  Strong,  on  Philosophy  and  Religion,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  2 :  393  sq. 
Sir  Wm.  Hamilton :  "  No  difficulty  arises  in  theology  which  has  not  first  emerged  in 
philosophy."  N.  W.  Taylor:  "Give  me  a  young  man  in  metaphysics  and  I  care  not 
who  has  him  in  theology."  Meaning  of  the  maxim :  "  Ubi  tres  medici,  ibi  duo  athei." 
Talbot :  "  I  love  metaphysics,  because  they  have  to  do  with  realities." 

(d)  A  knowledge  of  the  original  languages  of  the  Bible.     This  is  neces- 
sary to  enable  us  not  only  to  determine  the  meaning  of  the  fundamental 
terms  of  Scripture,    such  as  sin,  righteousness,   atonement,    but  also  to 
interpret  statements  of  doctrine  by  their  connections  with  the  context. 


DIVISIONS    OP   THEOLOGY.  21 

Instance  the  Sia  TOVTO  and  «'</>'  <?,  in  Rom.  5 : 12.  Dr.  Philip  Lindsay  to  his  pupils :  "  One  of 
the  best  preparations  for  death  is  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Greek  Grammar." 
The  dead  languages  are  the  only  really  living  ones— free  from  danger  of  misunder- 
standing on  account  of  changing  usage.  Divine  Providence  has  put  revelation  into 
fixed  forms  in  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek.  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Discussions,  330— "To 
be  a  competent  divine  is  in  fact  to  be  a  scholar." 

(e)  A  holy  affection  toward  God.  Only  the  renewed  heart  can  properly 
feel  its  need  of  divine  revelation,  or  understand  that  revelation  when  given. 

Neander's  motto :  "Pectus  est  quod  theologum  facit."  Goethe:  "As  are  the  inclin- 
ations, so  are  the  opinions."  Fichte :  "  Our  system  of  thought  is  very  often  only  the 
history  of  our  heart;"  "truth  is  descended  from  conscience;"  "men  do  not  will  ac- 
cording to  their  reason,  but  reason  according  to  their  will."  Hobbes:  "Even  the 
axioms  of  geometry  would  be  disputed,  if  men's  passions  were  concerned  in  them." 
Pascal :  "  We  know  truth,  not  only  by  the  reason,  but  by  the  heart."  "  Human  things 
need  only  to  be  known  in  order  to  be  loved,  but  divine  things  must  first  be  loved  before 
they  can  be  known."  Aristotle:  "The  power  of  attaining  moral  truth  is  dependent 
upon  our  acting  rightly."  W.  C.  Wilkinson:  "The  head  is  a  magnetic  needle  with 
truth  for  its  pole.  But  the  heart  is  a  hidden  mass  of  magnetic  iron.  The  head  is 
drawn  somewhat  toward  its  natural  pole,  the  truth ;  but  more  it  is  drawn  by  that 
nearer  magnetism."  See  Theodore  Parker's  Experiences  as  a  Minister.  C/.  Ps.  25: 14— 
"  secret  of  the  Lord  " :  John  7 : 17— "  willeth  to  do  his  will "  ;  Rom.  12 :  2—"  prove  what  is  the  will  of  God."  Also 
Ps.  36 : 1—"  the  transgression  of  the  wicked  speaks  in  his  heart  like  an  oracle."  The  preacher  cannot,  like 
Dr.  Kane,  kindle  fire  with  a  lens  of  ice. 

(/)  The  enlightening  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  only  the  Spirit 
fathoms  the  things  of  God,  so  only  he  can  illuminate  our  minds  to  appre- 
hend them. 

Cicero,  Nat.  Deorum,  66—"  Nemo  igitur  vir  magnus  sine  aliquo  adflatu  divino  unquam 
fuit."  See  Adolphe  Monod's  Sermons  on  Christ's  Temptation,  addressed  to  the  theolog- 
ical students  of  Montauban,  in  Select  Sermons  from  the  French  and  German,  117-179. 

II.  DIVISIONS  OF  THEOLOGY. — Theology  is  commonly  divided  into  Bib- 
lical, Historical,  Systematic,  and  Practical. 

1.  Biblical  Theology  aims  to  arrange  and  classify  the  facts  of  revelation, 
confining  itself  to  the  Scriptures  for  its  material,  and  treating  of  doctrine 
only  so  far  as  it  was  developed  at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age. 

Instance  DeWette,  Biblische  Theologie ;  Hof mann,  Schriftbeweis ;  Nitzsch,  System  of 
Christian  Doctrine.  The  last,  however,  has  more  of  the  philosophical  element  than 
properly  belongs  to  Biblical  Theology.  Notice  a  questionable  use  of  the  term  Biblical 
Theology  to  designate  the  theology  of  a  part  of  Scripture  severed  from  the  rest,  as 
Steudel's  Bib.  Theol.  of  O.  T. ;  Schmid's  Bib.  Theol.  of  N.  T. ;  and  in  the  common 
phrases :  Bib.  Theol.  of  Christ,  or  of  Paul.  See  Reuss,  Hist.  Christian  Theology  in  the 
Apostolic  Age. 

2.  Historical  Theology  traces  the  development  of  the  Biblical  doctrines 
from  the  time  of  the  apostles  to  the  present  day,  and  gives  account  of  the 
results  of  this  development  in  the  life  of  the  church.     By  doctrinal  devel- 
opment we  mean  the  progressive  unfolding   and   apprehension,  by  the 
church,  of  the  truth  explicitly  or  implicitly  contained  in  Scripture.     As 
giving  account  of  the  shaping  of  the  Christian  faith  into  doctrinal  state- 
ments, Historical  Theology  is  called  the  History  of  Doctrine.     As  describ- 
ing the  resulting  and  accompanying  changes  in  the  life  of  the  church, 
outward  and  inward,  Historical  Theology  is  called  Church  History. 

Instance  Cunningham's  Historical  Theology ;  Hagenbach's  and  Shedd's  Histories  of 
Doctrine ;  Neander's  Church  History.  See  Neander's  Introduction,  and  Shedd's  Philos- 
ophy of  History. 


22  PROLEGOMENA. 

3.  Systematic  Theology  takes  the  material  furnished  by  Biblical  and 
Historical  Theology,  and  with  this  material  seeks  to  build  up  into  an 
organic  and  consistent  whole  all  our  knowledge  of  God  and  of  the  re- 
lations between  God  and  the  universe,  whether  this  knowledge  be  origin- 
ally derived  from  nature  or  from  the  Scriptures.      It  is  to  be  clearly 
distinguished  from  Dogmatic  Theology.     Dogmatic  Theology  is  the  sys- 
tematizing of  the  doctrines  as  expressed  in  the  symbols  of  the  church, 
together  with  the  grounding  of  these  in  the  Scriptures,  and  the  exhibition, 
so  far  as  may  be,  of  their  rational  necessity.     Systematic  Theology,  on  the 
contrary,  begins,  not  with  the  symbols,  but  with  the  Scriptures.     It  asks 
first,  not  what  the  church  has  believed,  but  what  is  the  truth  of  God's  re- 
vealed word.     It  examines  that  word  with  all  the  aids  which  nature  and  the 
Spirit  have  given  it,  using  Biblical  and  Historical  Theology  as  its  servants 
and  helpers,  but  not  as  its  masters.     Systematic  Theology,   in  fine,   is 
theology  proper,  of  which  Biblical  and  Historical  Theology  are  the  incom- 
plete and  preparatory  stages. 

Symbol,  from  o-v/m/SaAXu),  =  a  brief  throwing-together,  or  condensed  statement,  of  the 
essentials  of  Christian  doctrine.  Synonyms  are:  Confession,  creed,  articles  of  faith. 
Dogmatism  argues  to  foregone  conclusions.  The  word  is  not,  however,  derived  from 
'  dog,'  as  Douglas  Jerrold  suggested :  "  Dogmatism  is  puppyism  full-grown." 

4.  Practical  Theology  is  the  system  of  truth  considered  as  a  means  of 
renewing  and  sanctifying  men,  or,  in  other  words,  theology  in  its  publication 
and  enforcement.     To  this  department  of  theology  belong  Homiletics  and 
Pastoral  Theology,  since  these  are  but  scientific  presentations  of  the  true 
methods  of  unfolding  Christian  truth,  and  of  bringing  it  to  bear  upon  men 
individually  and  in  the  church. 

It  has  sometimes  been  asserted  that  there  are  other  departments  of 
theology  not  included  in  those  above  mentioned.  But  most  of  these,  if 
not  all,  belong  to  other  spheres  of  research  and  cannot  properly  be  classed 
under  theology  at  all.  Moral  theology  so-called,  or  the  science  of  Chris- 
tian morals  (ethics,  or  theological  ethics),  is  indeed  the  proper  result  of 
theology,  but  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  it.  Speculative  theology 
so-called,  respecting,  as  it  does,  such  truth  as  is  matter  of  opinion,  is  either 
extra-scriptural,  and  so  belongs  to  the  province  of  the  philosophy  of  re- 
ligion, or  is  an  attempt  to  explain  truth  already  revealed,  and  so  falls  under 
the  province  of  Systematic  Theology. 

"  Speculative  theology  starts  from  certain  a  priori  principles,  and  from  them  under- 
takes to  determine  what  is  and  must  be.  It  deduces  its  scheme  of  doctrine  from  the 
laws  of  mind  or  from  axioms  supposed  to  be  inwrought  into  its  constitution."  Bib. 
Sac.,  1852 :  375—"  Speculative  theology  tries  to  show  that  the  dogmas  agree  with  the 
laws  of  thought,  while  the  philosophy  of  religion  tries  to  show  that  the  laws  of  thought 
agree  with  the  dogmas."  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy,  18— Philosophy  is  "a 
mode  of  human  knowledge — not  the  whole  of  that  knowledge,  but  a  mode  of  it — the 
knowing  of  things  rationally."  Science  asks:  "  What  do  I  know ?"  Philosophy  asks: 
"  What  can  I  know?"  See  Luthardt,  Compend.  der  Dogmatik,  4;  Hagenbach,  Encyc- 
lopaedic, 109.  Theological  Encyclopaedia  (instruction  in  a  circle)  =  a  general  introduc- 
tion to  all  the  divisions  of  Theology,  together  with  an  account  of  the  relations  between 
them.  Hegel's  Encyclopaedia  was  an  attempted  exhibition  of  the  principles  and  con- 
nections of  all  the  sciences.  See  Crooks  and  Hurst,  Theological  Encyclopaedia  and 
Methodology. 


HISTOEY   OF   SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY.  /J3 

TTT.     HISTORY  OF  SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY. 

1.  In  the  Eastern  Church,  Systematic  Theology  may  be  said  to  have  had 
its  beginning  and  end  in  John  of  Damascus  (700-760). 

Ignatius  (tl!5— Ad  Trail.,  c.  9)  gives  us  "the  first  distinct  statement  of  the  faith 
drawn  up  in  a  series  of  propositions.  His  systematizing  formed  the  basis  of  all  later 
efforts"  (Prof.  A.  H.  Newman).  Origen  of  Alexandria  (186-254)  wrote  his  nepl'Apxwv; 
Athanasius  of  Alexandria  (300-373)  his  treatises  on  the  Trinity  and  the  Deity  of  Christ; 
iuid  Gregory  of  Nyssa  in  Cappadocia  (332-398)  his  Aoyos  KaTTjx^iK^  «  /ne'yas.  While  the 
Fathers  just  mentioned  seem  to  have  conceived  the  plan  of  expounding  the  doctrines 
in  order  and  of  showing  their  relations  to  one  another,  John  of  Damascus  (700-760)  was 
the  first  who  actually  carried  out  such  a  plan.  His'E*cSo<ris  aKpijSi)?  TTJS  6p#o86£ov  Trio-rews, 
or  Summary  of  the  Orthodox  Faith,  may  be  considered  the  earliest  work  of  Systematic 
Theology.  Neander :  "  The  most  important  doctrinal  text-book  of  the  Greek  Church." 
John,  like  the  Greek  Church  in  general,  was  speculative,  theological,  semi-Pelagian, 
sacramentarian. 

2.  In  the  Western  Church,  we  may  (with  Hagenbach)  distinguish  three 
periods: 

(a)  The  period  of  Scholasticism, — introduced  by  Peter  Lombard  (died 
1164),  and  reaching  its  culmination  in  Thomas  Aquinas  (1221-1274)  and 
Duns  Scotus  (1265-1308). 

Though  Systematic  Theology  had  its  beginning  in  the  Eastern  Church,  its  develop- 
ment has  been  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  Western.  Augustine  (353-430)  wrote  his 
Encheiridion  ad  Laurentium  and  his  De  Civitate  Dei,  and  John  Scotus  Erigena  ( 1 850), 
Roscelin  (1092-1132),  and  Abelard  (1079-1142),  in  their  attempts  at  the  rational  explanation 
of  Christian  doctrine,  foreshadowed  the  works  of  the  great  scholastic  teachers.  An- 
selm  of  Canterbury  (1034-1109),  with  his  Proslogion  de  Dei  Existentia  and  his  Cur  Deus 
Homo,  has  sometimes,  though  wrongly,  been  called  the  founder  of  scholasticism. 

But  Peter  Lombard  ( f  1164),  the  magister  sententiarum,  was  the  first  great  systematizer 
of  the  Western  Church,  and  his  Libri  Sententiarum  Quatuor  was  the  theological  text- 
book of  the  Middle  Ages.  Teachers  lectured  on  the  "Sentences,"  as  they  did  on  the 
books  of  Aristotle,  who  furnished  to  scholasticism  its  impulse  and  guide.  Every  doc- 
trine was  treated  in  the  order  of  Aristotle's  four  causes,  the  material,  the  formal,  the 
efficient,  the  final.  ("  Cause  "  here  =  requisite :  (1)  matter  of  which  a  thing  consists ;  (2) 
form  it  assumes;  (3)  producing  agent;  (4)  end  for  which  made).  Thomas  Aquinas 
{1221-1274),  the  Dominican,  doctor  angelicus,  Augustinian  and  Realist,— and  Duns  Scotus 
{1265-1308),  the  Franciscan,  doctor  subtilis,— wrought  out  the  scholastic  theology  more 
fully,  and  left  behind  them,  in  their  Summce,  gigantic  monuments  of  intellectual  in- 
dustry and  acumen.  Scholasticism  aimed  at  the  proof  and  systematizing  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church  by  means  of  Aristotle's  philosophy.  It  became  at  last  an  illimitable 
morass  of  useless  subtleties  and  unintelligible  abstractions,  and  it  finally  ended  in  the 
nominalistic  scepticism  of  William  of  Occam  (+1347).  See  Townsend,  The  Great  School- 
men of  the  Middle  Ages. 

(6)  The  period  of  Symbolism, — represented  by  the  Lutheran  theology  of 
Philip  Melancthon  (1497-1560),  and  the  Eeformed  theology  of  John  Calvin 
(1509-1564) ;  the  former  connecting  itself  with  the  Analytic  theology  of 
Oalixtus  (1585-1656),  and  the  latter  with  the  Federal  theoiogy  of  Cocceius 
(1603-1669). 

The  new  religious  life  of  the  Reformation  led  to  intellectual  revival.  The  churches 
were  compelled  to  formulate  their  belief  in  symbols,  and  to  define  and  expound 
Scripture  doctrine  in  systematic  treatises.  The  theology  of  this  period,  like  the 
Reformation  which  produced  it,  had  two  branches,  the  Lutheran  and  the  Reformed— 
Lutheranism  being  based  on  the  material  principle  of  the  Reformation,  justification 
by  faith  instead  of  by  works ;  the  Reformed  theology  being  based  on  the  formal  prin- 
ciple of  the  Reformation,  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Scriptures  instead  of  that  of 
the  Church. 


24  PROLEGOMENA. 

The  Lutheran  theology.—  Luther  himself  (1485-1546)  was  preacher  rather  than  theo- 
logian. But  Melancthon  (1497-1560),  "the  preceptor  of  Germany,"  as  he  was  called, 
embodied  the  theology  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  his  Loci  Communes  (first  edition 
Augustinian,  afterwards  substantially  Arminian ;  grew  out  of  Lectures  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans).  He  was  followed  by  Chemnitz  (1523-1586),  "clear  and  accurate,"  the 
most  learned  of  the  disciples  of  Melancthon.  Leonhard  Hutter  (1563-1616),  called 
"Lutherus  redivivus,"  and  John  Gerhard  (1583-1637),  followed  Luther  rather  than 
Melancthon.  George  Calixtus  (1586-1656)  separated  ethics  from  systematic  theology 
and  applied  the  analytic  method  of  investigation  to  the  latter,  beginning  with  the  end, 
or  final  cause,  of  all  things,  viz.:  blessedness.  He  was  followed  in  his  method  by 
Dannhauer  (1603-1666),  Calovius  (1613-1686),  Quenstedt  (1617-1688),  whom  Hovey  calls 
"learned,  comprehensive,  and  logical,"  and  Hollaz  (  +  1730). 

The  Reformed  theology.— Zwingle,  the  Swiss  reformer  (1484-1531),  differing  from  Luther 
as  to  the  Lord's  Supper  and  as  to  Scripture,  was  more  than  Luther  entitled  to  the  name 
of  systematic  theologian.  Certain  writings  of  his  may  be  considered  the  beginning  of 
the  Reformed  theology.  But  it  was  left  to  John  Calvin  (1509-1564),  after  the  death  of 
Zwingle,  to  arrange  the  principles  of  that  theology  in  systematic  form.  Calvin  dug 
channels  for  Zwingle's  flood  to  flow  in,  as  Melancthon  did  for  Luther's.  His  Institutes 
(Institutio  Religionis  Christiance),  is  one  of  the  great  works  in  theology  (superior  as  a 
systematic  work  to  Melancthon's  Loci).  Calvin  was  followed  by  Petrus  Ramus  ("  Peter 
Martyr  "—in  Saint  Bartholomew,  1572),  Chamier  ( 1 1621),  and  Theodore  Beza  (1519-1605). 
Beza  carried  Calvin's  doctrine  of  predestination  to  an  extreme  supralapsarianism,  which 
is  hyper-Calvinistic  rather  than  Calvinistic.  Cocceius  (1603-1669),  and  after  him  Witsius 
(1636-1708),  made  theology  centre  about  the  idea  of  the  covenants,  and  founded  the 
Federal  theology.  Leydecker  (1643-1731)  treated  theology  in  the  order  of  the  persons 
of  the  Trinity.  Amyraldus  (1596-1664)  and  Placeus  of  Saumur  (1596-1633)  modified  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine,  the  latter  by  his  theory  of  mediate  imputation,  and  the  former  by 
advocating  the  hypothetic  universalism  of  divine  grace.  Turretin  (1671-1737),  a  clear 
and  strong  theologian  whose  work  is  still  a  text-book  at  Princeton,  and  Pictet  (1655- 
1724),  both  of  them  Federalists,  showed  the  influence  of  the  Cartesian  philosophy. 

In  general,  while  the  line  between  Catholic  and  Protestant  in  Europe  runs  from  west 
to  east,  the  line  between  Lutheran  and  Reformed  runs  from  south  to  north,  the  Re- 
formed theology  flowing  with  the  current  of  the  Rhine  northward  from  Switzerland  to 
Holland  and  to  England,  in  which  latter  country  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  represent 
the  Reformed  faith,  while  the  prayer-book  of  the  English  Church  is  Arminian ;  see 
Dorner,  Gesch.  prot.  Theologie,  Einleit.,  9.  On  the  differences  between  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  doctrine,  see  Schaff,  Germany,  its  Universities,  Theology  and  Religion,  167- 
177.  On  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe  and  America,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and 
Philosophy,  87-134. 

(c)  The  period  of  Criticism  and  Speculation, — in  its  three  divisions:  the 
Rationalistic,  represented  by  Semler  (1721-1791)  ;  the  Transitional,  by 
Schleiermacher  (1768-1834)  ;  the  Evangelical,  by  Nitzsch,  Muller,  Tholuck 
and  Dorner. 

First  Division— Rationalistic  theologies :  Though  the  Reformation  had  freed  theology 
in  great  part  from  the  bonds  of  scholasticism,  other  philosophies  after  a  time  took 
its  place.  The  Leibnitz-  (1646-1716)  Wolffian  (1679-1754)  exaggeration  of  the  powers  of 
natural  religion  prepared  the  way  for  rationalistic  systems  of  theology.  Buddeus  (1667- 
1739)  combatted  the  new  principles,  but  Semler's  (1735-1791)  theology  was  built  upon 
them,  and  represented  the  Scriptures  as  having  a  merely  local  and  temporary  charac- 
ter. Michaelis  (1716-1784)  and  Doederlein  (1714-1789)  followed  Semler,  and  the  tendency 
toward  rationalism  was  greatly  assisted  by  the  critical  philosophy  of  Kant  (1724-1804),  to 
whom  "  revelation  was  problematical,  and  positive  religion  merely  the  medium  through 
which  the  practical  truths  of  reason  are  communicated"  (Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  3: 
397).  Ammon  (1766-1850)  and  Wegscheider  (1771-1848)  were  representatives  of  this 
philosophy.  Storr  (1746-1805),  Reinhard  (1753-1813),  and  Knapp  (1753-1835),  in  the  main 
evangelical,  endeavored  to  reconcile  revelation  with  reason,  but  were  more  or  less; 
influenced  by  this  rationalizing  spirit.  Bretschneider  (1776-1838)  and  DeWette  (1780- 
1849)  may  be  said  to  have  held  middle  ground. 

Second  Division— Transition  to  a  more  Scriptural  theology.  Herder  (1744-1803)  and 
Jacobi  (1743-1819),  by  their  more  spiritual  philosophy,  prepared  the  way  for  Schleier- 
macher's  (1768-1834)  grounding  of  doctrine  in  the  facts  of  Christian  experience.  The- 
writings  of  Schleiermacher  constituted  an  epoch,  and  had  great  influence  in  delivering 


HISTORY    OF    SYSTEMATIC   THEOLOGY.  25 

theology  from  the  rationalistic  toils  into  which  it  had  fallen.  Although  rationalism  is 
of  late  represented  by  Hase  and  Strauss,  by  Biedermann  and  Lepsius,  we  may  now 
speak  of  a 

Third  Division— and  in  this  division  we  may  put  the  names  of  Neander  and  Tholuck, 
Twesten  and  Nitzsch,  Miiller  and  Luthardt,  Dorner  and  Philippi,  Ebrard  and  Thomasius, 
Lange  and  Kahnis,  all  of  them  exponents  of  a  far  more  pure  and  evangelical  theology 
than  was  common  in  Germany  a  century  ago. 

3.  Among  theologians  of  views  diverse  from  the  prevailing  Protestant 
faith,  may  be  mentioned  : 

(a)    Bellarmine  (1542-1621),  the  Eoman  Catholic. 

Besides  Bellarmine,  "the  best  controversial  writer  of  his  age"  (Bayle),  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  numbers  among  its  noted  modern  theologians :  —  Petavius  (1583- 
1652),  whose  dogmatic  theology  Gibbon  calls  "a  work  of  incredible  labor  and  com- 
pass;" Melchior  Canus  (1523-1560),  an  opponent  of  the  Jesuits  and  of  their  scholastic 
method ;  Bossuet  (1627-1704),  who  idealized  Catholicism  in  his  Exposition  of  Doctrine, 
and  attacked  Protestantism  in  his  History  of  Variations  of  Protestant  Churches ;  Jan- 
sen  (1585-1638),  who  attempted,  in  opposition  to  the  Jesuits,  to  reproduce  the  theology  of 
Augustine,  and  who  had  in  this  the  powerful  assistance  of  Pascal  (1623-1662).  Jansenism, 
so  far  as  the  doctrines  of  grace  are  concerned,  but  not  as  respects  the  sacraments,  is 
virtual  Protestantism  within  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Moehler's  Symbolism,  Per- 
rone's  Prelectlones  Theologicce,  and  Hurter's  Compendium  Theologian  Dogmaticm  are  the 
latest  and  most  approved  expositions  of  Roman  Catholic  doctrine. 

(6)     Arminius  (1560-1609),  the  opponent  of  predestination. 

Among  the  followers  of  Arminius  (1560-1609)  must  be  reckoned  Episcopius  (1583-1643), 
who  carried  Arminianism  to  almost  Pelagian  extremes ;  Hugo  Grotius  (1553-1645),  the 
jurist  and  statesman,  author  of  the  governmental  theory  of  the  atonement ;  and  Lim- 
borch  (1633-1712),  the  most  thorough  expositor  of  the  Arminian  doctrine. 

(c)  Laelius  Socinus  (1525-1562),  and  Faustus  Socinus  (1539-1604),  the 
leaders  of  the  modern  Unitarian  movement. 

The  works  of  Laelius  Socinus  (1525-1562)  and  his  nephew,  Faustus  Socinus  (1539-1604), 
constituted  the  beginnings  of  modern  TJnitarianism.  Laelius  Socinus  was  the  reformer 
and  Faustus  Socinus  was  the  theologian ;  or,  as  Baumgarten-Crusius  expresses  it,  "the 
former  was  the  spiritual  founder  of  Socimanism,  and  the  latter  the  founder  of  the 
sect."  Their  writings  are  collected  in  the  Bibliofheca  Fratrum  Polonorum.  The  Racovian 
Catechism,  taking  its  name  from  the  Polish  town  Racow,  contains  the  most  succinct 
exposition  of  their  views. 

4.  British  theology,  represented  by  : 

(a)  The  Baptists,  John  Bunyan  (1628-1688),  John  Gill  (1697-1771),  and 
Andrew  Fuller  (1754-1815). 

Some  of  the  best  British  theology  is  Baptist.  Among  John  Bunyan's  works,  we  may 
notice  his  "Gospel  Truths  Opened."  Macaulay  calls  Milton  and  Bunyan  the  two 
great  creative  minds  of  England  during  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  century.  John 
Gill's  "  Body  of  Practical  Divinity  "  shows  much  ability,  although  the  Rabbinical  learn- 
ing of  the  author  occasionally  displays  itself  in  a  curious  exegesis.  Andrew  Fuller's 
"Letters  on  Systematic  Divinity"  is  a  brief  compend  of  theology.  His  treatises  upon 
special  doctrines  are  marked  by  sound  judgment  and  clear  insight.  They  justify  the 
epithets  which  Robert  Hall,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Baptist  preachers,  gives  him : 
"sagacious,"  "luminous,"  "powerful." 

(6)  The  Puritans,  John  Owen  (1616-1683),  Eichard  Baxter  (1615-1691), 
John  Howe  (1630-1705),  and  Thomas  Eidgeley  (1666-1734). 

Of  the  Puritan  theologians  the  Encyc.  Brit,  remarks :  "  As  a  theological  thinker  and 
tvriter,  John  Owen  holds  his  own  distinctly  defined  place  among  those  Titanic  intellects 
toith  which  the  age  abounded.  Surpassed  by  Baxter  in  point  and  pathos,  by  Howe  in 
Imagination  and  the  higher  philosophy,  he  is  unrivalled  In  his  power  of  unfolding  the 
rich  meanings  of  Scripture.  In  his  writings  he  was  preeminently  the  great  theologian." 


26  PROLEGOMENA. 

Baxter  wrote  a  "Metfiodus   Theologice,"  and  a  "Catholic  Theology";  John  Howe  is 
chiefly  known  by  his  "  Living-  Temple  "  ;  Thomas  Ridgeley  by  his  "  Body  of  Divinity." 

(c)  The  Scotch  Presbyterians,  Thomas  Boston  (1676-1732),  John  Dick 
(1764-1833),  and  Thomas  Chalmers  (1780-1847). 

Of  the  Scotch  Presbyterians,  Boston  is  the  most  voluminous,  Dick  the  most  calm 
and  fair,  Chalmers  the  most  fervid  and  popular. 

(d)  The  Methodists,   John  Wesley  (1703-1791),    and  Eichard  Watson 
(1781-1833). 

Of  the  Methodists,  John  Wesley's  doctrine  is  presented  in  "  Christian  Theology,"  col- 
lected from  his  writings  by  the  Rev.  Thornley  Smith.  The  great  Methodist  text-book, 
however,  is  the  Institutes  of  Watson,  who  systematized  and  expounded  the  Wesleyan 
theology.  Pope,  a  recent  English  theologian,  follows  Watson's  modified  and  improved 
Arminianism  (while  Whedon  and  Raymond,  recent  American  writers,  hold  rather  to  a 
radical  and  extreme  Arminianism). 

(e)  The  English  Churchmen,  Bichard  Hooker  (1553-1600),  Gilbert  Bur- 
net  (1643-1715),  and  John  Pearson  (1613-1686). 

The  English  church  has  produced  no  great  systematic  theologian  (see  reasons  assigned 
inDorner,  Gesch.  prot.  Theologie,  470).  The  "judicious"  Hooker  is  still  its  greatest 
theological  writer,  although  his  work  is  only  on  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity."  Bishop  Bur- 
net  is  the  author  of  the  "  Exposition  of  the  XXXIX  Articles,"  and  Bishop  Pearson  of 
the  "  Exposition  of  the  Creed."  Both  these  are  common  English  text-books.  A  recent 
*'  Compendium  of  Dogmatic  Theology,"  by  Litton,  shows  a  tendency  to  return  from 
the  usual  Arminianism  of  the  Anglican  church  to  the  old  Augustinianism. 

5.     American  theology,  running  in  two  lines : 

(a)  The  Beformed  system  of  Jonathan  Edwards  (1703-1758),  modified 
successively  by  Joseph  BeUamy  (1719-1790),  Samuel  Hopkins  (1721-1803), 
Timothy  Dwight  (1752-1817),  Nathaniel  Emmons  (1745-1840),  Leonard 
Woods  (1774-1854),  C.  G.  Finney  (1792-1875),  and  N.  W.  Taylor  (1786- 
1858).  Calvinism,  as  thus  modified,  is  often  called  the  New  England,  or 
New  School,  theology. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  one  of  the  greatest  of  metaphysicians  and  theologians,  thought 
too  little  of  nature,  and  tended  to  Berkeleyanism  as  applied  to  mind.  He  regarded 
the  chief  good  as  happiness— a  form  of  sensibility.  Virtue  was  voluntary  choice  of 
this  good.  Hence  union  with  Adam  in  acts  and  exercises  was  sufficient.  This  God's 
will  made  identity  of  being  with  Adam.  This  led  to  the  exercise-system  of  Hopkins 
and  Emmons,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  Bellamy's  and  Dwight's  denial  of  any  impu- 
tation of  Adam's  sin  or  of  inborn  depravity,  on  the  other— in  which  last  denial  agree 
many  other  New  England  theologians  who  reject  the  exercise-scheme,  as  for  example, 
Strong,  Tyler,  Smalley,  Burton,  Woods,  and  Park.  Dr.  N.  W.  Taylor  added  a  more 
distinctly  Arminian  element,  the  power  of  contrary  choice— and  with  this  tenet  of  the 
New  Haven  theology,  Charles  G.  Finney,  of  Oberlin,  substantially  agreed.  Thus  from 
certain  principles  admitted  by  Edwards,  who  held  in  the  main  to  an  Old  School  the- 
ology, the  New  School  theology  has  been  gradually  developed. 

(6)  The  older  Calvinism,  represented  by  B.  J.  Breckinridge  (born  1800), 
Charles  Hodge  (1797-1878),  E.  J.  Baird,  and  William  G.  T.  Shedd  (born 
1820)  ;  the  two  former  favoring,  and  the  two  latter  opposing,  antecedent 
imputation.  All  these,  however,  as  holding  to  views  of  human  depravity 
and  divine  grace  more  nearly  conformed  to  the  doctrine  of  Augustine  and 
Calvin,  are  distinguished  from  the  New  England  theologians  and  their 
followers  by  the  popular  title  of  Old  School. 


OKDEB   OF  TREATMENT.  27 

Old  School  theology  has  for  its  characteristic  tenet  the  guilt  of  inborn  depravity. 
But  among  those  who  hold  this  view,  some  are  federalists  and  creationists,  and  regard 
imputation  as  the  cause  of  this  depravity.  Such  are  the  Princeton  theologians  gener- 
ally, including  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  the  father,  and  Dr.  A.  A.  Hodge,  the  son,  together 
with  R.  J.  Breckinridge,  the  brothers  Alexander,  and  Thornwell  of  South  Carolina. 
Among  those  who  hold  to  the  Old  School  doctrine  of  the  guilt  of  inborn  depravity, 
however,  there  are  others  who  are  traducians,  and  who  regard  imputation  as  conse- 
quent upon  corruption  and  not  as  antecedent  to  it.  Baird's  "  Elohim  Revealed  "  and 
Shedd's  Essay  on  "  Original  Sin  "  (Sin  a  Nature,  and  that  Nature  Guilt)  represent  this 
realistic  conception  of  the  relation  of  the  race  to  its  first  father. 

On  the  history  of  Systematic  Theology  in  general,  see  Hagenbach,  History  of  Doc- 
trine (from  which  many  of  the  facts  above  given  are  taken),  and  Shedd,  History  of 
Doctrine ;  also,  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  44-100;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  1 :  15-128 ;  Hase,  Hut- 
terus  Redivivus,  24-52.  On  the  history  of  New  England  Theology,  see  Fisher,  Discus- 
sions and  Essays,  285-354.  On  Edwards's  tendency  to  idealism,  see  Sanborn,  in  Journ. 
Spec.  Philos.,  Oct.,  1883 :  401-420. 

IV.     OKDEB  OP  TREATMENT  IN  SYSTEMATIC  THEOLOGY. 

1.  Various  methods  of  arranging  the  topics  of  a  theological  system. 

(a)  The  Analytic  method  of  Calixtus  begins  with  the  assumed  end  of  all 
things,  blessedness,  and  thence  passes  to  the  means  by  which  it  is  secured. 
(6)  The  Trinitarian  method  of  Leydecker  and  Martensen  regards  Christian 
doctrine  as  a  manifestation  successively  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
(c)  The  Federal  method  of  Cocceius,  Witsius,  and  Boston  treats  theology 
under  the  two  covenants,  (d)  The  Anthropological  method  of  Chalmers 
and  Rothe.  The  former  begins  with  the  Disease  of  Man  and  passes  to  the 
Remedy ;  the  latter  divides  his  Dogmatik  into  the  Consciousness  of  Sin 
and  the  Consciousness  of  Redemption,  (e)  The  Christological  method  of 
Hase,  Thomasius  and  Andrew  Fuller  treats  of  God,  man,  and  sin,  as  pre- 
suppositions of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ.  Mention  may  also  be 
made  of  (/)  The  Historical  method,  followed  by  Ursinus,  and  adopted  in 
Jonathan  Edwards's  History  of  Redemption;  and  (g)  The  Allegorical 
method  of  Dannhauer,  in  which  man  is  described  as  a  wanderer,  life  as  a 
road,  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  light,  the  church  as  the  candlestick,  God  as  the 
end,  and  heaven  as  the  home. 

See  Calixtus,  Epitome  Theologise ;  Leydecker,  De  CEconomia  trium  Personarum  in 
Negotio  Salutis  humanse ;  Martensen  (1808-1884),  Christian  Dogmatics ;  Cocceius,  Summa 
Theologiae,  and  Summa  Doctrina  de  Foedere  et  Testamento  Dei,  in  Works,  vol.  vi; 
Witsius,  The  Economy  of  the  Covenants ;  Boston,  A  Complete  Body  of  Divinity  (in 
Works,  vol.  1  and  2),  Questions  in  Divinity  (vol.  6),  Human  Nature  in  its  Fourfold  State 
<vol.  8);  Chalmers,  Institutes  of  Theology;  Rothe  (1799-1867),  Dogmatik,  and  Theolo- 
gische  Ethik;  Hase  (1800-),  Evangelische  Dogmatik;  Thomasius  (1802-1875),  Christi  Per- 
son und  Werk;  Fuller,  Gospel  Worthy  of  all  Acceptation  (in  Works,  2:  328-416),  and 
Letters  on  Systematic  Divinity  (1:  684-711);  Ursinus  (1534-1583),  Loci  Theologici  (in 
Works,  1 :  426-909) ;  Edwards,  History  of  Redemption  (in  Works,  1 :  296-516) ;  Dannhauer 
<1603-1666),  Hodosophia  Christiana,  seu  Theologia  Positiva  in  Methodum  redacta. 

2.  The  Synthetic  method,  which  we  adopt  in  this  Compendium,  is  both 
the  most  common  and  the  most  logical  method  cf  arranging  the  topics  of 
theology.    This  method  proceeds  from  causes  to  effects,  or,  in  the  language 
of  Hagenbach  (Hist.  Doctrine,  2  :  152),  "starts  from  the  highest  principle, 
God,  and  proceeds  to  man,  Christ,  redemption,  and  finally  to  the  end  of 


28  PROLEGOMENA. 

all  things. "    In  such  a  treatment  of  theology  we  may  best  arrange  our 
topics  in  the  following  order: 

1st.     The  existence  of  God. 

2d.      The  Scriptures  a  revelation  from  God. 

3d.     The  nature,  decrees  and  works  of  God. 

4th.    Man,  in  his  original  likeness  to  God  and  subsequent  apostasy. 

5th.    Eedemption,  through  the  work  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

6th.    The  nature  and  laws  of  the  Christian  church. 

7th.    The  end  of  the  present  system  of  things. 

V.     TEXT-BOOKS  IN  THEOLOGY,  valuable  for  reference: — 

1.  Compendiums  :  Hase,  Hutterus  Bedivivus ;  Luthardt,  Compendium 
der  Dogmatik ;    A.   A.    Hodge,    Outlines  of   Theology  (second  edition) ; 
Pendleton,  Christian  Doctrine ;   Hovey,  Manual  of  Theology  and  Ethics; 
H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christian  Theology. 

2.  Confessions  :  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom. 

3.  Extended  Treatises:  Calvin,  Institutes;   Turretin,   Institutio  The- 
ologise ;  Charles  Hodge,  Systematic  Theology ;  Dorner,  System  of  Chris- 
tian Doctrine ;    Philippi,   Glaubenslehre ;   Van  Oosterzee,  Christian  Dog- 
matics ;  Luthardt,  Fundamental,  Saving,  and  Moral  Truths ;  Baird,  Elohim 
Bevealed  ;  Dagg,  Manual  of  Theology. 

4.  Collected  Works :  Jonathan  Edwards ;  Andrew  Fuller. 

5.  Histories  of  Doctrine  :  Hagenbach ;  Shedd. 

6.  Monographs  :  Julius  Miiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin ;  Dorner,  History  of 
the    Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ;    Liddon,   Our  Lord's  Divinity; 
Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays. 

7.  Apologetics  :  Harris,  Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism ;  Fisher,  Grounds 
of  Theistic  and  Christian  Belief ;  Bow,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1877,  on 
Christian  Evidences ;  Peabody,  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

8.  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy :    Porter,    Human  Intellect ; 
Alden,  Intellectual  Philosophy ;  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy  ;  Alexander, 
Moral  Science  ;  Porter,  Elements  of  Moral  Science. 

9.  Theological  Encyclopaedias :    Herzog  (second  German  edition) ; 
Schaff-Herzog  (English) ;  McClintock  and  Strong. 

10.  Bible  Dictionaries  :  Smith  (edited  by  Hackett). 

11.  Commentaries  :  Meyer,  on  the  New  Testament ;  Philippi,  Shedd, 
Lange  (ed.  Schaff),  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Bomans. 

12.  Bibles  :  Stier  and  Theile,  Polyglotten-Bibel ;  Annotated  Paragraph 
Bible  (published  by  the  London  Beligious  Tract  Society)  ;   Bevised  Greek- 
English  New  Testament  (published  by  Harper  and  Brothers) ;    Bevised 
English  Bible. 


PART  II. 

THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN  OF  OUR   IDEA   OF  GOD'S   EXISTENCE. 

God  is  the  infinite  and  perfect  Spirit  in  whom  all  things  have  their  source, 
support,  and  end. 

On  the  definition  of  the  term  God,  see  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1:  366.  Other  definitions 
are  those  of  Calovius:  "Essentia  spiritualis  infinita";  Ebrard:  "The  eternal  source 
of  all  that  is  temporal";  Kahnis:  "The  infinite  Spirit";  John  Howe:  "An  eternal, 
uncaused,  independent,  necessary  Being1,  that  hath  active  power,  life,  wisdom,  good- 
ness, and  whatsoever  other  supposable  excellency,  in  the  highest  perfection,  in  and  of 
itself";  Westminster  Catechism:  "A  Spirit  infinite,  eternal  and  unchangeable  in  his 
being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness,  justice,  goodness  and  truth";  Andrew  Fuller:  "The 
first  cause  and  last  end  of  all  things." 

The  existence  of  God  is  a  first  truth ;  in  other  words,  the  knowledge  of 
God's  existence  is  a  rational  intuition.  Logically,  it  precedes  and  con- 
ditions all  observation  and  reasoning.  Chronologically,  only  reflection 
upon  the  phenomena  of  nature  and  of  mind  occasions  its  rise  in  con- 
sciousness. 

The  term  intuition  means  simply  direct  knowledge.  Lowndes  (Philos.  of  Primary 
Beliefs,  78)  and  Mansel  (Metaphysics,  52)  would  use  the  term  only  of  our  direct  knowl- 
edge of  substances,  as  self  and  body ;  Porter  applies  it  by  preference  to  our  cognition 
of  first  truths,  such  as  have  been  already  mentioned.  Harris  (Philos.  Basis  of  Theism, 
44-151,  but  esp.  45,  46)  makes  it  include  both.  He  divides  intuitions  into  two  classes :  1. 
Presentative  intuitions,  as  self -consciousness  (in  virtue  of  which  I  perceive  the  exist- 
ence of  spirit  and  already  come  in  contact  with  the  supernatural),  and  sense-perception 
(in  virtue  of  which  I  perceive  the  existence  of  matter,  at  least  in  my  own  organism, 
and  come  in  contact  with  nature) ;  2.  Rational  intuitions,  as  space,  time,  substance, 
cause,  final  cause,  right,  absolute  being.  "We  may  accept  this  nomenclature,  using  the 
terms  "first  truths"  and  "rational  intuitions"  as  equivalent  to  each  other,  and  classi- 
fying rational  intuitions  under  the  heads  of  (1)  intuitions  of  relations,  as  space  and 
time ;  (2)  intuitions  of  principles,  as  substance,  cause,  final  cause,  right ;  and  (3)  in- 
tuition of  absolute  Being,  Power,  Reason,  Perfection,  Personality,  as  God. 

"We  hold  that,  as  upon  occasion  of  the  senses  cognizing  (a)  extended  matter,  (b)  suc- 
cession, (c)  qualities,  (a)  change,  (e)  order,  (/)  action,  respectively,  the  mind  cognizes 
(a)  space,  (b)  time,  (c)  substance,  (d)  cause,  (e)  design,  (/)  obligation,  so  upon  occasion 
of  our  cognizing  our  finiteness,  dependence  and  responsibility,  the  mind  directly  cog- 
nizes the  existence  of  an  Infinite  and  Absolute  Authority,  Perfection,  Personality, 
upon  whom  we  are  dependent  and  to  whom  we  are  responsible.  Among  those  who 
bold  to  this  general  view  of  an  intuitive  knowledge  of  God  may  be  mentioned  the  fol- 
lowing :  —  Calvin,  Institutes,  book  I.,  chap.  3 ;  Nitzsch,  System  of  Christian  Doctrine, 


30  THE   EXISTENCE   OF   GOD. 

15-26, 134-140;  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1:  78-84;  Ulrici,  Leib  und  Seele,  688-725; 
Porter,  Human  Intellect,  497;  Hickok,  Rational  Cosmology,  58-89;  Farrar,  Science  in 
Theology,  27-29 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  July,  1872 :  553,  and  January,  1873 :  204 ;  Miller,  Fetich  in  The- 
ology, 110-122;  Fisher,  Essays,  565-572;  Tulloch,  Theism,  314-336;  Hodge,  Systematic 
Theology,  1 :  191-203 ;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,  75,  76 ;  Raymond, 
Syst.  Theology,  1:  247-262;  Bascom,  Science  of  Mind,  246,  247. 

I.       FIRST  TRUTHS   IN   GENERAIj. 

1.     Their  nature. 

A.  Negatively. — A  first  truth  is  not    (a)   Truth  written  prior  to  con- 
sciousness upon  the  substance  of  the  soul — for  such  passive  knowledge 
implies  a  materialistic  view  of  the  soul;    (6)   Actual  knowledge  of  which 
the  soul  finds  itself  in  possession  at  birth — for  it  cannot  be  proved  that  the 
soul  has  such  knowledge ;    (c)  An  idea,  undeveloped  at  birth,  but  which 
has  the  power  of  self-development  apart  from  observation  and  experience — 
for  this  is  contrary  to  all  we  know  of  the  laws  of  mental  growth. 

Cicero,  De  Natura  Deorum,  1 :  17—"  InteUigi  necesse  est  esse  decs,  quoniam  insitas 
eorum  vel  potius  innatas  cogitationes  habemus."  Origen,  Adv.  Celsum,  1:  4— "Men 
would  not  be  guilty,  if  they  did  not  carry  in  their  minds  common  notions  of  morality, 
innate  and  written  in  divine  letters."  Calvin,  Institutes,  1:3:  3 — "Those  who  rightly 
judge  will  always  agree  that  there  is  an  indelible  sense  of  divinity  engraven  upon 
men's  minds."  Fleming,  Vocab.  of  Philosophy,  art.:  "Innate  Ideas  "—"  Descartes  is 
supposed  to  have  taught  (and  Locke  devoted  the  first  book  of  his  Essay  to  refuting  the 
doctrine)  that  these  ideas  are  innate  or  connate  with  the  soul ;  i.  e.,  the  intellect  finds 
itself  at  birth,  or  as  soon  as  it  wakes  to  conscious  activity,  to  be  possessed  of  ideas  to 
which  it  has  only  to  attach  the  appropriate  names,  or  of  judgments  which  it  only  needs 
to  express  in  fit  propositions—^,  e.,  prior  to  any  experience  of  individual  objects." 

B.  Positively. — A  first  truth  is  a  knowledge  which,  though  developed 
upon  occasion  of  observation  and  reflection,  is  not  derived  from  observation 
and  reflection, — a  knowledge  on  the  contrary  which  has  such  logical  priority 
that  it  must  be  assumed  or  supposed,  in  order  to  make  any  observation  or 
reflection  possible.      Such  truths  are  not,  therefore,  recognized  first  in 
order  of  time  ;  some  of  them  are  assented  to  somewhat  late  in  the  mind's 
growth  ;  by  the  great  majority  of  men  they  are  never  consciously  formu- 
lated at  all.     Yet  they  constitute  the  necessary  assumptions  upon  which 
all  other  knowledge  rests,  and  the  mind  has  not  only  the  inborn  capacity 
to  evolve  them  so  soon  as  the  proper  occasions  are  presented,  but  the  re- 
cognition of  them  is  inevitable  so  soon  as  the  mind  begins  to  give  account 
to  itself  of  its  own  knowledge. 

Mansel,  Metaphysics,  52,  279— "To  describe  experience  as  the  cause  of  the  idea  of 
space  would  be  as  inaccurate  as  to  speak  of  the  soil  in  which  it  was  planted  as  the 
cause  of  the  oak— though  the  planting  in  the  soil  is  the  condition  which  brings  into 
manifestation  the  latent  power  of  the  acorn."  Coleridge:  "We  see  before  we  know 
-  that  we  have  eyes ;  but  when  once  this  is  known,  we  perceive  that  eyes  must  have  pre- 
existed in  order  to  enable  us  to  see."  Coleridge  speaks  of  first  truths  as  "those  ne- 
cessities of  mind  or  forms  of  thinking,  which,  though  revealed  to  us  by  experience, 
must  yet  have  preexisted  in  order  to  make  experience  possible."  McCosh,  Intuitions, 
48,  49— Intuitions  are  "  like  flower  and  fruit,  which  are  in  the  plant  from  its  embryo, 
but  may  not  be  actually  formed  till  there  have  been  a  stalk  and  branches  and  leaves." 
Porter,  Human  Intellect,  501, 519—"  Such  truths  cannot  be  acquired  or  assented  to  first 
of  all."  Some  are  reached  last  of  all.  The  moral  intuition  is  often  developed  late,  and 
sometimes,  even  then,  only  upon  occasion  of  corporal  punishment.  For  account  of 
the  relation  of  the  intuitions  to  experience,  see  especially  Cousin,  True,  Beautiful  and 
Good,  39-64,  and  History  of  Philosophy,  2 :  199-245.  Compare  Kant,  Critique  of  Pure 
Reason,  Introd.,  1.  See  also  Bascom,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  23 :  1-47 ;  27  :  68-90. 


THE   EXISTENCE    OF   GOD   A   FIRST   TRUTH.  31 

2.  Their  criteria.  The  criteria  by  which  first  truths  are  to  be  tested 
are  three : 

A.  Their  universality.     By  this  we  mean,  not  that  all  men  assent  to 
them  or  understand  them  when  propounded  in  scientific  form,  but  that  all 
men  manifest  a  practical  belief  in  them  by  their  language,  actions,  and 
expectations. 

B.  Their  necessity.     By  this  we  mean,  not  that  it  is  impossible  to  deny 
these  truths,  but  that  the  mind  is  compelled  by  its  very  constitution  to 
recognize  them  upon  the  occurrence  of  the  proper  conditions,  and  to  em- 
ploy them  in  its  arguments  to  prove  their  non-existence. 

C.  Their  logical  independence  and  priority.     By  this  we  mean  that 
these  truths  can  be  resolved  into  no  others,  and  proved  by  no  others ;  that 
they  are  presupposed  in  the  acquisition  of  all  other  knowledge,  and  can 
therefore  be  derived  from  no  other  source  than  an  original  cognitive  power 
of  the  mind. 

B.  Instances  of  the  professed  and  formal  denial  of  first  truths :— the  positivist  denies 
causality ;  the  idealist  denies  substance ;  the  pantheist  denies  personality ;  the  necessi- 
tarian denies  freedom ;  the  nihilist  denies  his  own  existence.  A  man  may  in  like  man- 
ner argue  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  an  atmosphere ;  but  even  while  he  argues,  he 
breathes  it.  Instance  the  knock-down  argument  to  demonstrate  the  freedom  of  the 
will.  I  grant  my  own  existence  in  the  very  doubting  of  it;  for  cogito,  ergo  swm, 
as  Descartes  himself  insisted,  really  means  cogito,  scilicet  sum;  H.  B.  Smith:  "The 
statement  is  analysis,  not  proof."  On  the  criteria  of  first  truths,  see  Porter,  Human 
Intellect,  510,  511. 

H.     THE  EXISTENCE  OF  GOD  A  FIRST  TRUTH. 

1.  That  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  answers  the  first  criterion 
of  universality,  is  evident  from  the  following  considerations  : 

A.  It  is  an  acknowledged  fact  that  the  vast  majority  of  men  have  ac- 
tually recognized  the  existence  of  a  spiritual  being  or  beings,  upon  whom 
they  conceived  themselves  to  be  dependent. 

The  Vedas  declare :  "There  is  but  one  Being— no  second."  Max  Mtiller,  Origin  and 
Growth  of  Keligion,  34—"  Not  the  visible  sun,  moon  and  stars  are  invoked,  but  some- 
thing else  that  cannot  be  seen."  The  lowest  tribes  have  conscience,  fear  death,  believe 
in  witches,  propitiate  or  frighten  away  evil  fates.  Even  the  fetish-worshipper,  who 
calls  the  stone  or  the  tree  a  god,  shows  that  he  has  already  the  idea  of  a  God.  We  must 
not  measure  the  ideas  of  the  heathen  by  their  capacity  for  expression,  any  more  than 
we  should  judge  the  child's  belief  in  the  existence  of  his  father  by  his  success  in  draw- 
ing the  father's  picture.  On  heathenism,  its  origin  and  nature,  see  Tholuck,  in  Bib. 
Repos.,  1832 :  86 ;  Scholz,  Gotzendienst  und  Zauberwesen. 

B.  Those  races  and  nations  which  have  at  first  seemed  destitute  of  such 
knowledge  have  uniformly,  upon  further  investigation,  been  found  to  pos- 
sess it,  so  that  no  tribe  of  men  with  which  we  have  thorough  acquaintance 
can  be  said  to  be  without  an  object  of  worship.     We  may  presume  that 
further  knowledge  will  show  this  to  be  true  of  all. 

Moffat,  who  reported  that  certain  African  tribes  were  destitute  of  religion,  was  cor- 
rected by  the  testimony  of  his  son-in-law,  Livingstone :  "  The  existence  of  God  and  of 
a  future  life  is  everywhere  recognized  in  Africa."  Where  men  are  most  nearly  destitute 
of  any  formulated  knowledge  of  God,  the  conditions  for  the  awakening  of  the  idea 
are  most  nearly  absent.  An  apple-tree  may  be  so  conditioned  that  it  never  bears  apples. 
"  We  do  not  judge  of  the  oak  by  the  stunted,  flowerless  specimens  on  the  edge  of  the 
Arctic  circle."  On  an  original  monotheism,  see  Diestel,  in  Jahrbuch  ftir  deutsche 
Theol.,  1860,  and  vol.  5 :  669 ;  Max  Mliller,  Chips,  1 :  337 ;  Rawlinson,  in  Present  Day 


32  THE    EXISTENCE   OF   GOD. 

Tracts,  no.  11;  Legge,  Religions  of  China,  8-11.    Per  contra,  see  Asmus,  Indogerm. 
Relig.,  2:  1-8,  and  synopsis,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1877 :  167-172. 

0,  This  conclusion  is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that  those  individuals,  in 
heathen  or  in  Christian  lands,  who  profess  themselves  to  be  without  any 
knowledge  of  a  spiritual  power  or  powers  above  them,  do  yet  indirectly 
manifest  the  existence  of  such  an  idea  in  their  minds  and  its  positive  influ- 
ence over  them. 

Herbert  Spencer  himself  affirms  the  existence  of  a  "Power  to  which  no  limit  in 
time  or  space  is  conceivable,  of  which  all  phenomena  as  presented  in  consciousness  are 
manifestations/'  The  intuition  of  God,  though  formally  excluded,  is  implicitly  con- 
tained in  Spencer's  system,  in  the  shape  of  the  "irresistible  belief"  in  Absolute  Being, 
which  distinguishes  his  position  from  that  of  Comte ;  see  Diman,  Theistic  Argument, 
58-66.  Hume  to  Ferguson,  as  they  walked  on  a  starry  night :  "  Adam,  there  is  a  God ! " 
Voltaire  prayed  in  an  Alpine  thunderstorm.  Shelley,  self-styled  "Atheist,"  loved  to 
think  of  a  "fine  intellectual  spirit  pervading  the  universe."  Renan  trusts  in  good- 
ness, design,  ends. 

D.  This  agreement  among  individuals  and  nations  so  widely  separated 
in  time  and  place  can  be  most  satisfactorily  explained  by  supposing  that  it 
has  its  ground,  not  in  accidental  circumstances,  but  in  the  nature  of  man  as 
man.  The  diverse  and  imperfectly  developed  ideas  of  the  supreme  Being 
which  prevail  among  men  are  best  accounted  for  as  misinterpretations  and 
perversions  of  an  intuitive  conviction  common  to  all. 

On  evidence  of  a  universal  recognition  of  a  superior  power,  see  Flint,  Anti-theistic 
Theories,  250-289,  522-533;  Renouf,  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1879 :  100;  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1884: 
132-157 ;  Peschel,  Races  of  Men,  261 ;  Ulrici,  Leib  und  Seele,  688,  and  Gott  und  die  Natur, 
658-670,  758;  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  1 :  377,  381,  418 ;  Alexander,  Evidences  of  Christ- 
ianity, 22 ;  Calderwood,  Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  512 ;  Liddon,  Elements  of  Religion, 
50 ;  Methodist  Quar.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1875 :  1 ;  J.  F.  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Religions,  2 :  17-21. 

2.  That  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  answers  the  second  criterion 
of  necessity,  will  be  seen  by  considering  : 

A.  That  men,  under  circumstances  fitted  to  call  forth  this  knowledge, 
cannot  avoid  recognizing  the  existence  of  God.     In  contemplating  finite 
existence,  there  is  inevitably  suggested  the  idea  of  an  infinite  Being  as  its 
correlative.     Upon  occasion  of  the  mind's  perceiving  its  own  finiteness, 
dependence,  responsibility,  it  immediately  and  necessarily  perceives  the 
existence  of  an  infinite  and  unconditioned  Being  upon  whom  it  is  depend- 
ent and  to  whom  it  is  responsible. 

We  could  not  recognize  the  finite  as  finite,  except  by  comparing  it  with  an  already 
existing  standard — the  Infinite.  Mansel,  Limits  of  Religious  Thought,  lect.  3 — "  We  are 
compelled  by  the  constitution  of  our  minds  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  an  Absolute 
and  Infinite  Being— a  belief  which  appears  forced  upon  us  as  the  complement  of  our 
consciousness  of  the  relative  and  finite."  Fisher,  Journ.  Chr.  Philos.,  Jan.,  1883 :  113— 
"Ego  and  non-ego,  each  being  conditioned  by  the  other,  presuppose  unconditioned 
being  on  which  both  are  dependent.  Unconditioned  being  is  the  silent  presupposition 
of  all  our  knowing."  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Infinite,  46,  and  Moral  Philos.,  77 ;  Hop- 
kins, Outline  Study  of  Man,  283-285. 

B.  That  men,  in  virtue  of  their  humanity,  have  a  capacity  for  religion. 
This  recognized  capacity  for  religion  is  proof  that  the  idea  of  God  is  a  ne- 
cessary one.     If  the  mind  upon  proper  occasion  did  not  evolve  this  idea, 
there  would  be  nothing  in  man  to  which  religion  could  appeal. 

"  It  is  the  suggestion  of  the  Infinite  that  makes  the  line  of  the  far  horizon,  seen  over 
land  or  sea,  so  much  more  impressive  than  the  beauties  of  any  limited  landscape."  In 


THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD    A    FIKST   TRUTH.  33 

danger  men  instinctively  cry  to  God  for  help,  and  in  the  commands  and  reproaches  of 
the  moral  nature  the  soul  recognizes  a  Lawgiver  and  Judge,  whose  voice  conscience 
merely  echoes.  O.  P.  Gifford :  "  As  milk  from  which  under  proper  conditions  cream 
does  not  rise,  is  not  milk,  so  the  man  who  upon  proper  occasion  shows  no  knowledge 
of  God,  is  not  man,  but  brute." 

C.  That  he  who  denies  God's  existence  must  tacitly  assume  that  exist- 
once  in  his  very  argument,  by  employing  logical  processes  whose  validity 
rests  upon  the  fact  of  God's  existence.  The  full  proof  of  this  belongs  un- 
der the  next  head. 

On  the  whole  section,  see  A.  M.  Fairbairn  on  Origin  and  Development  of  Idea  of  God, 
in  Studies  in  Philos.  of  Relig.  and  History  ;  Martineau,  Religion  and  Materialism,  45 ; 
Bp.  Temple,  Bampton  Lect.,  1884 :  37-65. 

3.  That  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  answers  the  third  criterion 
of  logical  independence  and  priority,  may  be  shown  as  follows  : 

A.  It  is  presupposed  in  all  other  knowledge  as  its  logical  condition  and 
foundation.    The  validity  of  the  simplest  mental  acts,  such  as  sense-percep- 
tion, self-consciousness,  and  memory,  depends  upon  the  assumption  that  a 
God  exists  who  has  so  constituted  our  minds  that  they  give  us  knowledge 
of  things  as  they  are. 

B.  The  more  complex  processes  of  the  mind,   such  as  induction  and 
deduction,   can  be  relied  on  only  by  presupposing  a  thinking  Deity  who 
has  made  the  various  parts  of  the  universe  to  correspond  to  each  other  and 
to  the  investigating  faculties  of  man. 

C.  Our  primitive  belief  in  final  cause,  or,  in  other  words,  our  conviction 
that  all  things  have  their  ends,  that  design  pervades  the  universe,  involves 
a  belief  in  God's  existence.     In  assuming  that  the  universe  is  a  rational 
whole,  a  system  of  thought-relations,  we  assume  the  existence  of  an  abso- 
lute Thinker,  of  whose  thought  the  universe  is  an  expression. 

Peabody,  Christianity  the  Religion  of  Nature,  23 — "Induction  is  syllogism ,  with  the 
immutable  attributes  of  God  for  a  constant  term."  Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  492—"  In- 
duction rests  upon  the  assumption,  as  it  demands  for  its  ground,  that  a  personal  or 
thinking  Deity  exists"  ;  658— "It  has  no  meaning  or  validity  unless  we  assume  that  the 
universe  is  constituted  in  such  a  way  as  to  presuppose  an  absolute  and  unconditioned 
originator  of  its  forces  and  laws  "  ;  662—"  We  analyze  the  several  processes  of  knowi-edge 
into  their  underlying  assumptions,  and  we  find  that  the  assumption  which  underlies 
them  all  is  that  of  a  self -existent  Intelligence  who  not  only  can  be  known  by  man,  but 
must  be  known  by  man  in  order  that  man  may  know  anything  besides ;  "  see  also  pages 
486,  508,  509,  518,  519,  585,  616.  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  81—"  The  processes  of  re- 


flective thought  imply  that  the  universe  is  grounded  in,  and  is  the  manifestaii^nvo^3t 
reason";   560— "The  existence  of   a  personal  God  is  a  necessary  datum  of  scientific. 


knowledge."    So  also,  Fisher,  Essays  on  Supernat.  Origin  of  Christianity,  564,  and  in 
Journ.  Christ.  Philos.,  Jan.,  1883 :  129, 130. 

To  repeat  these  three  points  in  another  form — the  intuition  of  an  Absolute 
Reason  is  (a)  the  necessary  presupposition  of  all  other  knowledge,  so  that 
we  cannot  know  anything  else  to  exist  except  by  assuming  first  of  all  that 
God  exists  ;  (6)  the  necessary  basis  of  all  logical  thought,  so  that  we  cannot 
put  confidence  in  any  one  of  our  reasoning  processes  except  by  taking  for 
granted  that  a  thinking  Deity  has  constructed  our  minds  with  reference  to 
the  universe  and  to  truth  ;  and  (c)  the  necessary  implication  of  our  primi- 
tive belief  in  design,  so  that  we  can  assume  all  things  to  exist  for  a  purpose, 
only  by  making  the  prior  assumption  that  a  purposing  God  exists — can 
regard  the  universe  as  a  thought,  only  by  postulating  the  existence  of  an 
3 


34  THE    EXISTENCE   OF   GOD. 

absolute  Thinker.  We  cannot  prove  that  God  is,  but  we  can  show  that,  in 
order  to  the  existence  of  any  knowledge,  thought,  reason,  in  man,  man 
must  assume  that  God  is. 

Bowne,  Metaphysics,  472—"  Our  objective  knowledge  of  the  finite  must  rest  upon  an 
ethical  trust  in  the  infinite  "  ;  480—"  Theism  is  the  absolute  postulate  of  all  knowledge, 
science  and  philosophy";  "God  is  the  most  certain  fact  of  objective  knowledge." 
Ladd,  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1877 :  611-616—"  Cogito,  ergo  Deus  est.  We  are  obliged  to  postulate 
a  not-ourselves  which  makes  for  rationality,  as  well  as  for  righteousness."  W.  T. 
Harris :  "  Even  natural  science  is  impossible,  where  philosophy  has  not  yet  taught  that 
reason  made  the  world,  and  that  nature  i*  a  revelation  of  the  rational."  Whately,  Logic, 
370 ;  New  Englander,  Oct.,  1871,  art.  on  Grounds  of  Confidence  in  Inductive  Reason- 
ing ;  Bib.  Sac.,  7 :  415-425 ;  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  197 ;  Trendelenburg,  Logische- 
Untersuchungen,  ch.  '  Zweck ' :  Ulrici,  Gott  und  die  Natur,  540-626 ;  Lachelier,  Du 
Fondement  de  1' Induction,  78.  Per  contra,  see  Janet,  Final  Causes,  174,  note,  and  457- 
464,  who  holds  final  cause  to  be,  not  an  intuition,  but  the  result  of  applying  the  principle 
of  causality  to  cases  which  mechanical  laws  alone  will  not  explain. 

III.     OTHER  SUPPOSED  SOUKCES  OF  OUR  IDEA  OF  GOD'S  EXISTENCE. 

Our  proof  that  the  idea  of  God's  existence  is  a  rational  intuition  will  not 
be  complete,  until  we  show  that  attempts  to  account  in  other  ways  for  the 
origin  of  the  idea  are  insufficient,  and  require  as  their  presupposition  the 
very  intuition  which  they  would  supplant  or  reduce  to  a  secondary  place. 
We  claim  that  it  cannot  be  derived  from  any  other  source  than  an  original 
cognitive  power  of  the  mind. 

1.  Not  from  external  revelation, — whether  communicated  (a)   through 
the  Scriptures,  or  (b)  through  tradition ;   for,  unless  man  had  from  another 
source  a  previous  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  God  from  whom  such  a 
revelation  might  come,  the  revelation  itself  could  have  no  authority  for 
him. 

(a)  See  Gillespie,  Necessary  Existence  of  God,  10 ;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  117 ;  H.  B. 
Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy,  18—"  A  revelation  takes  for  granted  that  he  to  whom  it  is 
made  has  some  knowledge  of  God,  though  it  may  enlarge  and  purify  that  knowledge." 
We  cannot  prove  God  from  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  then  also  prove  the 
Scriptures  from  the  authority  of  God.    The  very  idea  of  Scripture  as  a  revelation  pre- 
supposes belief  in  a  God  who  can  make  it.    Newman  Smyth,  in  New  Englander,  1878 : 
355— We  cannot  derive  from  a  svin-dial  our  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  a  sun.    The 
sun-dial  presupposes  the  sun,  and  cannot  be  understood  without  previous  knowledge  of 
the  sun.    Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  2 :  103—"  The  voice  of  the  divine  ego  does  not  first 
come  to  the  consciousness  of  the  individual  ego  from  without ;  rather  does  every  ex- 
ternal revelation  presuppose  already  this  inner  one ;  there  must  echo  out  from  within 
man  something  kindred  to  the  outer  revelation,  in  order  to  its  being  recognized  and 
accepted  as  divine." 

(b)  Nor  does  our  idea  of  God  come  primarily  from  tradition,  for  "tradition  can  per- 
petuate only  what  has  already  been  originated"  (Patton).     If  the  knowledge  thus 
handed  down  is  the  knowledge  of  a  primitive  revelation,  then  the  argument  just  stated 
applies— that  very  revelation  presupposed  in  those  who  first  received  it,  and  presup- 
poses in  those  to  whom  .it  is  handed  down,  some  knowledge  of  a  Being-  from  whom 
such  a  revelation  might  come.    If  the  knowledge  thus  handed  down  is  simply  knowl- 
edge of  the  results  of  the  reasonings  of  the  race,  then  the  knowledge  of  God  comes 
originally  from  reasoning— an  explanation  which  we  consider  further  on.    On  the  tra- 
ditive  theory  of  religion,  see  Flint,  Theism,  23,  338;   Cocker,  Christianity  and  Greek 
Philosophy,  86-96;    Fairbairn,  Studies  in  Philos.  of  Relig.  and  Hist.,  14,  15:    Bowen, 
Metaph.  and  Ethics,  453,  and  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1876;  Pfleiderer,  Religionsphilos.,  312-322. 

2.  Not  from  experience, — whether  this  mean  (a)  the  sense-perception 
and  reflection  of  the  individual  (Locke),  (6)  the  accumulated  results  of  the: 
sensations  and  associations  of  past  generations  of  the  race  (Herbert  Spencer),. 


OTHER    SUPPOSED    SOURCES    OF   THE    IDEA.  35 

or  (c)  the  actual  contact  of  our  sensitive  nature  with  God,  the  supersensible 
reality,  through  the  religious  feeling  (Newman  Smyth). 

The  first  form  of  this  theory  is  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  the  idea  of 
God  is  not  the  idea  of  a  sensible  or  material  object,  nor  a  combination  of 
such  ideas.  Since  the  spiritual  and  infinite  are  direct  opposites  of  the 
material  and  finite,  no  experience  of  the  latter  can  account  for  our  idea  of 
the  former. 

With  Locke  (Essay  on  Hum.  Understanding,  2 :  1 :  4),  experience  is  the  passive  recep- 
tion of  ideas  by  sensation  or  by  reflection.  Locke's  tabula  rasa  theory  mistakes  the 
occasion  of  our  primitive  ideas  for  their  cause.  To  his  statement:  "Nihil  est  in  Intel  - 
lectu  nisi  quod  ante  fuerit  in  sensu,"  Leibnitz  replied  :  "Nisi  intellectus  ipse."  .... 
Consciousness  is  sometimes  called  the  source  of  our  knowledge  of  God.  But  conscious- 
ness, as  simply  an  accompanying-  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  our  states,  is  not  properly 
the  source  of  any  other  knowledge.  The  German  Gottesbewusstsein  =  not '  conscious- 
ness of  God,'  but  '  knowledge  of  God ' ;  Bewussisein  here  =  not  a  '  con-knowing,'  but  a 
*  be-knowing ' ;  see  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  86 ;  Cousin,  True,  Beautiful  and  Good, 
48,49. 

The  second  form  of  the  theory  is  open  to  the  objection  that  the  very  first 
experience  of  the  first  man,  equally  with  man's  latest  experience,  presupposes 
this  intuition,  as  well  as  the  other  intuitions,  and  therefore  cannot  be  the 
cause  of  it.  Moreover,  even  though  this  theory  of  its  origin  were  correct, 
it  would  still  be  impossible  to  think  of  the  object  of  the  intuition  as  not 
existing,  and  the  intuition  would  still  represent  to  us  the  highest  measure 
of  certitude  at  present  attainable  by  man.  If  the  evolution  of  ideas  is 
toward  truth  instead  of  falsehood,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  act  upon 
the  hypothesis  that  our  primitive  belief  is  veracious. 

See  Bowne,  Examination  of  Spencer,  163, 164 — "  Are  we  to  seek  truth  in  the  minds  of 
pre-human  apes,  or  in  the  blind  stirrings  of  some  primitive  pulp  ?  In  that  case  we 
can  indeed  put  away  all  our  science,  but  we  must  put  away  the  great  doctrine  of  evo- 
lution along  with  it.  The  experience-philosophy  cannot  escape  this  alternative  ;  either 
the  positive  deliverances  of  our  mature  consciousness  must  be  accepted  as  they  stand, 
or  all  truth  must  be  declared  impossible."  See  also  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  Theism,  137-142. 

The  third  form  of  the  theory  seems  to  make  God  a  sensuous  object,  to 
reverse  the  proper  order  of  knowing  and  feeling,  to  ignore  the  fact  that  in 
all  feeling  there  is  at  least  some  knowledge  of  an  object,  and  to  forget  that 
the  validity  of  this  very  feeling  can  be  maintained  only  by  previously  as- 
suming the  existence  of  a  rational  Deity. 

Newman  Smyth  tells  us  that  feeling  comes  first;  the  idea  is  secondary.  Intuitive 
ideas  are  not  denied,  but  they  are  declared  to  be  direct  reflections,  in  thought,  of  the 
feelings.  They  are  the  mind's  immediate  perception  of  what  it  feels  to  exist.  Direct 
knowledge  of  God  by  intuition  is  considered  to  be  idealistic  ;  reaching  God  by  inference 
is  regarded  as  rationalistic,  in  its  tendency.  See  Smyth,  The  Religious  Feeling ;  re- 
viewed by  Harris,  in  New  Englander,  Jan.,  1878 ;  reply  by  Smyth,  in  New  Ehglander 
May,  1878. 

3.     Not  from  reasoning, — because 

(a)  The  actual  rise  of  this  knowledge  in  the  great  majority  of  minds 
is  not  the  result  of  any  conscious  process  of  reasoning.  On  the  other 
hand,  upon  occurrence  of  the  proper  conditions,  it  flashes  upon  the  soul 
with  the  quickness  and  force  of  an  immediate  revelation. 

(6)  The  strength  of  men's  faith  in  God's  existence  is  not  proportioned  to 
the  strength  of  the  reasoning  faculty.  On  the  other  hand,  men  of  greatest 


36  THE   EXISTENCE    OF    GOD. 

logical  power  are  often  inveterate  sceptics,  while  men  of  unwavering  faith 
are  found  among  those  who  cannot  even  understand  the  arguments  for 
God's  existence. 

(c)  There  is  more  in  this  knowledge  than  reasoning  could  ever  have  fur- 
nished.    Men  do  not  limit  their  belief  in  God  to  the  just  conclusions  of 
argument.     The  arguments  for  the  divine  existence,  valuable  as  they  are 
for  purposes  to  be  shown  hereafter,  are  not  sufficient  by  themselves  to  war- 
rant our  conviction  that  there  exists  an  infinite  and  absolute  Being.     It 
will  appear  upon  examination  that  the  a  priori  argument  is  capable  of 
proving  only  an  abstract  and  ideal  proposition,  but  can  never  conduct  us 
to  the  existence  of  a  real  Being.     It  will  appear  that  the  a  posteriori  argu- 
ments, from  merely  finite  existence,  can  never  demonstrate  the  existence  of 
the  infinite.    In  the  words  of  Sir  Win.  Hamilton  (Discussions,  23) — "A  dem- 
onstration of  the  absolute  from  the  relative  is  logically  absurd,  as  in  such 
a  syllogism  we  must  collect  in  the  conclusion  what  is  not  distributed  in  the 
premises  " — in  short,  from  finite  premises  we  cannot  draw  an  infinite  con- 
clusion. 

Whately,  Logic,  290-292 ;  Jevons,  Lessons  in  Logic,  81 ;  Thompson,  Outline  Laws  of 
Thought,  sections  82-92 ;  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Infinite,  60-69,  and  Moral  Philosophy,  238 ; 
TurnbuU,  in  Bap.  Quarterly,  July,  1872:  271;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  239;  Dove, 
Logic  of  Christian  Faith,  21.  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton:  "Departing  from  the  particular,  we 
admit  that  we  cannot,  in  our  highest  generalizations,  rise  above  the  finite." 

(d)  Neither  do  men  arrive  at  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  by  infer- 
ence ;   for  inference  is  condensed  syllogism,  and,  as  a  form  of  reasoning,  is 
equally  open  to  the  objection  just  mentioned.     We  have  seen,  moreover, 
that  all  logical  processes  are  based  upon  the  assumption  of  God's  existence. 
Evidently  that  which  is  presupposed  in  all  reasoning  cannot  itself  be  proved 
by  reasoning. 

By  inference,  we  of  course  mean  mediate  inference,  for  in  immediate  inference  (e.  Q. 
"  All  good  rulers  are  just ;  therefore  no  unjust  rulers  are  good  ")  there  is  no  reasoning, 
and  no  progress  in  thought.  Mediate  inference  is  reasoning— is  condensed  syllogism ;  and 
what  is  so  condensed  may  be  expanded  into  regular  logical  form.  Deductive  inference : 
"  A  negro  is  a  fellow-creature ;  therefore  he  who  strikes  a  negro  strikes  a  fellow- 
creature."  Inductive  inference:  "The  first  finger  is  before  the  second  ;  therefore  it  is 
before  the  third."  On  inference,  see  Martineau,  Essays,!:  105-108;  Porter,  Human 
Intellect,  444-448 ;  Jevons,  Principles  of  Science,  1 :  14, 136-139, 168,  262. 

Flint,  in  his  Theism,  77,  and  Herbert,  in  his  Mod.  Realism  Examined,  would  reach  the 
knowledge  of  God's  existence  by  inference.  The  latter  says  God  is  not  demonstrable, 
but  his  existence  is  inferred,  like  the  existence  of  our  fellow  men.  But  we  reply  that 
in  this  last  case  we  infer  only  the  finite  from  the  finite,  while  the  difficulty  in  the  case  of 
God  is  in  inferring  the  infinite  from  the  finite.  This  very  process  of  reasoning,  more- 
over, presupposes  the  existence  of  God  as  the  absolute  Reason,  in  the  way  already 
indicated. 

Substantially  the  same  error  is  committed  by  H.  B.  Smith,  Introd.  to  Chr.  Theol.,  84-133, 
and  by  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  316,  364,  both  of  whom  grant  an  intuitive  element, 
but  use  it  only  to  eke  out  the  insufficiency  of  reasoning.  They  consider  that  the  in- 
tuition gives  us  only  an  abstract  idea,  which  contains  in  itself  no  voucher  for  the 
existence  of  an  actual  being  corresponding  to  the  idea,  and  that  we  reach  real  being 
only  by  inference  from  the  facts  of  our  own  spiritual  natures  and  of  the  outward 
world.  But  we  reply,  in  the  words  of  McCosh,  that  "  the  intuitions  are  primarily  di- 
rected to  individual  objects."  We  know,  not  the  infinite  in  the  abstract,  but  infinite 
space  and  time,  and  the  infinite  God.  See  McCosh,  Intuitions,  26, 199,  who,  however, 
holds  the  view  here  combated. 


CONTENTS   OF   THIS   INTUITION.  37 

IV.     CONTENTS  OF  THIS  INTUITION. 

1.  In  this  fundamental  knowledge  that  God  is,  it  is  necessarily  implied 
that  to  some  extent  men  know  intuitively  what  God  is,   namely,  (a)   a 
Eeason  in  which  their  mental  processes  are  grounded ;   (6)  a  Power  above 
them  upon  which  they  are  dependent ;  (c)  a  Perfection  which  imposes  law 
upon  their  moral  natures ;  (d)  a  Personality  which  they  may  recognize  in 
prayer  and  worship. 

In  maintaining  that  we  have  a  rational  intuition  of  God,  we  by  no  means 
imply  that  a  presentative  intuition  of  God  is  impossible.  Such  a  presenta- 
tive  intuition  was  perhaps  characteristic  of  unfallen  man ;  it  does  belong 
at  times  to  the  Christian ;  it  will  be  the  blessing  of  heaven  (Mat.  5 :  8 — 
"the  pure  in  heart  .  .  .  shall  see  God  ;"  Eev.  22  :  4— "they  shall  see  his 
face  ").  Men's  experiences  of  face-to-face  apprehension  of  God,  in  danger 
and  guilt,  give  some  reason  to  believe  that  a  presentative  knowledge  of 
God  is  the  normal  condition  of  humanity.  But  as  this  presentative  in- 
tuition of  God  is  not  in  our  present  state  universal,  we  here  claim  only  that 
all  men  have  a  rational  intuition  of  God. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  loss  of  love  to  God  has  greatly 
obscured  even  this  rational  intuition,  so  that  the  revelation  of  nature  and 
the  Scriptures  is  needed  to  awaken,  confirm,  and  enlarge  it,  and  the  special 
work  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  to  make  it  the  knowledge  of  friendship  and 
communion.  Thus,  from  knowing  about  God,  we  come  to  know  God  (John 
17  :  3— "This  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee;"  2  Tim.  1 :  12 — 
"  I  know  him  whom  I  have  believed  "). 

Harris,  Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,  208— "By  rational  intuition  man  knows  that 
absolute  Being  exists;  his  knowledge  of  what  it  is,  is  progressive  with  his  progressive 
knowledge  of  man  and  of  nature."  Hutton,  Essays:  "A  haunting  presence  besets 
man  behind  and  before.  He  cannot  evade  it.  It  gives  new  meanings  to  his  thoughts, 
new  terror  to  his  sins.  It  becomes  intolerable.  He  is  moved  to  set  up  some  idol,  carved 
out  of  his  own  nature,  that  will  take  its  place— a  non-moral  God  who  will  not  disturb 
his  dream  of  rest.  It  is  a  righteous  Life  and  Will,  and  not  the  mere  idea  of  righteous- 
ness that  stirs  men  so."  Porter,  Hum.  Int.,  661— "The  Absolute  is  a  thinking  Agent." 
The  intuition  does  not  grow  in  certainty ;  what  grows  is  the  mind's  quickness  in  apply- 
ing it  and  power  of  expressing  it.  The  intuition  is  not  complex ;  what  is  complex  is 
the  Being  intuitively  cognized.  See  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  232;  Lowndes, 
Philos.  of  Primary  Beliefs,  108-112;  Luthardt,  Fund.  Truths,  157:  Latent  faculty  of 
speech  called  forth  by  speech  of  others ;  choked-up  well  flows  again  when  debris  is 
cleared  away.  Bowen,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  33 :  740-754 ;  Bowne,  Theism,  79. 

2.  The  Scriptures,  therefore,  do  not  attempt  to  prove  the  existence  of 
God,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  both  assume  and  declare  that  the  knowledge 
that  God  is,  is  universal  (Eom.  1 :  19-21,  28,  32  ;  2 :  15).     God  has  inlaid 
the  evidence  of  this  fundamental  truth  in  the  very  nature  of  man,  so  that 
nowhere  is  he  without  a  witness.     The  preacher  may  confidently  follow  the 
example  of  Scripture  by  assuming  it.     But  he  must  also  explicitly  declare 
it,  as  the  Scripture   does.     "  For  the  invisible  things  of  him  since  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen  "  (Ka&oparat — spiritually  viewed) :  the 
organ  given  for  this  purpose  is  the  vov?  (vo&bfteva)  •  but  then — and  this  forms 
the  transition  to  our  next  division  of  the  subject — they  are   "perceived 
through  the  things  that  are  made  "  (rols  Trotq/uaoiv,  Eom.  1 :  20). 

On  Rom.  1 : 19-21,  see  Weiss,  Bib.  Theol.  des  N.  T.,  251,  note ;  also  Commentaries  of  Meyer 


38  THE   EXISTENCE    OF   GOD. 

Alford,  Tholuck,  and  Wordsworth;  TO  yixatrrbv  TOW  #eov  =  not  "that  which  may  be  known"  (Rev. 
Vers.)  but  "that  which  is  known"  of  God;  voov^va  Kadoparai  =  are  clearly  seen  in  that  they 
are  perceived  by  the  reason  —  voou/xevo.  expresses  the  manner  of  the  Ka.dopa.Tai  (Meyer) : 
compare  John  1 :  9 ;  Acts  17 :  27 ;  Rom.  1 :  28 ;  2 : 15.  On  1  Cor.  15 :  34,  see  Calderwood.  Philos.  of  Inf., 
466 — ayvtao-iav  ®eov  rive?  exov<ri  =  do  not  possess  the  specially  exalted  knowledge  of  God 
which  belongs  to  believers  in  Christ  (cf.  Uo.  4 :  7— "every  one  that  loveth  is  begotten  of  God,  and  knoweth 
God").  On  Eph.  2: 12,  see  Pope,  Theology,  1:  240--a#eoi  ei>  T<Z  /c6o>ia>  is  opposed  to  being  in 
Christ,  and  signifies  rather  forsaken  of  God,  than  denying  him  or  entirely  ignorant  of 
him.  On  Scripture  passages,  see  Schmid,  Bib.  Theol.  des  N.  T.,  486 ;  Hof mann,  Schrift- 
beweis,  1 :  62. 

On  the  general  subject  of  intuition  as  connected  with  our  idea  of  God,  see  Ladd,  in 
Bib.  Sac.,  1877:  1-36,  611-616;  1878:  619;  Journal  of  Christ.  Philos.,  Jan.,  1883:  113-134 
{Final  cause  an  intuition— by  Fisher),  and  Apr.;  1883:  283-307  (Genesis  of  Idea  of  God-by 
Patton) ;  McCosh,  Christianity  and  Positivism,  124-140;  Mansel,  Metaphysics,  in  Encyc- 
Britan.,  8th  ed.,  14:  604  sq.,  and  615  sq.;  Robert  Hall,  Sermon  on  Atheism;  Hutton  on 
Atheism,  in  Essays,  1 :  3-37  ;  Shairp,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Mar.,  1881 :  264. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CORROBORATIVE   EVIDENCES    OF   GOD'S   EXISTENCE. 

Although  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  is  intuitive,  it  may  be  ex- 
plicated and  confirmed  by  arguments  drawn  from  the  actual  universe  and 
from  the  abstract  ideas  of  the  human  mind. 

Remark  1.  These  arguments  are  probable,  not  demonstrative.  For  this 
reason  they  supplement  each  other,  and  constitute  a  series  of  evidences 
which  is  cumulative  in  its  nature.  Though,  taken  singly,  none  of  them 
can  be  considered  absolutely  decisive,  they  together  furnish  a  corroboration 
of  our  primitive  conviction  of  God's  existence,  which  is  of  great  practical 
value,  and  is  in  itself  sufficient  to  bind  the  moral  action  of  men. 

Butler,  Analogy,  Introd.,  Bohn's  ed.,  72 :  Probable  evidence  admits  of  degrees,  from 
the  highest  moral  certainty  to  the  lowest  presumption.  Yet  probability  is  the  guide 
•of  life.  In  matters  of  morals  and  religion,  we  are  not  to  expect  mathematical  or  de- 
monstrative, but  only  probable,  evidence,  and  the  slightest  preponderance  of  such 
-evidence  may  be  sufficient  to  bind  our  moral  action.  Dove,  Logic  of  Christ.  Faith,  24 : 
Value  of  the  arguments  taken  together  is  much  greater  than  that  of  any  single  one.  Illus- 
trated from  water,  air  and  food,  together  but  not  separately,  supporting  life ;  value  of 
£1000  note,  not  in  paper,  stamp,  writing,  signature,  taken  separately.  A  whole  bundle 
of  rods  cannot  be  broken,  though  each  rod  in  the  bundle  may  be  broken  separately. 
The  strength  of  the  bundle  is  the  strength  of  the  whole.  Lord  Bacon,  Essay  on 
Atheism :  "  A  little  philosophy  inclineth  man's  mind  to  atheism,  but  depth  in  philosophy 
bringeth  men's  minds  about  to  religion.  For  while  the  mind  of  man  looketh  upon 
second  causes  scattered,  it  may  sometimes  rest  in  them  and  go  no  further,  but,  when 
it  beholdeth  the  chain  of  them  confederate  and  linked  together,  it  must  needs  fly  to 
Providence  and  Deity."  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  221-223—"  The  proof  of  a 
God  and  of  a  spiritual  world  which  is  to  satisfy  us  must  consist  in  a  number  of  different 
but  converging  lines  of  proof." 

Remark  2.  A  consideration  of  these  arguments  may  also  serve  to  ex- 
plicate the  contents  of  an  intuition  which  has  remained  obscure  and  only 
half  conscious  for  lack  of  reflection.  The  arguments,  indeed,  are  the  efforts 
of  the  mind  that  already  has  a  conviction  of  God's  existence  to  give  to 
itself  a  formal  account  of  its  belief.  An  exact  estimate  of  their  logical 
value  and  of  their  relation  to  the  intuition  which  they  seek  to  express  in 
syllogistic  form,  is  essential  to  any  proper  refutation  of  the  prevalent 
-atheistic  and  pantheistic  reasoning. 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  363— "Nor  have  I  claimed  that  the  existence,  even,  of  this 
Being  can  be  demonstrated  as  we  demonstrate  the  abstract  truths  of  science.  I  have 
only  claimed  that  the  universe,  as  a  great  fact,  demands  a  rational  explanation,  and 
that  the  most  rational  explanation  that  can  possibly  be  given  is  that  furnished  in  the 
conception  of  such  a  Being.  In  this  conclusion  reason  rests,  and  refuses  to  rest  in 
any  other."  Rtickert:  "Wer  Gott  nicht  fUhlt  in  sich  und  alien  Lebenskreisen,  Dem 
werdet  ihr  nicht  ihn  beweisen  mit  Beweisen."  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  307— 
"  Theology  depends  on  noetic  and  empirical  science  to  give  the  occasion  on  which  the 
idea  of  the  Absolute  Being  arises,  and  to  give  content  to  the  idea."  Andrew  Fuller, 

39 


40  THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD. 

Part  of  Syst.  of  Divin.,  4 :  383,  questions  "  whether  argumentation  in  favor  of  the  ex- 
istence of  God  has  not  made  more  sceptics  than  believers."  So  far  as  this  is  true,  it  is 
due  to  an  overstatement  of  the  arguments  and  an  exaggerated  notion  of  what  is  to  be 
expected  from  them.  See  Nitzsch,  Christian  Doctrine,  translation,  140;  Ebrard,  Dog- 
matik,  1 :  119,  120 ;  Fisher,  Essays  on  Supernatural  Origin  of  Christianity,  572,  573 ;  Van 
Oosterzee,  238,  241. 

Remark  3.  The  arguments  for  the  divine  existence  may  be  reduced  to 
four,  namely :  I.  The  Cosmological ;  II.  The  Teleological ;  III.  The 
Anthropological;  and  IV.  The  Ontological.  We  shall  examine  these  in 
order,  seeking  first  to  determine  the  precise  conclusions  to  which  they 
respectively  lead,  and  then  to  ascertain  in  what  manner  the  four  may  be 
combined. 

I.  THE  COSMOLOGICAL  AKGUMENT,  OB  ARGUMENT  FROM  CHANGE  IN 
NATURE. 

This  is  not  properly  an  argument  from  effect  to  cause ;  for  the  proposition 
that  every  effect  must  have  a  cause  is  simply  identical,  and  means  only  that 
every  caused  event  must  have  a  cause.  It  is  rather  an  argument  from  be- 
gun existence  to  a  sufficient  cause  of  that  beginning,  and  may  be  accurately 
stated  as  follows : 

Everything  begun,  whether  substance  or  phenomenon,  owes  its  existence 
to  some  producing  cause.  The  universe,  at  least  so  far  as  its  present  form 
is  concerned,  is  a  thing  begun,  and  owes  its  existence  to  a  cause  which  is 
equal  to  its  production.  This  cause  must  be  indefinitely  great. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  this  argument  moves  wholly  in  the  realm  of  nature.  The 
argument  from  man's  constitution  and  beginning  upon  the  planet  is  treated  under 
another  head  (see  Anthropological  Argument).  That  the  present  form  of  the  universe 
is  not  eternal  in  the  past,  but  has  begun  to  be,  not  only  personal  observation  but  the 
testimony  of  geology  assures  us.  For  statements  of  the  argument,  see  Kant,  Critique 
of  Pure  Reason  (Bohn's  transl.),  370;  Gillespie,  Necessary  Existence  of  God,  3:  34-44; 
Bib.  Sac.,  1849:  613;  1850:  613;  Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  570;  Herbert  Spencer,  First 
Principles,  93.  It  has  often  been  claimed,  as  by  Locke,  Clarke,  and  Robert  Hall,  that 
this  argument  is  sufficient  to  conduct  the  mind  to  an  Eternal  and  Infinite  First  Cause. 
We  proceed  therefore  to  mention 

1.     The  defects  of  the  Cosmological  Argument. 

A.  It  is  impossible  to  show  that  the  universe,  so  far  as  its  substance  is 
concerned,  has  had  a  beginning.     The  law  of  causality  declares,  not  that 
everything  has  a  cause — for  then  God  himself  must  have  a  cause — but  rather 
that  everything  begun  has  a  cause,  or,  in  other  words,  that  every  event  or 
change  has  a  cause. 

Hume,  Philos.  Works,  2:  411  sq.,  urges  with  reason  that  we  never  saw  a  world  made. 
Many  philosophers  in  Christian  lands,  as  Martineau,  Essays,  1 :  206,  and  the  prevailing 
opinion  of  ante-Christian  times,  have  held  matter  to  be  eternal.  Bowne,  Metaphj^sics, 
107—"  For  being  itself,  the  reflective  reason  never  asks  a  cause,  unless  the  being  show 
signs  of  dependence.  It  is  change  that  first  gives  rise  to  the  demand  for  cause."  See 
also  McCosh,  Intuitions,  225-241 ;  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Infinite,  61.  Per  contra,  see 
Murphy,  Scient.  Bases  of  Faith,  49, 195,  and  Habit  and  Intelligence,  1 :  55-67 ;  Knight,  Lect. 
on  Metaphysics,  lect.  ii,  p.  19. 

B.  Granting  that  the  universe,  so  far  as  its  phenomena  are  concerned, 
has  had  a  cause,  it  is  impossible  to  show  that  any  other  cause  is  required 
than  a  cause  within  itself,  such  as  the  pantheist  supposes. 

Flint,  Theism,  65— u  The  cosmological  argument  alone  proves  only  force,  and  no  mere 


THE    COSMOLOGICAL   ARGUMENT.  41 

force  is  God.  Intelligence  must  go  with  power  to  make  a  Being-  that  can  be  called 
God."  Diman,  Theistic  Argument— "  The  cosmological  argument  alone  cannot  decide 
whether  the  force  that  causes  change  is  permanent  self -existent  mind,  or  permanent 
self-existent  matter."  Only  intelligence  gives  the  basis  for  an  answer.  Only  mind  in 
the  universe  enables  us  to  infer  mind  in  the  maker.  But  the  argument  from  intelli- 
gence is  not  the  Cosmological,  but  the  Teleological,  and  to  this  last  belong  all  proofs  of 
Deity  from  order  and  combination  in  nature. 

C.  Granting  that  the  universe  must  have  had  a  cause  outside  of  itself,  it 
is  impossible  to  show  that  this  cause  has  not  itself  been  caused,  i.  e. ,  con- 
sists of  an  infinite  series  of  dependent  causes.     The  principle  of  causality 
does  not  require  that  everything  begun  should  be  traced  back  to  an  un- 
caused cause ;  it  demands  that  we  should  assign  a  cause,  but  not  that  we 
should  assign  a  first  cause. 

So  with  the  whole  series  of  causes.  The  materialist  is  bound  to  find  a  cause  for  this 
series,  only  when  the  series  is  shown  to  have  had  a  beginning.  But  the  very  hypothesis 
of  an  infinite  series  of  causes  excludes  the  idea  of  such  a  beginning.  An  infinite 
chain  has  no  topmost  link  (versus  Robert  Hall) ;  an  uncaused  and  eternal  succession  does 
not  need  a  cause  (versus  Clarke  and  Locke).  See  Whately,  Logic,  270;  New  Englander, 
Jan.,  1874:  75;  Alexander,  Moral  Science,  231;  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  1:  160-164; 
Calderwood,  Moral  Philos.,  225;  Herbert  Spencer,  First  Principles,  37— criticised  by 
Bowne,  Review  of  H.  Spencer,  36.  Julius  Miiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2:  128,  says  that  the  causal 
principle  is  not  satisfied  till  by  regress  we  come  to  a  cause  which  is  not  itself  an  effect- 
to  one  who  is  causa  sui;  Aids  to  Study  of  German  Theology,  15-17:  Even  if  the  uni- 
verse be  eternal,  its  contingent  and  relative  nature  requires  us  to  postulate  an  eternal 
Creator ;  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  86—"  While  the  law  of  causation  does  not  lead 
logically  up  to  the  conclusion  of  a  first  cause,  it  compels  us  to  affirm  it."  We  reply 
that  it  is  not  the  law  of  causation  which  compels  us  to  affirm  it,  for  this  certainly  "  does 
not  lead  logically  up  to  the  conclusion."  If  we  infer  an  uncaused  cause,  we  do  it,  not 
by  logical  process,  but  by  virtue  of  the  intuitive  belief  within  us.  So  substantially 
Secretan,  and  Whewell,  in  Indications  of  a  Creator,  and  in  Hist,  of  Scientific  Ideas,  2 : 
321,  322—"  The  mind  takes  refuge,  in  the  assumption  of  a  First  Cause,  from  an  employ- 
ment inconsistent  with  its  own  nature  "  ;  "  we  necessarily  infer  a  First  Cause,  although 
the  palsetiological  sciences  only  point  towards  it,  but  do  not  lead  us  to  it." 

D.  Granting  that  the  cause  of  the  universe  has  not  itself  been  caused, 
it  is  impossible  to  show  that  this  cause  is  not  finite,  like  the  universe  itself. 
The  causal  principle  requires  a  cause  no  greater  than  just  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  effect. 

We  cannot  therefore  infer  an  infinite  cause,  unless  the  universe  is  infinite— which 
cannot  be  proved,  but  can  only  be  assumed— and  this  is  assuming  an  infinite  in  order  to 
prove  an  infinite.  All  we  know  of  the  universe  is  finite.  An  infinite  universe  implies 
infinite  number.  But  no  number  can  be  infinite,  for  to  any  number,  however  great,  a 
unit  can  be  added,  which  shows  that  it  was  not  infinite  before.  Here  again  we  see  that 
the  most  approved  forms  of  the  Cosmological  Argument  are  obliged  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  intuition  of  the  infinite,  to  supplement  the  logical  process.  On  the  law  of  parsi- 
mony, see  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Discussions,  628. 

2.  The  value  of  the  Cosmological  Argument,  then,  is  simply  this, — it 
proves  the  existence  of  some  cause  of  the  universe  indefinitely  great. 
When  we  go  beyond  this,  and  ask  whether  this  cause  is  a  cause  of  being, 
or  merely  a  cause  of  change,  to  the  universe  ;  whether  it  is  a  cause  apart 
from  the  universe,  or  one  with  it ;  whether  it  is  an  eternal  cause,  or  a  cause 
dependent  upon  some  other  cause  ;  whether  it  is  intelligent  or  unintelligent, 
infinite  or  finite,  one  or  many, — this  argument  cannot  assure  us. 

On  the  whole  argument,  see  Flint,  Theism,  96-130;  Mozley,  Essays,  Hist,  and  Theol.,  2: 
414-444 ;  Hedge,  Ways  of  the  Spirit,  148-154 ;  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1876 :  9-31. 


42  THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD. 

II.  THE  TELEOLOGICAL  ARGUMENT,  OR  ARGUMENT  FROM  ORDER  AND 
USEFUL  COLLOCATION  IN  NATURE. 

This  is  not  properly  an  argument  from  design  to  a  designer ;  for  that 
design  implies  a  designer  is  simply  an  identical  proposition.  It  may  be 
more  correctly  stated  as  follows  :  Order  and  useful  collocation  pervading  a 
system  respectively  imply  intelligence  and  purpose  as  the  cause  of  that 
order  and  collocation.  Since  order  and  useful  collocation  pervade  the  uni- 
verse, there  must  exist  an  intelligence  adequate  to  the  production  of  this 
order,  and  a  will  adequate  to  direct  this  collocation  to  useful  ends. 

Etymologically,  " Ideological  argument"  =  argument  to  ends  or  final  causes,  that  is, 
"causes  which,  beginning  as  a  thought,  work  themselves  out  into  a  fact  as  an  end  or 
result"  (Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  593-618).  This  definition  of  the  argument  would  be 
broad  enough  to  cover  the  proof  of  a  designing  intelligence  drawn  from  the  constitu- 
tion of  man.  This  last,  however,  is  treated  as  a  part  of  the  Anthropological  Argument, 
which  follows  this,  and  the  Teleological  Argument  covers  only  the  proof  of  a  designing 
intelligence  drawn  from  nature.  Hence  Kant,  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,  Bohn's  trans., 
381,  calls  it  the  physico-theological  argument.  On  methods  of  stating  the  argument, 
see  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1867 :  625.  See  also  Hedge,  Ways  of  the  Spirit,  155-185;  Mozley,  Essays 
Hist,  and  Theol.,  2 :  365-413. 

Hicks,  in  his  Critique  of  Design-arguments,  347-389,  makes  two  arguments  instead  of 
one :  ( 1 )  the  argument  from  order  to  intelligence,  to  which  he  gives  the  name  Eutaxio- 
logical ;  (2)  the  argument  from  adaptation  to  purpose,  to  which  he  would  restrict  the 
name  Teleological.  He  holds  that  Teleology  proper  cannot  prove  intelligence,  because 
in  speaking  of  "ends"  at  all,  it  must  assume  the  very  intelligence  which  it  seeks  to 
prove ;  that  it  actually  does  prove  simply  the  intentional  exercise  of  an  intelligence 
whose  existence  has  been  previously  established.  "  Circumstances,  forces  or  agencies 
converging  to  a  definite  rational  result  imply  volition— imply  that  this  result  is  intended 
— is  an  end.  This  is  the  major  premise  of  the  new  teleology."  He  objects  to  the  term 
"  final  cause."  The  end  is  not  a  cause  at  all— it  is  a  motive.  The  characteristic  element 
of  cause  is  power  to  produce  an  effect.  Ends  have  no  such  power.  The  will  may  choose 
them  or  set  them  aside.  As  already  assuming  intelligence,  ends  cannot  prove  intelli- 
gence. 

With  this  in  the  main  we  agree,  and  count  it  a  valuable  help  to  the  statement  and 
understanding  of  the  argument.  In  the  very  observation  of  order,  however,  as  well  as 
in  arguing  from  it,  we  are  obliged  to  assume  the  same  all-arranging  intelligence.  We 
see  no  objection  therefore  to  making  Eutaxiology  the  first  part  of  the  Teleological 
Argument,  as  we  do  above.  See  review  of  Hicks,  in  Meth.  Quar.  Rev.,  July,  1883:  569- 
576.  We  proceed  however  to  certain 

1.     Further  explanations. 

A.  The  major  premise  expresses  a  primitive  conviction.  It  is  not  in- 
validated by  the  objections:  (a)  that  order  and  useful  collocation  may  exist 
without  being  purposed — for  we  are  compelled  by  our  very  mental  constitu- 
tion to  deny  this  in  all  cases  where  the  order  and  collocation  pervade  a 
system ;  (6)  that  order  and  useful  collocation  may  result  from  the  mere 
operation  of  physical  forces  and  laws — for  these  very  forces  and  laws  imply, 
instead  of  excluding,  an  originating  and  superintending  intelligence  and 
will. 

Janet,  in  his  work  on  Final  Causes,  8,  denies  that  finality  is  a  primitive  conviction, 
like  causality,  and  calls  it  the  result  of  an  induction.  He  therefore  proceeds  from 
(1)  marks  of  order  and  useful  collocation  to  (2)  finality  in  nature,  and  then  to  (3)  an  in- 
telligent cause  of  this  finality  or  "  pre-conformity  to  future  event."  So  Diman,  Theistic 
Argument,  105,  claims  simply  that,  as  change  requires  cause,  so  .orderly  change  requires 
intelligent  cause.  We  have  shown,  however,  that  induction  and  argument  of  every 
kind  presupposes  intuitive  belief  in  final  cause.  Nature  does  not  give  us  final  cause; 
but  no  more  does  she  give  us  efficient  cause.  Mind  gives  us  both,  and  gives  them  as 
clearly  upon  one  experience  as  after  a  thousand. 


THE   TELEOLOGICAL   ARGUMENT.  43 

(a)  Illustration  of  unpurposed  order,  in  the  single  throwing  of  "  double  sixes  "—con- 
stant throwing-  of  double  sixes  indicates  design.    So  arrangement  of  detritus  at  mouth 
of  river.    See  Chauncey  Wright,  in  N.  Y.  Nation,  Jan.  15, 1874 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases 

.  of  Faith,  208. 

(b)  Bowne,  Review  of  H.  Spencer,  231-247 — "  Law  is  method,  not  cause.    A  man  cannot 
offer  the  very  fact  to  be  explained,  as  its  sufficient  explanation."    Martineau,  Essays, 
1 :  144—"  Patterned  damask  made  not  by  the  weaver  but  by  the  loom?  "    Joseph  Cook : 
•"  Books  written  by  the  laws  of  spelling  and  grammar?"    Dr.  Stevenson:     "House 
requires  no  architect  because  it  is  built  by  stonemasons  and  carpenters?"    Huxley, 
Critiques  and  Addresses,  274,  275,  307—  "The  teleological  and  the  mechanical  views  of 
the  universe  are  not  mutually  exclusive."    Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Metaphysics:  "Intelli- 
gence stands  first  in  the  order  of  existence.     Efficient  causes  are  preceded  by  final 
causes."    See  also  Thornton,  Old  Fashioned  Ethics,  199-265.    Evolution  has  to  do  with 
the  how,  not  with  the  why,  of  phenomena,  and  therefore  is  not  inconsistent  with  design, 
but  rather  is  a  new  and  higher  illustration  of  design.    Frances  Power  Cobbe:  "It  is  a 
singular  fact  that,  whenever  we  find  out  how  a  thing  is  done,  our  first  conclusion  seems 
to  be  that  God  did  not  do  it."    Bp.  Temple,  Bampton  Lect.,  1884:  99-123;  Owen,  Anat.  of 
Vertebrates,  3 :  796 ;  Pierce,  Ideality  in  the  Physical  Sciences,  1-35. 

B.  The  minor  premise  expresses  a  working-principle  of  all  science, 
namely,  that  all  things  have  their  uses,  that  order  pervades  the  universe, 
and  that  the  methods  of  nature  are  rational  methods.  Evidences  of  this 
appear  in  the  correlation  of  the  chemical  elements  to  each  other ;  in  the 
fitness  of  the  inanimate  world  to  be  the  basis  and  support  of  life  ;  in  the 
typical  forms  and  unity  of  plan  apparent  in  the  organic  creation ;  in  the 
existence  and  cooperation  of  natural  laws ;  in  cosmical  order  and  com- 
pensations. 

This  minor  premise  is  not  invalidated  by  the  objections :  (a)  That  we 
frequently  misunderstand  the  end  actually  subserved  by  natural  events  and 
objects  ;  for  the  principle  is,  not  that  we  necessarily  know  the  actual  end, 
but  that  we  necessarily  believe  that  there  is  some  end,  in  every  case  of 
systematic  order  and  collocation.  (6)  That  the  order  of  the  universe  is 
manifestly  imperfect ;  for  this,  if  granted,  would  argue,  not  absence  of 
contrivance,  but  some  special  reason  for  imperfection,  either  in  the  limita- 
tions of  the  contriving  intelligence  itself,  or  in  the  nature  of  the  end  sought 
(as,  for  example,  correspondence  with  the  moral  state  and  probation  of 
sinners). 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument :  "  Not  only  do  we  observe  in  the  world  the  change  which 
is  the  basis  of  the  Cosmological  Argument,  but  we  perceive  that  this  change  proceeds 
according  to  a  fixed  and  invariable  rule.  In  inorganic  nature,  general  order,  or  regu- 
larity;  in  organic  nature,  special  order,  or  adaptation."  Bowne,  Review  of  H.  Spencer, 
113-115,  224-230:  "Inductive  science  proceeds  upon  the  postulate  that  the  reasonable 
and  the  natural  are  one."  This  furnished  the  guiding  clue  to  Harvey  and  Cuvier ;  see 
Whewell,  Hist.  Induct.  Sciences,  2:  489-491.  Kant :  "  The  anatomist  must  assume  that 
nothing  in  man  is  in  vain."  On  molecules  as  manufactured  articles,  see  Cooke,  Re- 
ligion and  Chemistry,  and  New  Chemistry,  lect.  1 ;  also,  Maxwell,  in  Nature,  Sept.  25, 
1873.  See  also  Tulloch,  Theism,  116,  120;  LeConte,  Religion  and  Science,  lect.  2  and  3; 
McCosh,  Typical  Forms,  81,  420;  Agassiz,  Essay  on  Classification,  9, 10;  Bib.  Sac.,  1849: 
626,  and  1850:  613;  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Review,  Sept.,  1882:  181. 

(a)  Design,  in  fact  that  rivers  always  run  by  large  towns?  that  springs  are  always 
found  at  gambling  places?  Plants  made  for  man,  and  man  for  worms?  Voltaire: 
" Noses  are  made  for  spectacles— let  us  wear  them!"  Pope:  "While  man  exclaims 
4  See  all  things  for  my  use,'  '  See  man  for  mine '  replies  the  pampered  goose."  Many  of 
the  objections  to  design  arise  from  mistaking  a  part  of  the  creation  for  the  whole,  or  a 
structure  in  process  of  development  for  a  structure  completed.  For  illustration  of 
mistaken  ends,  see  Janet,  Final  Causes. 

(/))  Alphonso  of  Castile  took  offense  at  the  Ptolemaic  system.  See  John  Stuart  Mill's 
indictment  of  nature,  in  his  posthumous  Essays  on  Religion.  So  also  Schopenhauer 


44  THE   EXISTENCE   OF   GOD. 

and  von  Hartmann.  Per  contra,  see  Bowne,  Review  of  H.  Spencer,  264,  265;  McCosh, 
Christianity  and  Positivism,  82  sq. ;  Martineau,  Essays,  1:  50;  Porter,  Human  Intellect, 
599  ;  Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature,  366-371 ;  Princeton  Review,  Mar.,  1878 :  272-303 ;  Shaw 
on  Positivism. 

2.  Defects  of  the   Teleological  Argument.     These  attach  not  to  the 
premises  but  to  the  conclusion  sought  to  be  drawn  therefrom. 

A.  The  argument  cannot  prove  a  personal  God.     The  order  and  useful 
collocations  of  the  universe  may  be  only  the  changing  phenomena  of  an 
impersonal  intelligence  and  will,  such  as  pantheism  supposes.     The  finality 
may  be  only  immanent  finality. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  immanent  and  unconscious  finality.  National  spirit,  without 
set  purpose,  constructs  language.  The  bee  works  unconsciously  to  ends.  Strato  of 
Lampsacus  regarded  the  world  as  a  vast  animal.  Hopkins,  Miscellanies,  18-36—"  So  long 
as  there  is  such  a  thing  as  impersonal  and  adapting  intelligence  in  the  brute  creation, 
we  cannot  necessarily  infer  from  unchanging  laws  a  free  and  personal  God."  See  Fish- 
er, Supernat.  Origin  of  Christianity,  576-578.  Kant  shows  that  the  argument  does  not 
prove  an  intelligence  apart  from  the  world  (Critique,  370).  We  must  bring  mind  to  the 
world,  if  we  would  find  mind  in  it.  Leave  out  man,  and  nature  cannot  be  properly 
interpreted ;  the  intelligence  and  will  in  nature  may  still  be  unconscious.  But,  taking 
in  man,  we  are  bound  to  get  our  idea  of  the  intelligence  and  will  in  nature  from  the 
highest  type  of  intelligence  and  will  we  know,  and  that  is  man's.  Nullus  in  microcosmo 
spiritus,  nullus  in  macrocosmo  Deus.  "  We  receive  but  what  we  give,  And  in  our  life 
alone  does  Nature  live." 

The  Teleological  Argument  therefore  needs  to  be  supplemented  by  the  Anthropolog- 
ical Argument,  or  the  argument  from  the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  man.  By 
itself,  it  does  not  prove  a  Creator.  See  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  26 ;  Ritter,  Hist. 
Anc.  Philos.,  bk.  9,  chap.  6 ;  Foundations  of  our  Faith,  38 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases, 
215  ;  Habit  and  Intelligence,  2:  6,  and  chap.  27.  On  immanent  finality,  see  Janet,  Final 
Causes,  345-415;  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  201-203.  Since  righteousness  belongs  only 
to  personality,  this  argument  cannot  prove  righteousness  in  God.  Flint,  Theism,  66 — 
"  Power  and  intelligence  alone  do  not  constitute  God,  though  they  be  infinite.  A  being 
may  have  these,  and,  if  lacking  righteousness,  may  be  a  devil."  Here  again  we  see  the 
need  of  the  Anthropological  Argument  to  supplement  this. 

B.  Even  if  this  argument  could  prove  personality  in  the  intelligence 
and  will  that  originated  the  order  of  the  universe,  it  could  not  prove  either 
the  unity,  the  eternity,  or  the  infinity  of  God  ;   not  the  unity — for  the  use- 
ful collocations  of  the  universe  might  be  the  result  of  oneness  of  counsel, 
instead  of  oneness  of  essence,  in  the  contriving  intelligence  ;  not  the  eter- 
nity— for  a  created  demiurge  might  conceivably  have  designed  the  universe  ; 
not  the  infinity — since  all  marks  of  order  and  collocation  within  our  obser- 
vation are  simply  finite. 

Diman  asserts  (Theistic  Argument,  114)  that  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  must 
be  due  to  the  same  source— since  all  alike  are  subject  to  the  same  method  of  sequence, 
e.  g.  gravitation— and  that  the  evidence  points  us  irresistibly  to  some  one  explanatory 
cause.  We  can  regard  this  assertion  only  as  the  utterance  of  a  primitive  belief  in  a  first 
cause,  not  as  the  conclusion  of  logical  demonstration,  for  we  know  only  an  infinitesimal 
part  of  the  universe.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  intuition  of  an  Absolute  Reason, 
however,  we  can  cordially  assent  to  the  words  of  F.  L.  Patton :  "  When  we  consider 
Matthew  Arnold's  'stream  of  tendency,'  Spencer's  'unknowable,'  Schopenhauer's 
'world  as  will,'  and  Hartmann's  elaborate  defence  of  finality  as  the  product  of  uncon- 
scious intelligence,  we  may  well  ask  if  the  theists,  with  their  belief  in  one  personal 
God,  are  not  in  possession  of  the  only  hypothesis  that  can  save  the  language  of  these 
writers  from  the  charge  of  meaningless  and  idiotic  raving"  (Journ.  Christ.  Philos., 
April,  1883:  283-307). 

3.  The  value  of  the  Teleological  Argument  is  simply  this, — it  proves 
from  certain  useful  collocations  and  instances  of  order  which  have  clearly 


THE    ANTHROPOLOGICAL   ARGUMENT.  45 

had  a  beginning,  or  in  other  words,  from  the  present  harmony  of  the  uni- 
verse, that  there  exists  an  intelligence  and  will  adequate  to  its  contrivance. 
But  whether  this  intelligence  and  will  is  personal  or  impersonal,  creator  or 
only  fashioner,  one  or  many,  finite  or  infinite,  eternal  or  owing  its  being  to 
another,  necessary  or  free,  this  argument  cannot  assure  us. 

In  it,  however,  we  take  a  step  forward.  The  causative  power  which  we 
have  proved  by  the  Cosmological  Argument  has  now  become  an  intelligent 
and  voluntary  power. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  Three  Essays  on  Theism,  168-170— "In  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge,  the  adaptations  in  nature  afford  a  large  balance  of  probability  in  favor  of 
causation  by  intelligence."  On  the  whole  argument,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  1849:  634;  Murphy, 
Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  216;  Flint,  Theism,  131-210;  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  1:  164-174. 

III.  THE  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  ARGUMENT,  OB  ARGUMENT  FROM  MAN'S 
MENTAL  AND  MORAL  NATURE. 

This  is  an  argument  from  the  mental  and  moral  constitution  of  man  to 
the  existence  of  an  Author,  Lawgiver,  and  End.  It  is  sometimes  called 
the  Moral  Argument. 

The  common  title  "Moral  Argument"  is  much  too  narrow,  for  it  seems  to  take  ac- 
count only  of  conscience  in  man,  whereas  the  argument  which  this  title  so  imperfectly 
designates  really  proceeds  from  man's  intellectual  and  emotional,  as  well  as  from  his 
moral,  nature.  In  choosing  the  designation  we  have  adopted,  we  desire,  moreover,  to 
rescue  from  the  mere  physicist  the  term  "  Anthropology  "—a  term  to  which  he  has 
attached  altogether  too  limited  a  signification,  and  which,  in  his  use  of  it,  implies  that 
man  is  a  mere  animal.  Anthropology  means,  not  simply  the  science  of  man's  physical 
nature,  origin,  and  relations,  but  also  the  science  which  treats  of  his  higher  spiritual 
being.  Hence,  in  Theology,  the  term  Anthropology  designates  that  division  of  the 
subject  which  treats  of  man's  spiritual  nature  and  endowments,  his  original  state  and 
his  subsequent  apostasy.  As  an  argument,  therefore,  from  man's  mental  and  moral 
nature,  we  can  with  perfect  propriety  call  the  present  argument  the  Anthropological 
Argument. 

The  argument  is  a  complex  one,  and  may  be  divided  into  three  parts. 

1.  Man's  intellectual  and  moral  nature  must  have  had  for  its  author 
an  intellectual  and  moral  Being.  The  elements  of  the  proof  are  as  follows: — 
(#)  Man,  as  an  intellectual  and  moral  Being,  has  had  a  beginning  upon  the 
planet.  (6)  Material  and  unconscious  forces  do  not  afford  a  sufficient  cause 
for  man's  reason,  conscience,  and  free  will,  (c)  Man,  as  an  effect,  can  be 
referred  only  to  a  cause  possessing  self -consciousness  and  a  moral  nature, 
in  other  words,  personality. 

This  argument  is  in  part  an  application  to  man  of  the  principles  of  both  the  Cos- 
mological and  the  Teleological  Arguments.  Flint,  Theism,  74— "Although  causality 
does  not  involve  design,  nor  design  goodness,  yet  design  involves  causality,  and  good- 
ness both  causality  and  design."  Jacobi :  "  Nature  conceals  God ;  man  reveals  him." 

Man  is  an  effect.  The  history  of  the  geologic  ages  proves  that  man  has  not  always  ex- 
isted, and  even  if  the  lower  creatures  were  his  progenitors,  his  intellect  and  freedom  are 
not  eternal  a  parte  ante.  We  consider  man,  not  as  a  physical,  but  as  a  spiritual,  being. 
Thompson,  Christian  Theism,  75— "Every  true  cause  must  be  sufficient  to  account  for 
the  effect."  Locke,  Essay,  book  4,  chap.  10—"  Cogitable  existence  cannot  be  produced 
out  of  incogitable." 

Personality  =  self-consciousness  +  self-determination  in  view  of  moral  ends.  The 
brute  has  intelligence  and  will,  but  has  neither  self-consciousness,  conscience,  nor  free- 
will. See  Julius  Miiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  76  sq.  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  91,  251— 
"  Suppose  '  the  intuitions  of  the  moral  faculty  are  the  slowly  organized  results  of  ex- 
perience received  from  the  race ' ;  still,  having  found  that  the  universe  affords  evidence 
of  a  supremely  intelligent  cause,  we  may  believe  that  man's  moral  nature  affords  the 


46  THE    EXISTENCE   OF    GOD. 

highest  illustration  of  its  mode  of  working";  358:  "Shall  we  explain  the  lower  forms 
of  will  by  the  higher,  or  the  higher  by  the  lower  ?  " 

2.  Man's  moral  nature  proves  the  existence  of  a  holy  Lawgiver  and 
Judge.     The  elements  of  the  proof  are : — (a)   Conscience  recognizes  the 
existence  of  a  moral  law  which  has  supreme  authority.     (6)   Known  viola- 
tions of  this  moral  law  are  followed  by  feelings  of  ill-desert  and  fears  of 
judgment,      (c)   This  moral  law,   since  it  is  not  self-imposed,   and  these 
threats  of  judgment,  since  they  are  not  self-executing,  respectively  argue 
the  existence  of  a  holy  will  that  has  imposed  the  law,  and  of  a  punitive 
power  that  will  execute  the  threats  of  the  moral  nature. 

See  Bishop  Butler's  Sermons  on  Human  Nature,  in  Works,  Bohn's  ed.,  385-414.  But- 
ler's great  discovery  was  that  of  the  supremacy  of  conscience  in  the  moral  constitution 
of  man :  "  Had  it  strength  as  it  has  right,  had  it  power  as  it  has  manifest  authority,  it 
would  absolutely  govern  the  world."  Conscience  =  the  moral  judiciary  of  the  soul  —  not 
law,  nor  sheriff,  but  judge;  see  under  Anthropology.  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  251 
— "  Conscience  does  not  lay  down  a  law ;  it  warns  us  of  the  existence  of  a  law ;  and  not 
only  of  a  law,  but  of  a  purpose— not  our  own,  but  the  purpose  of  another,  which  it  is 
our  mission  to  realize."  See  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  218  sq.  It  proves  per- 
sonality in  the  Lawgiver,  because  its  utterances  are  not  abstract,  like  those  of  reason, 
but  are  in  the  nature  of  command ;  they  are  not  in  the  indicative,  but  in  the  imperative, 
mood ;  it  says,  "  thou  shalt "  and  "  thou  shalt  not."  This  argues  will, 

Hutton,  Essays,  1 :  11—"  Conscience  is  an  ideal  Moses,  and  thunders  from  an  invisible 
Sinai;"  "the  Atheist  regards  conscience  not  as  a  skylight,  opened  to  let  in  upon 
human  nature  an  infinite  dawn  from  above,  but  as  a  polished  arch  or  dome,  completing 
and  reflecting  the  whole  edifice  beneath."  But  conscience  cannot  be  the  mere  reflection 
and  expression  of  nature,  for  it  represses  and  condemns  nature.  Tulloch,  Theism : 
"  Conscience,  like  the  magnetic  needle,  indicates  the  existence  of  an  unknown  Power 
which  from  afar  controls  its  vibrations  and  at  whose  presence  it  trembles."  Nero 
spends  nights  of  terror  in  wandering  through  the  halls  of  his  Golden  House.  Kant  holds 
that  faith  in  duty  requires  faith  in  a  God  who  will  defend  and  reward  duty— see  Critique 
of  Pure  Reason,  359-387.  See  also  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  524. 

3.  Man's  emotional  and  voluntary  nature  proves  the  existence  of  a  Being 
who  can  furnish  in  himself  a  satisfying  object  of  human  affection  and  an 
end  which  will  call  forth  man's  highest  activities  and  ensure  his  highest 
progress. 

Only  a  Being  of  power,  wisdom,  holiness,  and  goodness,  and  all  these  in- 
definitely greater  than  any  that  we  know  upon  the  earth,  can  meet  this  de- 
mand of  the  human  soul.  Such  a  Being  must  exist.  Otherwise  man's 
greatest  need  would  be  unsupplied,  and  belief  in  a  lie  be  more  productive  of 
virtue  than  belief  in  the  truth. 

Feuerbach  calls  God  "the  Brocken-shadow  of  man  himself;"  "consciousness  of  God 
=  self -consciousness ;"  "religion  is  a  dream  of  the  human  soul;"  "all  theology  is 
anthropology."  But  conscience  shows  that  man  does  not  recognize  in  God  simply  his 
like,  but  also  his  opposite.  Not  as  Galton :  "  Piety  =  conscience  +  instability."  The  finest 
minds  are  of  the  leaning  type ;  see  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  370 ;  Augustine,  Confes- 
sions, 1 :  1— "  Thou  hast  made  us  for  thyself,  and  our  heart  is  restless  till  it  find  rest  in 
thee."  On  John  Stuart  Mill— "a  mind  that  could  not  find  God,  and  a  heart  that  could 
not  do  without  him  "—see  his  Autobiography,  and  Browne,  in  Strivings  for  the  Faith 
(Christ.  Ev.  Soc'y),  259-287.  Comte,  in  his  later  days,  constructed  an  object  of  worship  in 
Universal  Humanity,  and  invented  a  ritual  which  Huxley  calls  "Catholicism  ininu* 
Christianity."  See  also  Tyndall,  Belfast  Address :  "  Did  I  not  believe,  said  a  great  man 
to  me  once,  that  an  Intelligence  exists  at  the  heart  of  things,  my  life  on  earth  would  be 
intolerable." 

We  must  freely  grant,  however,  that  this  argument  from  man's  aspirations  has  weight 
only  upon  the  supposition  that  a  wise,  truthful,  holy,  and  benevolent  God  exists,  who 
has  so  constituted  our  minds  that  their  thinking  and  their  affections  correspond  to 


THE    ONTOLOGICAL   ARGUMENT.  47 

truth  and  to  himself.  An  evil  being  might  have  so  constituted  us  that  all  logic  would 
lead  us  into  error.  The  argument  is  therefore  the  development  and  expression  of  our 
intuitive  idea  of  God.  Luthardt,  Fundamental  Truths :  "  Nature  is  like  a  written  docu- 
ment containing  only  consonants.  It  is  we  who  must  furnish  the  vowels  that  shall  de- 
cipher it.  Unless  we  bring  with  us  the  idea  of  God,  we  shall  find  nature  but  dumb.'* 
See  also  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  1 :  174. 

A.  The  defects  of  the  Anthropological  Argument  are:     (a)   It  cannot 
prove  a  creator  of  the  material  universe.     (6)  It  cannot  prove  the  infinity 
of  God,  since  man  from  whom  we  argue  is  finite,     (c)   It  cannot  prove  the 
mercy  of  God.     But^ 

B.  The  value  of  the  Argument  is,  that  it  assures  us  of  the  existence  of 
a  personal  Being,  who  rules  us  in  righteousness,  and  who  is  the  proper 
object  of  supreme  affection  and  service.     But  whether  this  Being  is  the 
original  creator  of  all  things,  or  merely  the  author  of  our  own  existence, 
whether  he  is  infinite  or  finite,  whether  he  is  a  Being  of  simple  righteous- 
ness or  also  of  mercy,  this  argument  cannot  assure  us. 

Among  the  arguments  for  the  existence  of  God,  however,  we  assign  to 
this  the  chief  place,  since  it  adds  to  the  ideas  of  causative  power  (which 
we  derived  from  the  Cosmological  Argument)  and  of  contriving  intelligence 
(which  we  derived  from  the  Teleological  Argument),  the  far  wider  ideas  of 
personality  and  righteous  lordship. 

Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Works  of  Reid,  2 :  974,  note  U ;  Lect.  on  Metaph.,  1 :  33—"  The  only 
valid  arguments  for  the  existence  of  God  and  for  the  immortality  of  the  soul  rest  upon 
the  ground  of  man's  moral  nature  " ;  "  theology  is  wholly  dependent  upon  psychology, 
for  with  the  proof  of  the  moral  nature  of  man  stands  or  falls  the  proof  of  the  existence 
of  a  Deity."  But  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  244,  very  properly  objects  to  making  this 
argument  from  the  nature  of  man  the  sole  proof  of  Deity :  "  It  should  be  rather  used 
to  show  the  attributes  of  the  Being  whose  existence  has  been  already  proved  from  other 
sources"  ;  "  hence  the  Anthropological  Argument  is  as  dependent  upon  the  Cosmologi- 
cal and  Teleological  Arguments  as  they  are  upon  it." 

Yet  the  Anthropological  Argument  is  needed  to  supplement  the  conclusions  of  the 
two  others.  Those  who,  like  Herbert  Spencer,  recognize  an  infinite  and  absolute  Being, 
Power  and  Cause,  may  yet  fail  to  recognize  this  being  as  spiritual  and  personal,  simply 
because  they  do  not  recognize  themselves  as  spiritual  and  personal  beings,  that  is,  do 
not  recognize  reason,  conscience,  and  free-will  in  man.  Agnosticism  in  philosophy  in- 
volves agnosticism  in  religion.  See  Flint,  Theism,  68;  Mill,  Criticism  of  Hamilton,  2: 
266;  Dove,  Logic  of  Christian  Faith,  211-236,  261-299;  Cooke,  Religion  and  Chemistry: 
"  God  is  love ;  but  nature  could  not  prove  it,  and  the  Lamb  was  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  in  order  to  attest  it." 

It  is  very  common  at  this  place  to  treat  of  what  are  called  the  Historical  and  the  Bib- 
lical Arguments  for  the  existence  of  God— the  former  arguing,  from  the  unity  of  history, 
the  latter  arguing,  from  the  unity  of  the  Bible,  that  this  unity  must  in  each  case  have 
for  its  cause  and  explanation  the  existence  of  God.  It  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  not 
discussing  these  arguments,  that,  without  a  previous  belief  in  the  existence  of  God,  no 
one  will  see  unity  either  in  history  or  in  the  Bible. 

IV.  THE  ONTOLOGICAL  ARGUMENT,  OB  ARGUMENT  FROM  OUR  ABSTRACT 
AND  NECESSARY  IDEAS. 

This  argument  infers  the  existence  of  God  from  the  abstract  and  neces- 
sary ideas  of  the  human  mind.  It  has  three  forms  : 

1.  That  of  Samuel  Clarke.  Space  and  time  are  attributes  of  substance 
or  being.  But  space  and  time  are  respectively  infinite  and  eternal.  There 
must  therefore  be  an  infinite  and  eternal  substance  or  Being  to  whom  these 
attributes  belong. 


48  THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD. 

Gillespie  states  the  argument  somewhat  differently.  Space  and  time  are 
modes  of  existence.  But  space  and  time  are  respectively  infinite  and  eter- 
nal. There  must  therefore  be  an  infinite  and  eternal  Being  who  subsists  in 
these  modes.  But  we  reply : 

Space  and  time  are  neither  attributes  of  substance  nor  modes  of  exist- 
ence. The  argument,  if  valid,  would  prove  that  God  is  not  mind  but  matter, 
for  that  could  not  be  mind,  but  only  matter,  of  which  space  and  time  were 
either  attributes  or  modes. 

The  Ontological  Argument  is  frequently  called  the  a  priori  argument,  that  is,  the  ar- 
gument from  that  which  is  logically  prior,  or  earlier  than  experience,  viz.  our  intuitive 
ideas.  All  the  forms  of  the  Ontological  Argument  are  in  this  sense  a  priori.  Space  and 
time  are  a  priori  ideas.  See  Samuel  Clarke,  Works,  2 :  521 ;  Gillespie,  Necessary  Exist- 
ence of  God.  Per  contra,  see  Kant,  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,  304 ;  Calderwood,  Moral 
Philosophy,  226— "To  begin,  as  Clarke  did,  with  the  proposition  that  'something  has  ex- 
isted from  eternity,'  is  virtually  to  propose  an  argument  after  having  assumed  what  is 
to  be  proved.  Gillespie's  form  of  the  a  priori  argument,  starting  with  the  proposition 
'infinity  of  extension  is  necessarily  existing,'  is  liable  to  the  same  objection,  with  the 
additional  disadvantage  of  attributing  a  property  of  matter  to  the  Deity." 

H.  B.  Smith  says  that  Brougham  misrepresented  Clarke :  "  Clarke's  argument  is  in  his 
sixth  proposition,  and  supposes  the  existence  proved  in  what  goes  before.  He  aims  here 
to  establish  the  infinitude  and  omnipresence  of  this  First  Being.  He  does  not  prove 
existence  from  immensity."  But  we  reply,  neither  can  he  prove  the  infinity  of  God 
from  the  immensity  of  space.  Space  and  time  are  neither  substances  nor  attributes,  but 
are  rather  relations ;  see  Calderwood,  Philos.  of  Infinite,  331-335 ;  Cocker,  Theistic  Con- 
ception of  the  World,  66-96.  The  doctrine  that  space  and  time  are  attributes  or  modes 
of  God's  existence  tends  to  a  materialistic  pantheism  like  that  of  Spinoza,  who  held  that- 
"  the  one  and  simple  substance  "  (substantia  una  et  unica)  is  known  to  us  through  the 
two  attributes  of  thought  and  extension ;  mind  =  God  in  the  mode  of  thought ;  matter 
=  God  in  the  mode  of  extension.  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian  Faith,  127,  says  well  that 
an  extended  God  is  a  material  God ;  "space  and  time  are  attributes  neither  of  matter 
uor  mind ;  "  "we  must  carry  the  moral  idea  into  the  natural  world,  not  the  natural  idea 
into  the  moral  world."  See  also,  Blunt,  Dictionary  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theol.,  740;  Porter, 
Human  Intellect,  567. 

2.  That  of  Descartes.     We   have  the  idea  of  an  infinite  and  perfect 
Being.     This  idea  cannot  be  derived  from  imperfect  and  finite  things. 
There  must  therefore  be  an  infinite  and  perfect  Being  who  is  its  cause. 

But  we  reply  that  this  argument  confounds  the  idea  of  the  infinite  with 
an  infinite  idea.  Man's  idea  of  the  infinite  is  not  infinite  but  finite,  and 
from  a  finite  effect  we  cannot  argue  an  infinite  cause. 

This  form  of  the  Ontological  Argument,  while  it  is  a  priori,  as  based  upon  a  necessary 
idea  of  the  human  mind,  is,  unlike  the  other  forms  of  the  same  argument,  a  posteriori, 
as  arguing  from  this  idea,  as  an  effect,  to  the  existence  of  a  Being  who  is  its  cause.  A 
posteriori  argument  =  from  that  which  is  later  to  that  which  is  earlier,  that  is,  from 
effect  to  cause.  The  Cosmological,  Teleological,  and  Anthropological  Arguments  are 
arguments  a  posteriori.  Of  this  sort  is  the  argument  of  Descartes;  see  Descartes, 
Meditation  3 :  "  Haec  idea  quae  in  nobis  est  requirit  Deum  pro  causa ;  Deusque  proinde 
existit."  The  idea  in  men's  minds  is  the  impression  of  the  workman's  name  stamped 
indelibly  on  his  work— the  shadow  cast  upon  the  human  soul  by  that  unseen  One  of 
whose  being  and  presence  it  dimly  informs  us.  Blunt,  Diet,  of  Theol.,  739;  Saisset, 
Pantheism,  1 :  54—"  Descartes  sets  out  from  a  fact  of  consciousness,  while  Anselm  sets 
out  from  an  abstract  conception ; "  "  Descartes's  argument  might  be  considered  a  branch 
of  the  Anthropological  or  Moral  Argument,  but  for  the  fact  that  this  last  proceeds  from 
man's  constitution  rather  than  from  his  abstract  ideas."  See  Bib.  Sac.,  1849 :  637. 

3.  That  of  Anselm.     We  have  the  idea  of  an  absolutely  perfect  Being. 
But  existence  is  an  attribute  of  perfection.     An  absolutely  perfect  Being 
must  therefore  exist. 


THE    ONTOLOGICAL   ARGUMENT.  49 

But  we  reply  that  this  argument  confounds  ideal  existence  with  real  ex- 
istence. Our  ideas  are  not  the  measure  of  external  reality. 

Anselrn,  Proslogion,  2 — Id,  quo  raajus  cogitari  nequit,  non  potest  esse  in  intellectu 
solo.  See  translation  of  the  Proslogion,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1851:  529,  699  ;  Kant,  Critique,  368. 
The  arguments  of  Descartes  and  Anselm,  with  Kant's  reply,  are  given  in  their  original 
form  by  Harris,  in  Journ.  Spec.  Philos.,  15:  420-428.  The  major  premise  here  is  not  that 
#11  perfect  ideas  imply  the  existence  of  the  object  which  they  represent,  for  then,  as 
Kant  objects,  I  might  argue  from  my  perfect  idea  of  a  $100  bill  that  I  actually  pos- 
.sessed  the  same,  which  would  be  far  from  the  fact.  So  I  have  a  perfect  idea  of  a  per- 
fectly evil  being,  of  a  centaur,  of  nothing— but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  evil  being, 
that  the  centaur,  that  nothing,  exists.  The  argument  is  rather  from  the  idea  of  absolute 
and  perfect  Being— of  "that,  no  greater  than  which  can  be  conceived."  There  can  be 
but  one  such  Being,  and  there  can  be  but  one  such  idea. 

Yet  even  thus  understood,  we  cannot  argue  from  the  idea  to  the  actual  existence  of 
such  a  being.  "  Anselm's  argument  implies,"  says  Fisher,  in  Journ.  Christ.  Philos.,  Jan., 
1883 :  114,  "  that  existence  in  re  is  a  constituent  of  the  concept.  It  would  conclude  the 
-existence  of  a  being  from  the  definition  of  a  word.  This  inference  is  justified  only  on 
the  basis  of  philosophical  realism."  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christ.  Faith,  141— "The  On- 
tological  Argument  is  the  algebraic  formula  of  the  universe,  which  leads  to  a  valid 
conclusion  with  regard  to  real  existence,  only  when  we  fill  it  in  with  the  objects  with 
which  we  become  acquainted  in  the  arguments  a  posteriori.1'  See  also,  Shedd,  Hist. 
Doct.,  1 :  231,  and  in  Presb.  Rev.,  April,  1884 :  212-227  (favoring  the  argument) ;  Fisher, 
Essays,  574 ;  Thompson,  Christian  Theism,  171 ;  H.  B.  Smith,  Introd.  to  Christ.  Theol., 
122 ;  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  1 :  181-187 ;  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1875 :  611-655. 

Dorner,  in  his  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  197,  gives  us  the  best  statement  of  the  Ontological 
Argument :  "  Reason  thinks  of  God  as  existing.  Reason  would  not  be  reason,  if  it  did 
not  think  of  God  as  existing.  Reason  only  is,  upon  the  assumption  that  God  is."  But 
this  is  evidently  not  argument,  but  only  vivid  statement  of  the  necessary  assumption  of 
the  existence  of  an  absolute  Reason  which  conditions  and  gives  validity  to  ours. 

Although  this  last  must  be  considered  the  most  perfect  form  of  the  onto- 
logical  argument,  it  is  evident  that  it  conducts  us  only  to  an  ideal  conclu- 
sion, not  to  real  existence.  In  common  with  the  two  preceding  forms  of 
the  argument,  moreover,  it  tacitly  assumes,  as  already  existing  in  the  human 
mind,  that  very  knowledge  of  God's  existence  which  it  would  derive  from 
logical  demonstration.  It  has  value,  therefore,  simply  as  showing  what  God 
must  be,  if  he  exists  at  all. 

But  the  existence  of  a  Being  indefinitely  great,  a  personal  Cause,  Con- 
triver and  Lawgiver,  has  been  proved  by  the  preceding  arguments ;  for  the 
law  of  parsimony  requires  us  to  apply  the  conclusions  of  the  first  three 
arguments  to  one  Being,  and  not  to  many.  To  this  one  Being  we  may 
now  ascribe  the  infinity  and  perfection,  the  idea  of  which  lies  at  the  basis 
of  the  Ontological  Argument — ascribe  them,  not  because  they  are  demon- 
strably  his,  but  because  our  mental  constitution  will  not  allow  us  to  think 
otherwise.  Thus  clothing  him  with  all  perfections  which  the  human  mind 
<3an  conceive,  and  these  in  illimitable  fulness,  we  have  one  whom  we  may 
justly  call  God. 

McCosh,  Div.  Gov't,  12,  note—"  It  is  at  this  place,  if  we  do  not  mistake,  that  the  idea 
of  the  Infinite  comes  in.  The  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  form  such  an  idea,  or 
rather  its  intuitive  belief  in  an  Infinite  of  which  it  feels  that  it  cannot  form  an  adequate 
conception,  may  be  no  proof  (as  Kant  maintains)  of  the  existence  of  an  infinite  Being ; 
but  it  is,  we  are  convinced,  the  means  by  which  the  mind  is  enabled  to  invest  the  Deity, 
shown  on  other  grounds  to  exist,  with  the  attributes  of  infinity,  i.  e.,  to  look  on  his 
being,  power,  goodness,  and  all  his  perfections,  as  infinite."  Even  Flint,  Theism,  68,  who 
holds  that  we  reach  the  existence  of  God  by  inference,  speaks  of  "  necessary  conditions 
of  thought  and  feeling,  and  ineradicable  aspirations,  which  force  on  us  ideas  of  absolute 
existence,  infinity,  and  perfection,  and  will  neither  permit  us  to  deny  these  perfections 


50  THE    EXISTENCE    OF    GOD. 

to  God,  nor  to  ascribe  them  to  any  other  being-."  Belief  in  God  is  not  the  conclusion  of 
a  demonstration,  but  the  solution  of  a  problem.  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  226— 
"  either  the  whole  question  is  assumed  in  starting,  or  the  Infinite  is  not  reached  in  con- 
cluding1." 

As  a  logical  process  this  is  indeed  defective,  since  all  logic  as  well  as  all 
observation  depends  for  its  validity  upon  the  presupposed  existence  of 
God,  and  since  this  particular  process,  even  granting  the  validity  of  logic 
in  general,  does  not  warrant  the  conclusion  that  God  exists,  except  upon  a 
second  assumption  that  our  abstract  ideas  of  infinity  and  perfection  are  to 
be  applied  to  the  Being  to  whom  argument  has  actually  conducted  us. 

But  although  both  ends  of  the  logical  bridge  are  confessedly  wanting, 
the  process  may  serve  and  does  serve  a  more  useful  purpose  than  that  of 
mere  demonstration,  namely,  that  of  awakening,  explicating,  and  confirm- 
ing a  conviction  which,  though  the  most  fundamental  of  all,  may  yet  have 
been  partially  slumbering  for  lack  of  thought. 

Morell,  Philos.  Fragments,  177,  179—"  We  can,  in  fact,  no  more  prove  the  existence  of 
a  God  by  a  logical  argument,  than  we  can  prove  the  existence  of  an  external  world ;  but 
none  the  less  may  we  obtain  as  strong  a  practical  conviction  of  the  one,  as  the  other." 
"  We  arrive  at  a  scientific  belief  in  the  existence  of  God  just  as  we  do  at  any  other  pos- 
sible human  truth.  We  assume  it,  as  a  hypothesis  absolutely  necessary  to  account  for 
the  phenomena  of  the  universe ;  and  then  evidences  from  every  quarter  begin  to  con- 
verge upon  it,  until,  in  process  of  time,  the  common  sense  of  mankind,  cultivated  and 
enlightened  by  ever  accumulating  knowledge,  pronounces  upon  the  validity  of  the 
hypothesis  with  a  voice  scarcely  less  decided  and  universal  than  it  does  in  the  case  of 
our  highest  scientific  convictions." 

Fisher,  Essays  on  Supernat.  Orig.  of  Christ'y,  572— "What  then  is  the  purport  and 
force  of  the  several  arguments  for  the  existence  of  God?  We  reply  that  these  proofs 
are  the  different  modes  in  which  faith  expresses  itself  and  seeks  confirmation.  In  them 
faith,  or  the  object  of  faith,  is  more  exactly  conceived  and  defined,  and  in  them  is  found 
a  corroboration,  not  arbitrary  but  substantial  and  valuable,  of  that  faith  which  springs 
from  the  soul  itself.  Such  proofs,  therefore,  are  neither  on  the  one  hand  sufficient  to 
create  and  sustain  faith,  nor  are  they  on  the  other  hand  to  be  set  aside  as  of  no  value." 
A.  J.  Barrett :  "  The  arguments  are  not  so  much  a  bridge  in  themselves,  as  they  are 
guys,  to  hold  firm  the  great  suspension-bridge  of  intuition,  by  which  we  pass  the  gulf 
from  man  to  God.  Or,  while  they  are  not  a  ladder  by  which  we  may  reach  heaven,  they 
are  the  Ossa  on  Pelion,  from  whose  combined  height  we  may  descry  heaven."  On  the 
whole  subject,  see  Cudworth,  Intel.  System  of  the  Universe,  3 :  42 ;  Calderwood,  Philos. 
of  the  Infinite,  150  sq. ;  Curtis,  Human  Element  in  Inspiration,  242 ;  Peabody,  in  An- 
dover  Review,  July,  1884 ;  Hahn,  History  of  the  Arguments  for  the  Existence  of  God. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ERRONEOUS    EXPLANATIONS    OF   THE    FACTS. 

Any  correct  explanation  of  the  universe  must  postulate  an  intuitive 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  the  external  world,  of  self,  and  of  God. 
The  desire  for  scientific  unity,  however,  has  induced  attempts  to  reduce 
these  three  factors  to  one,  and  according  as  one  or  another  of  the  three  has 
been  regarded  as  the  all-inclusive  principle,  the  result  has  been  Material- 
ism, Idealism,  or  Pantheism. 

I.     MATERIALISM. 

Materialism  is  that  method  of  thought  which  gives  priority  to  matter, 
rather  than  to  mind,  in  its  explanations  of  the  universe.  Upon  this  view, 
material  atoms  constitute  the  ultimate  and  fundamental  reality  of  which 
all  things,  rational  and  irrational,  are  but  combinations  and  phenomena. 
Force  is  regarded  as  a  universal  and  inseparable  property  of  matter. 

The  element  of  truth  in  materialism  is  the  reality  of  second  causes.  Its 
error  is  in  mistaking  these  second  causes  for  first  causes,  and  in  supposing 
them  able  to  account  for  their  own  existence,  and  for  the  existence  of  the 
universe. 

Herschel  says  that  these  atoms,  in  recognizing-  each  other  in  order  to  combine,  show 
a  great  deal  of  'presence  of  mind.'  The  monad  of  Leibnitz  =  'parvue  in  suo  genere 
deus.'  Deprive  matter  of  force  (impenetrability,  motion,  etc.),  and  you  have  only  exten- 
sion left.  This  makes  matter  =  space  =  zero.  The  impossibility  of  finding  in  matter, 
regarded  as  mere  atoms,  any  of  the  attributes  of  a  cause,  has  led  to  a  general  abandon- 
ment of  this  old  Materialism  of  Bemocritus,  Epicurus,  Lucretius,  Condillac,  Holbach, 
Feuerbach,  Biichner ;  and  Materialistic  Idealism  has  taken  its  place,  which  instead  of 
regarding  force  as  a  property  of  matter,  regards  matter  as  a  manifestation  of  force. 
See  Lange,  History  of  Materialism ;  Janet,  Materialism  ;  Fabri,  Materialismus ;  Herzog, 
Encyclopaedic,  art. :  Materialismus ;  but  esp.,  Stallo,  Modern  Physics,  148-170. 

In  addition  to  the  general  error  indicated  above,  we  object  to  this  system 
as  follows : 

1.  In  knowing  matter,  the  mind  necessarily  judges  itself  to  be  a  sub- 
stance different  in  kind,  and  higher  in  rank,  than  the  matter  which  it 
knows. 

We  here  state  simply  an  intuitive  conviction.  The  mind,  in  using  its  physical  organ- 
ism and  through  it  bringing  external  nature  into  its  service,  recognizes  itself  as  different 
from  and  superior  to  matter.  Martineau,  quoted  in  Brit.  Quar.,  April,  1882 :  173—"  The 
inorganic  and  unconscious  portion  of  the  world,  instead  of  being  the  potentiality  of 
the  organic  and  conscious,  is  rather  its  residual  precipitate,  formed  as  the  indwelling 
Mind  concentrates  an  intenser  aim  on  the  upper  margin  of  the  ordered  whole,  and  es- 
pecially on  the  inner  life  of  the  natures  that  can  resemble  him."  Pres.  Thos.  Hill,  in 
Bib.  Sac.,  April,  1852:  353— "All  that  is  really  given  by  the  act  of  sense-perception  is  the 
existence  of  the  conscious  self,  floating  in  boundless  space  and  boundless  time,  sur- 
rounded and  sustained  by  boundless  power.  The  material  world,  which  we  at  first  think 
the  great  reality,  is  only  the  shadow  of  a  real  being,  which  is  immaterial."  Harris, 

51 


52  THE    EXISTENCE   OF    GOD. 

Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,  317—"  Imagine  an  infinitesimal  being  in  the  brain,  watch- 
ing the  action  of  the  molecules,  but  missing  the  thought.  So  science  observes  the  uni- 
verse, and  misses  God." 

2.  Since    the   mind's  attributes   of    (a)   continuous   identity,    (6)    self- 
activity,    (c)   unrelatedness  to  space,   are  different  in  kind  and  higher  in 
rank  than  the  attributes  of  matter,  it  is  rational  to  conclude  that  the  sub- 
stance underlying  mental  phenomena  is  a  substance  different  in  kind  and 
higher  in  rank  than  that  which  underlies  material  phenomena. 

This  is  an  argument  from  specific  qualities  to  the  nature  of  the  substance  underlying 
them,  (a)  Memory  proves  personal  identity.  This  is  not  an  identity  of  material  atoms, 
for  atoms  change.  The  molecules  that  come  cannot  remember  those  that  depart. 
Some  immutable  part  in  the  brain  ?  organized,  or  unorganized  ?  organized  decays ; 
unorganized  =  soul,  (b)  Inertia  shows  that  matter,  is  not  self -moving.  It  acts  only  as 
it  is  acted  upon.  A  single  atom  would  never  move.  Two  portions  are  necessary,  and 
these,  in  order  to  useful  action,  require  adjustment  by  a  power  which  does  not  belong  to 
matter.  Evolution  of  the  universe  inexplicable,  unless  matter  were  first  moved  by 
some  power  outside  itself.  See  Duke  of  Argyll,  Reign  of  Law,  92.  (c)  The  highest 
activities  of  mind  are  independent  of  known  physical  conditions.  Mind  controls  and 
subdues  the  body.  It  does  not  cease  to  grow  when  the  growth  of  the  body  ceases. 
When  the  body  nears  dissolution,  the  mind  often  asserts  itself  most  strikingly. 

See  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  22,  131,  132.  McCosh,  Christianity  and  Positivism,  chap, 
on  Materialism ;  Divine  Government,  71-94 ;  Intuitions,  140-145.  Hopkins,  Study  of  Man, 
53-56;  Morell,  Hist.  Philos.,  318-334 ;  Hickok,  Rational  Cosmology,  403;  Theol.  Eclectic, 
6:  555;  Appleton,  Works,  1:  151-154;  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  235;  Ulrici,  Leib 
mid  Seele,  688-725,  and  synopsis,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  July,  1873 :  380. 

3.  This  common  judgment  that  mind  and  matter  are  distinct  substances 
must  be  regarded  as  conclusive,  until  it  is  scientifically  demonstrated  that 
mind  is  material  in  its  origin  and  nature.     But  all  attempts  to  explain  the 
psychical  from  the  physical,  or  the  organic  from  the  inorganic,  are  acknowl- 
edged failures.     The  most  that  can  be  claimed  is,  that  psychical  are  always 
accompanied  by  physical  changes,  and  that  the  inorganic  is  the  basis  and 
support  of  the  organic.    Although  the  precise  connection  between  the  mind 
and  the  body  is  unknown,  the  fact  that  the  continuity  of  physical  changes 
is  unbroken  in  times  of  psychical  activity  renders  it  certain  that  mind  is  not 
transformed  physical  force. 

The  chemist  can  produce  organic,  but  not  organized,  substances.  The  life  cannot  be 
produced  from  matter.  Even  in  living  things  progress  is  secured  only  by  plan.  Multi- 
plication of  desired  advantage,  in  the  Darwinian  scheme,  requires  a  selecting  thought ; 
in  other  words  the  natural  selection  is  artificial  selection  after  all.  John  Fiske,  Destiny 
of  the  Creature,  109—"  Cerebral  physiology  tells  us  that,  during  the  present  life,  although 
thought  and  feeling  are  always  manifested  in  connection  with  a  peculiar  form  of  matter, 
yet  by  no  possibility  can  thought  and  feeling  be  in  any  sense  the  product  of  matter. 
Nothing  could  be  more  grossly  unscientific  than  the  famous  remark  of  Cabanis,  that 
the  brain  secretes  thought  as  the  liver  secretes  bile.  It  is  not  even  correct  to  say  that 
thought  goes  on  in  the  brain.  What  goes  on  the  brain  is  an  amazingly  complex  series  of 
molecular  movements,  with  which  thought  and  feeling  are  in  some  unknown  way  cor- 
related, not  as  effects  or  as  causes,  but  as  concomitants." 

Leibnitz's  "pre-established  harmony"  indicates  the  difficulty  of  defining  the  relation 
between  mind  and  matter.  See  British  Quarterly,  Jan.,  1874:  art.  by  Herbert,  on  Mind 
and  the  Science  of  Energy;  Spencer,  Principles  of  Psychology,  vol.  1,  sec.  56:  "Two 
things,  mind  and  nervous  action,  exist  together,  but  we  cannot  imagine  how  they  are 
related."  See  Review  of  Spencer's  Psychology,  in  N.  Englander,  July,  1873.  Tyndall, 
Fragments  of  Science,  120— "The  passage  from  the  physics  of  the  brain  to  the  facts  of 
consciousness  is  unthinkable."  Bain,  Mind  and  Body,  131 :  No  break  in  physical  con- 
tinuity. McCosh,  Intuitions,  145 ;  Talbot,  in  Bap.  Quarterly,  Jan.,  1871 :  1. 


MATERIALISTIC    IDEALISM.  53 

4.  The  materialistic  theory,  denying  as  it  does  the  priority  of  spirit,  can 
furnish  no  sufficient  cause  for  the  highest  features  of  the  existing  universe, 
namely,  its  personal  intelligences,  its  intuitive  ideas,  its  moral  progress,  its 
beliefs  in  God  and  immortality. 

Herbert,  Modern  Realism  Examined :  "  Materialism  has  no  physical  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  consciousness  in  others.  As  it  declares  our  fellow-men  to  be  destitute  of 
free  volition,  so  it  should  declare  them  destitute  of  consciousness ;  should  call  them,  as 
well  as  brutes,  pure  automata.  If  physics  are  all,  there  is  no  God,  but  there  is  also  no 
man,  existing-."  Some  of  the  early  followers  of  Descartes  used  to  kick  and  beat  their 
dogs,  laughing  meanwhile  at  their  cries  and  calling  them  the  "  creaking1  of  the  machine." 
Huxley,  who  calls  the  brutes  "  conscious  automata,"  believes  in  the  gradual  banishment, 
from  all  regions  of  human  thought,  of  what  AVC  call  spirit  and  spontaneity :  "A  sponta- 
neous act  is  an  absurdity ;  it  is  simply  an  effect  that  is  uncaused." 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  348—"  Materialism  can  never  explain  the  fact  that  matter 
is  always  combined  with  force.  Coordinate  principles?  then  dualism,  instead  of  mon- 
ism. Force  cause  of  matter?  then  we  preserve  unity,  but  destroy  materialism ;  for  we 
trace  matter  to  an  immaterial  source.  Behind  multiplicity  of  natural  forces  we  must 
postulate  some  single  power— which  can  be  nothing  but  coordinating  mind."  Mark 
Hopkins  sums  up  Materialism  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1879:  490— "1.  Man,  who  is  a 
person,  is  made  by  a  thing,  i.  e.  matter.  2.  Matter  is  to  be  worshipped  as  man's  maker, 
if  anything  is  to  be  (Rom.  1:  25).  3.  Man  is  to  worship  himself— his  God  is  his  belly." 
See  also  Martineau,  Religion  and  Materialism,  25-31;  Christlieb,  Modern  Doubt  and 
Christian  Belief,  145-161 ;  Buchanan,  Modern  Atheism,  247,  248 ;  McCosh,  in  International 
Rev.,  Jan.,  1875 ;  Contemp.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1875,  art. :  Man  Transcorporeal ;  Calderwood,  Rela- 
tions of  Mind  and  Brain;  Laycock,  Mind  and  Brain;  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  358; 
Wilkinson,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  3 :  no.  17. 

II.     MATEKIALISTIC  IDEALISM. 

Idealism  proper  is  that  method  of  thought  which  regards  all  knowledge 
as  conversant  only  with  affections  of  the  percipient  mind. 

Its  element  of  truth  is  the  fact  that  these  affections  of  the  percipient 
mind  are  the  conditions  of  our  knowledge.  Its  error  is  in  denying  that 
through  these  and  in  these  we  know  that  which  exists  independently  of  our 
consciousness. 

The  idealism  of  the  present  day  is  mainly  a  materialistic  idealism.  It 
defines  matter  and  mind  alike  in  terms  of  sensation,  and  regards  both  as 
opposite  sides  or  successive  manifestations  of  one  underlying  and  unknow- 
able force. 

Modern  idealism  is  the  development  of  a  principle  found  as  far  back  as  Locke.  Locke 
derived  all  our  knowledge  from  sensation.  Berkeley  said  that  externally  we  could  be 
sure  only  of  sensations— could  not  therefore  be  sure  that  the  external  world  exists  at 
all.  Hume  carried  the  principle  further  and  held  that  internally  also  we  cannot  be  sure 
of  anything  but  mental  phenomena.  We  do  not  know  mental  substance  within,  any 
more  than  we  know  material  substance  without.  Berkeley's  view  is  to  be  found  in  his 
Principles  of  Human  Knowledge,  §  18  sq.  See  also  Presb.  Rev.,  April,  1885 :  301-313 ; 
Journ.  Spec.  Philos.,  1884 :  246-260,  383-399 ;  Tulloch,  Mod.  Theories,  360,  361. 

The  most  complete  refutation  of  idealism  in  all  its  forms,  is  that  of  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton, 
in  his  Metaphysics,  348-372,  and  Theories  of  Sense-Perception— the  Reply  to  Brown.  See 
condensed  statement  of  Hamilton's  view,  with  estimate  and  criticism,  in  Porter,  Human 
Intellect*  236-240;  on  Idealism,  see  also  129,  132.  Porter  holds  that  original  perception 
gives  us  simply  affections  of  our  own  sensorium ;  as  cause  of  these,  we  gain  knowl- 
edge of  extended  externality.  So  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton  :  "  Sensation  proper  has  no  object 
but  a  subject-object."  But  both  Porter  and  Hamilton  hold  that  through  these  sensa- 
tions we  know  that  which  exists  independently  of  our  sensations. 

Mill,  however,  in  his  Examination  of  Sir  Win.  Hamilton,  1 :  234-253,  makes  sensations 
the  only  objects  of  knowledge;  defines  matter  as  a  "permanent  possibility  of  sensa- 


54  THE   EXISTENCE    OF   GOD. 

tion  "  and  mind  as  a  "  series  of  feelings  aware  of  itself. "  So  Huxley  calls  matter  "  only 
a  name  for  the  unknown  cause  of  states  of  consciousness."  Mill  and  Huxley,  with 
Spencer,  Bain,  and  Tyndall,  are  Humists.  See  Fiske,  Cosmic  Philosophy,  1 :  75 ;  2 :  80. 
All  these  regard  the  material  atom  as  a  mere  centre  of  force  =  hypothetical  cause  of 
sensations.  Matter  is  therefore  a  manifestation  of  force,  while,  to  the  old  materialism, 
force  was  a  propei-ty  of  matter.  See  art.  on  Huxley,  in  Contemp.  Rev.,  Oct.,  1872;  Tyn- 
dall, Fragments  of  Science,  73.  But  if  matter,  mind,  and  God  are  nothing  but  sensa- 
tions, then  the  body  itself  is  nothing  but  sensations.  There  is  no  body,  to  have  the  sen- 
sations, and  no  spirit,  either  human  or  divine,  to  produce  them.  See  Lowndes,  Philos.  of 
Primary  Beliefs,  115-143 ;  Atwater  (on  Ferrier),  in  Princeton  Rev.,  1857 :  258-280. 

To  this  view  we  make  the  following  objections: 

1.  Its  definition  of  matter  as  a  "permanent  possibility  of  sensation" 
contradicts  our  intuitive  judgment  that,  in  knowing  the  phenomena  of  mat- 
ter, we  have  direct  knowledge  of  substance  as  underlying  phenomena,  us 
distinct  from  our  sensations,  and  as  external  to  the  mind  which  experi- 
ences these  sensations. 

Bowne,  Metaphysics,  432 — "  How  the  possibility  of  an  odor  and  a  flavor  can  be  the 
cause  of  the  yellow  color  of  an  orange  is  probably  unknowable,  except  to  a  mind  that 
can  see  that  two  and  two  may  make  five. "  See  Inverach's  Philosophy  of  Spencer  Ex- 
amined, in  Present  Day  Tracts,  5 :  no.  29. 

2.  Its  definition  of  mind  as  a  "series  of   sensations   aware  of  itself" 
contradicts  our  intuitive  judgment  that,  in  knowing  the  phenomena  of  mind, 
we  have  direct  knowledge  of  a  spiritual  substance  of  which  these  phenomena 
are  manifestations,  which  retains  its  identity  independently  of  our  conscious- 
ness, and  which,  in  its  knowing,  instead  of  being  the  passive  recipient  of 
impressions  from  without,  always  acts  from  within  by  a  power  of  its  own. 

See,  on  Bain's  Cerebral  Psychology,  Martineau's  Essays,  1 :  265.  On  the  physiological 
method  of  mental  philosophy,  see  Talbot,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1871:  1;  Bowen,  on  Dualism, 
Materialism,  or  Idealism,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  March,  1878 :  423-450, 

3.  In  so  far  as  this  theory  regards  mind  as  the  obverse  side  of  matter,  or 
as  a  later  and  higher  development  from  matter,  the  mere  reference  of  both 
mind  and  matter  to  an  underlying  force  does  not  save  the  theory  from  any 
of  the  difficulties  of  pure  materialism  already  mentioned;  since  in  this  case, 
equally  with  that,  force  is  regarded  as  purely  physical,  and  the  priority  of 
spirit  is  denied. 

Herbert  Spencer,  Psychology,  quoted  by  Fiske,  Cosmic  Philosophy,  2 :  80—"  Mind  and 
nervous  action  are  the  subjective  and  objective  faces  of  the  same  thing.  Yet  we  remain 
utterly  incapable  of  seeing,  or  even  of  imagining,  how  the  two  are  related.  Mind  still 
continues  to  us  a  something  without  kinship  to  other  things. "  Owen,  Anatomy  of 
Vertebrates,  quoted  by  Talbot,  Bap.  Quar.,  Jan.,  1871 :  5 — "  All  that  I  know  of  matter 
and  mind  in  themselves  is  that  the  former  is  an  external  centre  of  force,  and  the  latter 
an  internal  centre  of  force. "  New  Englander,  Sept.,  1883 :  636—"  If  the  atom  be  a  mere 
centre  of  force  and  not  a  real  thing  in  itself,  then  the  atom  is  a  supersensual  essence,  an 
immaterial  being.  To  make  immaterial  matter  the  source  of  conscious  mind  is  to  make 
matter  as  wonderful  as  an  immortal  soul  or  a  personal  Creator.  "  See  New  Englander, 
July,  1875:  532-535:  Martineau,  Religion  and  Modern  Materialism,  25— "If  it  takes  mind 
to  construe  the  universe,  how  can  the  negation  of  mind  constitute  it?  " 

4.  In  so  far  as  this  theory  holds  the  underlying  force  of  which  matter 
and  mind  are  manifestations  to  be  in  any  sense  intelligent  or  voluntary,  it 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  second  causes,  whether  material  or  spiritual, 
have  no  proper  existence,  and  that  there  is  but  one  agent  in  the  universe — a 
conclusion  which  involves  all  the  difficulties  of  pantheism. 


PANTHEISM.  55 

Some  recent  Christian  thinkers,  as  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  13-15,  29-36,  42-52, 
would  define  mind  as  a  function  of  matter,  matter  as  a  function  of  force,  force  as  a 
function  of  will,  and  therefore  as  the  power  of  an  omnipresent  and  personal  God.  All 
force,  except  that  of  man's  free  will,  is  the  will  of  God.  So  Herschell,  Lectures,  460; 
Argyll,  Reign  of  Law,  121-127 ;  Wallace  on  Nat.  Selection,  363-371 ;  Martineau,  Essays,  1 : 
63, 121,  145,  265 ;  Bowen,  Metaph.  and  Ethics,  146-162.  But  if  man's  will  exhibits  a  force 
distinguishable  from  the  divine,  why  may  there  not  be  physical  forces  distinguishable 
from  the  divine?  If  God  can  disengage  from  himself  the  force  displayed  in  living 
human  beings,  then  he  can  disengage  from  himself  the  force  displayed  in  inanimate 
nature.  The  same  reasoning  which  assures  us  of  the  existence  of  the  former  assures  us 
of  the  existence  of  the  latter. 

To  deny  second  causes  is  essential  idealism,  and  tends  to  pantheism.  This  tendency  we 
find  in  the  recent  Metaphysics  of  Bowne,  who  regards  only  personality  as  real.  Matter 
is  phenomena],  although  it  is  an  activity  of  the  divine  will  outside  of  us.  Bowne's  phe- 
nomenalism is  therefore  an  objective  idealism,  as  distinguished  from  the  subjective 
idealism  of  Berkeley,  who  held  to  God's  energizing  only  within  the  soul.  But  since, 
.according  to  Bowne,  space  is  only  a  form  of  our  thinking,  the  difference  between  God's 
ceaseless  production  of  phenomena  within,  and  God's  ceaseless  production  of  phenomena 
Avithout,  is  purely  verbal.  Royce,  The  Religious  Aspect  of  Philosophy,  makes  man's 
consciousness  a  part  or  aspect  of  a  universal  consciousness,  and  so,  instead  of  making 
God  come  to  consciousness  only  in  man,  as  Hegel  did,  makes  man  come  to  consciousness 
only  in  God.  While  this  scheme  seems,  in  one  view,  to  save  God's  personality,  it  practi- 
cally identifies  man's  personality  with  God's,  which  is  subjective  pantheism.  On  the 
substantive  existence  of  second  causes,  see  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  582-588 ;  Hodge, 
Syst.  Theol.,  1 :  596 ;  Alden,  Philosophy,  48-70 ;  Hodgson,  Time  and  Space,  149-218. 

III.     PANTHEISM. 

Pantheism  is  that  method  of  thought  which  conceives  of  the  universe  as 
the  development  of  one  intelligent  and  voluntary,  yet  impersonal,  sub- 
stance, which  reaches  consciousness  only  in  man.  It  therefore  identifies 
Ood,  not  with  each  individual  object  in  the  universe,  but  with  the  totality 
of  things. 

The  elements  of  truth  in  pantheism  are  the  intelligence  and  voluntariness 
of  God,  and  his  immanence  in  the  universe  ;  its  error  lies  in  denying  God's 
personality  and  transcendence. 

Pantheism  denies  the  real  existence  of  the  finite,  at  the  same  time  that  it  deprives  the 
Infinite  of  self-consciousness  and  freedom.  See  Hunt,  History  of  Pantheism  ;  Manning, 
Half-truths  and  the  Truth ;  Bayne,  Christian  Life,  Social  and  Individual,  21-53 ;  Hutton, 
on  Popular  Pantheism,  in  Essays,  1 :  55-76— "The  pantheist's  ' I  believe  in  God,'  is  a  con- 
tradiction. He  says :  '  I  perceive  the  external  as  different  from  myself ;  but  on  f  ui'ther 
reflection,  I  perceive  that  this  external  was  itself  the  percipient  agency.'  So  the  wor- 
shipped is  really  the  worshipper  after  all."  Harris,  Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,  173— 
"  Man  is  a  bottle  of  the  ocean's  water,  in  the  ocean,  temporarily  distinguishable  by  its 
limitation  within  the  bottle,  but  lost  again  in  the  ocean,  so  soon  as  these  fragile  limits  are 
broken." 

The  later  Brahmanism  is  pantheistic.  Rowland  Williams,  Christianity  and  Hinduism  < 
quoted  in  Mozley  on  Miracles,  284— "In  the  final  state  personality  vanishes.  You  will 
not,  says  the  Brahman,  accept  the  term  '  void '  as  an  adequate  description  of  the  myste- 
rious nature  of  the>soul,  but  you  will  clearly  apprehend  soul,  in  the  final  state,  to  be 
unseen  and  ungrasped  being,  thought,  knowledge,  joy— no  other  than  very  God."  Yet 
this  seems  to  be  only  the  later  depravation  of  an  earlier  and  purer  faith.  In  the  London 
Spectator,  Rhys  Davids  tells  us  that  "in  the  Pali  Suttas,  the  earliest  Buddhist  records, 
the  Buddhist  New  Testament  indeed,  Nirvana  is  only  death  in  the  sense  of  death  to 
trespasses  and  sins ;  it  is  always  the  extinction  of  Sehnmcht,  excitement,  in  its  three 
forms  of  lust,  malice,  and  delusion.  It  is  the  extinction  of  self  ness  or  love  of  individu- 
ality, and  is  to  be  reached  here  on  earth."  Flint,  Theism,  69—"  Where  the  will  is  without 
energy,  and  rest  is  longed  for  as  the  end  of  existence,  as  among  the  Hindus,  there  is 
marked  inability  to  think  of  God  as  cause  or  will,  and  constant  inveterate  tendency  to 
pantheism." 


56  THE    EXISTENCE   OF    GOD. 

We  object  to  this  system  as  follows : 

1.  Its  idea  of  God  is  self -contradictory,  since  it  makes  him  infinite,  yet 
consisting  only  of  the  finite  ;  absolute,  yet  existing  in  necessary  relation  to 
the  universe  j  supreme,  yet  shut  up  to  a  process  of  self-evolution  and  de- 
pendent for  self -consciousness  on  man  ;  without  self  determination,  yet  the 
cause  of  all  that  is. 

Saisset,  Pantheism,  148— "An  imperfect  God,  yet  perfection  arising-  from  imperfec- 
tion." Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  1:  13— "  Pantheism  applies  to  God  a  principle  of  growth 
and  imperfection,  which  belongs  only  to  the  finite."  Calderwood,  Moral  Philos.,  245— 
4  Its  first  requisite  is  moment,  or  movement,  which  it  assumes,  but  does  not  account  for." 
Caro's  sarcasm  applies  here :  "  Your  God  is  not  yet  made — he  is  in  process  of  manufac- 
ture." See  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy,  25. 

2.  Its  assumed  unity  of  substance  is  not  only  without  proof,  but  it  di- 
rectly contradicts  our  intuitive  judgments.     These  testify  that  we  are  not 
parts  and  particles  of  God,  but  distinct  personal  subsistences. 

Martineau,  Essays,  1 : 158—"  Even  for  immanency,  there  must  be  something  wherein  to 
dwell,  and  for  life,  something:  whereon  to  act."  Any  system  of  monism  contradicts 
consciousness.  "  In  scripture  we  never  find  the  universe  called  rb  Trav,  for  this  suggests 
the  idea  of  a  self-contained  unity:  we  have  everywhere  TO.  irai/ra  instead."  The  Bible 
recognizes  the  element  of  truth  in  pantheism — God  is  '  through  all ' ;  also  the  element  of 
truth  in  mysticism— God  is  'in  you  all';  but  it  adds  the  element  of  transcendence  which 
both  these  fail  to  recognize— God  is  '  above  all '  (Eph.  4 :  6).  See  Fisher,  Essays  on  Super- 
nat.  Orig.  of  Christ'y,  539. 

3.  It  assigns  no  sufficient  cause  for  that  fact  of  the  universe  which  is 
highest  in  rank,  and  therefore  most  needs  explanation,  namely,  the  existence 
of  personal  intelligences.     A  substance  which  is  itself   unconscious,   and 
under  the  law  of  necessity,  cannot  produce  beings  who  are  self-conscious 
and  free. 

Gess,  Foundations  of  our  Faith,  36 — "Animal  instinct,  and  the  spirit  of  a  nation  work- 
ing- out  its  lang-uage,  mig-ht  furnish  analogies,  if  they  produced  personalities  as  their 
result,  but  not  otherwise.  Nor  were  these  tendencies  self -originated,  but  received  from 
an  external  source."  McCosh,  Intuitions,  215,  393 ;  Christianity  and  Positivism,  180. 

4.  It  therefore  contradicts  the  affirmations  of   our  moral  and  religious 
natures  by  denying  man's  freedom  and  responsibility  ;  by  making  God  to 
include  in  himself  all  evil  as  well  as  all  good  ;  and  by  precluding  all  prayer, 
worship,  and  hope  of  immortality. 

Conscience  is  the  eternal  witness  against  pantheism.  Conscience  witnesses  to  our 
freedom  and  responsibility,  and  declares  that  moral  distinctions  are  not  illusory.  Re- 
nouf ,  Hibbert  Lect.,  234—"  It  is  only  out  of  condescension  to  popular  language  that 
pantheistic  systems  can  recognize  the  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  of  iniquity  and  sin.  If 
everything  really  emanates  from  God,  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  sin.  And  the  ablest 
philosophers  who  have  been  led  to  pantheistic  views,  have  vainly  endeavored  to  harmon- 
ize these  views  with  what  we  understand  by  the  notion  of  sin  or  moral  evil.  The  great 
systematic  work  of  Spinoza  is  entitled  ' EtMca' ;  but  for  real  ethics  we  might  as  profit- 
ably consult  the  Elements  of  Euclid."  Hodge,  System.  Theology,  1:  299-330— "Panthe- 
ism is  fatalistic.  On  this  theory,  duty  =  pleasure ;  right  =  might ;  sin  =  good  in  the  mak- 
ing. Satan,  as  well  as  Gabriel,  is  a  self-development  of  God.  The  practical  effects  of 
pantheism  upon  popular  morals  and  life,  wherever  it  has  prevailed,  as  in  Buddhist  India 
and  China,  demonstrate  its  falsehood."  See  also  Dove,  Logic  of  the  Christian  Faith, 
118;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  202;  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1867:  603-615;  Dix,  Panthe- 
ism, Introd.,  12. 

5.  Our  intuitive  conviction  of  the  existence  of  a  God  of  absolute  per- 
fection compels  us  to  conceive  of  God  as  possessed  of  every  highest  quality 


PANTHEISM.  57 

and  attribute  of  men,  and  therefore,  especially,  of  that  which  constitutes 
the  chief  dignity  of  the  human  spirit,  its  personality. 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  328—"  We  have  no  right  to  represent  the  supreme  Cause  as 
inferior  to  ourselves,  yet  we  do  this  when  we  describe  it  under  phrases  derived  from 
physical  causation."  Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature,  351— "We  cannot  conceive  of  any- 
thing- as  impersonal,  yet  of  higher  nature  than  our  own— any  being  that  has  not  knowl- 
edge and  will  must  be  indefinitely  inferior  to  one  who  has  them." 

6.  Its  objection  to  the  divine  personality,  that  over  against  the  Infinite 
there  can  be  in  eternity  past  no  non-ego  to  call  forth  self-consciousness,  is 
refuted  by  considering  that  even  man's  cognition  of  the  non-ego  logically 
presupposes  knowledge  of  the  ego,  from  which  the  non-ego  is  distinguished  ; 
that,  in  an  absolute  mind,  self -consciousness  cannot  be  conditioned,  as  in  the 
case  of  finite  mind,  upon  contact  with  a  not-self  ;  and  that,  if  the  distinguish- 
ing of  self  from  a  not-self  were  an  essential  condition  of  divine  self-con- 
sciousness, the  eternal  personal  distinctions  in  the  divine  nature  might 
furnish  such  a  condition. 

Pfleiderer,  Die  Eeligion,  1 :  190  sq.—"  Before  the  soul  distinguishes  self  from  the  not- 
self,  it  must  know  self— else  it  could  not  see  the  distinction.  Its  development  is  con- 
nected with  the  knowledge  of  the  non-ego,  but  this  is  due,  not  to  the  fact  of  personality, 
but  to  the  fact  of  finite  personality.  The  mature  man  can  live  for  a  long  time  upon  his 
own  resources.  God  needs  no  other,  to  stir  him  up  to  mental  activity.  Finiteness  is  a 
hindrance  to  the  development  of  our  personality.  Infiniteness  is  necessary  to  the  high- 
est personality."  Lotze,  Microcosmos,  vol.  3,  chapter  4;  transl.  in  N.  Eng.,  March,  1881 : 
191-300—"  Finite  spirit,  not  having  conditions  of  existence  in  itself,  can  know  the  ego 
only  upon  occasion  of  knowing  the  non-ego.  The  Infinite  is  not  so  limited.  He  alone 
has  an  independent  existence,  neither  introduced  nor  developed  through  anything  not 
himself,  but,  in  an  inward  activity  without  beginning  or  end,  maintains  himself  in  him- 
self." 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre  :  "  Absolute  Personality  =  perfect  consciousness  of  self,  and 
perfect  power  over  self.  We  need  something  external  to  waken  our  consciousness— yet 
self-consciousness  comes  [logically]  before  consciousness  of  the  world.  It  is  the  soul's 
act.  Only  after  it  has  distinguished  self  from  self,  can  it  consciously  distinguish  self 
from  another."  British  Quarterly,  Jan.,  1874:  32,  note;  July,  1884:  108— "The  ego  is 
thinkable  only  in  relation  to  the  non-ego ;  but  the  ego  is  liveable  long  before  any  such 
relation."  See  Julius  Muller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2:  122-126;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and 
Christ.  Belief,  161-190 ;  Hanne,  Idee  der  absoluten  Personlichkeit ;  Eichhorn,  Die  Per- 
sonlichkeit  Gottes. 


PART   III. 

THE   SCBIPTUBES  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PKELIMINARY    CONSIDERATIONS. 

I.     REASONS  A  PRIORI  FOR  EXPECTING  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD. 

1.  Needs  of  man's  nature.  Man's  intellectual  and  moral  nature  requires, 
in  order  to  preserve  it  from  constant  deterioration,  and  to  ensure  its  moral 
growth  and  progress,  an  authoritative  and  helpful  revelation  of  religious 
truth,  of  a  higher  and  completer  sort  than  any  to  which,  in  its  present  state 
of  sin,  it  can  attain  by  the  use  of  its  unaided  powers.  The  proof  of  this 
proposition  is  partly  psychological,  and  partly  historical. 

A.  Psychological  proof. — (a)  Neither  reason  nor  intuition  throws  light 
upon  certain  questions  whose  solution  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  us ;  for 
example,  Trinity,  atonement,  pardon,  method  of  worship,  personal  existence 
after  death.     (6)  Even  the  truth  to  which  we  arrive  by  our  natural  powers 
needs  divine  confirmation  and  authority  when  it  addresses  minds  and  wills 
perverted  by  sin.     (c)  To  break  this  power  of  sin,  and  to  furnish  encourage- 
ment to  moral  effort,  we  need  a  special  revelation  of  the  merciful  and  help- 
ful aspect  of  the  divine  nature. 

(a)  Bremen  Lectures,  72,  73 ;  Plato,  Second  Alcibiades,  22,  23 ;  Phaedo,  85— \6yov  #eiov 
TIVOS.  lamblicus,  n-epi  TOU  Hv&ayopLKov  /St'ov,  chap.  28.  (b)  Versus  Socrates :  Men  will  do 
right  if  they  only  know  the  right.  Flint,  Theism,  305 ;  Martineau,  in  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury, 1:  331,  531;  Curtis,  Hum.  Element  in  Inspiration,  250;  Emerson,  Essays,  2:  41; 
Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  172.  (c)  Versus  Thomas  Paine:  "Natural  religion  teaches  us, 
without  the  possibility  of  being  mistaken,  all  that  is  necessary  or  proper  to  be  known." 
Plato,  Laws,  9 :  854,  c,  for  substance :  "  Be  good ;  but  if  you  cannot,  then  kill  yourself." 

B.  Historical  proof. — (a    The  knowledge  of  moral  and  religious  truth 
possessed  by  nations  and  ages  in  which  special  revelation  is  unknown  is 
grossly  and  increasingly  imperfect.     (b)   Man's  actual  condition  in  ante- 
Christian  times,  and  in  modern  heathen  lands,  is  that  of  extreme  moral 
depravity,    (c)  With  this  depravity  is  found  a  general  conviction  of  helpless- 
ness, and  on  the  part  of  some  nobler  natures,  a  longing  after,  and  hope  of, 
aid  from  above. 

Pythagoras :  "  It  is  not  easy  to  know  [duties],  except  men  were  taught  them  by  God 
himself,  or  by  some  person  who  had  received  them  from  God,  or  obtained  the  knowledge 

58 


REASONS    A    PRIORI    FOR    EXPECTING    REVELATION.  59 

of  them  through  some  divine  means."  Socrates :  "  Wait  with  patience,  till  we  know 
with  certainty  how  we  ought  to  behave  ourselves  toward  God  and  man."  Disciple  of 
Plato :  "  Make  probability  our  raft,  while  we  sail  through  life,  unless  we  could  have  a 
more  sure  and  safe  conveyance,  such  as  some  divine  communication  would  be." 

See  references  and  quotations  in  Peabody,  Christianity  the  Relig.  of  Nature,  35,  and  in 
Luthardt,  Fund.  Truths,  156-172,  3a5-338 ;  Farrar,  Seekers  after  God ;  Garbett,  Dogmatic 
Faith,  187. 

2.  Presumption  of  supply.  What  we  know  of  God,  by  nature,  affords 
ground  for  hope  that  these  wants  of  our  intellectual  and  moral  being  will  be 
met  by  a  corresponding  supply,  in  the  shape  of  a  special  divine  revelation. 
"We  argue  this  : 

(a)  From  our  necessary  conviction  of  God's  wisdom.  Having  made  man 
a  spiritual  being,  for  spiritual  ends,  it  may  be  hoped  that  he  will  furnish  the 
means  needed  to  secure  these  ends,  (b)  From  the  actual,  though  incom- 
plete, revelation  already  given  in  nature.  Since  God  has  actually  undertaken 
to  make  himself  known  to  men,  we  may  hope  that  he  will  finish  the  work  he 
has  begun,  (c)  From  the  general  connection  of  want  and  supply.  The 
higher  our  needs,  the  more  intricate  and  ingenious  are,  in  general,  the  con- 
trivances for  meeting  them.  We  may  therefore  hope  that  the  highest  want 
will  be  all  the  more  surely  met.  (d)  From  analogies  of  nature  and  history. 
Signs  of  reparative  goodness  in  nature  and  of  forbearance  in  providential 
dealings  lead  us  to  hope  that,  while  justice  is  executed,  God  may  still  make 
known  some  way  of  restoration  for  sinners. 

In  the  natural  arrangements  for  the  healing  of  bruises  in  plants  and  for  the  mending 
of  broken  bones  in  the  animal  creation,  in  the  provision  of  remedial  agents  for  the  cure 
of  human  diseases,  and  especially  in  the  delay  to  inflict  punishment  upon  the  trans- 
gressor and  the  space  given  him  for  repentance,  we  have  some  indications,  which,  if 
un contradicted  by  other  evidence,  might  lead  us  to  regard  the  God  of  nature  as  a  God 
of  forbearance  and  mercy.  Plutarch's  treatise  De  Sera  Numinis  Vindicta  is  proof  that 
this  thought  had  occurred  to  the  heathen.  It  may  be  doubted,  indeed,  whether  a  heathen 
religion  could  even  continue  to  exist,  without  embracing  in  it  some  element  of  hope. 

The  New  Testament  intimates  the  existence  of  this  witness  of  God's  goodness  among 
the  heathen,  while  at  the  same  time  it  declares  that  the  full  knowledge  of  forgiveness 
and  salvation  is  brought  only  by  Christ.  Compare  Acts  14 : 17—"  And  yet  he  left  not  himself  without 
witness,  in  that  he  did  good,  and  gave  you  from  heaven  rains  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts  with  food  and 
gladness ; "  17 :  25-27 — "  he  himself  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath  and  all  things ;  and  he  made  of  one  every  nation  of 
men  ....  that  they  should  seek  God,  if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find  him; "  Rom.  2:  4— "the  goodness 
of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance;  "  3:  25— "the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime,  in  the  forbearance  of  God;  " 
Eph.  3 :  9— "to  make  all  men  see  what  is  the  dispensation  of  the  mystery  which  from  all  ages  hath  been  hid  in  God ; " 
2  Tim.  1 :  10—"  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  who  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  incorruption  to  light  through  the 
gospel."  See  Hackett's  edition  of  the  treatise  of  Plutarch,  as  also  Bowen,  Metaph.  and 
Ethics,  462-487 ;  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  371. 

We  conclude  this  section  upon  the  reasons  a  priori  for  expecting  a  rev- 
elation from  God  with  the  acknowledgement  that  the  facts  warrant  that 
degree  of  expectation  which  we  call  hope,  rather  than  that  larger  degree  of 
expectation  which  we  call  assurance ;  and  this,  for  the  reason  that,  while 
conscience  gives  proof  that  God  is  a  God  of  holiness,  we  have  not,  from  the 
light  of  nature,  equal  evidence  that  God  is  a  God  of  love.  Reason  teaches 
man  that,  as  a  sinner,  he  merits  condemnation  ;  but  he  cannot,  from  reason 
alone,  know  that  God  will  have  mercy  upon  him  and  provide  salvation.  His 
doubts  can  be  removed  only  by  God's  own  voice,  assuring  him  of  "  redemp- 
tion ....  the  forgiveness  of  ....  trespasses "  (Eph.  1 :  7),  and  revealing 
to  him  the  way  in  which  that  forgiveness  has  been  rendered  possible. 


60  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM   GOD. 

H.     MARKS  OF  THE  REVELATION  MAN  MAY  EXPECT. 

1.  As  to  its  substance.     We  may  expect  this  later  revelation  not  to  con- 
tradict, but  to  confirm  and  enlarge,  the  knowledge  of  God  which  we  derive 
from  nature,  while  it  remedies  the  defects  of  natural  religion  and  throws 
light  upon  its  problems. 

2.  As  to  its  method.     We  may  expect  it  to  follow  God's  methods  of 
procedure  in  other  communications  of  truth. 

Bishop  Butler  (Analogy,  part  ii,  chap,  iii)  has  denied  that  there  is  any  possibility 
of  judging  a  priori  how  a  divine  revelation  will  be  given.  "  We  are  in  no  sort  judges 
beforehand,"  he  says,  "  by  what  methods,  or  in  what  proportion,  it  were  to  be  expected 
that  this  supernatural  light  and  instruction  would  be  afforded  us."  But  Bishop  Butler 
somewhat  later  in  his  great  work  (part  ii,  chap,  iv)  shows  that  God's  progressive  plan 
in  revelation  has  its  analogy  in  the  slow,  successive  steps  by  which  God  accomplishes  his 
ends  in  nature.  We  maintain  that  the  revelation  in  nature  affords  certain  presumptions 
with  regard  to  the  revelation  of  grace,  such  for  example  as  those  above  mentioned. 

(a)  That  of  continuous  historical  development, — that  it  will  be  given  in 
germ  to  early  ages,  and  will  be  more  fully  unfolded  as  the  race  is  prepared 
to  receive  it. 

Instances  of  continuous  development  in  God's  impartations  are  found  in  geological 
history ;  in  the  growth  of  the  sciences ;  in  the  progressive  education  of  the  individual 
and  of  the  race.  See  sermon  by  Dr.  Temple,  on  the  Education  of  the  World,  in  Essays 
and  Reviews ;  Rogers,  Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible,  374-384 ;  Walker,  Philosophy  of 
the  Plan  of  Salvation. 

(6)  That  of  original  delivery  to  a  single  nation,  and  to  single  persons  in 
that  nation,  that  it  may  through  them  be  communicated  to  mankind. 

Each  nation  represents  an  idea.  As  the  Greek  had  a  genius  for  liberty  and  beauty, 
and  the  Roman  a  genius  for  organization  and  law,  so  the  Hebrew  nation  had  a  "genius 
for  religion  "  (Renan) ;  this  last,  however,  would  have  been  useless  without  special  divine 
aid  and  superintendence,  as  witness  other  productions  of  this  same  Semitic  race,  such 
as  Bel  and  the  Dragon,  in  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha;  the  gospels  of  the  Apocryphal 
New  Testament;  and  later  still,  the  Talmud  and  the  Koran.  See  British  Quarterly, 
Jan.,  1874 :  art. :  Inductive  Theology. 

(c)  That  of  preservation  in  written  and  accessible  documents,  handed 
down  from  those  to  whom  the  revelation  is  first  communicated. 

Alphabets,  writing,  books,  are  our  chief  dependence  for  the  history  of  the  past ;  all 
the  great  religions  of  the  world  are  book-religions ;  the  Karens  expected  their  teachers 
in  the  new  religion  to  bring  to  them  a  book.  See  Rogers,  Eclipse  of  Faith,  chapters  on 
Book-revelation,  73-96,  281-304.  But  notice  that  false  religions  have  scriptures,  but  not 
Scripture ;  their  sacred  books  lack  the  principle  of  unity  which  is  furnished  by  divine 
inspiration. 

3.  As  to  its  attestation.     We  may  expect  that  this  revelation  will  be 
accompanied  by  evidence  that  its  author  is  the  same  being  whom  we  have 
previously  recognized  as  God  of  nature.      This  evidence  must  constitute 
(a)  a  manifestation  of  God  himself,  (6)  in  the  outward  as  well  as  the  inward 
world,  (c)  such  as  only  God's  power  or  knowledge  can  make,  and  (d)  such 
as  cannot  be  counterfeited  by  the  evil,  or  mistaken  by  the  candid,  soul.     In 
short,  we  may  expect  God  to  attest,  by  miracles  and  by  prophecy,  the  divine 
mission  and  authority  of  those  to  whom  he  communicates  a  revelation.    Some 
such  outward  sign  would  seem  to  be  necessary,  not  only  to  assure  the  original 
recipient  that  the  supposed  revelation  is  not  a  vagary  of  his  own  imagination, 
but  also  to  render  the  revelation  received  by  a  single  individual  authoritative 


MIRACLES    AS    ATTESTING    REVELATION.  61 

to  all  (compare  Judges  6:17,  36-40 — Gideon  asks  a  sign,  for  himself  ;  1  K. 
18  :  36-38— Elijah  asks  a  sign,  for  others). 

But  in  order  that  our  positive  proof  of  a  divine  revelation  may  not  be 
embarrassed  by  the  suspicion  that  the  miraculous  and  prophetic  elements 
in  the  Scripture  history  create  a  presumption  against  its  credibility,  it  will 
be  desirable  to  take  up  at  this  point  the  general  subject  of  miracles  and 
prophecy. 

III.     MIRACLES,  AS  ATTESTING  A  DIVINE  EEVELATION. 

1.  Definition  of  Miracle.  A  miracle  is  an  event  palpable  to  the  senses, 
produced  for  a  religious  purpose  by  the  immediate  agency  of  God ;  an 
event  therefore  which,  though  not  contravening  any  law  of  nature,  the  laws 
of  nature,  if  fully  known,  would  not  be  competent  to  explain. 

This  definition  corrects  several  erroneous  conceptions  of  the  miracle : — 
(a)  A  miracle  is  not  a  suspension  or  violation  of  natural  law  ;  since  natural 
law  is  in  operation  at  the  time  of  the  miracle  just  as  much  as  before.  (6) 
A  miracle  is  not  a  sudden  product  of  natural  agencies — a  product  merely 
foreseen,  by  him  who  appears  to  work  it ;  it  is  the  effect  of  a  will  outside  of 
nature,  (c)  A  miracle  is  not  an  event  without  a  cause,  since  it  has  for  its 
cause  a  direct  volition  of  God.  (d)  A  miracle  is  not  an  irrational  or  capri- 
cious act  of  God,  but  an  act  of  wisdom,  performed  in  accordance  with  the 
immutable  laws  of  his  being,  so  that  in  the  same  circumstances  the  same 
course  would  be  again  pursued,  (e)  A  miracle  is  not  contrary  to  experi- 
ence, since  it  is  not  contrary  to  experience  for  a  new  cause  to  be  followed 
by  a  new  effect.  (/)  A  miracle  is  not  a  matter  of  internal  experience,  like 
regeneration  or  illumination,  but  is  an  event  palpable  to  the  senses,  which 
may  serve  as  an  objective  proof  to  all  that  the  worker  of  it  is  divinely  com- 
missioned as  a  religious  teacher. 

For  various  definitions  of  miracles,  see  Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity,  302.  On 
the  whole  subject,  see  Mozley,  Miracles ;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and  Christ.  Belief,  285- 
339 ;  Fisher,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1880,  and  Jan.,  1881 ;  Art.  by  A.  H.  Strong-,  in  Bap- 
tist Review,  April,  1879.  The  definition  given  above  is  intended  simply  as  a  definition 
of  the  miracles  of  the  Bible,  or,  in  other  words,  of  the  events  which  profess  to  attest  a 
divine  revelation  in  the  Scriptures.  The  New  Testament  designates  these  events  in  a 
twofold  way,  viewing  them  either  subjectively,  as  producing-  effects  upon  men,  or  ob- 
jectively, as  revealing-  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God.  In  the  former  aspect  they  are 
called  repara,  '  wonders,'  and  o^eia,  '  signs '  (John  4 :  48 ;  Acts  2 :  22).  In  the  latter  aspect  they  are 
called  Suva/acts,  'powers,'  and  e'pya,  'works'  (Mat.  7:  22;  John  14:  11).  See  H.  B.  Smith,  Lect.  on 
Apologetics,  90-116,  esp.  94—"  o-rjjueioi/,  sign,  marking  the  purpose  or  object,  the  moral 
end,  placing  the  event  in  connection  with  revelation." 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some  that  the  Biblical  miracle  need  not  be  defined  as  an  event 
produced  by  the  direct  and  immediate  agency  of  God,  but  that  it  may  be  regarded  as 
belonging  to  a  higher  order  of  nature,  and  so  as  being  only  indirectly  and  mediately 
the  work  of  God.  We  grant  that  there  are  wonderful  events  narrated  in  Scripture 
which  may  belong  to  the  class  of  '  providential  miracles,'  or  marvellous  special  provi- 
dences, in  which  the  result  is  due  to  the  operation  of  natural  laws  which  are  themselves, 
however,  ordained  and  superintended  by  God.  If  all  miracles  were  of  this  sort,  we 
might  define  the  miracle  as  "  an  event  in  nature,  so  extraordinary  in  itself  and  so  coin- 
ciding with  the  prophecy  or  command  of  a  religious  teacher  or  leader,  as  fully  to  war- 
rant the  conviction,  on  the  part  of  those  who  witness  it,  that  God  has  wrought  it  with 
the  design  of  certifying  that  this  teacher  or  leader  has  been  commissioned  by  him." 

See  this  view  stated  and  illustrated  by  Babbage,  Ninth  Bridgewater  Treatise,  chap.  viii. 
Bonnet  held  this  view ;  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  591,  592 ;  Eng.  translation,  2 :  155, 
156.  In  favor  of  this  view,  it  may  be  claimed  that  it  does  not  dispense  with  the  divine 


62  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION"    FROM    GOD. 

working1,  but  only  puts  it  further  back  at  the  origination  of  the  system,  while  it  still 
holds  God's  work  to  be  essential,  not  only  to  the  upholding-  of  the  system,  but  also  to 
the  inspiring-  of  the  religious  teacher  or  leader  with  the  knowledge  needed  to  predict 
this  unusual  working-  of  the  system.  The  wonder  is  confined  to  the  prophecy,  which 
may  equally  attest  a  divine  revelation. 

But  it  is  plain  that  a  miracle  of  this  sort  lacks  to  a  large  degree  the  element  of  '  signality " 
which  is  needed,  if  it  is  to  accomplish  its  purpose.  It  surrenders  the  great  advantage 
which  miracle,  as  first  defined,  possessed  over  special  providence,  as  an  attestation  of 
revelation— the  advantage,  namely,  that  while  special  providence  affords  some  warrant 
that  this  revelation  comes  from  God,  miracle  gives  full  warrant  that  it  comes  from  God. 
Since  man  may  by  natural  means  possess  himself  of  the  knowledge  of  physical  laws, 
the  true  miracle  which  God  works,  and  the  pretended  miracle  which  only  man  works, 
are  upon  this  theory  far  less  easy  to  distinguish  from  each  other.  Certain  typical 
miracles,  like  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  refuse  to  be  classed  as  events  within  the 
realm  of  nature,  in  however  wide  a  sense  the  term  nature  may  be  used.  Our  Lord, 
moreover,  seems  clearly  to  exclude  such  a  theory  as  this,  when  he  says :  "  If  I  by  the  finger 
of  God  cast  out  demons "  (Luke  11:  20).  Since  therefore  the  Scriptures  seem  to  represent  the 
miracle  as  an  event  wrought  by  the  immediate  agency  of  God,  our  further  discussion 
of  the  subject  is  a  discussion  of  miracles  as  first  defined.  See  Mozley,  Miracles,  preface, 
ix-xxvi;  7,  143-166;  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  333-336;  Smith's  Diet,  of 
Bible,  art. :  Miracles,  by  Bp.  Fitzgerald  and  Edwards  A.  Park ;  Bp.  Temple,  Bampton 
Lectures  for  1884 :  193-221. 

2.  Possibility  of  Miracles.  An  event  in  nature  may  be  caused  by  an 
agent  outside  of  and  above  nature.  This  is  evident  from  the  following 
considerations  : 

(a)  Lower  forces  and  laws  in  nature  are  frequently  counteracted  and 
transcended  by  the  higher  (as  mechanical  forces  and  laws  by  chemical,  and 
chemical  by  vital),  while  yet  the  lower  forces  and  laws  are  not  suspended 
or  annihilated,  but  are  merged  in  the  higher,  and  made  to  assist  in  accom- 
plishing purposes  to  which  they  are  altogether  unequal  when  left  to  them- 


By  nature  we  mean  nature  in  the  proper  sense— not  'everything  that  is  not  God,'  but 
'  everything  that  is  not  God  or  made  in  the  image  of  God ' ;  see  Hopkins,  Outline  Study 
of  Man,  258,  259.  Man's  will  does  not  belong  to  nature,  but  is  above  nature.  On  the 
transcending  of  lower  forces  by  higher,  see  Murphy,  Habit  and  Intelligence,  1 :  88, 

(6)  The  human  will  acts  upon  its  physical  organism,  and  so  upon  nature, 
and  produces  results  which  nature  left  to  herself  never  could  accomplish, 
while  yet  no  law  of  nature  is  suspended  or  violated.  Gravitation  still  ope- 
rates upon  the  axe,  even  while  man  holds  it  at  the  surface  of  the  water — for 
the  axe  still  has  weight  (cf.  2  K.  6  :  5-7). 

Versus  Hume,  Philos.  Works,  4 :  130—"  A  miracle  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature." 
Christian  apologists  have  too  often  needlessly  embarrassed  their  argument  by  accept- 
ing Hume's  definition.  The  stigma  is  entirely  undeserved.  If  man  can  support  the  axe 
at  the  surface  of  the  water  while  gravitation  still  acts  upon  it,  God  can  certainly,  at 
the  prophet's  word,  make  the  iron  to  swim,  while  gravitation  still  acts  upon  it.  But  this 
last  is  miracle.  See  Mansel,  Essay  on  Miracles,  in  Aids  to  Faith,  26,  27 ;  Fisher,  Supernat. 
Origin  of  Christianity,  471 ;  Hamilton,  Autology,  685-690 ;  Bowen,  Metaph.  and  Ethics, 
445 ;  Row,  Bampton  Lectures  on  Christian  Evidences,  54-72. 

(c)  In  all  free  causation,  there  is  an  acting  without  means.  Man  acts 
upon  external  nature  through  his  physical  organism,  but,  in  moving  his 
physical  organism,  he  acts  directly  upon  matter.  In  other  words,  the 
human  will  can  use  means,  only  because  it  has  the  power  of  acting  initially 
without  means. 

See  Hopkins,  on  Prayer-gauge,  10,  and  in  Princeton  Review,  Sept.,  1882 :  188. 


MIRACLES   AS    ATTESTING    REVELATION.  63 

d)  What  the  human  will,  considered  as  a  supernatural  force,  and  what 
the  chemical  and  vital  forces  of  nature  itself,  are  dernonstrably  able  to  ac- 
complish, cannot  be  regarded  as  beyond  the  power  of  God,  so  long  as  God 
dwells  in  and  controls  the  universe.  If  man's  will  can  act  directly  upon 
matter  in  his  own  physical  organism,  God's  will  can  work  immediately 
upon  the  system  which  he  has  created  and  which  he  sustains.  In  other 
words,  if  there  be  a  God,  and  if  he  be  a  personal  being,  miracles  are  pos- 
sible. The  impossibility  of  miracles  can  be  maintained  only  upon  princi- 
ples of  atheism  or  pantheism. 

See  Westcott,  Gospel  of  the  Resurrection,  19 ;  Cox,  Miracles,  an  Argument  and  a 
Challenge:  "Anthropomorphism  is  preferable  to  hylomorphisrn."  Newman  Smyth, 
Old  Faiths  in  a  New  Light,  ch.  1— "  A  miracle  is  not  a  sudden  blow  struck  in  the  face  of 
nature,  but  a  use  of  nature,  according  to  its  inherent  capacities,  by  higher  powers." 

3.     Probability  of  Miracles. 

A.  We  acknowledge  that,  so  long  as  we  confine  our  attention  to  nature, 
there  is  a  presumption  against  miracles.     Experience  testifies  to  the  uni- 
formity of  natural  law.     A  general  uniformity  is  needful,  in  order  to  make 
possible  a  rational  calculation  of  the  future,  and  a  proper  ordering  of  life. 

See  Butler,  Analogy,  part  2,  chap.  2 ;  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  3-45 ; 
Modern  Scepticism,  1 :  179-327 :  Chalmers,  Christian  Revelation,  1 :  47. 

B.  But  we  deny  that  this  uniformity  of  nature  is  absolute  and  universal, 
(a)  It  is  not  a  truth  of  reason  that  can  have  no  exceptions,  like  the  axiom 
that  a  whole  is  greater  than  its  parts.     (6)   Experience  could  not  warrant  a 
belief  in  absolute  and  universal  uniformity,  unless  experience  were  identical 
with  absolute  and  universal  knowledge,     (c)   We  know,  on  the  contrary, 
from  geology,  that  there  have  been  breaks  in  this  uniformity,  such  as  the 
introduction  of  vegetable,    animal  and  human  life,  which  cannot  be  ac- 
counted for,  except  by  the  coming   down  upon  nature  of  a  supernatural 
power. 

(a)  Compare  the  probability  that  the  sun  will  rise  to-morrow  morning  with  the  cer- 
tainty that  two  and  two  make  four.  Huxley,  Lay  Sermons,  158,  indignantly  denies  that 
there  is  any  '  must '  about  the  uniformity  of  nature.  See  Edward  Hitchcock,  in  Bib. 
Sac.,  20:  489-561,  on  "The  Law  of  Nature's  Constancy  subordinate  to  the  Higher  Law 
of  Change"  ;  Jevons,  Principles  of  Science,  2:  430-438;  Mozley,  Miracles,  26.  (5)  Cole- 
ridge: "Experience,  like  the  stern-lights  of  a  ship,  illuminates  only  the  track  over 
which  it  has  passed."  (c)  Other  breaks  in  the  uniformity  of  nature  are  the  coming  of 
Christ  and  the  regeneration  of  the  human  soul.  See  British  Quarterly  Rev.,  Oct., 
1881 :  154. 

C.  Since  the  in  working  of  the  moral  law  into  the  constitution  and  course 
of  nature  shows  that  nature  exists,  not  for  itself,  but  for  the  contemplation 
and  use  of  moral  beings,  it  is  probable  that  the  God  of  nature  will  produce 
effects  aside  from  those  of  natural  law,  whenever  there  are  sufficiently  im- 
portant moral  ends  to  be  served  thereby. 

Beneath  the  expectation  of  uniformity  is  the  intuition  of  final  cause;  the  former 
may  therefore  give  way  to  the  latter.  See  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  592-616 :  Efficient 
causes  and  final  causes  may  conflict,  and  then  the  efficient  give  place  to  the  final.  This 
is  miracle.  See  Hutton,  in  Nineteenth  Century,  Aug.,  1885. 

D.  The  existence  of  moral  disorder  consequent  upon  the  free  acts  of 
man's  will,  therefore,  changes  the  presumption  against  miracles  into  a  pre- 


64  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

sumption  in  their  favor.     The  non-appearance  of  miracles,  in  this  case, 
would  be  the  greatest  of  wonders. 

See  Mozley,  Miracles,  preface,  xxiv;  Turner,  Wish  and  Will,  391-315;  N.W.Taylor, 
Moral  Government,  2 :  388-423. 

E.  As  belief  in  the  possibility  of  miracles  rests  upon  our  belief  in  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God,  so  belief  in  the  probability  of  miracles  rests 
upon  our  belief  that  God  is  a  moral  and  benevolent  being.  He  who  has 
no  God  but  a  God  of  physical  order  will  regard  miracles  as  an  impertinent 
intrusion  upon  that  order.  But  he  who  yields  to  the  testimony  of  con- 
science and  regards  God  as  a  God  of  holiness,  will  see  that  man's  unholi- 
ness  renders  God's  miraculous  interposition  most  necessary  to  man  and 
most  becoming  to  God.  Our  view  of  miracles  will  therefore  be  determined 
by  our  belief  in  a  moral,  or  in  a  non-moral,  God. 

It  is  commonly,  but  very  erroneously,  taken  for  granted  that  miracle  requires  a 
greater  exercise  of  power  than  does  God's  upholding  of  the  ordinary  processes  of  na- 
ture. But  to  an  omnipotent  Being  our  measures  of  power  have  no  application.  The 
question  is  not  a  question  of  power,  but  of  rationality  and  love.  Miracle  implies  self- 
restraint,  as  well  as  self -unfolding,  on  the  part  of  him  who  works  it.  It  is  therefore 
not  God's  common  method  of  action ;  it  is  adopted  only  when  regular  methods  will  not 
suffice ;  it  often  seems  accompanied  by  a  sacrifice  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  Christ  (Mat. 
17 : 17—"  0  faithless  and  perverse  generation,  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I  bear  with  you  ?  bring  him 
hither  to  me  "  ;  Mark  7 :  34—"  Looking  up  to  heaven,  he  sighed,  and  saith  unto  him,  Ephphatha,  that  is,  Be  opened ; "  cf. 
Mat.  12:  39 — "in  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign;  and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given  to  it  but  the 
sign  of  Jonah  the  prophet." 

Like  creation  and  providence,  like  inspiration  and  regeneration,  miracle  is  a  work  in 
which  God  limits  himself,  by  a  new  and  peculiar  exercise  of  his  power,— limits  himself 
as  part  of  a  process  of  condescending  love  and  as  a  means  of  teaching  sense-environed 
and  sin-burdened  humanity  what  it  would  not  learn  in  any  other  way.  Self -limitation, 
however,  is  the  very  perfection  and  glory  of  God,  for  without  it  no  self-sacrificing  love 
would  be  possible  (see  page  6,  F).  The  probability  of  miracles  is  therefore  argued  not 
only  from  God's  holiness  but  also  from  his  love.  His  desire  to  save  men  from  their  sins 
must  be  as  infinite  as  his  nature.  The  incarnation,  the  atonement,  the  resurrection, 
when  once  made  known  to  us,  commend  themselves,  not  only  as  satisfying  our  human 
needs,  but  as  worthy  of  a  God  of  moral  perfection. 

4.  The  amount  of  testimony  necessary  to  prove  a  miracle  is  no  greater 
than  that  which  is  requisite  to  prove  the  occurrence  of  any  other  unusual 
but  confessedly  possible  event. 

Hume,  indeed,  argued  that  a  miracle  is  so  contradictory  of  all  human  ex- 
perience that  it  is  more  reasonable  to  believe  any  amount  of  testimony  false 
than  to  believe  a  miracle  to  be  true. 

The  original  form  of  the  argument  can  be  found  in  Hume's  Philosophical  Works,  4 : 
124-150.  See  also  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1867 :  615.  For  the  most  recent  and  plausible  statement 
of  it,  see  Supernatural  Religion,  1 :  55-94. 

The  argument  is  fallacious,  because 

(a)  It  is  chargeable  with  a  petitio  principii,  in  making  our  own  per- 
sonal experience  the  measure  of  all  human  experience.  The  same  principle 
would  make  the  proof  of  any  absolutely  new  fact  impossible.  Even  though 
God  should  work  a  miracle,  he  could  never  prove  it. 

This  is  granted  by  John  Stuart  Mill,  in  his  Essays  on  Theism,  216-241. 

(6)  It  involves  a  self-contradiction,  since  it  seeks  to  overthrow  our  faith 
in  human  testimony  by  adducing  to  the  contrary  the  general  experience  of 
men,  of  which  we  know  only  from  testimony.  This  general  experience, 


MIRACLES    AS    ATTESTING    REVELATION.  65 

moreover,  is  merely  negative,  and  cannot  neutralize  that  which  is  positive, 
•except  upon  principles  which  would  invalidate  all  testimony  whatever. 

Fichte:  "We  are  born  in  faith— we  learn  unbelief."  Our  faith  in  testimony  cannot 
be  due  to  experience. 

(c)  It  requires  belief  in  a  greater  wonder  than  those  which  it  would 
escape.  That  multitudes  of  intelligent  and  honest  men  should  against  all 
their  interests  unite  in  deliberate  and  persistent  falsehood,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances narrated  in  the  New  Testament  record,  involves  a  change  in  the 
sequences  of  nature  far  more  incredible  than  the  miracles  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles.  » 

On  this  point  see  Chalmers,  Christian  Revelation,  3:  70;  Starkie  on  Evidence,  739; 
De  Quincey,  Theol.  Essays,  1:  162-188;  Thornton,  Old-fashioned  Ethics,  143-153;  Camp- 
bell on  Miracles. 

5.     Evidential  force  of  Miracles. 

(a)  Miracles  are  the  natural  accompaniments  and  attestations  of  new 
communications  from  God.  The  great  epochs  of  miracles — represented  by 
Moses,  the  prophets,  the  first  and  second  comings  of  Christ — are  coincident 
with  the  great  epochs  of  revelation.  Miracles  serve  to  draw  attention  to 
new  truth,  and  cease  when  this  truth  has  gained  currency  and  foothold. 

Miracles  are  not  scattered  evenly  over  the  whole  course  of  history.  Not  a  single 
miracle  is  recorded  during  the  2500  years  from  Adam  to  Moses.  When  the  N.  T.  Canon 
is  completed  and  the  internal  evidence  of  Scripture  has  attained  its  greatest  strength, 
the  external  attestations  by  miracle  are  either  wholly  withdrawn  or  begin  to  disappear. 
The  spiritual  wonders  of  regeneration  remain,  and  for  these  the  way  has  been  prepared 
by  the  long  progress  from  the  miracles  of  power  wrought  by  Moses  to  the  miracles  of 
grace  wrought  by  Christ.  On  the  cessation  of  miracles  in  the  early  church,  see  Hender- 
son, Inspiration,  443-490 ;  Btfckmann,  in  Zeitschr.  f .  Luth.  Theol.  u.  Kirche,  1878 :  216. 
John  Foster :  Miracles  are  the  great  bell  of  the  universe  which  draws  men  to  God's  ser- 
mon. H.  W.  Beecher:  Miracles  are  the  midwives  of  great  moral  truths;  candles  lit 
before  the  dawn,  but  put  out  after  the  sun  has  risen.  See  Diman,  Theistic  Argument, 
376. 

(6)  Miracles,  however,  certify  to  the  truth  of  doctrine,  not  directly,  but 
indirectly  ;  otherwise  a  new  miracle  must  needs  accompany  each  new  doc- 
trine taught.  Miracles  primarily  and  directly  certify  to  the  divine  com- 
mission and  authority  of  a  religious  teacher,  and  therefore  warrant  accept- 
ance of  his  doctrines  and  obedience  to  his  commands  as  the  doctrines  and 
commands  of  God,  whether  these  be  communicated  at  intervals  or  all 
together,  orally  or  in  written  documents. 

See  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  147-167 ;  Farrar,  Life  of  Christ,  1 :  168-172. 

(c)  Miracles,  therefore,  do  not  stand  alone  as  evidences.  Power  alone 
cannot  prove  a  divine  commission.  Purity  of  life  and  doctrine  must  go 
with  the  miracles  to  assure  us  that  a  religious  teacher  has  come  from  God. 
The  miracles  and  the  doctrine  in  this  manner  mutually  support  each  other, 
and  form  parts  of  one  whole.  The  internal  evidence  for  the  Christian 
system  may  have  greater  power  over  certain  minds  and  over  certain  ages 
than  the  external  evidence. 

Pascal's  aphorism  that  "  doctrines  must  be  judged  by  miracles,  miracles  by  doctrines," 

needs  to  be  supplemented  by  Mozley's  statement  that  "  a  supernatural  fact  is  the  proper 

proof  of  a  supernatural  doctrine,  while  a  supernatural  doctrine  is  not  the  proper  proof 

•of  a  supernatural  fact."    Versus  Supernatural  Religion,  1 :  23,  and  Stearns,  in  N.  Eng- 

5 


66  THE   SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

lander,  Jan.,  1882 :  80.  See  Mozley,  Miracles,  15 ;  Nicoll,  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  133 ;  Mill,. 
Logic,  374-382 ;  H.  B.  Smith,  Introd.  to  Christ.  Theology,  167-169 ;  Fisher,  in  Journ.  Christ. 
Philosophy,  Apr.,  1883 :  270-283. 

(d)  Yet  the  Christian  miracles  do  not  lose  their  value  as  evidences  in  the 
process  of  ages.  The  loftier  the  structure  of  Christian  life  and  doctrine 
the  greater  need  that  its  foundation  be  secure.  The  authority  of  Christ  as  a 
teacher  of  supernatural  truth  rests  upon  his  miracles,  and  specially  upon 
the  miracle  of  his  resurrection.  That  one  miracle  to  which  the  church  looks 
back  as  the  source  of  her  life  carries  with  it  irresistibly  all  the  other  miracles 
of  the  Scripture  record ;  upon  it  alone  we  may  safely  rest  the  proof  that 
the  Scriptures  are  an  authoritative  revelation  from  God. 

In  our  arguments  with  sceptics,  we  should  not  begin  with  the  ass  that  spoke  to  Balaam, 
or  the  fish  that  swallowed  Jonah,  but  with  the  resurrection  of  Christ ;  that  once  con- 
ceded, all  other  Biblical  miracles  will  seem  only  natural  preparations,  accompaniments, 
or  consequences.  Godet,  Lectures  in  Defence  of  the  Christian  Faith,  lect.  i— Dilemma 
for  those  who  deny  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection :  Either  his  body  remained  in  the 
hands  of  his  disciples,  or  it  was  given  up  to  the  Jews.  If  the  disciples  retained  it,  they 
were  impostors;  but  this  is  not  maintained  by  modern  rationalists.  If  the  Jews  re- 
tained it,  why  did  they  not  produce  it  as  conclusive  evidence  against  the  disciples?  See 
Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity,  9,  158-224,  302;  Mill,  Theism,  216;  Auberlen,  Divine 
Revelation,  56 ;  Boston  Lectures,  203-239.  On  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  see  Milligan, 
Resurrection  of  Christ;  Morrison,  Proofs  of  Christ's  Resurrection;  Christlieb,  Mod. 
Doubt  and  Christ.  Belief,  448-503 ;  Row,  Bampton  Lect.  for  1877 :  358-423 ;  Hutton,  Essays, 
1 :  119;  Schaff,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  May,  1880:  411-419. 

6.     Counterfeit  Miracles. 

Since  only  an  act  directly  wrought  by  God  can  properly  be  called  a  mir- 
acle, it  follows  that  surprising  events  brought  about  by  evil  spirits  or  by 
men,  through  the  use  of  natural  agencies  beyond  our  knowledge,  are  not 
entitled  to  this  appellation.  The  Scriptures  recognize  the  existence  of  such, 
but  denominate  them  "  lying  wonders  "  (2  Thess.  2  :  9). 

These  counterfeit  miracles  in  various  ages  argue  that  the  belief  in  miracles 
is  natural  to  the  race,  and  that  somewhere  there  must  exist  the  true.  They 
serve  to  show  that  not  all  supernatural  occurrences  are  divine,  and  to  im- 
press upon  us  the  necessity  of  careful  examination  before  we  accept  them  as 
divine. 

False  miracles  may  commonly  be  distinguished  from  the  true  by  (a)  their 
accompaniments  of  immoral  conduct  or  of  doctrine  contradictory  to  truth 
already  revealed — as  in  modern  spiritualism  ;  (6)  their  internal  character- 
istics of  inanity  and  extravagance — as  in  the  liquefaction  of  the  blood  of  St. 
Januarius,  or  the  miracles  of  the  Apocryphal  New  Testament ;  (c)  the  in- 
sufficiency of  the  object  which  they  are  designed  to  further — as  in  the  case 
of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  or  of  the  miracles  said  to  accompany  the  publica- 
tion of  the  doctrine  of  the  immaculate  conception ;  (d)  their  lack  of  sub- 
stantiating evidence — as  in  mediaeval  miracles,  so  seldom  attested  by  con- 
temporary and  disinterested  witnesses. 

Mozley,  Miracles,  15, 161;  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  72;  A.  S.  Farrar, 
Science  and  Theology,  208 ;  Tholuck,  Vermischte  Schriften,  1 :  27 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol., 
1 :  630 ;  Presb.  Rev.,  1881 :  687-719.  For  the  view  that  the  gift  of  miracles  still  remains 
in  the  church,  see  Boys,  Proofs  of  the  Miraculous  in  the  Experience  of  the  Church ; 
Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  446-492 ;  Gordon,  Ministry  of  Healing.  Review 
of  Gordon,  by  Vincent,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  1883:  473-502;  Review  of  Vincent,  in  Presb. 
Rev.,  1884 :  49-79 ;  Vincent's  reply,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  April,  1884.  On  the  power  of  the  will 


PROPHECY   AS   ATTESTING    REVELATION.  67 

over  the  body,  see  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  381-386.  We  incline  to  the  view  that 
in  these  later  ages  God  answers  prayer  for  healing-,  not  by  miracle,  but  by  special  provi- 
dence and  by  special  gifts  of  courage,  faith,  and  will,  thus  acting  by  his  Spirit  directly 
upon  the  soul,  and  only  indirectly  upon  the  body. 

IV.     PROPHECY  AS  ATTESTING  A  DIVINE  REVELATION. 

We  here  consider  prophecy  in  its  narrow  sense  of  mere  prediction. 

1.  Definition.     Prophecy  is  the  foretelling  of  future  events  by  virtue  of 
direct  communication  from  God — a  foretelling,  therefore,  which,  though 
not  contravening  any  laws  of  the  human  mind,  those  laws,  if  fully  known, 
would  not  be  sufficient  to  explain. 

Payne  Smith,  Prophecy  a  Preparation  for  Christ ;  Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity, 
225 ;  Newton  on  Prophecy;  Fairbairn  on  Prophecy  ;  Farrar,  Science  and  Theology,  106. 

2.  Relation  of  Prophecy  to  Miracles.     Miracles  are  attestations  of  rev- 
elation proceeding  from  divine  power;  prophecy  is  an  attestation  of  revelation 
proceeding  from  divine  knowledge.     Only  God  can  know  the  contingencies 
of  the  future.     The  possibility  and  probability  of  prophecy  may  be  argued 
upon  the  same  grounds  upon  which  we  argue  the  possibility  and  probability 
of  miracles.     As  an  evidence  of  divine  revelation,  however,  prophecy  pos- 
sesses two  advantages  over  miracles,  namely  :     (a)  The  proof,  in  the  case 
of  prophecy,  is  not  derived  from  ancient  testimony,  but  is  under  our  eyes. 
(6)    The  evidence  of  miracles  cannot  become  stronger,  whereas  every  new 
fulfilment  adds  to  the  argument  from  prophecy. 

Hume :  "  All  prophecies  are  real  miracles,  and  only  as  such  can  be  admitted  as  proofs 
of  any  revelation."  Wardlaw,  Syst.  Theol.,  1:  347. 

3.  Requirements  in  Prophecy,  considered  as  an  evidence  of  revelation. 
(a)  The  utterance  must  be  distant  from  the  event. 

(6)  Nothing  must  exist  to  suggest  the  event  to  merely  natural  prescience. 

Stanley  instances  the  natural  sagacity  of  Burke,  which  enabled  him  to  predict  the 
French  Revolution. 

(c)  The  utterance  must  be  free  from  ambiguity. 

Illustrate  ambiguous  prophecies  by  the  Delphic  oracle  to  Croesus :  "  Crossing  the  river 
thou  destroyest  a  great  nation  "—whether  his  own  or  his  enemy's  the  oracle  left  unde- 
termined. "  Ibis  et  redibis  nunquam  peribis  in  bello." 

(d)  Yet  it  must  not  be  so  precise  as  to  secure  its  own  fulfilment. 

Strauss  held  that  O.  T.  prophecy  itself  determined  either  the  events  or  the  narratives 
of  the  gospels.  See  Gregg,  Creed  of  Christendom,  chap.  4. 

(e)  It  must  be  followed  in  due  time  by  the  event  predicted. 

4.  General  features  of  Prophecy  in  the  Scriptures. 

(a)  Its  vast  amount — occupying  a  large  portion  of  the  Bible  from  Genesis 
to  Eevelation,  and  extending  over  a  period  of  four  thousand  years. 

(6)  Its  unity  in  diversity— finding  its  central  point  in  Christ ;  and  exclud- 
ing all  possibility  of  human  fabrication. 

Acts  10  : 43—"  To  him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness  " ;  Rev.. 19 : 10—"  The  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy." 

(c)  Its  actual  fulfilment  as  regards  many  of  its  predictions,— while  all 
attempts  have  failed  to  show  that  any  single  one  of  these  predictions 
has  been  falsified  by  the  event. 


68  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATIOX    FROM    GOD. 

Instances  of  specific  predictions  fulfilled  are  the  mentioning-  of  Cyrus  by  name  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  his  birth,  and  the  foretelling  of  the  sending  back  of  the 
Jews  from  Babylon  (Is.  44 :  26-28). 

5.  Different  kinds  of  Prophecy,     (a)  Direct  predictions  of  events— 
as  in  Old  Testament  prophecies  of  Christ  and  of  the  fate  of  the  Jewish  nation . 
(6)  General  prophecy  of  the  kingdom  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  Christ 
himself  in  the  new.     (c)  Historical  types  in  the  nation  and  in  individuals — 
as  Jonah  and  David,     (d)   Prefigurations  of  the  future  in  rites  and  ordi- 
nances— as  in  sacrifice,  circumcision,  and  the  passover. 

Types  are  intended  resemblances,  designed  prefigurations ;  for  example,  the  people  of 
Israel  is  a  type  of  the  Christian  church ;  outside  nations  are  types  of  the  hostile  world  ; 
Jonah  and  David  are  types  of  Christ. 

6.  Special  Prophecies  uttered  by  Christ,     (a]   As  to  his  own  death  and 
resurrection.     (b)  As  to  events  occurring  between  his  death  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  (multitudes  of  impostors ;  wars  and  rumors  of  wars ; 
famine  and  pestilence),     (c)  As  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
Jewish  polity  (Jerusalem  compassed  with  armies  ;  abomination  of  desolation 
in  the  holy  place  ;    flight  of   Christians  ;  misery ;   massacre ;  dispersion). 
(d)  As  to  the  world- wide  diffusion  of  his  gospel  (the  Bible  already  the  most 
widely  circulated  book  in  the  world). 

7.  On  the  double  sense  of  Prophecy. 

(a}  Certain  prophecies  apparently  contain  a  fulness  of  meaning  which  is 
not  exhausted  by  the  event  to  which  they  most  obviously  and  literally  refer. 
A  prophecy  which  had  a  partial  fulfilment  at  a  time  not  remote  from  its 
utterance,  may  find  its  chief  fulfilment  in  an  event  far  distant.  Since  the 
principles  of  God's  administration  find  ever  recurring  and  ever  enlarging 
illustration  in  history,  prophecies  which  have  already  had  a  partial  fulfil- 
ment may  have  whole  cycles  of  fulfilment  yet  before  them. 

In  prophecy  there  is  an  absence  of  perspective :  as  in  Japanese  pictures,  the  near  and 
the  far  appear  equally  distant ;  the  prophet  seems  freed  from  the  law  of  space  and  time; 
as  in  dissolving  views,  the  immediate  future  melts  into  a  future  immeasurably  far  away. 
In  Is.  10  and  11,  for  example,  the  fall  of  Lebanon  (the  Assyrian)  is  immediately  connected 
with  the  rise  of  the  Branch  (Christ) ;  in  Jer.  51 :  41,  the  first  capture  and  the  complete 
destruction  of  Babylon  are  connected  with  each  other,  without  notice  of  the  interval 
of  a  thousand  years  between  them. 

Instances  of  the  double  sense  of  prophecy  may  be  found  in  Is.  7  : 14-16 ;  9  :  6,  7—"  A  virgin 
shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son"  .  .  .  .  "Unto  us  a  son  is  born  "—compared  with  Mat.  1 :  22,  23,  where  the 
prophecy  is  applied  to  ^Christ  (see  Meyer,  in  loco) ;  Hosea  11 : 1,  compared  with  Mat.  2  : 15— 
"  first-born  son"=both  Israel  and  Christ ;  Mat.  24  and  25,  especially  24 : 34  and  25 : 31— where  Christ's 
prophecy  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  passes  into  a  prophecy  of  the  end  of  the 
world.  Lord  Bacon :  "  Divine  prophecies  have  springing  and  germinant  accomplish- 
ment through  many  ages,  though  the  height  or  fulness  of  them  may  refer  to  some  one 
age."  For  this  reason  the  preterist,  the  continuist,  and  the  futurist  interpretation  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation  may  each  have  its  elements  of  truth;  see  further,  on  Eschatology. 
See  also  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  Sermons  on  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture,  Appendix 
A,  pages  441-454;  Aids  to  Faith,  449-462;  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  4  :  2727.  Per  contra,  see 
Elliott,  Horae  Apocalypticae,  4  :  662. 

(b)  The  prophet  was  not  always  aware  of  the  meaning  of  his  own  prophe- 
cies (1  Pet.  1  :  11).  It  is  enough  to  constitute  his  prophecies  a  proof  of 
divine  revelation,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  correspondences  between  them 
and  the  actual  events  are  such  as  to  indicate  divine  wisdom  and  purpose  in 


PRINCIPLES   OF   HISTORICAL   EVIDENCE.  69 

the  giving  of  them — in  other  words,  it  is  enough  if  the  inspiring  Spirit 
knew  their  meaning,  even  though  the  inspired  prophet  did  not. 

It  is  not  inconsistent  with  this  view,  but  rather  confirms  it,  that  the  near  event, 
and  not  the  distant  fulfilment,  was  often  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  in  the  mind  of  the 
prophet  when  he  wrote.  Scripture  declares  that  the  prophets  did  not  always  under- 
stand their  own  predictions :  1  Pet.  1  : 11—"  Searching  what  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
which  was  in  them  did  point  unto,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glories  that  should  follow 
them."  Emerson :  "  Himself  from  God  he  could  not  free ;  He  builded  better  than  he 
knew."  Keble:  "As  little  children  lisp  and  tell  of  heaven,  So  thoughts  beyond  their 
thoughts  to  those  high  bards  were  given." 

8.  Purpose  of  Prophecy — so  far  as  it  is  yet  unfulfilled,     (a)    Not  to  en- 
able us  to  map  out  the  details  of  the  future;  but  rather    (6)  To  give  general 
assurance  of  God's  power  and  foreseeing  wisdom,  and  of  the  certainty  of 
his  triumph ;  and     (c)  To  furnish,  after  fulfilment,  the  proof  that  God  saw 
the  end  from  the  beginning. 

Dan.  12  :  8,  9—"  And  I  heard,  but  I  understood  not ;  then  said  I,  0  my  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  issue  of  these  things  ? 
And  he  said,  Go  thy  way,  Daniel :  for  the  words  are  shut  up  and  sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end ; "  2  Pet.  1  :  19— 
prophecy  is  "a  lamp  shining  in  a  dark  place,  until  the  day  dawn "=not  until  day  dawns  can  distant 
objects  be  seen;  20  —  "No  prophecy  of  scripture  is  of  private  interpretation "=  only  God,  by  the 
event,  can  interpret  it.  Sir  Isaac  Newton :  "  God  gave  the  prophecies,  not  to  gratify 
men's  curiosity  by  enabling  them  to  foreknow  things,  but  that  after  they  were  fulfilled 
they  might  be  interpreted  by  the  event,  and  his  own  providence,  not  the  interpreter's, 
be  thereby  manifested  to  the  world." 

9.  Evidential  force  of  Prophecy — so  far  as  it  is  fulfilled.     Prophecy, 
like  miracles,  does  not  stand  alone  as  evidence  of  the  divine  commission  of 
the  Scripture  writers  and  teachers.    It  is  simply  a  corroborative  attestation, 
which  unites  with  miracles  to  prove  that  a  religious  teacher  has  come  from 
God  and  speaks  with  divine  authority.    We  cannot,  however,  dispense  with 
this  portion  of  the  evidences, — for  unless  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ 
ares  events  foreknown  and  foretold  by  himself,  as  well  as  by  the  ancient 
prophets,  we  lose  one  main  proof  of  his  authority  as  a  teacher  sent  from  God. 

See  Annotated  Paragraph  Bible,  Introd.  to  Prophetical  Books;  Stanley  Leathes,  O.  T. 
Prophecy ;  Cairns,  on  Present  State  of  Christian  Argument  from  Prophecy,  in  Present 
Day  Tracts,  5 :  no.  27 ;  Edersheim,  Prophecy  and  History. 

Having  thus  removed  the  presumption  originally  existing  against  miracles 
and  prophecy,  we  may  now  consider  the  ordinary  laws  of  evidence  and 
determine  the  rules  to  be  followed  in  estimating  the  weight  of  the  Scripture 
testimony. 

V.  PKINCIPLES  OF  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE  APPLICABLE  TO  THE  PKOOF  OF  A 
DIVINE  REVELATION  (mainly  derived  from  Greenleaf,  Testimony  of  the 
Evangelists,  and  from  Starkie  on  Evidence). 

1.     As  to  documentary  evidence. 

C  a)  Documents  apparently  ancient,  not  bearing  upon  their  face  the  marks 
of  forgery,  and  found  in  proper  custody,  are  presumed  to  be  genuine  until 
sufficient  evidence  is  brought  to  the  contrary.  The  New  Testament  docu- 
ments, since  they  are  found  in  the  custody  of  the  church,  their  natural  and 
legitimate  depository,  must  by  this  rule  be  presumed  to  be  genuine. 

The  Christian  documents  were  not  found,  like  the  Book  of  Mormon,  in  a  cave,  or  in 
the  custody  of  angels.  See  Starkie  on  Evidence,  480  sq. ;  Chalmers,  Christian  Revela- 
tion, in  Works,  3 :  147-171. 


70  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION   FROM    GOD. 

(6)  Copies  of  ancient  documents,  made  by  those  most  interested  in  their 
faithfulness,  are  presumed  to  correspond  with  the  originals,  even  although 
those  originals  no  longer  exist.  Since  it  was  the  church's  interest  to  have 
faithful  copies,  the  burden  of  proof  rests  upon  the  objector  to  the  Christian 
documents. 

Upon  the  evidence  of  a  copy  of  its  own  records,  the  originals  having-  been  lost,  the 
House  of  Lords  decided  a  claim  to  the  peerage ;  see  Starkie  on  Evidence,  51.  There  is 
no  manuscript  of  Sophocles  earlier  than  the  tenth  century,  while  at  least  two  manu- 
scripts of  the  N.  T.  g-o  back  to  the  fourth  century. 

(c)  In  determining  matters  of  fact,  after  the  lapse  of  considerable  time, 
documentary  evidence  is  to  be  allowed  greater  weight  than  oral  testimony. 
Neither  memory  nor  tradition  can  long  be  trusted  to  give  absolutely  correct 
accounts  of  particular  facts.  The  New  Testament  documents,  therefore, 
are  of  greater  weight  in  evidence  than  tradition  would  be,  even  if  only 
thirty  years  had  elapsed  since  the  death  of  the  actors  in  the  scenes  they 
relate. 

See  Starkie  on  Evidence,  51,  730.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  its  leg-ends  of  the 
saints,  shows  how  quickly  mere  tradition  can  become  corrupt. 

2.     As  to  testimony  in  general. 

(a)  In  questions  as  to  matters  of  fact,  the  proper  inquiry  is  not  whether 
it  is  possible  that  the  testimony  may  be  false,  but  whether  there  is  sufficient 
probability  that  it  is  true.  It  is  unfair,  therefore,  to  allow  our  examination 
of  the  Scripture  witnesses  to  be  prejudiced  by  suspicion,  merely  because 
their  story  is  a  sacred  one. 

(6)  A  proposition  of  fact  is  proved  when  its  truth  is  established  by  com- 
petent and  satisfactory  evidence.  By  competent  evidence  is  meant  such 
evidence  as  the  nature  of  the  thing  to  be  proved  admits.  By  satisfactory 
evidence  is  meant  that  amount  of  proof  which  ordinarily  satisfies  an  un- 
prejudiced mind  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  Scripture  facts  are  therefore 
proved,  when  they  are  established  by  that  kind  and  degree  of  evidence 
which  would  in  the  affairs  of  ordinary  life  satisfy  the  mind  and  conscience 
of  a  common  man.  When  we  have  this  kind  and  degree  of  evidence  it  is 
unreasonable  to  require  more. 

(c)  In  the  absence  of  circumstances  which  generate  suspicion,  every  wit- 
ness is  to  be  presumed  credible,  until  the  contrary  is  shown ;  the  burden 
of  impeaching  his  testimony  lying  upon  the  objector.  The  principle  which 
leads  men  to  give  true  witness  to  facts  is  stronger  than  that  which  leads 
them  to  give  false  witness.  It  is  therefore  unjust  to  compel  the  Christian 
to  establish  the  credibility  of  his  witnesses  before  proceeding  to  adduce 
their  testimony,  and  it  is  equally  unjust  to  allow  the  uncorroborated  testi- 
mony of  a  profane  writer  to  outweigh  that  of  a  Christian  writer.  Christian 
witnesses  should  not  be  considered  interested,  and  therefore  untrustworthy; 
for  they  became  Christians  against  their  worldly  interests,  and  because  they 
could  not  resist  the  force  of  testimony.  Varying  accounts  among  them 
should  be  estimated  as  we  estimate  the  varying  accounts  of  profane  writers. 

John's  account  of  Jesus  differs  from  that  of  the  synoptic  g-ospels ;  but,  in  a  very 
similar  manner,  and  probably  for  a  very  similar  reason,  Plato's  account  of  Socrates 
differs  from  that  of  Xenophon.  Each  saw  and  described  that  side  of  his  subject  which 
he  was  by  nature  best  fitted  to  comprehend. 


PRINCIPLES   OF   HISTORICAL   EVIDENCE.  71 

(d)  A  slight  amount  of  positive  testimony,  so  long  as  it  is  uncontradicted, 
outweighs  a  very  great  amount  of  testimony  that  is  merely  negative.     The 
silence  of  a  second  witness,  or  his  testimony  that  he  did  not  see  a  certain 
alleged  occurrence,  cannot  counterbalance  the  positive  testimony  of  a  first 
witness  that  he  did  see  it.     We  should  therefore  estimate  the  silence  of  pro- 
fane writers  with  regard  to  facts  narrated  in  Scripture  precisely  as  we  should 
estimate  it  if  the  facts  about  which  they  are  silent  were  narrated  by  other 
profane  writers,  instead  of  being  narrated  by  the  writers  of  Scripture. 

Egyptian  monuments  make  no  mention  of  the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  his  army ; 
but  then,  Napoleon's  dispatches  also  make  no  mention  of  his  defeat  at  Trafalgar.  Even 
though  we  should  grant  that  Josephus  does  not  mention  Jesus,  we  should  have  a  par- 
allel in  Thucydides,  who  never  once  mentions  Socrates,  the  most  important  character 
of  the  thirty  years  embraced  in  his  history.  Wieseler,  however,  in  Jahrbuch  f.  d. 
Theologie,  23 :  98,  maintains  the  essential  genuineness  of  the  commonly  rejected  passage 
with  regard  to  Jesus  in  Josephus,  Antiq.,  18 :  3 :  3,  omitting,  however,  as  interpolations, 
the  phrases:  "if  it  be  right  to  call  him  man";  "this  was  the  Christ";  "he  appeared 
alive  the  third  day  according  to  prophecy  "  ;  for  these,  if  genuine,  would  prove  Josephus 
a  Christian,  which  he,  by  all  ancient  accounts,  was  not. 

(e)  "The  credit  due  to  the  testimony  of  witnesses  depends  upon  :  first, 
their  ability  ;  secondly,  their  honesty  ;  thirdly,  their  number  and  the  con- 
sistency of  their  testimony  ;   fourthly,  the  conformity  of  their  testimony 
with  experience  ;   and  fifthly,  the  coincidence  of  their  testimony  with  col- 
lateral circumstances. "  We  confidently  submit  the  New  Testament  witnesses 
to  each  and  all  of  these  tests. 

See  Starkie  on  Evidence,  736. 


CHAPTER  II. 

POSITIVE    PROOFS   THAT   THE   SCRIPTURES   ARE   A    DIVINE 
REVELATION. 

I.  THE  GENUINENESS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCUMENTS,  or  proof  that  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  were  written  at  the  age  to  which  they 
are  assigned  and  by  the  men  or  class  of  men  to  whom  they  are  ascribed. 

Our  present  discussion  comprises  the  first  part,  and  only  the  first  part,  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Canon  (navvy,  a  measuringr-reed ;  hence,  a  rule,  a  standard).  It  is  important  to 
observe  that  the  determination  of  the  Canon,  or  list  of  the  books  of  sacred  Scripture, 
is  not  the  work  of  the  church  as  an  organized  body.  We  do  not  receive  these  books 
upon  the  authority  of  Fathers  or  Councils.  We  receive  them,  only  as  the  Fathers  and 
Councils  received  them,  because  we  have  evidence  that  they  are  the  writings  of  the 
men,  or  class  of  men,  whose  names  they  bea"r,  and  that  they  are  also  credible  and  in- 
spired. 

We  reserve  to  a  point  somewhat  later  the  proof  of  the  credibility  and  the  inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures.  We  now  show  their  genuineness,  as  we  would  show  the  genuineness- 
of  other  religious  books,  like  the  Koran,  or  of  secular  documents,  like  Cicero's  Orations 
against  Catiline.  Genuineness,  in  the  sense  which  we  use  the  term,  does  not  necessarily 
imply  authenticity  (i.  e.,  truthfulness  and  authority) ;  see  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist. 
Theol.,  art. :  Authenticity. 

Documents  may  be  genuine  which  are  written  in  whole  or  in  part  by  persons  other 
than  they  whose  names  they  bear,  provided  these  persons  belong  to  the  same  class. 
The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  though  not  written  by  Paul,  is  genuine,  because  it  proceeds 
from  one  of  the  apostolic  class.  The  addition  of  Deut.  34,  after  Moses'  death,  does  not 
invalidate  the  genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch ;  nor  would  the  theory  of  a  later  Isaiah, 
even  if  it  were  established,  disprove  the  genuineness  of  that  prophecy ;  provided,  in 
both  cases,  that  the  additions  were  made  by  men  of  the  prophetic  class.  On  the  general 
subject  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Scripture  documents,  see  Alexander,  Mcllvaine,. 
Chalmers,  Dodge,  and  Peabody,  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity. 

1.     Genuineness  of  the  JBooks  of  the  New  Testament. 

We  do  not  need  to  adduce  proof  of  the  existence  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  as  far  back  as  the  third  century,  for  we  possess  manuscripts  of 
them  which  are  at  least  fourteen  hundred  years  old,  and,  since  the  third 
century,  references  to  them  have  been  inwoven  into  all  history  and  litera- 
ture. We  begin  our  proof,  therefore,  by  showing  that  these  documents  not 
only  existed,  but  were  generally  accepted  as  genuine,  before  the  close  of 
the  second  century. 

A.  All  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  single  exception  of 
2  Peter,  were  not  only  received  as  genuine,  but  were  used  in  more  or  less 
collected  form,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century.  These  collection* 
of  writings,  so  slowly  transcribed  and  distributed,  imply  the  long  continued 
previous  existence  of  the  separate  books,  and  forbid  us  to  fix  their  origin 

later  than  the  first  half  of  the  second  century, 

72 


THE   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN    DOCUMENTS.  73 

(a)  Tertullian  (160-230)  appeals  to  the  '  New  Testament '  as  made  up  of 
the  '  Gospels  '  and  '  Apostles. '  He  vouches  for  the  genuineness  of  the  four 
gospels,  the  Acts,  1  Peter,  1  John,  thirteen  epistles  of  Paul,  and  the  Apo- 
calypse ;  in  short,  to  twenty-one  of  the  twenty-seven  books  of  our  Canon. 

(6)  The  Muratorian  Canon  in  the  West  and  the  Peshito  Version  in  the 
East  (having  a  common  date  of  about  160)  in  their  catalogues  of  the  New 
Testament  writings  mutually  complement  each  other's  slight  deficiencies, 
and  together  witness  to  the  fact  that  at  that  time  every  book  of  our  present 
New  Testament,  with  the  exception  of  2  Peter,  was  received  as  genuine. 

(c)  The  Canon  of  Marcion  (140),  though  rejecting  all  the  gospels  but 
that  of  Luke,  and  all  the  epistles  but  ten  of  Paul's,  shows,  nevertheless, 
that  at  that  early  day  "apostolic  writings  were  regarded  as  a  complete 
original  rule  of  doctrine."  Even  Marcion,  moreover,  does  not  deny  the 
genuineness  of  those  writings  which  for  doctrinal  reasons  he  rejects. 

Marcion,  the  Gnostic,  was  the  enemy  of  all  Judaism,  and  regarded  the  God  of  the 
O.  T.  as  a  restricted  divinity,  entirely  different  from  the  God  of  the  N.  T.  On  the  Mura- 
torian Canon,  see  Tregelles,  Muratorian  Canon.  On  the  Peshito,  see  Schaff,  Intro d. 
to  Rev.  Gk.-Eng.  N.  T.,  xxxvii. ;  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  pp.  3388,  3389.  On  the  whole  sub- 
ject, see  Westcott,  History  of  the  N.  T.  Canon,  and  art. :  Canon,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dic- 
tionary. Also,  Reuss,  History  of  the  Canon  ;  Mitchell,  Crit.  Handbook,  Part  I. 

B.  The  Christian  and  Apostolic  Fathers  who  lived  in  the  first  half  of  the 
second  century  not  only  quote  from  these  books  and  allude  to  them,  but 
testify  that  they  were  written  by  the  apostles  themselves.  We  are  therefore 
compelled  to  refer  their  origin  still  further  back,  namely,  to  the  first 
century,  when  the  apostles  lived. 

(a)  Irenseus  (120-200)  mentions  and  quotes  the  four  gospels  by  name, 
and  among  them  the  gospel  according  to  John — "  Afterwards  John,  the 
disciple  of  the  Lord,  who  also  leaned  upon  his  breast,  he  likewise  pub- 
lished a  gospel,  while  he  dwelt  in  Ephesus  in  Asia."  And  Irenseus  was 
the  disciple  and  friend  of  Polycarp  (80-155),  who  was  himself  a  personal 
acquaintance  of  the  Apostle  John.  The  testimony  of  Irenseus  is  virtually 
the  evidence  of  Polycarp,  the  contemporary  and  friend  of  the  Apostle,  that 
each  of  the  gospels  was  written  by  the  person  whose  name  it  bears. 

To  this  testimony  it  is  objected  that  Irenaeus  says  there  are  four  gospels  because  there 
are  four  quarters  of  the  world  and  four  living  creatures  in  the  cherubim.  But  we  re- 
ply that  Irenaeus  is  here  stating,  not  his  own  reason  for  accepting  four  and  only  four 
gospels,  but  what  he  conceives  to  be  God's  reason  for  ordaining  that  there  should  be 
four.  We  are  not  warranted  in  supposing  that  he  had  accepted  the  four  gospels  on  any 
other  ground  than  that  of  testimony  that  they  were  the  productions  of  apostolic  men. 

(6)  Justin  Martyr  (died  148)  speaks  of  'memoirs  (cnro/uv^fiovev^aTa)  of 
Jesus  Christ,'  and  his  quotations,  though  sometimes  made  from  memory, 
are  evidently  cited  from  our  gospels. 

To  this  testimony  it  is  objected  ( 1 )  That  Justin  Martyr  uses  the  term  '  memoirs '  in- 
stead of  '  gospels.'  "We  reply  that  he  elsewhere  uses  the  term  '  gospels '  and  identifies  the 
4  memoirs '  with  them  (Apol.,  1 : 66).  In  writing  his  apology  to  the  heathen  Emperors,  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  and  Marcus  Antoninus,  he  chooses  the  term  'memoirs'  or  'memorabilia,' 
which  Xenophon  had  used  as  the  title  of  his  account  of  Socrates,  simply  in  order  that 
he  may  avoid  ecclesiastical  expressions  unfamiliar  to  his  readers.  In  a  similar  manner 
he  always  uses  the  term  "Sunday"  instead  of  "Sabbath."  (2)  That  in  quoting  the 
words  spoken  from  heaven  at  the  Saviour's  baptism,  he  makes  them  to  be :  "  My  Son, 
this  day  have  I  begotten  thee."  We  reply  that  this  was  probably  a  slip  of  memory. 


74  THE   SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM   GOD. 

natural  in  a  day  when  the  gospels  existed  only  in  the  cumbrous  form  of  manuscript 
rolls.  Justin  also  refers  to  the  Pentateuch  for  two  facts  which  it  does  not  contain ; 
but  we  should  not  argue  from  this  that  he  did  not  possess  our  present  Pentateuch.  See 
Abbot,  Genuineness  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  49,  note. 

(c)  Papias  (80-164),  whom  Irenseus  calls  a  *  hearer  of  John,'  testifies  that 
Matthew  "wrote  in  the  Hebrew  dialect  the  sacred  oracles  (~a  /loywz),"  and  that 
"Mark,  the  interpreter  of  Peter,  wrote  after  Peter^arepov  JHe-pu!)  [or  under 
Peter's  direction],  an  unsystematic  account  (ov  r&jei) "  of  the  same  events  and 
discourses. 

To  this  testimony  it  is  objected  ( 1 )  That  Papias  could  not  have  had  our  gospel  of 
Matthew,  for  the  reason  that  this  is  Greek.  We  reply,  either  with  Bleek,  that  Papias 
erroneously  supposed  a  Hebrew  translation  of  Matthew,  which  he  possessed,  to  be 
the  original;  or,  with  Weiss,  that  the  original  Matthew  was  in  Hebrew,  while  our 
present  Matthew  is  an  enlarged  version  of  the  same.  ( 2 )  That  Mark  is  the  most  sys- 
tematic of  all  the  evangelists,  presenting  events  as  a  true  annalist,  in  chronological 
•order.  We  reply  that  while,  so  far  as  chronological  order  is  concerned,  Mark  is  sys- 
tematic, so  far  as  logical  order  is  concerned  he  is  the  most  unsystematic  of  the  evan- 
gelists, showing  little  of  the  power  of  historical  grouping  which  is  so  discernible  in 
Matthew.  See  Bleek,  Introduction  to  N.  T.,  1 :  108, 126 ;  Weiss,  Life  of  Jesus,  1 :  25-39. 

(d)  The  Apostolic  Fathers, — Clement  of  Eome  (died  101),  Ignatius  of 
Antioch  (martyred  115),  and  Polycarp  (80-165), — companions  and  friends  of 
the  apostles,  have  left  us  in  their  writings  over  one  hundred  quotations  from 
or  allusions  to  the  New  Testament  writings,  and  among  these  every  book, 
except  four  minor  epistles  (2  Peter,  Jude,  2  and  3  John),  is  represented. 

Although  these  are  single  testimonies,  we  must  remember  that  they  are  the  testimonies 
of  the  chief  men  of  the  churches  of  their  day,  and  that  they  express  the  opinion  of 
the  churches  themselves.  "  Like  banners  of  a  hidden  army,  or  peaks  of  a  distant  moun- 
tain range,  they  represent  and  are  sustained  by  compact,  continuous  bodies  below." 
See  Ante-Nicene  Library  of  T.  and  T.  Clark;  also,  art.:  Apostolic  Fathers,  in  McClin- 
tock  and  Strong's  Encyclopaedia,  1 :  315-317 ;  Boston  Lectures  for  1871,  essay  by  Prof. 
Thayer,  324. 

(e)  In  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  the  omission  of  all  mention  of  the  fulfil- 
ment of  Christ's  prophecies  with  regard  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  is 
evidence  that   these  gospels  were  written  before  the  occurrence  of  that 
event.    In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  universally  attributed  to  Luke,  we  have 
an  allusion  to  '  the  former  treatise, '  or  the  gespel  by  the  same  author,  which 
must,  therefore,  have  been  written  before  the  end  of  Paul's  first  imprison- 
ment at  Eome,  and  probably  with  the  help  and  sanction  of  that  apostle. 

Acts  1 : 1 — "  The  former  treatise  I  made,  0  Theophilus,  concerning  all  that  Jesus  began  both  to  do  and  to  teach."  If 
the  Acts  were  written  two  years  after  Paul's  arrival  at  Rome  (A.  D.63),  "the  former  treatise, 
the  gospel  according  to  Luke,  can  hardly  be  dated  later  than  58 ;  and  since  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  took  place  in  70,  Matthew  and  Mark  must  have  published  their  gospels 
at  least  as  early  as  the  year  68,  when  multitudes  of  men  were  still  living  who  were  fa- 
miliar with  the  events  of  Jesus'  life.  See  Norton,  Genuineness  of  the  Gospels ;  Alford, 
Greek  Testament,  Prolegomena,  30,  31,  36,  45-47. 

C.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  acceptance  of  the  New  Testament  doc- 
uments as  genuine,  on  the  part  of  the  fathers  of  the  churches,  was  for  good 
and  sufficient  reasons,  both  internal  and  external,  and  this  presumption  is 
corroborated  by  the  following  considerations  : 

(a)  There  is  evidence  that  the  early  churches  took  every  care  to  assure 
themselves  of  the  genuineness  of  these  writings  before  they  accepted  them. 

Evidences  of  care  are  the  following :— Paul,  in  2  Thess.  2 :  2,  urged  the  churches  to  use 
care ;  Melito  (169),  Bishop  of  Sardis,  who  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  Revelation  of  John, 


THE   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN    DOCUMENTS.  75 

\vent  as  far  as  Palestine  in  order  to  ascertain  on  the  spot  the  facts  relating-  to  the  Canon 
•of  the  O.  T.,  and  as  a  result  of  his  investigations  excluded  the  Apocrypha;  Serapion, 
Bishop  of  Antioch  (191-213,  Abbot),  says :  "  We  receive  Peter  and  the  other  apostles  as 
Christ,  but  as  skillful  men  we  reject  those  writings  which  are  falsely  ascribed  to  them  "  ; 
Tertullian  (160-230)  gives  an  example  of  the  deposition  of  a  presbyter  in  Asia  Minor  for 
publishing  a  pretended  work  of  Paul.  See  Tertullian,  De  Baptismo,  referred  to  by 
•Godet  on  John,  Introduction;  Lardner,  Works,  2:  304,  306;  Mcllvaine,  Evidences  of 
Christianity,  92. 

(6)  The  style  of  the  New  Testament  writings,  and  their  complete  corres- 
pondence with  all  we  know  of  the  lands  and  times  in  which  they  profess  to 
have  been  written,  afford  convincing  proof  that  they  belong  to  the  apostolic 
-age. 

Notice  the  mingling  of  Latin  and  Greek,  as  in  o-Tre/covAarwp  (Mark  6:  27)  and  KevrvpLuv 
(Mark  15:  39);  of  Greek  and  Aramaean,  as  in  irpa<rial  n-pao-iat  (Mark  6:  40)  and  (SSeAuy/xa  rij9 
^prjuwo-ews  (Mat.  24 : 15) ;  this  could  hardly  have  occurred  after  the  first  century.  Compare 
the  anachronisms  of  style  and  description  in  Thackeray's  "Henry  Esmond."  See 
Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity,  2T-37 ;  Blunt,  Scriptural  Coincidences,  244-354. 

(c)  The  genuineness  of  the  fourth  gospel  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that 
Tatian  (155-170),  the  Assyrian,  a  disciple  of  Justin,  repeatedly  quotes  it 
without  naming  the  author,  and  composed  a  Harmony  of  our  four  gospels 
ivhich  he  named  the  Diatessaron;  while  Basilides  (130)  and  Valentinus  (150), 
the  Gnostics,  both  quote  from  it. 

The  difference  in  style  between  the  Apocalypse  and  the  Gospel  of  John  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  the  Apocalypse  was  written  during  John's  exile  in  Patmos,  under  Nero,  in  67 
or  68,  soon  after  John  had  left  Palestine  and  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  Ephesus.  He 
had  hitherto  spoken  Aramrean,  and  Greek  was  comparatively  unfamiliar  to  him.  The 
Gospel  was  written  thirty  years  after,  probably  about  97,  when  Greek  had  become  to  him 
like  a  mother  tongue.  See  Lightfoot  on  Galatians,  343,  347.  Phrases  and  ideas  which 
indicate  a  common  authorship  of  the  Apocalypse  and  the  Gospel  are  the  following : 
"the  Lamb  of  God,"  "the  Word  of  God,"  "the  True"  as  an  epithet  applied  to  Christ, 
"  the  Jews  "  as  enemies  of  God,  "  manna,"  "  him  whom  they  pierced  "  ;  see  Elliott,  Horte 
Apocalypticje,  1 :  4,  5. 

On  the  genuineness  of  the  fourth  gospel,  see  Bleek,  Introd.  to  N.  T.,  1 :  250 ;  Fisher, 
Essays  on  Supernat.  Origin  of  Christianity,  33,  also  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  320-362, 
and  Foundations  of  Theistic  and  Christian  Belief,  221-226 ;  Sanday,  Authorship  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  and  Gospels  in  the  Second  Century ;  Ezra  Abbot,  Genuineness  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  52,  80-87 ;  Row,  Bampton  Lectures  on  Christian  Evidences,  249-287 :  Brit- 
ish Quarterly,  Oct.,  1872:  216;  Godet,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  5:  no.  25;  Westcott,in  Bib. 
€om.  on  John's  Gospel,  Introd.,  xxviii-xxxii. 

(d)  The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  appears  to  have  been  accepted  during 
the  first  century  after  it  was  written  (so  Clement  of  Rome,  Justin  Martyr, 
and  the  Peshito  Version  witness).    Then  for  two  centuries,  especially  in  the 
Eoman  and   North  African  churches,  and  probably  because  its  internal 
characteristics  were  inconsistent  with  the  tradition  of  a  Pauline  authorship, 
its  genuineness  was  doubted  (so  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Irenseus,  Muratorian 
•Canon).     At  the  end  of  the  fourth  century,  Jerome  examined  the  evidence 
and  decided  in  its  favor ;   Augustine  did  the  same  ;  the  third  Council  of 
Carthage  formally  recognized  it  (397) ;  from  that  time  the  Latin  churches 
united  with  the  East  in  receiving  it,  and  thus  the  doubt  was  finally  and 
forever  removed. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  style  of  which  is  so  unlike  that  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
was  possibly  written  by  Apollos,  who  was  an  Alexandrian  Jew,  "  a  learned  man  "  and  "mighty 
in  the  Scriptures  "  (Acts  18:  24) ;  but  it  may  notwithstanding  have  been  written  at  the  suggestion 
and  under  the  direction  of  Paul,  and  so  be  essentially  Pauline.  On  Hebrews,  see  art.  in 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  and  Lange's  Com.  (ed.  Kendrick),  Introduction. 


76  THE    SCRIPTURES   A   REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

(e)  As  to  2  Peter,  Jude,  and  2  and  3  John,  the  epistles  most  frequently 
held  to  be  spurious,  we  may  say  that,  although  we  have  no  conclusive  ex- 
ternal evidence  earlier  than  A.  D.  160,  and  in  the  case  of  2  Peter  none 
earlier  than  A.  D.  230-250,  we  may  fairly  urge  in  favor  of  their  genuineness 
not  only  their  internal  characteristics  of  literary  style  and  moral  value,  but 
also  the  general  acceptance  of  them  all  since  the  third  century  as  the  actual 
productions  of  the  men  or  class  of  men  whose  names  they  bear. 

Firmilianus  (250),  Bishop  of  Caesarea'  in  Cappadocia,  is  the  first  clear  witness  to 
2  Peter.  Origen  (230)  names  it,  but,  in  naming  it,  admits  that  its  genuineness  is  ques- 
tioned. The  Council  of  Laodicea  (372)  first  received  it  into  the  Canon.  With  this  very 
gradual  recognition  and  acceptance  of  2  Peter,  compare  DeWette's  first  publication 
of  certain  letters  of  Luther  after  the  lapse  of  three  hundred  years,  yet  without  oc- 
casioning dispute  as  to  their  genuineness.  The  epistle  was  probably  sent  from  the 
East  shortly  before  Peter's  martyrdom,  and  persecution  may  have  prevented  its  rapid 
circulation  in  other  countries.  See  Plumptre,  on  Epistles  of  Peter,  Introd.,  73-81 ; 
Alford  on  2  Peter.  4:  Prolegomena,  157;  Westcott,  on  Canon,  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet., 
1 :  370,  373 ;  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theol.,  art. :  Canon. 

(/)  Upon  no  other  hypothesis  than  that  of  their  genuineness  can  the 
general  acceptance  of  these  four  minor  epistles  since  the  third  century,  and 
of  all  the  other  books  of  the  New  Testament  since  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for.  If  they  had  been  mere  collections 
of  floating  legends,  they  could  not  have  secured  wide  circulation  as  sacred 
books  for  which  Christians  must  answer  with  their  blood.  If  they  had  been 
forgeries,  the  churches  at  large  could  neither  have  been  deceived  as  to  their 
previous  non-existence,  nor  have  been  induced  unanimously  to  pretend  that 
they  were  ancient  and  genuine.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  other  accounts  of 
their  origin,  inconsistent  with  their  genuineness,  are  now  current,  we  pro- 
ceed to  examine  more  at  length  the  most  important  of  these  opposing  views. 
See  Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity,  23-27. 

D.  Rationalistic  Theories  as  to  the  origin  of  the  gospels.  These  are- 
attempts  to  eliminate  the  miraculous  element  from  the  New  Testament 
records,  and  to  reconstruct  the  sacred  history  upon  principles  of  naturalism. 

Against  them  we  urge  the  general  objection  that  they  are  unscientific  in 
their  principle  and  method.  To  set  out  in  an  examination  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament documents  with  the  assumption  that  all  history  is  a  mere  natural 
development,  and  that  miracles  are  therefore  impossible,  is  to  make  history 
a  matter,  not  of  testimony,  but  of  a  priori  speculation.  It  indeed  renders- 
any  history  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  impossible,  since  the  witnesses  whose 
testimony  with  regard  to  miracles  is  discredited  can  no  longer  be  considered 
worthy  of  credence  in  their  accounts  of  Christ's  life  or  doctrine.  Only 
three  of  these  theories  require  special  notice  : 

1st.     The  Myth-theory  of  Strauss. 

According  to  this  view,  the  gospels  are  crystallizations  into  story  of  Mes- 
sianic ideas  which  had  for  several  generations  filled  the  minds  of  imaginative 
men  in  Palestine.  The  myth  is  a  narrative  in  which  such  ideas  are  uncon- 
sciously clothed,  and  from  which  the  element  of  intentional  and  deliberate 
deception  is  absent. 

This  early  view  of  Strauss,  which  has  become  identified  with  his  name,  was  exchanged 
in  late  years  for  a  more  advanced  view  which  extended  the  meaning  of  the  word 
'  myths '  so  as  to  include  all  narratives  that  spring  out  of  a  theological  idea,  and  it  ad- 


THE   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN    DOCUMENTS.  77 

rnitted  the  existence  of '  pious  frauds '  in  the  gospels.  Baur,  he  says,  first  convinced 
him  that  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  had  "  not  unf requently  composed  mere  fa- 
bles, knowing  them  to  be  mere  fictions."  The  animating  spirit  of  both  the  old  view  and 
the  new  is  the  same.  Strauss  says :  "  We  know  with  certainty  what  Jesus  was  not,  and 
what  he  has  not  done,  namely,  nothing  superhuman  and  supernatural."  "No  gospel 
can  claim  that  degree  of  historic  credibility  that  would  be  required  in  order  to  make  us 
debase  our  reason  to  the  point  of  believing  miracles."  See  Strauss,  Life  of  Jesus ;  New 
Life  of  Jesus,  1 :  preface,  xii ;  also  Carpenter,  Mental  Philosophy,  362 ;  Grote,  Plato, 
1:249. 

We  object  to  this  view  that 

(a)  The  time  between  the  death  of  Christ  and  the  publication  of  the  gos- 
pels was  far  too  short  for  the  growth  and  consolidation  of  such  mythical 
histories.  Myths,  on  the  contrary,  are  the  slow  growth  of  centuries. 

Instance  the  Indian,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Scandinavian  myths.    See  Cox,  Miracles,  50. 

(6)  The  first  century  was  not  a  century  when  such  formation  of  myths 
was  possible.  Instead  of  being  a  credulous  and  imaginative  age,  it  was  an 
age  of  historical  inquiry  and  of  Sadduceeism  in  matters  of  religion. 

Arnold  of  Rugby :  "  The  idea  of  men  writing  mythic  histories  between  the  times  of 
Livy  and  of  Tacitus,  and  of  St.  Paul  mistaking  such  for  realities!  "  Pilate's  skeptical 
inquiry,  "What  is  truth?"  better  represented  the  age.  "The  mythical  age  is  past 
when  an  idea  is  presented  abstractly— apart  from  narrative."  The  Jewish  sect  of  the 
Sadducees  shows  that  the  rationalistic  spirit  was  not  confined  to  Greeks  or  Romans. 

(c)  The  gospels  cannot  be  a  mythical  outgrowth  of  Jewish  ideas  and  ex- 
pectations, because,  in  their  main  features,  they  run  directly  counter  to 
these  ideas  and  expectations.     The  sullen  and  exclusive  nationalism  of  the 
Jews  could  not  have  given  rise  to  a  gospel  for  all  nations,  nor  could  their 
expectations  of  a  temporal  monarch  have  led  to  the  story  of  a  suffering 
Messiah. 

See  Rogers,  Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible,  61. 

(d)  The  belief  and  propagation  of  such  myths  are  inconsistent  with  what 
we  know  of  the  sober  characters  and  self-sacrificing  lives  of  the  apostles. 

Witness  Thomas's  doubting,  and  Paul's  shipwrecks  and  scourgings.  C/.  2  Pet.  1 : 16— ov 
•yap  trecro^HOTxe'ixHs  ju.u0ois  e^a(coAoui>rj(rai/Tes="  we  have  not  been  on  the  false  track  of  myths 
artificially  elaborated."  See  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  49-88. 

(e)  The  mythical  theory  cannot  account  for  the  acceptance  of  the  gospels 
among  the  Gentiles,  who  had  none  of  these  Jewish  ideas  and  expectations. 

(/)  It  cannot  explain  Christianity  itself,  with  its  belief  in  Christ's  cruci- 
fixion and  resurrection,  and  the  ordinances  which  commemorate  these  facts. 

Like  the  Jewish  Passover  and  our  own  Independence  Day,  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  cannot  be  accounted  for,  except  as  monuments  and  remembrancers  of  historical 
facts  at  the  beginnings  of  the  Christian  church.  See  Muir,  on  the  Lord's  supper,  an 
abiding  Witness  to  the  Death  of  Christ,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  6  :  no.  36. 

On  Strauss  and  his  theory,  see  Hackett,  in  Christian  Rev.,  1845  :  48 ;  Weiss,  Life  of 
Jesus,  155-163 ;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and  Christ.  Belief,  379-425 :  MacLear,  in  Strivings 
for  the  Faith,  1-36;  H.  B.  Smith,  in  Faith  and  Philosophy,  442-468 ;  Bayne,  Review  of 
Strauss's  New  Life,  in  Theol.  Eclectic,  4  :  74;  Row,  in  Lectures  on  Modern  Scepticism, 
305-360 ;  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Oct.,  1871 :  art.  by  Prof.  W.  A.  Stevens ;  Burgess,  Antiquity 
and  Unity  of  Man,  263,  264;  Curtis  on  Inspiration,  62-67 ;  Alexander,  Christ  and  Christi- 
anity, 92-126 ;  A.  P.  Peabody,  in  Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  2 :  954-958. 

2nd.     The  Tendency-theory  of  Baur. 

This  maintains  that  the  gospels  originated  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  and  were  written  under  assumed  names  as  a  means  of  reconciling 


78  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

opposing  Jewish  and  Gentile  tendencies  in  the  church.  "  These  great 
national  tendencies  find  their  satisfaction,  not  in  events  corresponding  to- 
them,  but  in  the  elaboration  of  conscious  fictions." 

Baur  dates  the  fourth  gospel  at  160-170  A.  D. ;  the  synoptic  gospels  after  130  A.  D. 
He  never  inquires  who  Christ  was.  He  turns  his  attention  from  the  facts  to  the 
documents.  If  the  documents  be  proved  unhistorical,  there  is  no  need  of  examining 
the  facts,  for  there  are  no  facts  to  examine.  He  indicates  the  presupposition  of  his  in- 
vestigations, when  he  says :  "  The  principal  argument  for  the  later  origin  of  the  gospels 
must  forever  remain  this,  that  separately,  and  still  more  when  taken  together,  they 
give  an  account  of  the  life  of  Jesus  which  involves  impossibilities  "— i.  e.  miracles.  He 
would  therefore  remove  their  authorship  far  enough  from  Jesus'  time  to  permit 
regarding  the  miracles  as  inventions.  See  Baur,  Die  Kanonischen  Evangelien ;  Canoni- 
cal Gospels  (Engl.  transl.),  530.  Supernatural  Religion,  1 :  212-444  and  vol.  2 ;  Pfleiderer, 
Hibbert  Lectures  for  1885.  For  accounts  of  Baur's  position,  see  Herzog,  Encyclopaedic, 
art. :  Baur ;  Clarke's  transl.  of  Base's  Life  of  Jesus,  34-36 ;  Farrar,  Critical  History  of 
Free  Thought,  277,  278. 

We  object  to  this  view  that 

(a)  The  destructive  criticism  to  which  it  subjects  the  gospels,  if  applied 
to  secular  documents,  would  deprive  us  of  any  certain  knowledge  of  the 
past,  and  render  all  history  impossible. 

The  assumption  of  artifice  is  itself  unfavorable  to  a  candid  examination  of  the  docu- 
ments. A  perverse  acuteness  can  descry  evidences  of  a  hidden  animus  in  the  most  sim- 
ple and  ingenuous  literary  productions.  Instance  the  philosophical  interpretation  of 
"  Jack  and  Jill." 

(b)  The  antagonistic  doctrinal  tendencies  which  it  professes  to  find  in  the 
several  gospels  are  more  satisfactorily  explained  as  varied  but  consistent 
aspects  of  the  one  system  of  truth  held  by  all  the  apostles. 

Baur  exaggerates  the  doctrinal  and  official  differences  between  the  leading  apostles 
Peter  was  not  simply  a  Judaizing  Christian,  but  was  the  first  preacher  to  the  Gentiles, 
and  his  doctrine  appears  to  have  been  subsequently  influenced  to  a  considerable  extent 
by  Paul's  (see  Plumptre  on  1  Pet.,  68-70).  Paul  was  not  an  exclusively  Hellenizing  Chris- 
tian, but  invariably  addressed  the  gospel  to  the  Jews  before  he  turned  to  the  Gentiles. 
The  evangelists  give  pictures  of  Jesus  from  different  points  of  view.  As  the  Parisian 
sculptor  constructs  his  bust  with  the  aid  of  a  dozen  photographs  of  his  subject,  all  taken 
from  different  points  of  view,  so  from  the  four  portraits  furnished  us  by  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke,  and  John  we  are  to  construct  the  solid  and  symmetrical  life  of  Christ.  The 
deeper  reality  which  makes  reconciliation  of  these  different  views  possible  is  the  actual 
historical  Christ.  See  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  61.  Aids  to  the  Study 
of  German  Theology,  148-155. 

(c)  It  is  incredible  that  productions  of  such  literary  power  and  lofty 
religious  teaching  as  the  gospels  should  have  sprung  up  in  the  middle 
of  the  second  century,  or  that,  so  springing  up,  they  should  have  been  pub- 
lished under  assumed  names  and  for  covert  ends. 

The  general  character  of  the  literature  of  the  second  century  is  illustrated  by  Igna- 
tius' fanatical  desire  for  martyrdom,  the  value  ascribed  by  Hermas  to  ascetic  rigor, 
the  insipid  allegories  of  Barnabas,  Clement  of  Rome's  belief  in  the  phoenix,  and  the 
absurdities  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels.  On  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  see  Cowper,  in 
Strivings  for  the  Faith,  73-108. 

(d)  The  theory  requires  us  to  believe  in  a  moral  anomaly,  namely,  that 
a  faithful  desciple  of  Christ  in  the  second  century  could  be  guilty  of  fabri- 
cating a  life  of  his  master,  and  of  claiming  authority  for  it  on  the  ground 
that  the  author  had  been  a  companion  of  Christ  or  his  apostles. 

"A  genial  set  of  Jesuitical  religionists  "—with  mind  and  heart  enough  to  write  the 
Gospel  according  to  John,  and  who  at  the  same  time  have  cold-blooded  sagacity  enough 


THE   GENUINENESS   OF   THE   CHRISTIAN    DOCUMENTS.  791 

to  keep  out  of  their  writings  every  trace  of  the  developments  of  church  authority  be- 
longing to  the  second  century.  The  newly  discovered  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles," if  dating  from  the  early  part  of  that  century,  shows  that  such  a  combination  is 
impossible. 

(e)  This  theory  cannot  account  for  the  universal  acceptance  of  the  gos- 
pels at  the  end  of  the  second  century,  among  widely  separated  communities 
where  reverence  for  writings  of  the  apostles  was  a  mark  of  orthodoxy,  and 
where  the  Gnostic  heresies  would  have  made  new  documents  instantly  liable 
to  suspicion  and  searching  examination. 

Abbot,  Genuineness  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  52, 80,  88, 89.  The  Johannine  doctrine  of  the 
Logos,  if  first  propounded  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  would  have  ensured  the 
instant  rejection  of  that  gospel  by  the  Gnostics,  who  ascribed  creation,  not  to  the  Logos, 
but  to  successive  "^Eons." 

(/)  The  acknowledgment  by  Baur  that  the  epistles  to  the  Romans,  Gala- 
tians  and  Corinthians  were  written  by  Paul  in  the  first  century  is  fatal  to 
his  theory,  since  these  epistles  testify  not  only  to  miracles  at  the  period  at 
which  they  were  written,  but  to  the  main  events  of  Jesus'  life,  and  to  the 
miracle  of  his  resurrection,  as  facts  already  long  acknowledged  in  the 
Christian  church. 

On  the  evidential  value  of  the  epistles  here  mentioned,  see  Lorimer,  in  Strivings  for 
the  Faith,  109-144 ;  Howson,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  4 :  no.  24 ;  Row,  Bampton  Lect.  for 
1877 :  289-356.  On  Baur  and  his  theory  in  general,  see  Weiss,  Life  of  Jesus,  1 : 175  sq. ; 
Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and  Christ.  Belief,  504-549;  Hutton,  Essays,  1 : 176-215;  Theol. 
Eclectic,  5  : 1-42 ;  Auberlen,  Div.  Revelation ;  Bib.  Sac.,  19  :  75 ;  Answers  to  Supernatural 
Religion,  in  Westcott,  Hist.  N.  T.  Canon,  4th  ed.,  Introd. ;  Lightfoot,  in  Contemporary 
Review,  Dec.,  1874,  and  Jan.,  1875. 

3rd.     The  Romance-theory  of  Renan. 

This  theory  admits  a  basis  of  truth  in  the  gospels  and  holds  that  they 
were  all  written  in  the  first  century.  "  According  to  "  Matthew,  Mark,  etc., 
however,  means  only  that  Matthew,  Mark,  etc.,  wrote  these  gospels  in  sub- 
stance. Renan  claims  that  the  facts  of  Jesus'  life  were  so  sublimated  by 
enthusiasm,  and  so  overlaid  with  pious  fraud,  that  the  gospels  in  their 
present  form  cannot  be  accepted  as  genuine — in  short,  the  gospels  are  to  be 
regarded  as  historical  romances  which  have  only  a  foundation  in  fact. 

The  animus  of  this  theory  is  plainly  shown  in  Renan's  Life  of  Jesus,  preface  to  13th 
ed.— "  If  miracles  and  the  inspiration  of  certain  books  are  realities,  my  method  is  detest- 
able. If  miracles  and  the  inspiration  of  books  are  beliefs  without  reality,  my  method 
is  a  good  one.  But  the  question  of  the  supernatural  is  decided  for  us  with  perfect  cer- 
tainty by  the  single  consideration  that  there  is  no  room  for  believing  in  a  thing  of 
which  the  world  offers  no  experimental  trace."  "  On  the  whole,"  says  Renan,  "  I  admit 
as  authentic  the  four  canonical  gospels.  All,  in  my  opinion,  date  from  the  first  century, 
and  the  authors  are,  generally  speaking,  those  to  whom  they  are  attributed."  He  denies 
to  Jesus  "  sincerity  with  himself  ";  attributes  to  him  "  innocent  artifice  "  and  the  tolera- 
tion of  pious  fraud,  as  for  example  in  the  case  of  the  stories  of  Lazarus  and  of  his  own 
resurrection.  Of  the  highly  wrought  imagination  of  Mary  Magdalene,  he  says :  "  O 
divine  power  of  love !  sacred  moments,  in  which  the  passion  of  one  whose  senses  were 
deceived  gives  us  a  resuscitated  God ! "  See  Renan,  Life  of  Jesus,  21. 

To  this  view  we  object  that 

(a)  It  involves  an  arbitrary  and  partial  treatment  of  the  Christian  docu- 
ments. The  claim  that  one  writer  not  only  borrowed  from  others,  but 
interpolated  ad  libitum,  is  contradicted  by  the  essential  agreement  of  the 
manuscripts  as  quoted  by  the  Fathers,  and  as  now  extant. 


80  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

(6)  It  attributes  to  Christ  and  to  the  apostles  an  alternate  fervor  of 
romantic  enthusiasm  and  a  false  pretense  of  miraculous  power  which  are 
utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  manifest  sobriety  and  holiness  of  their  lives 
and  teachings.  If  Jesus  did  not  work  miracles,  he  was  an  impostor. 

(c)  It  fails  to  account  for  the  power  and  progress  of  the  gospel,  as  a 
system  directly  opposed  to  men's  natural  tastes  and  prepossessions — a 
system  which  substitutes  truth  for  romance  and  law  for  impulse. 

For  reviews  of  Renan,  see  Hutton,  Essays,  262-281 ;  H.  B.  Smith,  Faith  and  Philosophy, 
401-441;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt,  425-447;  Pressense,  in  Theol.  Eclec.,  1:199;  Uhlhorn, 
Mod.  Representations  of  the  Life  of  Jesus,  1-33;  Bib.  Sac.,  22  :  207 ;  23  :  353,  529 ;  Present 
Day  Tracts,  3 :  no.  16,  and  4 :  no.  21. 

2.     Genuineness  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 
We  show  this  : 

(a)  From  the  witness  of  the  New  Testament,  in  which  all  but  six  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  are  either  quoted  or  alluded  to  as  genuine. 

"  The  N.  T.  shows  coincidences  of  language  with  the  O.  T.  Apocryphal  books,  but  it 
does  not  contain  one  authoritative  or  direct  quotation  from  them ;  while,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Judges,  Ecclesiastes,  Canticles,  Esther,  Ezra,  and  Neherniah,  every  other  book 
in  the  Hebrew  canon  is  used  either  for  illustration  or  proof."  The  only  possible  excep- 
tion to  this  statement  is  found  in  Jade  14,  which  some  hold  to  be  a  quotation  from  the 
Apocryphal  book  of  Enoch  (160  B.  C.  ?).  But  Jude  more  probably  quoted  the  same 
primitive  tradition  of  which  the  author  of  the  Apocryphal  book  made  use — Volkmar, 
indeed,  puts  the  date  of  the  Book  of  Enoch  at  132  A.  D.  See  Schodde,  Book  of  Enoch, 
with  Introd.  by  Ezra  Abbot ;  Plumptre  on  Jude,  210,  216,  217. 

(6)  From  the  testimony  of  Jewish  authorities,  ancient  and  modern,  who 
declare  the  same  books  to  be  sacred,  and  only  the  same  books,  that  are  now 
comprised  in  our  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

Josephus  enumerates  twenty-two  of  these  books  "  which  are  justly  believed  to  be  di- 
vine." Our  present  Hebrew  Bible  makes  twenty-four,  by  separating  Ruth  from  Judges, 
and  Lamentations  from  Jeremiah.  See  Josephus,  Against  Apion,  1:8;  Smith's  Bible  Dic- 
tionary, article  on  the  Canon,  1 :  359,  360.  Philo  never  quotes  an  Apocryphal  book. 

(c)  From  the  testimony  of  the  Septuagint  translation,  dating  from  the 
first  half  of  the  third  century,  or  from  280  to  180  B.  C. 

MSS.  of  the  Septuagint  contain,  indeed,  the  O.  T.  Apocrypha,  but  the  writers  of  the 
latter  do  not  recognize  their  own  work  as  on  a  level  with  the  Canonical  Scriptures, 
which  they  regard  as  distinct  from  all  other  books  (Ecclus.,  prologue,  and  48  :  24 ;  also  24  :  23-27  ; 
1  Mac.  12  :  9 ;  2  Mac.  6 :  23 ;  1  Esd.  1 :  28 ;  6:1;  Baruch  2 :  21).  So  both  ancient  and  modern  Jews.  See 
Bissell,  in  Lange's  Commentary  on  the  Apocrypha,  Introduction,  44. 

(d)  From  the  testimony  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  dating  from  the 
time  of  the  exile,  or  600  B.  C. 

Samaritan  colonists  would  not  have  accepted  their  Pentateuch  from  the  Jews  after  the 
exile,  on  account  of  the  enmity  between  them  ;  they  would  not  have  accepted  it  during 
the  exile,  if  they  had  not  known  it  to  be  the  immemorial  and  sacred  book  of  the  Jews. 
They  received  nothing  but  the  Pentateuch,  because  the  other  Jewish  literature  recog- 
nized the  claims  of  Jerusalem,  while  the  Pentateuch  ante-dated  these  claims.  See 
Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  art. :  Samaritan  Pentateuch ;  Stanley  Leathes,  Structure  of  the 
O.  T.,  1-41. 

(e)  From  indications  that  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  collected 
by  competent  authority  so  early  as  the  time  of  Ezra,  and  were  thenceforth 
preserved  with  the  utmost  care. 

See  Bib.  Sac.,  1863 :  381,  660,  799 ;   Smith's  Bible  Diet.,  art. :  Pentateuch ;  Theologi- 


THE    GENUINENESS    OF   THE    CHRISTIAN    DOCUMENTS.  81 

cal  Eclectic,  6  :  215 ;  Bissell,  Hist.  Origin  of  the  Bible,  398-403.    On  the  "  Men  of  the  Great 
Synagogue,"  see  Wright,  Ecclesiastes,  5-12,  475-487. 

(/)  From  the  impossibility,  on  any  hypothesis  of  forgery  or  of  gradual 
accretion,  of  accounting  for  the  internal  characteristics  of  works  which 
combine  such  manifest  antiquity  with  a  moral  and  religious  teaching  so 
consistent  and  sublime. 

As  the  controversy  with  regard  to  the  genuineness  of  the  O.  T.  books  has  turned  of 
late  upon  the  claims  of  the  Pentateuch  to  be  regarded  as  the  production  of  Moses,  we 
subjoin  a  note  upon 

The  Authorship  of  the  Pentateuch.  Eecent  critics,  especially  Kuenen  and  Robertson 
Smith,  have  maintained  that  the  Pentateuch  is  Mosaic  only  in  the  sense  of  being  a  gradu- 
ally growing  body  of  traditional  law,  which  was  codified  as  late  as  the  time  of  Ezekiel, 
and,  as  the  development  of  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  the  great  law-giver,  was  called 
by  a  legal  fiction  after  the  name  of  Moses  and  was  attributed  to  him.  The  actual  order 
of  composition  is  therefore :  ( 1 )  Decalogue ;  ( 2 )  Deuteronomy ;  ( 3 )  Leviticus. 

Among  the  reasons  assigned  for  this  view  are  the  facts  (a)  that  Deuteronomy  ends 
with  an  account  of  Moses'  death,  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  written  by  Moses ; 
(b)  that  in  Leviticus  Levites  are  mere  servants  to  the  priests,  while  in  Deuteronomy 
the  priests  are  officiating  Levites,  or,  in  other  words,  all  the  Levites  are  priests ;  (c)  that 
the  book  of  Judges,  with  its  record  of  sacrifices  offered  in  many  places,  gives  no  evidence 
that  either  Samuel  or  the  nation  of  Israel  had  any  knowledge  of  a  law  confining  worship 
to  a  local  sanctuary.  See  Kuenen,  Prophets  and  Prophecy  in  Israel ;  Wellhausen,  Ge- 
schichte  Israels,  Band  1 ;  and  art. :  Israel,  in  Encyc.  Brit.,  13 :  398,  399,  415 ;  W.  Robertson 
Smith,  O.  T.  in  Jewish  Church,  306,  386,  and  Prophets  of  Israel. 

We  may  grant,  in  reply,  ( 1 )  that  Moses  may  have  written,  not  autographically,  but 
through  a  scribe  (perhaps  Joshua),  and  that  this  scribe  may  have  completed  the  history 
in  Deuteronomy  with  the  account  of  Moses'  death  ;  (2)  that  Ezra  or  subsequent  proph- 
ets may  have  subjected  the  whole  Pentateuch  to  recension,  and  may  have  added  ex- 
planatory notes;  (3)  that  documents  of  previous  ages  may  have  been  incorporated, 
in  course  of  its  composition  by  Moses,  or  subsequently  by  his  successors.  See  Bible 
Commentary,  1 : 13. 

But,  as  positive  objections  to  the  theory  of  later  authorship,  we  urge  the  following : 

1.  Universal  Jewish  tradition  attributes  the  Pentateuch  to  Moses.    Only  indubitable 
evidence  to  the  contrary  can  outweigh  the  presumption  that  this  tradition  is  correct. 

2.  This  is  the  express  testimony  of  Christ  (  John 5  :  46,  47— "Moses,"  "his  writings,"  "he  wrote  cf 
me ")  and  of  his  apostles  (Peter  in  Acts  3  :  22—"  Moses  said,"  and  Paul  in  Rom.  10  :  5—"  Moses  writeth"). 

3.  The  dignity  and  majesty  of  Deuteronomy  befit  Mosaic  authorship,  and  its  horta- 
tory design  explains  any  differences  of  style  between  it  and  the  earlier  books. 

4.  The  apparent  lack  of  distinction  between  the  different  classes  of  Levites  in  Deute- 
ronomy is  explained  by  the  fact  that,  while  Leviticus  was  written  with  exact  detail,  for 
the  priests,  Deuteronomy  is  the  record  of  a  brief  general  and  oral  summary  of  the  law, 
addressed  to  the  people  as  a  whole,  and  therefore  naturally  mentions  the  clergy  as  a 
whole.    In  Deut.  18  :  1-8,  however,  the  distinction  is  certainly  made.    There  "  the  priests,  the 
Levites  "=  the  Levitical  priests. 

5.  The  silence  of  the  Book  of  Judges  as  to  the  Mosaic  ritual  is  explained  by  the  design 
of  the  book  to  describe  only  general  history,  and  by  the  probability  that  at  the  taber- 
nacle a  ritual  was  observed  of  which  the  people  in  general  were  ignorant.    Sacrifices  in 
other  places  only  accompanied  special  divine  manifestations  which  made  the  recipient 
temporarily  a  priest;  and  even  if  it  were  proved  that  the  law  with  regard  to  a  central 
sanctuary  was  not  observed,  it  would  not  show  that  the  law  did  not  exist,  any  more  than 
violation  of  the  second  commandment  by  Solomon  proves  his  ignorance  of  the  deca- 
logue, or  the  mediaeval  neglect  of  the  N.  T.  by  the  Roman  church  proves  that  the  N.  T. 
did  not  then  exist.    We  cannot  argue  that  "where  there  was  transgression,  there  was 
no  law"  (Watts). 

6.  The  theory  is  chargeable  with  an  over-rigid  interpretation  of  the  Levitical  system. 
Robertson  Smith  calls  that  system  "  a  complete  theory  of  the  religious  life."    He  does 
not  admit  that  it  allows  any  worship  but  that  at  Jerusalem.    This  is  inconsistent  with 
the  history  of  Israel,  both  before  and  after  the  exile.    Solomon  recognizes  the  existence 
of  prayer  in  other  places  than  the  sanctuary,  when  he  speaks  of  praying  toward  God's  house 
(1  K.  8  :  38,  48 ;  cf.  Ps.  138  :  2—"  I  will  worship  toward  thy  holy  temple  "). 

6 


82  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION   FROM    GOD. 

7.  The  time  of  the  exile,  when  there  were  no  sacrifice  and  no  sanctuary,  was  according- 
to  this  theory  the  time  when  the  leading-  minds  of  the  nation  were  constructing1  a  system 
of  costly  ceremonial.    This  contradicts  the  general  principle  that  literary  activity  is 
coincident  with  periods  of  national  prosperity,  rather  than  of  national  depression. 

8.  In  a  historical  and  legal  document,  such  as  the  Pentateuch  professes  to  be,  the  put- 
ting of  later  laws  and  regulations  into  the  mouth  of  Moses,  with  the  declaration  that 
Jehovah  spoke  by  him,  is  nothiner  less  than  forgery  and  profanity,  to  which  the  expanded 
poetical  version  of  Job's  speeches  furnishes  no  proper  parallel. 

9.  The  hypothesis  of  a  veritable  Mosaic  authorship  is  far  the  simpler  and  more  natural. 
As  poets  like  Homer  and  Shakespeare  do  not  rise  in  successive  generations,  and  the  theory 
of  one  Homer  and  one  Shakespeare  is  far  more  probable  than  that  of  many  Homers  and 
many  Shakespeares,  so  the  theory  of  one  Moses  is  preferable  to  that  of  many  law-givers, 
and  many  writers  of  law,  among  the  Jews.    As  the  theory  of  Baur  with  regard  to  the 
later  and  piecemeal  authorship  of  the  gospels  had  only  temporary  currency  and  is  now 
laid  to  rest  forever,  so  we  may  expect  to  see  the  speedy  collapse  of  the  destructive  criti- 
cism with  respect  to  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch. 

See  Presb.  Rev.,  art.  by  Green,  Jan.,  1882;  by  H.  P.  Smith,  Apr.,  1882 ;  by  Patton,  1883 : 
341-410;  Bib.  Sac.,  Apr.,  1882:  291-344;  British  Quarterly,  July,  1881:  123;  Green,  Moses 
and  the  Prophets,  and  The  Hebrew  Feasts  ;  Stebbins,  A  Study  in  the  Pentateuch ;  Watts, 
The  Newer  Criticism ;  Bissell,  Historic  Origin  of  the  Bible,  277-342,  and  The  Pentateuch, 
its  Authorship  and  Structure;  Murray,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Psalms,  58;  British 
Quarterly,  Jan.,  1884:  138-143;  Bartlett,  Sources  of  History  in  the  Pentateuch,  180-216 ; 
Payne-Smith,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  3:  no.  15;  Edersheim,  Warburton  Lectures  on 
Prophecy  and  History. 

II.     CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  WRITERS  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

We  shall  attempt  to  prove  this  only  of  the  writers  of  the  gospels;  for  if 
they  are  credible  witnesses,  the  credibility  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  which 
they  bore  testimony,  follows  as  a  matter  of  course. 

1.  They  are  able  or  competent  witnesses — that  is,  they  possessed  actual 
knowledge  with  regard  to  the  facts  they  professed  to  relate,     (a)  They  had 
opportunities  of  observation  and  inquiry.     (6)  They  were  men  of  sobriety 
and  discernment,  and  could  not  have  been  themselves  deceived,     (c)  Their 
circumstances  were  such  as  to  impress  deeply  upon  their  minds  the  events 
of  which  they  were  witnesses. 

2.  They  are  honest  witnesses.     This  is  evident  when  we  consider  that : 
(a)  Their  testimony  imperilled  all  their  worldly  interests.     (6)  The  moral 
elevation  of  their  writings,  and  their  manifest  reverence  for  truth  and  con- 
stant inculcation  of  it,  show  that  they  were  not  wilful  deceivers,  but  good 
men.     (c)     There  are  minor  indications  of  the  honesty  of  these  writers  in 
the  circumstantiality  of  their  story,  in  the  absence  of  any  expectation  that 
their  narratives  would  be  questioned,  in  their  freedom  from  all  disposition 
to  screen  themselves  or  the  apostles  from  censure. 

3.  The  writings  of  the  evangelists  mutually  support  each  other.     We 
argue  their  credibility  upon  the  ground  of  their  number  and  of  the  consist- 
ency of  their  testimony.     While  there  is  enough  of  discrepancy  to  show 
that   there   has  been   no   collusion   between   them,    there  is  concurrence 
enough  to  make  the  falsehood  of  them  all  infinitely  improbable.     Four 
points  under  this  head  deserve  mention:    (a)  The  evangelists  are  independ- 
ent witnesses.     This  is  sufficiently  shown  by  the  futility  of  the  attempts  to 
prove  that  any  one  of  them  has  abridged  or  transcribed  another.     (6)  The 
discrepancies  between  them  are  none  of  them  irreconcilable  with  the  truth 
of  the  recorded  facts,  but  only  present  those  facts  in  new  lights  or  with 
additional  detail,     (c)  That  these  witnesses  were  friends  of  Christ  does  not 


CREDIBILITY    OF   THE    WRITERS    OF   THE    SCRIPTURES.  83 

lessen  the  value  of  their  united  testimony,  since  they  followed  Christ  only 
because  they  were  convinced  that  these  facts  were  true,  (d)  While  one 
witness  to  the  facts  of  Christianity  might  establish  its  truth,  the  combined 
evidence  of  four  witnesses  gives  us  a  warrant  for  faith  in  the  facts  of  the 
gospel  such  as  we  possess  for  no  other  facts  in  ancient  history  whatsoever. 
The  same  rule  which  would  refuse  belief  in  the  events  recorded  in  the  gos- 
pels "  would  throw  doubt  on  any  event  in  history." 

4.  The  conformity  of  the  gospel  testimony  with  experience.     We  have 
already  shown  that,  granting  the  fact  of  sin  and  the  need  of  an  attested 
revelation  from  God,  miracles  can  furnish  no  presumption  against  the  testi- 
mony of  those  who  record  such  a  revelation,  but,  as  essentially  belonging 
to  such  a  revelation,  miracles  may  be  proved  by  the  same  kind  and  degree 
of  evidence  as  is  required  in  proof  of  any  other  extraordinary  facts.     We 
may  assert,  then,  that  in  the  New  Testament  histories  there  is  no  record  of 
facts  contrary  to  experience,  but  only  a  record  of  facts  not  witnessed  in  ordi-, 
nary  experience  —  of  facts,  therefore,  in  which  we  may  believe,  if  the  evi- 
dence in  other  respects  is  sufficient. 

5.  Coincidence  of  this  testimony  with  collateral  facts  and  circum- 
stances.    Under  this  head  we  may  refer  to    (a)  the  numberless  correspond- 
ences between  the  narratives  of  the  evangelists  and  contemporary  history; 
(6)  the  failure  of  every  attempt  thus  far  to  show  that  the  sacred  history  is 
contradicted  by  any  single  fact  derived  from  other  trustworthy  sources ; 

c   the  infinite  improbability  that  this  minute  and  complete  harmony  should 
ever  have  been  secured  in  fictitious  narratives. 

6.  Conclusion  from  the  argument  for  the  credibility  of  the  writers  of 
the  gospels.     These  writers  having  been  proved  to  be  credible  witnesses, 
their  narratives,  including  the  accounts  of  the  miracles  and  prophecies  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  must  be  accepted  as  true.     But  God  would  not 
work  miracles  or  reveal  the  future  to  attest  the  claims  of  false  teachers. 
Christ  and  his  apostles  must,  therefore,  have  been  what  they  claimed  to  be, 
teachers  sent  from  God,  and  their  doctrine  must  be  what  they  claimed  it  to 
be,  a  revelation  from  God  to  men. 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Ebrard,  Wissensch.  Kritik  der  Evang.  Geschichte  ;  Greenleaf, 
Testimony  of  the  Evangelists,  30, 31 ;  Starkie  on  Evidence,  734 ;  Whately,  Historic  Doubts 
as  to  Napoleon  Bonaparte ;  Haley,  Examination  of  Alleged  Discrepancies ;  Birks,  in 
Strivings  for  the  Faith,  37-72—"  Discrepancies  are  like  the  slight  diversities  of  the  differ- 
ent pictures  of  the  stereoscope."  Renan  calls  the  land  of  Palestine  a  fifth  gospel.  Weiss 
compares  the  apocryphal  gospels,  where  there  is  no  historical  setting  and  all  is  in  the  air, 
with  the  Evangelists,  where  time  and  place  are  always  stated. 

No  modern  apologist  has  stated  the  argument  for  the  credibility  of  the  New  Testament 
writers  with  greater  clearness  and  force  than  Paley,— Evidences,  chapters  8  and  10—"  No 
historical  fact  is  more  certain  than  that  the  original  propagators  of  the  gospel  volun- 
tarily subjected  themselves  to  lives  of  fatigue,  danger,  and  suffering,  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  undertaking.  The  nature  of  the  undertaking,  the  character  of  the  persons  em- 
ployed in  it,  the  opposition  of  their  tenets  to  the  fixed  expectations  of  the  country  in 
which  they  at  first  advanced  them,  their  undissembled  condemnation  of  the  religion  of 
all  other  countries,  their  total  want  of  power,  authority,  or  force,  render  it  in  the  high- 
est degree  probable  that  this  must  have  been  the  case. 

"  The  probability  is  increased  by  what  we  know  of  the  fate  of  the  Founder  of  the 
institution,  who  was  put  to  death  for  his  attempt,  and  by  what  we  also  know  of  the  crue) 
treatment  of  the  converts  to  the  institution  within  thirty  years  after  its  commencement 
r-both  which  points  are  attested  by  heathen  writers,  and,  being  once  admitted,  leave  it 
very  incredible  that  the  primitive  emissaries  of  the  religion  who  exercised  their  minis- 


84  THE   SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

try  first  amongst  the  people  who  had  destroyed  their  Master,  and  afterward  amongst 
those  who  persecuted  their  converts,  should  themselves  escape  with  impunity  or  pursue 
their  purpose  in  ease  and  safety. 

"  This  probability,  thus  sustained  by  foreign  testimony,  is  advanced,  I  think,  to  histori- 
cal certainty  by  the  evidence  of  our  own  books,  by  the  accounts  of  a  writer  who  was 
the  companion  of  the  persons  whose  sufferings  he  relates,  by  the  letters  of  the  persons 
themselves,  by  predictions  of  persecutions,  ascribed  to  the  Founder  of  the  religion, 
which  predictions  would  not  have  been  inserted  in  this  history,  much  less,  studiously 
dwelt  upon,  if  they  had  not  accorded  with  the  event,  and  which,  even  if  falsely  ascribed 
to  him,  could  only  have  been  so  ascribed  because  the  event  suggested  them  ;  lastly,  by 
incessant  exhortations  to  fortitude  and  patience,  and  by  an  earnestness,  repetition  and 
urgency  upon  the  subject  which  were  unlikely  to  have  appeared,  if  there  had  not  been, 
at  the  time,  some  extraordinary  call  for  the  exercise  of  such  virtues.  It  is  also  made  out, 
I  think,  with  sufficient  evidence,  that  both  the  teachers  and  converts  of  the  religion,  in 
consequence  of  their  new  profession,  took  up  a  new  course  of  life  and  conduct. 

"  The  next  great  question  is,  what  they  did  this  for.  It  was  for  a  miraculous  story 
of  some  kind,  since  for  the  proof  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ought  to  be  received  as  the 
Messiah,  or  as  a  messenger  for  God,  they  neither  had  nor  could  have  anything  but  mira- 
cles to  stand  upon.  *  *  *  If  this  be  so,  the  religion  must  be  true.  These  men  could 
not  be  deceivers.  By  only  not  bearing  testimony,  they  might  have  avoided  all  these  suf- 
ferings and  lived  quietly.  Would  men  in  such  circumstances  pretend  to  have  seen  what 
they  never  saw,  assert  facts  which  they  had  no  knowledge  of,  go  about  lying  to  teach 
virtue,  and  though  not  only  convinced  of  Christ's  being  an  impostor,  but  having  seen  the 
success  of  his  imposture  in  his  crucifixion,  yet  persist  in  carrying  it  on,  and  so  persist  as 
to  bring  upon  themselves,  for  nothing,  and  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  consequence, 
enmity  and  hatred,  danger  and  death?  " 

Those  who  maintain  this,  moreover,  require  us  to  believe  that  the  Scripture  writers 
were  "  villains  for  no  end  but  to  teach  honesty,  and  martyrs  without  the  least  prospect 
of  honor  or  advantage."  Imposture  must  have  a  motive.  The  self-devotion  of  the 
apostles  is  the  strongest  evidence  of  their  truth,  for  even  Hume  declares  that  "  we  can- 
not make  use  of  a  more  convincing  argument  in  proof  of  honesty  than  to  prove  that 
the  actions  ascribed  to  any  persons  are  contrary  to  the  course  of  nature,  and  that  no 
human  motives,  in  such  circumstances,  could  ever  induce  them  to  such  conduct." 

III.     THE  SUPERNATURAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  SCRIPTURE  TEACHING. 

1.     Scripture  teaching  in  general. 

A.     The  Bible  is  the  work  of  one  mind. 

(a)  In  spite  of  its  variety  of  authorship  and  the  vast  separation  of  its 
writers  from  one  another  in  point  of  time,  there  is  a  unity  of  subject,  spirit, 
and  aim  throughout  the  whole. 

The  Bible  is  made  up  of  sixty-six  books,  by  forty  writers,  of  all  ranks,— shepherds, 
fishermen,  priests,  warriors,  statesmen,  kings,— composing  their  works  at  intervals 
through  a  period  of  seventeen  centuries.  Evidently  no  collusion  between  them  is  pos- 
sible. Skepticism  tends  ever  to  ascribe  to  the  Scriptures  greater  variety  of  authorship 
and  date,  but  all  this  only  increases  the  wonder  of  the  Bible's  unity.  If  unity  in  a  half 
dozen  writers  is  remarkable,  in  forty  it  is  astounding. 

(6)  Not  one  moral  or  religious  utterance  of  all  these  writers  has  been 
contradicted  or  superseded  by  the  utterances  of  those  who  have  come  later, 
but  all  together  constitute  a  consistent  system. 

In  this  unity  the  Bible  stands  alone.  Hindu,  Persian,  and  Chinese  religious  books  con- 
tain no  consistent  system  of  faith.  There  is  progress  in  revelation  from  the  earlier  to  the 
later  books  of  the  Bible,  but  this  is  not  progress  through  successive  steps  of  falsehood  ; 
it  is  rather  progress  from  a  less  to  a  more  clear  and  full  unfolding  of  the  truth.  The 
whole  truth  lay  germinal! y  in  the  protcvangelium  uttered  to  our  first  parents  (Gen.  3  :  15— 
the  seed  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head ;  Mat.  5 : 17—"  Think  not  that  I  came  to 
destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets :  I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil " ). 


SUPERNATURAL   CHARACTER    OF   SCRIPTURE    TEACHING.  85 

(c)  Each  of  these  writings,  whether  early  or  late,  has  represented  moral 
and  religious  ideas  greatly  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  it  has  appeared, 
and  these  ideas  still  lead  the  world. 

All  our  ideas  of  progress,  with  all  the  forward-looking  spirit  of  modern  Christendom, 
are  due  to  Scripture.  The  classic  nations  had  no  such  ideas  and  no  such  spirit. 

(d)  It  is  impossible  to  account  for  this  unity  without  supposing  such  a 
supernatural  suggestion  and  control  that  the  Bible,  while  in  its  various 
parts  written  by  human  agents,  is  yet  equally  the  work  of  a  superhuman 
intelligence. 

Compare  with  the  harmony  between  the  different  Scripture  writers  the  contradictions 
and  refutations  which  follow  merely  human  philosophies — e.  g.,  the  Hegelian  idealism 
and  the  Spencerian  materialism. 

B.  This  one  mind  that  made  the  Bible  is  the  same  mind  that  made  the 
soul,  for  the  Bible  is  divinely  adapted  to  the  soul. 

(a)    It  shows  complete  acquaintance  with  the  soul. 

The  Bible  addresses  all  parts  of  man's  nature.  There  are  Law  and  Epistles  for  man's 
reason;  Psalms  and  Gospels  for  his  affections;  Prophets  and  Revelation  for  his  imagi- 
nation. Hence  the  popularity  of  the  Scriptures.  Their  variety  holds  men.  The  Bible 
has  become  interwoven  into  modern  life.  Law,  literature,  art,  all  show  its  moulding 
influence. 

(&)  It  judges  the  soul — contradicting  its  passions,  revealing  its  guilt,  and 
humbling  its  pride. 

No  product  of  mere  human  nature  could  thus  look  down  upon  human  nature  and 
condemn  it.  The  Bible  speaks  to  us  from  a  higher  level.  The  Samaritan  woman's  words 
apply  to  the  whole  compass  of  divine  revelation :  it  tells  us  all  things  that  ever  we  did 
(John  4  :  29).  The  Brahmin  declared  that  Romans  1,  with  its  description  of  heathen  vices, 
must  have  been  forged  after  the  missionaries  came  to  India. 

(c)  It  meets  the  deepest  needs  of  the  soul — by  solutions  of  its  problems, 
disclosures  of  God's  character,  presentations  of  the  way  of  pardon,  conso- 
lations and  promises  for  life  and  death. 

Neither  Socrates  nor  Seneca  sets  forth  the  nature,  origin,  and  consequences  of  sin  as 
committed  against  the  holiness  of  God,  nor  do  they  point  out  the  way  of  pardon  and 
renewal.  The  Bible  teaches  us  what  nature  cannot,  viz. :  God's  creatorship,  the  origin 
of  evil,  the  method  of  restoration,  the  certainty  of  a  future  state,  and  the  principle  of 
rewards  and  punishments  there. 

(d)  Yet  it  is  silent  upon  many  questions  for  which  writings  of  merely 
human  origin  seek  first  to  provide  solutions. 

Compare  the  account  of  Christ's  infancy  in  the  gospels  with  the  fables  of  the  Apocry- 
phal New  Testament;  compare  the  scant  utterances  of  Scripture  with  regard  to  the 
future  state  with  Mohammed's  and  Swedenborg's  revelations  of  Paradise. 

(e)  There  are  infinite  depths  and  inexhaustible  reaches  of  meaning  in 
Scripture,  which  difference  it  from  all  other  books,  and  which  compel  us  to 
believe  that  its  author  must  be  divine. 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  on  his  death  bed:  "Bring  me  the  book!"  "What  book?"  said 
Lockhart,  his  son-in-law.  "  There  is  but  one  book ! "  said  the  dying  man.  Reville  con- 
cludes an  Essay  in  the  Revue  des  deux  Mondes  (1864) :  "  One  day  the  question  was  started, 
in  an  assembly,  what  book  a  man  condemned  to  lifelong  imprisonment,  and  to  whom 
but  one  book  would  be  permitted,  had  better  take  into  his  cell  with  him.  The  company 
consisted  of  Catholics,  Protestants,  philosophers,  and  even  materialists,  but  all  agreed 
that  their  choice  would  fall  only  on  the  Bible." 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Garbett,  God's  Word  Written,  3-56 ;  Luthardt,  Saving  Truths, 


86  THE   SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

210;  Rogers,  Supernat.  Origin  of  Bible,  155-181;  W.  L.  Alexander,  Connection  and  Har- 
mony of  O.  T.  and  N.  T. ;  Stanley  Leathes,  Structure  of  the  O.  T. ;  Bernard,  Progress  of 
Doctrine  in  the  N.  T. ;  Rainy,  Delivery  and  Development  of  Doctrine ;  Titcomb,  in 
Strivings  for  the  Faith ;  Immer,  Hermeneutics,  91 ;  Present  Day  Tracts,  4 :  no.  23 ;  5 :  no. 
28 ;  6 :  no.  31 ;  Lee  on  Inspiration,  26-33. 

2.     Moral  system  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  perfection  of  this  system  is  generally  conceded.  All  will  admit  that 
it  greatly  surpasses  any  other  system  known  among  men.  Among  its  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  may  be  mentioned  : 

(a)  Its  comprehensiveness, — including  all  human  duties  in  its  code,  even 
those  most  generally  misunderstood  and  neglected,  while  it  permits  no  vice 
whatsoever. 

(6)  Its  spirituality, — accepting  no  merely  external  conformity  to  right 
precepts,  but  judging  all  action  by  the  thoughts  and  motives  from  which  it 
springs. 

(c)  Its  simplicity, — inculcating  principles  rather  than  imposing  rules  ; 
reducing  these  principles  to  an  organic  system  ;  and  connecting  this  system 
with  religion  by  summing  up  all  human  duty  in  the  one  command  of  love 
to  God  and  man. 

(d)  Its  practicality,— exemplifying   its  precepts  in   the   life   of   Jesus 
Christ;   and  while  it  declares  man's  depravity  and  inability  in  his  own 
strength  to  keep  the  law,  furnishing  motives  to  obedience,  and  the  divine 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  make  this  obedience  possible. 

We  may  justly  argue  that  a  moral  system  so  pure  and  perfect,  since  it 
surpasses  all  human  powers  of  invention  and  runs  counter  to  men's  natural 
tastes  and  passions,  must  have  had  a  supernatural,  and  if  a  supernatural, 
then  a  divine,  origin. 

Heathen  systems  of  morality  are  in  general  defective,  in  that  they  furnish  for  man's 
moral  action  no  sufficient  example,  rule,  motive,  or  end.  They  cannot  do  this,  for  the 
reason  that  they  practically  identify  God  with  nature,  and  know  of  no  clear  revelation 
of  his  holy  will.  Man  is  left  to  the  law  of  his  own  being,  and  since  he  is  not  conceived 
of  as  wholly  responsible  and  free,  the  lower  impulses  are  allowed  sway  as  well  as  the 
higher,  and  selfishness  is  not  regarded  as  sin.  As  heathendom  does  not  recognize  man's 
depravity,  so  it  does  not  recognize  his  dependence  upon  divine  grace,  and  its  virtue  is 
self -righteousness. 

See  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1:  37-173;  Porter,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  4 :  no.  19,  pp. 
33-64 ;  Blackie,  Four  Phases  of  Morals ;  Faiths  of  the  World  (St.  Giles  Lectures,  second 
series) ;  J.  F.  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Religions,  2 :  280-317 ;  Garbett,  Dogmatic  Faith ;  Farrar, 
Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  134,  and  Seekers  after  God,  181,  182,  320 ;  Curtis  on  Inspira- 
tion, 288.  For  denial  of  the  all-comprehensive  character  of  Christian  Morality,  see  John 
Stuart  Mill,  on  Liberty ;  per  contra,  see  Review  of  Mill,  in  Theol.  Eclectic,  6 :  508-512 ; 
Row,  in  Strivings  for  the  Faith,  pub.  by  Christian  Evidence  Society,  181-220 ;  also,  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures,  1877 :  130-176 ;  Fisher,  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  28-38,  174.  We  append 
certain  facts  and  references  with  regard  to  particular  heathen  systems. 

1.  CONFUCIANISM.  Confucius  (Kung-fu-tse),  B.  C.  551-478,  contemporary  with  Pytha- 
goras and  Buddha.  Socrates  was  born  ten  years  after  Confucius  died.  Mencius  (371-278) 
was  a  disciple  of  Confucius.  Matheson,  in  Faiths  of  the  World,  St.  Giles  Lectures,  73-108, 
claims  that  Confucianism  was  "an  attempt  to  substitute  a  morality  for  a  theology." 
Legge,  however,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  3 :  no.  18,  shows  that  this  is  a  mistake.  Confu- 
cius simply  left  religion  where  he  found  it.  God,  or  Heaven,  is  worshiped  in  China, 
but  only  by  the  emperor.  Chinese  religion  is  apparently  a  survival  of  the  worship  of 
the  patriarchal  family.  The  father  of  the  family  was  its  only  head  and  priest.  In  China, 
though  the  family  widened  into  the  tribe,  and  the  tribe  into  the  nation,  the  father  still 
retained  his  sole  authority,  and,  as  the  father  of  his  people,  the  emperor  alone  worshiped 
God.  Between  God  and  the  people  the  gulf  has  so  widened  that  the  people  may  be  said 
to  have  no  practical  knowledge  of  God  or  communication  with  him. 


SUPERNATURAL  CHARACTER  OF  SCRIPTUEE  TEACHING.  87 

Confucius  did  nothing-  to  put  morality  upon  a  religious  basis.  In  practice,  the  rela- 
tions between  man  and  man  are  the  only  relations  considered.  Benevolence,  righteous- 
ness, propriety,  wisdom,  sincerity,  are  enjoined,  but  not  a  word  is  said  with  regard  to 
man's  relations  to  God.  Love  to  God  is  not  only  not  commanded— it  is  not  thought  of 
as  possible.  Though  man's  being  is  theoretically  an  ordinance  of  God,  man  is  practically 
a  law  to  himself.  The  first  commandment  of  Confucius  is  that  of  filial  piety.  But  this 
includes  worship  of  dead  ancestors,  and  is  so  exaggerated  as  to  bury  from  sight  the  re- 
lated duties  of  husband  to  wife  and  of  parent  to  child. 

While  Confucianism  excludes  polytheism,  idolatry,  and  deification  of  vice,  it  is  a  shal- 
low and  tantalizing  system,  because  it  does  not  recognize  the  hereditary  corruption  of 
human  nature,  or  furnish  any  remedy  for  moral  evil  except  the  "  doctrines  of  the  sages." 
"  The  heart  of  man,"  it  says,  "  is  naturally  perfectly  upright  and  correct."  Sin  is  simply 
•"a  disease,  to  be  cured  by  self -discipline ;  a  debt,  to  be  canceled  by  meritorious  acts  ; 
an  ignorance,  to  be  removed  by  study  and  contemplation."  See  Bib.  Sac.,  1883 :  292,  293 ; 
N.  Englander,  Sept.,  1883 :  565.  Ezra  Abbot  says  that  Confucius  gave  the  golden  rule  in 
positive  as  well  as  in  negative  form ;  see  Harris,  Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,  222.  This, 
however,  seems  to  be  denied  by  Legge,  Religions  of  China,  1-58. 

2.  THE  INDIAN  SYSTEMS.  Brahmanism,  as  expressed  in  the  Vedas,  dates  back  to 
1000-1500  B.  C.  As  Caird  ( in  Faiths  of  the  World,  St.  Giles  Lectures,  lecture  i. )  has  shown, 
it  originated  in  the  contemplation  of  the  power  of  nature  apart  from  the  moral  Person- 
ality that  works  in  and  through  nature.  Indeed,  we  may  say  that  all  heathenism  is 
man's  choice  of  a  non-moral  in  place  of  a  moral  God.  Brahmanism  is  a  system  of  pan- 
theism, "  a  false  or  illegitimate  consecration  of  the  finite."  All  things  are  a  manifesta- 
tion of  Brahma.  Hence  evil  is  deified  as  well  as  good.  And  many  thousand  gods  were 
worshiped  as  partial  representations  of  the  living  principle  which  moved  through  all. 
•Caste  is  fixed  and  consecrated  as  a  manifestation  of  God. 

Buddhism,  beginning  with  Buddha,  600  B.  C.,  "recalls  the  mind  to  its  elevation  above 
the  finite,"  from  which  Brahmanism  had  fallen  away.  Buddha  was  in  certain  respects 
a  reformer.  He  protested  against  caste,  and  proclaimed  that  truth  and  morality  are  for 
all.  Hence  Buddhism,  through  its  possession  of  this  one  grain  of  truth,  appealed  to  the 
human  heart,  and  became,  next  to  Christianity,  the  greatest  missionary  religion.  Buddha 
would  deliver  man,  not  by  philosophy,  or  by  asceticism,  but  by  self-renunciation.  All 
isolation  and  personality  are  sin,  the  guilt  of  which  rests,  however,  not  on  man,  but  on 
existence  in  general. 

While  Brahmanism  is  pantheistic,  Buddhism  is  atheistic  in  its  spirit.  Finiteness  and 
separateness  are  evil,  and  the  only  way  to  purity  and  rest  is  by  ceasing  to  exist.  This  is 
essential  pessimism.  The  highest  morality  is  to  endure  that  which  must  be,  and  to  es- 
cape from  reality  and  from  personal  existence  as  soon  as  possible.  Hence  the  doctrine 
•of  Nirvana.  Rhys  Davids,  in  his  Hibbert  Lectures,  claims  that  early  Buddhism  meant 
by  Nirvana,  not  annihilation,  but  the  extinction  of  the  self -life,  and  that  this  was  attain- 
able during  man's  present  mortal  existence.  But  the  term  Nirvana  now  means,  to  the 
great  mass  of  those  who  use  it,  the  loss  of  all  personality  and  consciousness,  and  absorp- 
tion into  the  general  life  of  the  universe. 

Buddhism  is  also  fatalistic.  It  inculcates  submission  and  compassion— merely  negative 
virtues.  But  it  knows  nothing  of  manly  freedom,  or  of  active  love— the  positive  virtues 
of  Christianity.  It  leads  men  to  spare  others,  but  not  to  help  them.  Its  morality  re- 
volves around  self,  not  around  God.  It  has  in  it  no  organizing  principle,  for  it  recog- 
nizes no  God.  no  inspiration,  no  soul,  no  salvation,  no  personal  immortality.  Buddhism 
would  save  men  only  by  inducing  them  to  flee  from  existence.  To  the  Hindu,  family 
life  is  sinful.  The  perfect  man  must  forsake  wife  and  children.  All  gratification  of 
natural  appetites  and  passions  is  sin.  Salvation  is  not  from  sin,  but  from  desire,  and 
from  this  men  can  be  saved  only  by  escaping  from  life  itself. 

For  comparison  of  the  sage  of  India,  Sakya  Muni,  more  commonly  called  Buddha 
(properly  "the  Buddha "  =  the  enlightened;  but  who,  in  spite  of  Edwin  Arnold's 
•*' Light  of  Asia,"  is  represented  as  not  pure  from  carnal  pleasures  before  he  began  his 
work),  with  Jesus  Christ,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  July,  1882:  458-498;  W.  C.  Wilkinson,  Edwin 
Arnold,  Poetizer  and  Paganizer;  Kellogg,  The  Light  of  Asia  and  the  Light  of  the 
World.  Buddhism  and  Christianity  are  compared  in  Presb.  Rev.,  July,  1883:  505-548; 
Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1 :  47-54 ;  Mitchell,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  6 :  no.  33.  See  also 
Oldenberg,  Buddha ;  Lillie,  Popular  Life  of  Buddha ;  Beal,  Catena  of  Buddhist  Scrip- 
tures, 153—"  Buddhism  declares  itself  ignorant  of  any  mode  of  personal  existence  com- 
patible with  the  idea  of  spiritual  perfection,  and  so  far  it  is  ignorant  of  God  "  ;  157— 
*'  The  earliest  idea  of  Nirvana  seems  to  have  included  in  it  no  more  than  the  enjoyment 
•of  a  state  of  rest  consequent  on  the  extinction  of  all  causes  of  sorrow." 


88  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

3.  THE  GREEK  SYSTEMS.    Pythagoras  (584-504)  based  morality  upon  the  principle  of 
numbers.    "Moral  good  was  identified  with  unity;  evil  with  multiplicity;  virtue  was 
the  harmony  of  the  soul  and  its  likeness  to  God.    The  aim  of  life  was  to  make  it  repre- 
sent the  beautiful  order  of  the  Universe.    The  whole  practical  tendency  of  Pythagore- 
anism  was  ascetic,  and  inculcated  a  strict  self-control  and  an  earnest  culture."    Here 
already  we  seem  to  see  the  defect  of  Greek  morality  in  confounding  the  good  with  the 
beautiful,  and  in  making  morality  a  mere  self -development. 

Socrates  ( 469-400 )  made  knowledge  to  be  virtue.  Morality  consisted  in  subordinating 
irrational  desires  to  rational  knowledge.  Although  here  we  rise  above  a  subjectively 
determined  good  as  the  goal  of  moral  effort,  we  have  no  proper  sense  of  sin.  Knowl- 
edge, and  not  love,  is  the  motive.  If  men  know  the  right,  they  will  do  the  right. 

Plato  ( 430-348 )  held  that  morality  is  pleasure  in  the  good,  as  the  truly  beautiful,  and 
that  knowledge  produces  virtue.  The  good  is  likeness  to  God  —  here  we  have  glimpses 
of  an  extra-human  goal  and  model.  The  body,  like  all  matter,  being  inherently  evil,  is 
a  hindrance  to  the  soul  —  here  we  have  a  glimpse  of  hereditary  depravity.  But  Plato 
failed  to  recognize  God  as  creator  and  master  of  matter ;  failed  to  recognize  man's  de- 
pravity as  due  to  his  own  apostasy  from  God;  failed  to  found  morality  on  the  divine 
will  rather  than  on  man's  own  consciousness.  He  knew  nothing  of  a  common  humanity, 
and  regarded  virtue  as  only  for  the  few.  As  there  was  no  common  sin,  so  there  was  no 
common  redemption. 

Aristotle  (384-322)  leaves  out  of  view  even  the  elements  of  God-likeness  and  antemun- 
dane  evil  which  Plato  so  dimly  recognized,  and  made  morality  the  fruit  of  mere  rational 
self -consciousness.  He  grants  evil  proclivities,  but  he  refuses  to  call  them  immoral.  He 
advocates  freedom  of  will,  and  he  recognizes  inborn  tendencies  which  war  against  this 
freedom,  but  how  these  tendencies  originated  he  cannot  say,  nor  how  men  may  be  de- 
livered from  them.  Not  all  can  be  moral ;  the  majority  must  be  restrained  by  fear.  He 
finds  in  God  no  motive,  and  love  to  God  is  not  so  much  as  mentioned  as  the  source  of 
moral  action.  A  proud,  composed,  self-centered,  and  self-contained  man  is  his  ideal 
character.  See  Nicomachean  Ethics,  7:  6,  and  10:  10;  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1:  92-126. 

Wuttke  describes  Epicureanism  and  Stoicism  as  alike  making  morality  subjective ;  al- 
though Epicureanism  regarded  spirit  as  determined  by  nature,  Stoicism  regarded  nature 
as  determined  by  spirit.  To  Epicurus  (342-270)  happiness,  or  the  subjective  feeling  of 
pleasure,  was  the  highest  criterion  of  truth  and  good.  A  prudent  calculating  for  pro- 
longed pleasure  is  the  highest  wisdom.  He  regards  only  this  life.  Concern  for  retribu- 
tion and  for  a  future  existence  is  folly.  If  there  are  gods,  they  have  no  concern  for 
men.  Death  is  the  falling  apart  of  material  atoms  and  the  eternal  cessation  of  conscious- 
ness. The  miseries  of  this  life  are  due  to  imperfection  in  the  fortuitously  constructed 
universe.  The  more  numerous  these  undeserved  miseries,  the  greater  our  right  to  seek 
pleasure. 

To  Zeno,  the  founder  of  the  Stoic  philosophy  (340-264),  virtue  is  the  only  good. 
Thought  is  to  subdue  nature.  The  free  spirit  is  self-legislating,  self-dependent,  self- 
sufficient.  Thinking,  not  feeling,  is  the  criterion  of  the  true  and  the  good.  Pleasure  is 
the  consequence,  not  the  end  of  moral  action.  There  is  an  irreconcilable  antagonism 
of  existence.  Man  cannot  reform  the  world,  but  he  can  make  himself  perfect.  Hence 
an  unbounded  pride  in  virtue.  The  sage  never  repents.  There  is  not  the  least  recogni- 
tion of  the  moral  corruption  of  mankind.  There  is  no  objective  divine  ideal,  or  revealed 
divine  will.  The  Stoic  discovers  moral  law  only  within,  and  never  suspects  his  own  moral 
perversion.  Hence  he  shows  self-control  and  justice,  but  never  humility  or  love.  He 
needs  no  compassion  or  forgiveness,  and  he  grants  none  to  others. 

Virtue  is  not  an  actively  outworking  character,  but  a  passive  resistance  to  irrational 
reality.  Man  may  retreat  into  himself.  The  Stoic  is  indifferent  to  pleasure  and  pain,  not 
because  he  believes  in  a  divine  government,  or  in  a  divine  love  for  mankind,  but  as  a 
proud  defiance  of  the  irrational  world.  He  has  no  need  of  God  or  of  redemption.  As 
the  Epicurean  gives  himself  to  enjoyment  of  the  world,  the  Stoic  gives  himself  to  con- 
tempt of  the  world.  In  all  burdens,  each  can  say,  "  The  door  is  open."  To  the  Epicurean, 
the  refuge  is  intoxication ;  to  the  Stoic,  the  refuge  is  suicide. 

In  the  Roman  Epictetus  ( 89 ),  Seneca  ( +  65 ),  and  Marcus  Aurelius  ( 121-180 ),  the  religious 
element  comes  more  into  the  foreground,  and  virtue  appears  once  more  as  God-likeness ; 
but  it  is  possible  that  this  later  Stoicism  was  influenced  by  Christianity.  The  foregoing 
synopsis  of  the  Greek  systems  is  condensed  from  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1 :  62-161. 
On  Marcus  Aurelius,  see  N.  Englander,  July,  1881 :  415-431 ;  Capes,  Stoicism. 

4.  SYSTEMS  OF  WESTERN  ASIA.    Zoroaster  (1000  B.  C.  ?),  the  founder  of  the  Parsees* 
was  a  dualist,  at  least  so  far  as  to  explain  the  existence  of  evil  and  of  good  by  the  orig- 


SUPERNATURAL  CHARACTER  OF  SCRIPTURE  TEACHING.  89 

inal  presence  in  the  author  of  all  thing's  of  two  opposing  principles.  Here  is  evidently 
a  limit  put  upon  the  sovereignty  and  holiness  of  God.  Man  is  not  perfectly  dependent 
upon  him,  nor  is  God's  will  an  unconditional  law  for  his  creatures.  As  opposed  to  the 
Indian  systems,  Zoroaster's  insistence  upon  the  divine  personality  furnished  a  far  better 
basis  for  a  vigorous  and  manly  morality.  Virtue  was  to  be  won  by  hard  struggle  of  free 
beings  against  evil.  But  then,  on  the  other  hand,  this  evil  was  conceived  as  originally 
due,  not  to  finite  free  beings  themselves,  but  either  to  an  evil  deity  who  warred  against 
the  good,  or  to  an  evil  principle  in  the  one  deity  himself.  The  burden  of  guilt  is  there- 
fore shitted  from  man  to  his  maker.  Morality  becomes  subjective  and  unsettled.  Not 
love  to  God  or  imitation  of  God,  but  rather  self-love  and  self -development,  furnish  the 
motive  and  aim  of  morality.  No  fatherhood  or  love  is  recognized  in  the  deity,  and 
other  things  besides  God  (e.  g.  fire)  are  worshiped.  There  can  be  no  depth  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  and  no  hope  of  divine  deliverance.  See  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1 : 
47-54;  Faiths  of  the  World  (St.  Giles  Lectures),  109-144  ;  Mitchell,  in  Present  Day  Tracts, 
5 :  no.  25 ;  Whitney  on  the  Avesta,  in  Oriental  and  Linguistic  Studies. 

Mohammed  (570-632  A.  D.),  the  founder  of  Islam,  gives  us  in  the  Koran  a  system  con- 
taining four  dogmas  of  fundamental  immorality,  namely,  polygamy,  slavery,  persecu- 
tion, and  suppression  of  private  judgment.  Mohammedanism  is  heathenism  in  monothe- 
istic form.  Its  good  points  are  its  conscientiousness  and  its  relation  to  God.  But  there 
is  no  basing  of  morality  in  love.  The  highest  good  is  the  sensuous  happiness  of  the 
individual.  The  power  of  sin  is  not  recognized.  Evil  belongs  to  the  individual,  not  to 
the  race.  There  is  no  need  of  redemption,  but  only  of  good  works  on  the  basis  of  pro- 
phetic teaching.  God  and  man  are  external  to  one  another.  There  is  no  atonement  and 
no  communion.  Mohammed  is  a  teacher,  but  not  a  priest.  Morality  is  not  a  fruit  of 
salvation,  but  a  means.  There  is  no  penitence  or  humility,  but  only  self-righteousness, 
and  this  self -righteousness  is  consistent  with  great  sensuality,  unlimited  divorce,  and 
with  absolute  despotism  in  family,  civil  and  religious  affairs.  There  is  no  knowledge  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God  or  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Fairbairn,  in  Contemp.  Rev.,  Dec., 
1882 :  866—"  The  Koran  has  frozen  Mohammedan  thought ;  to  obey  it  is  to  abandon  pro- 
gress." Muir,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  3:  no.  14— "  Mohammedanism  reduces  men  to  a 
dead  level  of  social  depression,  despotism,  and  semi-barbarism.  Islam  is  the  work  of 
man;  Christianity  of  God."  See  also  Faiths  of  the  World  (St.  Giles  Lectures,  second 
series),  361-396;  J.  F.  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Religions,  1 :  448-488,  and  2 :  280-317. 

3.     The  person  and  character  of  Christ. 

A.  The  conception  of  Christ's  person  as  presenting  deity  and  humanity 
indissolubly  united,  and  the  conception  of  Christ's  character,  with  its  fault- 
less and  all-comprehending  excellence,  cannot  be  accounted  for  upon  any 
other  hypothesis  than  that  they  were  historical  realities. 

Theodore  Parker :  "It  would  take  a  Jesus  to  forge  a  Jesus."  Row,  Bampton  Lect- 
ures, 1877 :  178-219,  and  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  4 :  no.  22 :  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History 
to  Christ ;  Barry,  Boyle  Lecture  on  Manifold  Witness  for  Christ. 

(a)  No  sources  can  be  assigned  from  which  the  evangelists  could  have 
derived  such  a  conception.  The  Hindu  avatars  were  only  temporary  unions 
of  deity  with  humanity.  The  Greeks  had  men  half -deified,  but  no  unions 
of  God  and  man.  The  monotheism  of  the  Jews  found  the  person  of  Christ 
a  perpetual  stumbling  block.  The  Essenes  were  in  principle  more  opposed 
to  Christianity  than  the  Eabbinists. 

For  comparison  of  Christ's  incarnation  with  Hindu,  Greek,  Jewish,  and  Essene  ideas, 
see  Dorner,  Hist.  Doct.  Person  of  Christ,  Introduction.  On  the  Essenes,  see  Herzog, 
Encyclop.,  art. :  Essener;  Pressense,  Jesus  Christ,  Life,  Times,  and  Work,  84-87;  Light- 
foot  on  Colossians,  349-119 ;  Godet,  Lectures  in  Defence  of  the  Christian  Faith. 

(6)  No  mere  human  genius,  and  much  less  the  genius  of  Jewish  fisher- 
men, could  have  originated  this  conception.  Bad  men  invent  only  such 
characters  as  they  sympathize  with.  But  Christ's  character  condemns  bad- 
ness. Such  a  portrait  could  not  have  been  drawn  without  supernatural  aid. 


90  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION   FROM    GOD. 

But  such  aid  would  not  have  been  given  to  fabrication.  The  conception 
can  be  explained  only  by  granting  that  Christ's  person  and  character  were 
historical  realities. 

For  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  the  argument  from  the  character  of  Jesus,  see  Bush- 
nell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  276-332.  Bushnell  mentions  the  originality  and  vast- 
ness  of  Christ's  plan,  yet  its  simplicity  and  practical  adaptation;  his  moral  traits  of 
independence,  compassion,  meekness,  wisdom,  zeal,  humility,  patience ;  the  combination 
in  him  of  seemingly  opposite  qualities.  With  all  his  greatness,  he  was  condescending 
and  simple ;  he  was  unworldly,  yet  not  austere ;  he  had  strong  feeling,  yet  was  self-pos- 
sessed ;  he  had  indignation  toward  sin,  yet  compassion  toward  the  sinner ;  he  showed 
devotion  to  his  work,  yet  calmness  under  opposition ;  universal  philanthropy,  yet  sus- 
ceptibility to  private  attachments ;  the  authority  of -a  Savior  and  a  Judge,  yet  the  grati- 
tude and  tenderness  of  a  son ;  the  most  elevated  devotion,  yet  a  life  of  activity  and 
exertion. 

B.  The  acceptance  and  belief  in  the  New  Testament  descriptions  of 
Jesus  Christ  cannot  be  accounted  for  except  upon  the  ground  that  the  per- 
son and  character  described  had  an  actual  existence. 

(a)  If  these  descriptions  were  false,  there  were  witnesses  still  living  who 
had  known  Christ  and  who  would  have  contradicted  them.  (&)  There  was 
no  motive  to  induce  acceptance  of  such  false  accounts,  but  every  motive  to 
the  contrary,  (c)  The  success  of  such  falsehoods  could  be  explained  only 
by  supernatural  aid,  but  God  would  never  have  thus  aided  falsehood.  This 
person  and  character,  therefore,  must  have  been  not  fictitious  but  real ;  and 
if  real,  then  Christ's  words  are  true,  and  the  system  of  which  his  person 
and  character  are  a  part  is  a  revelation  from  God. 

John  Stuart  Mill,  Essays  on  Religion,  254—"  The  most  valuable  part  of  the  effect  on  the 
character  which  Christianity  has  produced,  by  holding  up  in  a  divine  person  a  standard 
of  excellence  and  a  model  for  imitation,  is  available  even  to  the  absolute  unbeliever,  and 
can  never  more  be  lost  to  humanity.  For  it  is  Christ  rather  than  God  whom  Christianity 
has  held  up  to  believers  as  the  pattern  of  perfection  for  humanity.  It  is  the  God  incar- 
nate more  than  the  God  of  the  Jews  or  of  nature,  who,  being  idealized,  has  taken  so 
great  and  salutary  hold  on  the  modern  mind.  And  whatever  else  may  be  taken  away 
from  us  by  rational  criticism,  Christ  is  still  left :  a  unique  figure,  not  more  unlike  all  his 
precursors  than  all  his  followers,  even  those  who  had  the  direct  benefit  of  his  personal 
preaching.  .  .  .  Who  among  his  disciples,  or  among  their  proselytes,  was  capable  of 
inventing  the  sayings  ascribed  to  Jesus,  or  of  imagining  the  life  and  character  revealed 
in  the  Gospels?  .  .  . 

"  About  the  life  and  sayings  of  Jesus  there  is  a  stamp  of  personal  originality  combined 
with  profundity  of  insight  which,  if  we  abandon  the  idle  expectations  of  finding  scien- 
tific precision  where  something  very  different  was  aimed  at,  must  place  the  Prophet  of 
Nazareth,  even  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  have  no  belief  in  his  inspiration,  in  the 
very  first  rank  of  the  men  of  sublime  genius  of  whom  our  species  can  boast.  When 
this  preeminent  genius  is  combined  with  the  qualities  of  probably  the  greatest  moral 
reformer  and  martyr  to  that  mission  who  ever  existed  upon  earth,  religion  cannot  be 
said  to  have  made  a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on  this  man  as  the  ideal  representative  and 
guide  of  humanity ;  nor  even  now  would  it  be  easy,  even  for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a 
better  translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue  from  the  abstract  into  the  concrete  than  the 
endeavor  so  to  live  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life. 

u  When  to  this  we  add  that,  to  the  conception  of  the  rational  skeptic,  it  remains  a  pos- 
sibility that  Christ  actually  was  ...  a  man  charged  with  a  special,  express  and  unique 
commission  from  God  to  lead  mankind  to  truth  and  virtue,  we  may  well  conclude  that 
the  influences  of  religion  on  the  character,  which  will  remain  after  rational  criticism 
has  done  its  utmost  against  the  evidences  of  religion,  are  well  worth  preserving,  and 
that  what  they  lack  in  direct  strength  as  compared  with  those  of  a  firmer  belief  is  more 
than  compensated  by  the  greater  truth  and  rectitude  of  the  morality  they  sanction." 

See  also  Ullmann,  Sinlessness  of  Jesus ;  Alexander,  Christ  and  Christianity,  129-157  ; 
Schaff,  Person  of  Christ ;  Young,  The  Christ  of  History. 


HISTORICAL    RESULTS    OF   SCRIPTURE   TEACHING.  91 

4.  The  testimony  of  Christ  to  himself — as  being  a  messenger  from  God 
and  as  being  one  with  God. 

Only  one  personage  in  history  has  claimed  to  teach  absolute  truth,  to  be 
one  with  God,  and  to  attest  his  divine  mission  by  works  such  as  only  God 
could  perform. 

A.  This  testimony  cannot  be  accounted  for  upon  the  hypothesis  that 
Jesus  was  an  intentional  deceiver  :  for  (a)  the  perfectly  consistent  holiness 
of  his  life  ;  (6)  the  unwavering  confidence  with  which  he  challenged  inves- 
tigation of  his  claims  and  staked  all  upon  the  result ;  (c)  the  vast  improba- 
bility of  a  lifelong  lie  in  the  avowed  interests  of  truth  ;  and  (d)  the  impos- 
sibility that  deception  should  have  wrought  such  blessing  to  the  world, — 
all  show  that  Jesus  was  no  conscious  impostor. 

Fisher,  Essays  on  the  Supernat.  Origin  of  Christianity,  515-538 :  Christ  knew  how  vast 
his  claims  were,  yet  he  staked  all  upon  them.  Though  others  doubted,  he  never  doubted 
himself.  Though  persecuted  unto  death,  he  never  ceased  his  consistent  testimony. 

B.  Nor  can  Jesus'  testimony  to  himself  be  explained  upon  the  hypoth- 
esis that  he  was  self-deceived  :  for  this  would  argue    (a)  a  weakness  and 
folly  amounting  to  positive  insanity.     But  his  whole  character  and  life 
exhibit  a  calmness,  dignity,  equipoise,  insight,  self-mastery,  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  such  a  theory.     Or  it  would'  argue    (6)  a  self-ignorance  and 
self-exaggeration  which  could  spring  only  from  the  deepest  moral  perver- 
sion.    But  the  absolute  purity  of  his  conscience,  the  humility  of  his  spirit, 
the  self-denying  beneficence  of  his  life,  show  this  hypothesis  to  be  incred- 
ible. 

Rogers,  Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible,  39 :  If  he  were  man,  then  to  demand  that 
all  the  world  should  bow  down  to  him  would  be  worthy  of  scorn  like  that  which  we  feel 
for  some  straw-crowned  monarch  of  Bedlam.  Theological  Eclectic,  4:  137 ;  Liddon,  Our 
Lord's  Divinity,  153 ;  J.  S.  Mill,  Essays  on  Religion,  253 ;  Young,  Christ  of  History. 

If  Jesus,  then,  cannot  be  charged  with  either  mental  or  moral  unsound- 
ness,  his  testimony  must  be  true,  and  he  himself  must  be  one  with  God  and 
the  revealer  of  God  to  men. 

Neither  Confucius  nor  Buddha  claimed  to  be  divine,  or  the  organs  of  divine  revelation, 
though  both  were  moral  teachers  and  reformers.  Zoroaster  and  Pythagoras  apparently 
believed  themselves  charged  with  a  divine  mission,  though  their  earliest  biographers 
wrote  centuries  after  their  death.  Socrates  claimed  nothing  for  himself  which  was  be- 
yond the  power  of  others.  Mohammed  believed  his  extraordinary  states  of  body  and 
soul  to  be  due  to  the  action  of  celestial  beings.  For  Confucius  or  Buddha,  Zoroaster  or 
Pythagoras,  Socrates  or  Mohammed  to  claim  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,  would  show 
insanity  or  moral  perversion.  But  this  is  precisely  what  Jesus  claimed.  He  was  either 
mentally  and  morally  unsound,  or  his  testimony  is  true. 

IV.  THE  HISTORICAL  EESULTS  OF  THE  PKOPAGATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  DOC- 
TRINE. 

1.  The  rapid  progresss  of  the  gospel  in  the  first  centuries  of  our  era 
shows  its  divine  origin. 

A.  That  Paganism  should  have  been  in  three  centuries  supplanted  by 
Christianity,  is  an  acknowledged  wonder  of  history. 

The  conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  Christianity  was  the  most  astonishing  revo- 
lution of  faith  and  worship  ever  known.  Fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Christ,  there 
were  churches  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Nero  (37-68)  found  (as 
Tacitus  declares)  an  "ingens  multitude"  of  Christians  to  persecute.  Pliny  writes  to 


92  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

Trajan  ( 52-117 )  that  they  "  pervaded  not  merely  the  cities  but  the  villages  and  country 
places,  so  that  the  temples  were  nearly  deserted."  Tertullian  ( 160-230)  writes :  "  We  are 
but  of  yesterday,  and  yet  we  have  filled  all  your  places,  your  cities,  your  islands,  your 
castles,  your  towns,  your  council-houses,  even  your  camps,  your  tribes,  your  senate, 
your  forum.  We  have  left  you  nothing  but  your  temples."  In  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Valerian  (253-268),  the  Christians  constituted  half  the  population  of  Rome.  The  conver- 
sion of  the  emperor  Constantine  ( 272-337 )  brought  the  whole  empire,  only  300  years  after 
Jesus'  death,  under  the  acknowledged  sway  of  the  gospel.  See  Mcllvaine  and  Alexander, 
Evidences  of  Christianity. 

B.  The  wonder  is  the  greater  when  we  consider  the  obstacles  to  the  prog- 
ress of  Christianity  : 

(a)     The  scepticism  of  the  cultivated  classes. 

Missionaries  even  now  find  it  difficult  to  get  a  hearing  among  the  cultivated  classes  of 
the  heathen.  But  the  gospel  appeared  in  the  most  enlightened  age  of  antiquity— the 
Augustan  age  of  literature  and  historical  inquiry.  Tacitus  called  the  religion  of  Christ 
"  exitiabilis  superstitio" — "quos  per  flagitia  invisos  vulgus  Christianos  appellabat." 
Pliny:  "  Nihil  aliud  inveni  quam  superstitionem  pravam  et  immodicam."  If  the  gos- 
pel had  been  false,  its  preachers  would  not  have  ventured  into  the  centres  of  civilization 
and  refinement ;  or  if  they  had,  they  would  have  been  detected. 

(&)     The  prejudice  and  hatred  of  the  common  people. 

Consider  the  interweaving  of  heathen  religions  with  all  the  relations  of  life.  Chris- 
tians often  had  to  meet  the  furious  zeal  and  blind  rage  of  the  mob,— as  at  Lystra  and 
Ephesus. 

(c)     The  persecutions  set  on  foot  by  government. 

Rawlinson,  in  his  Historical  Evidences,  claims  that  the  Catacombs  of  Rome  comprised 
nine  hundred  miles  of  streets  and  seven  millions  of  graves  within  a  period  of  four  hun- 
dred years — a  far  greater  number  than  could  have  died  a  natural  death — and  that  vast 
multitudes  of  these  must  have  been  massacred  for  their  faith.  The  Encyclopaedia  Brit- 
annica,  however,  calls  the  estimate  of  De  Marchi,  which  Rawlinson  appears  to  have  taken 
as  authority,  a  great  exaggeration.  Instead  of  nine  hundred  miles  of  streets,  North  cote 
has  three  hundred  fifty.  The  number  of  interments  to  correspond  would  be  less  than 
three  millions.  The  Catacombs  began  to  be  deserted  by  the  time  of  Jerome.  The  times 
when  they  were  universally  used  by  Christians  could  have  been  hardly  more  than  two 
hundred  years.  They  did  not  begin  in  sand-pits.  There  were  three  sorts  of  tufa :  ( 1 ) 
rocky,  used  for  quarrying  and  too  hard  for  Christian  purposes ;  (2)  sandy,  used  for  sand- 
pits, too  soft  to  permit  construction  of  galleries  and  tombs;  (3)  granular,  that  used 
by  Christians.  The  existence  of  the  Catacombs  must  have  been  well  known  to  the 
heathen.  After  Pope  Damasus  the  exaggerated  reverence  for  them  began.  They 
were  decorated  and  improved.  Hence  many  paintings  are  of  later  date  than  400,  and 
testify  to  papal  polity,  not  to  that  of  early  Christianity.  The  bottles  contain,  not  blood, 
but  wine  of  the  eucharist  celebrated  at  the  funeral. 

C.  The  wonder  becomes  yet  greater  when  we  consider  the  natural  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  means  used  to  secure  this  progress. 

(a)  The  proclaimers  of  the  gospel  were  in  general  unlearned  men,  be- 
longing to  a  despised  nation. 

The  early  Christians  were  more  unlikely  to  make  converts  than  modern  Jews  are  to 
make  proselytes,  in  vast  numbers,  in  the  principal  cities  of  Europe  and  America. 

(6)     The  gospel  which  they  proclaimed  was  a  gospel  of  salvation  through 
faith  in  a  Jew  who  had  been  put  to  an  ignominious  death. 
The  cross  was  the  Roman  gallows— the  punishment  of  slaves. 

(c)  This  gospel  was  one  which  excited  natural  repugnance,  by  humbling 
men's  pride,  striking  at  the  root  of  their  sins,  and  demanding  a  life  of  labor 
and  self-sacrifice. 


HISTORICAL   RESULTS   OF   SCRIPTURE   TEACHING.  93 

(d)  The  gospel,  moreover,  was  an  exclusive  one,  suffering  no  rival  and 
declaring  itself  to  be  the  universal  and  only  religion. 

Heathenism,  being  without  creed  or  principle,  did  not  care  to  propagate  itself.  "  A 
man  must  be  very  weak,"  said  Celsus,  "to  imagine  that  Greeks  and  barbarians,  in  Asia, 
Europe,  and  Libya,  can  ever  unite  under  the  same  system  of  religion. "  So  the  Roman 
government  would  allow  no  religion  which  did  not  participate  in  the  worship  of  the 
state.  "  Keep  yourselves  from  idols,"  "  We  worship  no  other  God,"  was  the  Christian's 
answer. 

Gibbon,  Hist.  Decline  and  Fall,  1:  chap.  15,  mentions  as  secondary  causes:  (1)  the 
zeal  of  the  Jews;  (2)  the  doctrine  of  immortality;  (3)  miraculous  powers;  (4)  virtues 
of  early  Christians;  (5)  privilege  of  participation  in  church  government.  But  these 
causes  were  only  secondary,  and  all  would  have  been  insufficient  without  an  invincible 
persuasion  of  the  truth  of  Christianity.  For  answer  to  Gibbon,  see  Perrone,  Prelectiones 
Theologlcae,  1 : 133. 

The  progress  of  a  religion  so  unprepossessing  and  uncompromising  to 
outward  acceptance  and  dominion,  within  the  space  of  three  hundred  years, 
cannot  be  explained  without  supposing  that  divine  power  attended  its  pro- 
mulgation, and  therefore  that  the  gospel  is  a  revelation  from  God. 

On  the  whole  section,  see  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  91 ;  Mcllvaine, 
Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture,  139. 

2.  The  beneficent  influence  of  the  Scripture  doctrines  and  precepts, 
wherever  they  have  had  sway,  shows  their  divine  origin.  Notice : 

A.  Their  influence  on  civilization  in  general,  securing  a  recognition  of 
principles  which  heathenism  ignored,  such  as  Garbett  mentions:     (a)  the 
importance  of  the  individual ;  (6)  the  law  of  mutual  love  ;  (c)  the  sacred- 
ness  of  human  life ;  (d)  the  doctrine  of  internal  holiness ;  (e)  the  sanctity 
of  home  ;  (/)  monogamy,  and  the  religious  equality  of  the  sexes ;  (g)  iden- 
tification of  belief  and  practice. 

The  continued  corruption  of  heathen  lauds  shows  that  this  change  is  not 
due  to  any  laws  of  merely  natural  progress.  The  confessions  of  ancient 
writers  show  that  it  is  not  due  to  philosophy.  Its  only  explanation  is  that 
the  gospel  is  the  power  of  God. 

B.  Their  influence  upon  individual  character  and  happiness,  wherever 
they  have  been  tested  in  practice.     This  influence  is  seen  (d)  in  the  moral 
transformations  they  have  wrought — as  in  the  case  of  Paul  the  apostle,  and 
of  persons  in  every  Christian  community  ;    (6)    in  the  self-denying  labors 
for  human  welfare  to  which  they  have  led — as  in  the  case  of  Wilberforce  and 
Judson  ;  (c)  in  the  hopes  they  have  inspired  in  times  of  sorrow  and  death. 

These  beneficent  fruits  cannot  have  their  source  in  merely  natural  causes, 
apart  from  the  truth  and  divinity  of  the  Scriptures  ;  for  in  that  case  the  con- 
trary beliefs  should  be  accompanied  by  the  same  blessings.  But  since  we 
find  these  blessings  only  in  connection  with  Christian  teaching,  we  may 
justly  consider  this  as  their  cause.  This  teaching,  then,  must  be  true,  and 
the  Scriptures  must  be  a  divine  revelation.  Else  God  has  made  a  lie  to  be 
the  greatest  blessing  to  the  race. 

Garbett,  Dogmatic  Faith,  177-186 ;  F.  W.  Farrar,  Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  chap, 
on  Christianity  and  the  Individual ;  Brace,  Gesta  Christi,  preface,  vi.— "  Practices  and 
principles  implanted,  stimulated  or  supported  by  Christianity,  such  as  regard  for  the 
personality  of  the  weakest  and  poorest ;  respect  for  woman  ;  duty  of  each  member  of 
the  fortunate  classes  to  raise  up  the  unfortunate ;  humanity  to  the  child,  the  prisoner, 
the  stranger,  the  needy,  and  even  to  the  brute ;  unceasing  opposition  to  all  forms  of 


94  THE   SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

cruelty,  oppression,  and  slavery ;  the  duty  of  personal  purity,  and  the  sacredness  of  mar- 
riage ;  the  necessity  of  temperance ;  obligation  of  a  more  equitable  division  of  the  profits 
of  labor,  and  of  greater  cooperation  between  employers  and  employed;  the  right  of  every 
human  being  to  have  the  utmost  opportunity  of  developing  his  faculties,  and  of  all  per- 
sons to  enjoy  equal  political  and  social  privileges ;  the  principle  that  the  injury  of  one 
nation  is  the  injury  of  all,  and  the  expediency  and  duty  of  unrestricted  trade  and  inter- 
course between  all  countries ;  and  finally,  a  profound  opposition  to  war,  a  determina- 
tion to  limit  its  evils  when  existing,  and  to  prevent  its  arising  by  means  of  international 
arbitration." 


CHAPTER  III. 

INSPIRATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  INSPIRATION. 

By  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  we  mean  that  special  divine  influence 
upon  the  minds  of  the  Scripture  writers  in  virtue  of  which  their  produc- 
tions, apart  from  errors  of  transcription,  and  when  rightly  interpreted,  to- 
gether constitute  an  infallible  and  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

(a)  Inspiration  is  therefore  to  be  defined,  not  by  its  method,  but  by  its 
result.  It  is  a  general  term  including  all  those  kinds  and  degrees  of  the 
Holy  Spirit's  influence  which  were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  minds  of  the 
Scripture  writers,  in  order  to  secure  the  putting  into  permanent  and  written 
form  of  the  truth  best  adapted  to  man's  moral  and  religious  needs. 

(6)  Inspiration  may  often  include  revelation,  or  the  direct  communica- 
tion from  God  of  truth  to  which  man  could  not  attain  by  his  unaided 
powers.  It  may  include  illumination,  or  the  quickening  of  man's  cognitive 
powers  to  understand  truth  already  revealed.  Inspiration,  however,  does 
not  necessarily  and  always  include  either  revelation  or  illumination.  It  is 
simply  the  divine  influence  which  secures  a  correct  transmission  of  the  truth 
to  the  future,  and,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  truth  to  be  transmitted,  it 
may  be  only  an  inspiration  of  superintendence,  or  it  may  be  also  and  at 
the  same  time  an  inspiration  of  illumination  or  revelation. 

(c)  It  is  not  denied,  but  affirmed,  that  inspiration  may  qualify  for  oral 
utterance  of  infallible  truth,  or  for  wise  leadership  and  daring  deeds.  We 
are  now  concerned  with  inspiration,  however,  only  as  it  pertains  to  the  au- 
thorship of  Scripture. 

It  may  help  us  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  terms  above  employed,  if  we  adduce 
instances  of 

( 1 )  Inspiration  without  revelation,  as  in  Luke  or  Acts,  Luke  1:1-3; 

(2)  Inspiration  including-  revelation,  as  in  the  Apocalypse,  Rev.  1 : 1, 11 ; 

( 3 )  Inspiration  without  illumination,  as  in  the  prophets,  1  Pet.  1 : 11 ; 

(4)  Inspiration  including  illumination,  as  in  the  case  of  Paul,  1  Cor.  2  : 12 : 

( 5 )  Revelation  without  inspiration,  as  in  God's  words  from  Sinai,  Ex.  20  : 1,  22 ; 

( 6 )  Illumination  without  inspiration,  as  in  modern  preachers,  Eph.  2  :  20.     Some,  like 
Priestly,  have  held  that  the  gospels  are  authentic  but  not  inspired.   We  therefore  add  to 
the  proof  of  the  genuineness  and  credibility  of  Scripture  the  proof  of  its  inspiration. 

Other  definitions  are  those  of  Park  :  "  Inspiration  is  such  an  influence  over  the  writers 
of  the  Bible  that  all  their  teachings  which  have  a  religious  character  are  trustworthy ;  " 
and  of  Wilkinson :  "Inspiration  is  help  from  God  to  keep  report  of  divine  revelation 
free  from  error.  Help  to  whom  ?  No  matter  to  whom,  so  the  result  is  secured.  The 
final  result,  viz.:  the  record  or  report  of  revelation,  this  must  be  free  from  error.  Inspi- 
ration may  affect  one  or  all  of  the  agents  employed." 

On  the  idea  of  Revelation,  see  Ladd,  in  Journ.  Christ.  Philos.,  Jan.,  1883 :  156-178 ;  on 
Inspiration,  ibid.,  Apr.,  1883:  225-248.  See  Henderson  on  Inspiration  (2nd  ed.),  58,  205, 
249,  303,  310.  For  other  works  on  the  general  subject  of  Inspiration,  see  Lee,  Banner- 
raann,  Jamieson,  McNaught;  Garbett,  God's  Word  Written;  Aids  to  Faith,  essay  on 
Inspiration.  Also,  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  205 ;  Westcott,  Introd.  to  Study  of  the 

95 


96  THE   SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

Gospels,  27-65;  Bib.  Sac.,  1:  97;  4:  154;  12:  217;  15:  29,  314;  25:  192-198;  Dr.  Barrows,  in 
Bib.  Sac.,  1867 :  593 ;  1872 :  428 ;  Farrar,  Science  in  Theology,  208 ;  Hodge  and  Warfleld, 
in  Presb.  Rev.,  Apr.,  1881 :  225-261. 

II.     PROOF  or  INSPIRATION. 

1.  Since  we  have  shown  that  God  has  made  a  revelation  of  himself  to 
man,   the  presumption  becomes  doubly  strong  that  he  will  not  trust  this 
revelation  to  human  tradition  and  misrepresentation,  but  will  also  provide 
a  correct  and  authoritative  record  of  it. 

The  physician  commits  his  prescriptions  to  writing ;  the  Clerk  of  Congress  records  its 
proceeding's ;  the  State  department  of  our  government  instructs  our  foreign  ambassa- 
dors, not  orally,  but  by  dispatches.  There  is  yet  greater  need  that  revelation  should  be 
recorded,  since  it  is  to  be  transmitted  to  distant  ages ;  it  contains  long  discourses ;  it 
embraces  mysterious  doctrines.  Jesus  did  not  write  himself ;  for  he  was  the  subject, 
not  the  mere  channel,  of  revelation.  His  unconcern  about  the  apostles,  immediately 
committing  to  writing  what  they  saw  and  heard  is  inexplicable,  if  he  did  not  expect 
that  inspiration  would  assist  them. 

2.  Jesus,  who  has  been  proved  to  be  not  only  a  credible  witness,  but  a 
messenger  from  God,  vouches  for  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament,  by 
quoting  it  with  the  formula  :  "  it  is  written  ;  "  by  declaring  that  "  one  jot 
or  one  tittle  "of  it  "  shall  in  no  wise  pass  away"  ;  and  by  calling  it  "  the 
word  of  God "  which  " cannot  be  broken." 

Jesus  quotes  from  four  out  of  the  five  books  of  Moses,  and  from  the  Psalms,  Isaiah, 
Malachi,  and  Zechariah,  with  the  formula,  "  it  is  written  "  ;  see  Mat.  4 :  4,  6,  7 ;  11 : 10 ;  Mark  14  :  27 ; 
luke  4 :  4-12.  This  formula  among  the  Jews  indicated  that  the  quotation  was  from  a  sacred 
book  and  was  divinely  inspired.  Jesus  certainly  regarded  the  Old  Testament  with  as 
much  reverence  as  the  Jews  of  his  day.  He  declared  that "  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass 
away  from  the  law"  (Mat.  5:  18).  He  called  it  "the  word  of  God";  said  that  "  the  scripture  cannot  be 
broken  "  (John  10 :  35)  ="  the  normative  and  judicial  authority  of  the  Scripture  cannot  be  set 
aside ;  notice  here  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  Scripture  "  (Meyer).  Luke  11 :  49-  "  Therefore  also 
said  the  wisdom  of  God".  The  apostles  quote  the  O.  T.  as  God's  word  (Eph.  4  :  8 — Sib  Aeyei,  sc.  6  #605). 
On  the  testimony  of  N.  T.  writers  to  O.  T.  inspiration,  see  Henderson,  Inspiration,  254. 

3.  Jesus  commissioned  his  apostles  as  teachers  and  gave  them  promises 
of  a  supernatural  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  teaching,  like  the  promises 
made  to  the  Old  Testament  prophets. 

Mat.  28 :  19,  20—"  Go  ye  ...  teaching  ...  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  ".  Compare  promises  to  Moses 
(Ex.  3  : 12),  Jeremiah  (Jer.  1 :  5-8),  Ezekiel  (Ezek.  2  and  3).  See  also  Is.  44 :  3  and  Joel  2 :  28—"  I  will  pour 
my  spirit  upon  thy  seed  ";  Mat.  10 :  7—"  as  ye  go,  preach  "  ;  19—"  be  not  anxious  how  or  what  ye  shall  speak  "  ;  John 
14 :  26="  the  Holy  Spirit ....  shall  teach  you  all  things  "  ;  15 :  26,  27—"  the  Spirit  of  truth  ....  shall  bear  witness  of 
me :  and  ye  also  bear  witness  "=  the  Spirit  shall  witness  in  and  through  you  ;  16 :  13 — "  he  shall  guide 
you  into  all  the  truth  "=  ( 1 )  limitation— all  the  truth  of  Christ,  i.  e.  not  of  philosophy  or  science, 
but  of  religion;  (2)  comprehension— all  the  truth  within  this  limited  range,  i.  e.  suffi- 
ciency of  Scripture  as  rule  of  faith  and  practice  (Hovey) ;  17:  8—"  the  words  which  thou  gavest 
me  I  have  given  unto  them  "  ;  Acts  1 :  4—"  he  charged  them  ....  to  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father  "  ;  John  20 : 
21,  22 — "  he  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost ".  Here  was  both  promise  and 
communication  of  the  personal  Holy  Spirit.  Compare  Mat.  10  : 19,  20—"  It  shall  be  given  you  in 
that  hour  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you."  See 
Henderson,  Inspiration,  247,  248. 

4.  The  apostles  claim  to  have  received  this  promised  Spirit,  and  under 
his  influence  to  speak  with  divine  authority,  putting  their  writings  upon  a 
level  with  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.     We  have  not  only  direct  state- 
ments that  both  the  matter  and  the  form  of  their  teaching  were  supervised 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  we  have  indirect  evidence  that  this  was  the  case  in 
the  tone  of  authority  which  pervades  their  addresses  and  epistles. 

Statements :— 1  Cor.  2 : 10, 13—"  unto  us  God  revealed  them  through  the  Spirit.  .  . .  Which  things  also  we  speak, 
not  in  words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Spirit  teacheth  "  ;  11 :  23—"  I  received  of  the  Lord  that  which 


THEORIES    OF    INSPIRATION.  97 

also  I  delivered  unto  you  " ;  12 :  8,  28— the  A6-yo?  oxxjuas  was  apparently  a  gift  peculiar  to  the 
apostles  ;  14 :  37,  38 — "  The  things  which  I  write  unto  you  .  .  .  they  are  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  "  ;  Gal.  1  :  12 
— "  Neither  did  I  receive  it  from  man,  nor  was  I  taught  it,  but  it  came  to  me  through  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ ; ' ' 
1  Thess.  4 :  2,  8  —  "Ye  know  what  charge  we  gave  you  through  the  Lord  Jesus  ....  Therefore  he  that  rejecteth, 
rejecteth  not  man,  but  God,  who  giveth  his  Holy  Spirit  unto  you".  The  following1  passages  put  the 
teaching  of  the  apostles  on  the  same  level  with  O.  T.  Scripture :  1  Pet.  1 :  11,  12— "Spirit  of 
Christ  which  was  in  them  "  [O.  T.  prophets]  ; — [N.  T.  preachers]  "  preached  the  gospal  unto  you  by  the  Holy 
Ghost"  ;  2  Pet.  1  :  21— O.  T.  prophets  "spake  from  God,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  3:  2— "Remember 
the  words  which  were  spoken  before  by  the  holy  prophets  "  [O.  T.],  "  and  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  and  Savior 
through  your  apostles"  [N.  T;]  ;  16 :  "Wrest  [Paul's  Epistles],  as  they  do  also  the  other  scriptures,  unto 
their  own  destruction."  Cf.  Ex.  4 :  14-16 ;  7 :  1. 

Implications :— 2  Tim.  3  :  16—"  Every  scripture  inspired  of  God  is  also  profitable  "—a  clear  implication 
of  inspiration,  though  not  a  direct  statement  of  it  =  there  is  a  divinely  inspired  Scripture. 
In  1  Cor.  5 :  3-5,  Paul,  commanding  the  Corinthian  church  with  regard  to  the  incestuous 
person,  was  arrogant  if  not  inspired.  There  are  more  imperatives  in  the  Epistles  than 
in  any  other  writings  of  the  same  extent.  Notice  the  continual  asseveration  of  authority, 
as  in  Gal.  1 :  1,  2,  and  the  declaration  that  disbelief  of  the  record  is  sin,  as  in  1  John  5 :  10,  11. 
Jude  3—"  The  faith  which  was  once  for  all  (anai-)  delivered  unto  the  saints."  See  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3:122; 
Henderson,  Inspiration  (2nd  ed.),  34,  234 ;  Conant,  Genesis,  Introd.  xiii,  note ;  Charteris, 
New  Testament  Scriptures :  They  claim  truth,  unity,  authority. 

5.  The  apostolic  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  unlike  professedly  in- 
spired heathen  sages  and  poets,  gave  attestation  by  miracles  or  prophecy 
that  they  were  inspired  by  God,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  pro- 
ductions of  those  who  were  not  apostles,  such  as  Mark,  Luke,  Hebrews, 
James,  and  Jude,  were  recommended  to  the  churches  as  inspired,  by  apos- 
tolic sanction  and  authority. 

The  twelve  wrought  miracles  (Mat.  10 : 1).   Paul's  "  signs  of  an  apostle "  ( 2  Cor.  12 : 12 )  =  miracles. 
Internal  evidence  confirms  the  tradition  that  Mark  was  the  "  interpreter  of  Peter,"  and  v    C  * 
that  Luke's  Gospel  and  the  Acts  had  the  sanction  of  Paul.    Since  the  purpose  of  thet^.f) 
Spirit's  bestowment  was  to  qualify  those  who  were  to  be  the  teachers  and  founders  of 
the  new  religion,  it  is  only  fair  to  assume  that  Christ's  promise  of  the  Spirit  was  valid 


not  simply  to  the  twelve  but  to  all  who  stood  in  their  places,  and  to  these  not  simply  as 
speakers,  but,  since  in  this  respect  they  had  a  still  greater  need  of  divine  guidance,  to 
them  as  writers  also. 

The  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  with  the  letters  of  James  and  Jude,  appeared  in  the  life- 
time of  some  of  the  twelve,  and  passed  unchallenged ;  and  the  fact  that  they  all,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  2  Peter,  were  very  early  accepted  by  churches  founded  and 
watched  over  by  the  apostles,  is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  apostles  regarded  them  as 
inspired  productions.  As  evidences  that  the  writers  regarded  their  writings  as  of  uni- 
versal authority,  see  1  Cor.  1 :  2—"  Unto  the  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth  ....  with  all  that  call  upon  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  every  place,"  etc.;  7:  17— "So  ordain  I  in  all  the  churches"  ;  Col.  4:  16— "and 
when  this  epistle  hath  been  read  among  you,  cause  that  it  be  read  also  in  the  church  of  the  Laodiceans  "  ;  2  Pet.  3  :  15, 
16— "our  beloved  brother  Paul  also,  according  to  the  wisdom  given  to  him,  wrote  unto  you."  See  Bartlett,  in 
Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1880 :  23-57 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1884 :  204,  305. 

III.     THEOBIES  OF  INSPIRATION. 

1.     The  Intuition-theory. 

This  holds  that  inspiration  is  but  a  higher  development  of  that  natural 
insight  into  truth  which  all  men  possess  to  some  degree  ;  a  mode  of  intelli- 
gence in  matters  of  morals  and  religion  which  gives  rise  to  sacred  books,  as 
a  corresponding  mode  of  intelligence  in  matters  of  secular  truth  gives  rise 
to  great  works  of  philosophy  or  art. 

This  theory  naturally  connects  itself  with  Pelagian  and  rationalistic  views  of  man's 
independence  of  God,  or  with  pantheistic  conceptions  of  man  as  being  himself  the  high- 
est manifestation  of  an  all-pervading  but  unconscious  intelligence.  Morell  and  F.  W. 
Newman  in  England,  and  Theodore  Parker  in  America,  are  representatives  of  this 
theory.  See  Morell,  Philos.  of  Religion,  127-179—"  Inspiration  is  only  a  higher  potency 
of  what  every  man  possesses  in  some  degree."  But  we  reply  that  the  inspiration  of 
7 


98  THE   SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

everybody  is  equivalent  to  the  inspiration  of  nobody.  Francis  W.  Newman  (brother  of 
John  Henry  Newman),  Phases  of  Faith  (=  phases  of  unbelief).  Theodore  Parker,  Dis- 
courses of  Religion,  and  Experiences  as  a  Minister. 

With  regard  to  this  theory  we  remark : 

(a)  Man  has,  indeed,  a  certain  natural  insight  into  truth,  and  we  grant 
that  inspiration  uses  this,  so  far  as  it  will  go,  and  makes  it  an  instrument  in 
discovering  and  recording  facts  of  nature  or  history. 

In  the  investigation,  for  example,  of  purely  historical  matters,  such  as  Luke  records,, 
merely  natural  insight  may  at  times  have  been  sufficient.  When  this  was  the  case,  Luke 
may  have  been  left  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  faculties,  inspiration  only  inciting  and 
supervising  the  work. 

(6)  In  all  matters  of  morals  and  religion,  however,  man's  insight  into 
truth  is  vitiated  by  wrong  affections,  and,  unless  a  supernatural  wisdom  can 
guide  him,  he  is  certain  to  err  himself,  and  to  lead  others  into  error. 

1  Cor.  2  : 14 — '•  Now  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God :  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him  - 
and  he  cannot  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  judged";  10 — "But  unto  us  God  revealed  them  through  the 
Spirit ;  for  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea  the  deep  things  of  God."  See  quotation  from  Coleridge,  in 
Shairp,  Culture  and  Religion,  114—"  Water  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source ;  neither 
can  human  reasoning  " ;  Emerson,  Prose  Works,  1 :  474;  2  :  468  —  "  'Tis  curious  we  only 
believe  as  deep  as  we  live  "  ;  Ullmann,  Sinlessness  of  Jesus,  183, 184. 

(c)  The  theory  in  question,  holding  as  it  does  that  natural  insight  is  the 
only  source  of  religious  truth,  involves  a  self-contradiction  ; — if  the  theory 
be  true,  then  one  man  is  inspired  to  utter  what  a  second  is  inspired  to  pro- 
nounce false.     The  Vedas,  the  Koran  and  the  Bible  cannot  be  inspired  ta 
contradict  each  other. 

The  Vedas  permit  thieving,  and  the  Koran  teaches  salvation  by  works  ;  these  cannot 
be  inspired  and  the  Bible  also.  Paul  cannot  be  inspired  to  write  his  epistles,  and  Swe- 
denborg  also  inspired  to  reject  them. 

(d)  It  makes  moral  and  religious  truth  to  be  a  purely  subjective  thing — 
a  matter  of  private  opinion — having  no  objective  reality  independently  of 
men's  opinions  regarding  it. 

On  this  system  truth  is  what  men  '  trow ' ;  things  are  what  men  '  think  '—words  repre- 
senting only  the  subjective.  "Better  the  Greek  dAjj#eia='  the  unconcealed '  (objective 
truth)"— Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  182.  If  there  be  no  absolute  truth,  Lessing's 
'  search  for  truth '  is  the  only  thing  left  to  us.  But  who  will  search,  if  there  is  no  truth  to 
be  found  ?  See  Dix,  Pantheism,  Introd.,  12. 

(e)  It  logically  involves  the  denial  of  a  personal  God  who  is  truth  and 
reveals  truth,  and  so  makes  man  to  be  the  highest  intelligence  in  the  uni- 
verse. 

The  animus  of  this  theory  is  denial  of  the  supernatural.  Like  the  denial  of  miracles,  it 
can  be  maintained  only  upon  grounds  of  atheism  or  pantheism. 

(/)  It  explains  inspiration  only  by  denying  its  existence  ;  since,  if  there 
be  no  personal  God,  inspiration  is  but  a  figure  of  speech  for  a  purely  natur- 
al fact. 

The  view  in  question,  as  Hutton  in  his  Essays  remarks,  would  permit  us  to  say  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Gibbon,  amid  the  ruins  of  the  Coliseum,  saying :  "  Go,  write 
the  history  of  the  Decline  and  Fall !  "  But,  replies  Hutton  :  Such  a  view  is  pantheistic. 
Inspiration  is  the  voice  of  a  living  friend,  in  distinction  from  the  voice  of  a  dead  friend, 
i.  e.  the  influence  of  his  memory.  The  inward  impulse  of  genius,  Shakespeare's  for  ex- 
ample, is  not  properly  denominated  inspiration.  See  Row,  Barapton  Lectures  for  1877  : 
428-474 ;  Rogers.,  Eclipse  of  Faith,  73  sq.  and  283  sq. ;  Henderson,  Inspiration  (2nd  ed.), 
443-469,  481-490. 


THEORIES   OF   INSPIRATION.  99 

2.     The  Illumination-theory. 

This  regards  inspiration  as  merely  an  intensifying  and  elevating  of  the 
religious  perceptions  of  the  Christian,  the  same  in  kind,  though  greater  in 
degree,  with  the  illumination  of  every  believer  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It 
holds,  not  that  the  Bible  is,  but  that  it  contains,  the  word  of  God,  and  that 
not  the  writings,  but  only  the  writers,  were  inspired. 

This  theory  naturally  connects  itself  with  Arminian  views  of  mere  cooperation  with 
God.  It  differs  from  the  Intuition-theory  by  containing  several  distinctively  Christian 
elements:  (1)  the  influence  of  a  personal  God;  (2)  an  extraordinary  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit ;  (3 )  the  Christological  character  of  the  Scriptures,  putting  into  form  a  revelation 
of  which  Christ  is  the  centre  (Rev.  19 :  10).  But  while  it  grants  that  the  Scripture  writers 
were  "  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost "  (^epd/aeroi— 2  Pet.  1 :  21),  it  ignores  the  complementary  fact  that 
the  Scripture  itself  is  "  inspired  of  God"  (^eoTrveuo-ros— 2  Tim.  3  :  16). 

This  view  was  represented  in  Germany  by  Schleiermacher,  with  the  more  orthodox 
Neander  and  Tholuck.  See  Essays  by  Tholuck  in  Herzog,  Encyclopaedic,  and  in  Noyes, 
Theological  Essays.  In  England,  Coleridge  propounded  this  view  in  his  Confessions  of 
an  Inquiring  Spirit  (Works,  5 :  569)—"  Whatever  finds  me  bears  witness  that  it  has  pro- 
ceeded from  a  Holy  Spirit;  in  the  Bible  there  is  more  th&t  finds  me  than  I  have  experi- 
enced in  all  other  books  put  together."  [Shall  we  then  call  Baxter's  "  Saints'  Rest" 
inspired,  while  the  Books  of  Chronicles  are  not  ?]  See  also  F.  W.  Robertson,  Sermon  I ; 
Life  and  Letters,  letter  53,  vol.  1:  2TO;  2:  143-150— "The  other  way,  some  twenty  or 
thirty  men  in  the  world's  history  have  had  special  communication,  miraculous  and  from 
God;  in  this  way,  all  have  it,  and  by  devout  and  earnest  cultivation  of  the  mind  and 
heart  may  have  it  inimitably  increased."  See  also  Farrar,  Critical  History  of  Free 
Thought,  473,  note  50 ;  Martineau,  Studies  of  Christianity :  "  One  Gospel  in  many  Dia- 
lects "  ;  Godet,  in  Revue  Chretienne,  Jan.,  1878;  Cremer,  Worterb.  d.  N.  T.,  3  Aufl.,  369, 
art.:  tfeoirvevo-ro?  ;  also  in  Herzog,  Encyclop.,  2  Aufl.,  6:  746,  747.  Luther's  view  resembled 
this ;  see  Dorner,  Gesch.  prot.  Theol.,  236,  237.  Of  American  writers  who  favor  this  view, 
see  J.  F.  Clarke,  Orthodoxy,  its  Truths  and  Errors,  74 ;  Curtis,  Human  Element  in  Inspi- 
ration; Whiton,  in  N.  Eng.,  Jan.,. 1882:  63-72;  Ladd,  Doctrine  of  Sacred  Scripture,  and 
in  Andover  Review,  July,  1885. 

With  regard  to  this  theory  we  remark : 

(a)  There  is  unquestionably  an  illumination  of  the  mind  of  every  be- 
liever by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  we  grant  that  there  may  have  been  instances 
in  which  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  in  inspiration,  amounted  only  to  illu- 
mination. 

Certain  applications  and  interpretations  of  Old  Testament  Scripture,  as  for  example, 
John  the  Baptist's  application  to  Jesus  of  Isaiah's  prophecy  (John  1 : 29—"  Behold,  the  Lamb 
of  God,  which  taketh  away  [marg.  'beareth']  the  sin  of  the  world"),  and  Peter's  interpretation  of 
David's  words  (Acts  2  :  27— "Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hades,  neither  wilt  thou  give  thy  Holy  One  to  see 
corruption" ),  may  have  required  only  the  illuminating  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(6)  But  we  deny  that  this  was  the  constant  method  of  inspiration,  or 
that  such  an  influence  can  account  for  the  revelation  of  new  truth  to  the 
prophets  and  apostles.  The  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  no  new 
truth,  but  only  a  vivid  apprehension  of  the  truth  already  revealed.  Any 
original  communication  of  truth  must  have  required  a  work  of  the  Spirit 
different,  not  in  degree,  but  in  kind. 

The  Scriptures  clearly  distinguish  between  revelation,  or  the  communication  of  new 
truth,  and  illumination,  or  the  quickening  of  man's  cognitive  powers  to  perceive  truth 
already  revealed.  No  increase  in  the  power  of  the  eye  or  the  telescope  will  do  no  more 
than  to  bring  into  clear  view  what  is  already  within  its  range.  Illumination  will  not 
lift  the  veil  that  hides  what  is  beyond.  Revelation,  on  the  other  hand,  is  an  '  unveiling' — 
the  raising  of  a  curtain,  or  the  bringing  within  our  range  of  what  was  hidden  before. 
Such  a  special  operation  of  God  is  described  in  2  Sam.  23 :  2,  3—"  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  spake  by  me, 
And  his  word  was  upon  my  tongue.  The  God  of  Israel  said,  The  Rock  of  Israel  spake  to  me  "  ;  Mat.  10 :  20—"  For  it  is 


100  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in  you"  ;  2  Pet.  1 :  21— "men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Revelation  sometimes,  indeed,  excluded  illumination  as  to  the  meaning  of  that  which 
was  communicated,  for  the  prophets  are  represented  in  1  Pet.  1: 11  as  "searching  what  time  or 
what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  point  unto,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings 
of  Christ,  and  the  glories  that  should  follow  them."  Since  no  degree  of  illumination  can  account  for 
the  prediction  of  "  things  that  are  to  come  "  (John  16  : 13),  this  theory  tends  to  the  denial  of  any  im- 
mediate revelation  in  prophecy  so-called,  and  the  denial  easily  extends  to  any  imme- 
diate revelation  of  doctrine. 

(c)  Mere  illumination  could  not  secure  the  Scripture  writers  from  fre- 
quent and  grievous  error.     The  spiritual  perception  of  the  Christian  is 
always  rendered  to  some  extent  imperfect  and  deceptive  by  remaining  de- 
pravity.    The  subjective  element  so  predominates  in  this  theory,  that  no 
part  of  the  Scriptures  can  be  absolutely  depended  on. 

Those  who  hold  this  theory  frequently  render  it  more  naturalistic  by  making  the 
measure  of  holiness  the  measure  of  inspiration.  But  knowledge,  in  the  Christian,  may 
go  beyond  conduct.  Balaam  and  Caiaphas  were  not  holy  men,  yet  they  were  inspired. 
The  theory  therefore  grants  the  existence  of  errors  in  matters  of  history  and  science,  if 
not  of  morality ;  the  "  ethico-religious  consciousness  "  must  determine  what  is  true  and 
binding.  We  claim,  on  the  contrary,  that  Christ's  promise  assured  the  "  impeccability 
of  memory  "  and  the  "  perfection  of  judgment "  which  some  deny.  Versus  Fisher,  Be- 
ginnings of  Christianity,  404 ;  Ladd,  Doctrine  of  Sacred  Scripture,  passim. 

(d)  An  inspiration  of  this  sort,  therefore,  still  leaves  us  destitute  of  any 
authoritative  standard  of  truth  and  duty.     An  additional  revelation  would, 
upon  this  theory,  still  be  needed  to  tell  us  what  parts  of  that  which  we  have 
are  true  and  binding. 

Notice  the  progress  from  Thomas  Arnold  (Sermons,  2 : 185)  to  Matthew  Arnold  (Litera- 
ture and  Dogma,  134,  137).  C.  H.  M.  on  Genesis  3 : 1, 4—"  Yea,  hath  God  said  ?  "  is  quickly  followed 
by  "Ye  shall  not  surely  die."  Questioning  of  God's  word  is  quickly  followed  by  open  con- 
tradiction. There  is  no  security  but  in  taking  the  whole  Bible  as  of  absolute  authority. 

(e)  Since  no  such  additional  revelation  is  given  us,  the  individual  reason 
must  determine  what  parts  of  Scripture  it  is  to  receive,  and  what  to  reject. 
The  theory  in  effect  makes  reason,  and  not  the  Scriptures,  the  ultimate  au- 
thority in  morals  and  religion. 

Notice  also  Swedenborg's  rejection  of  nearly  one  half  the  Bible  (Ruth,  Chronicles, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  Job,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Solomon,  and  the  whole  of 
the  N.  T.  except  the  Gospels  and  the  Apocalypse),  connected  with  the  claim  of  divine  au- 
thority for  his  new  revelations.  "  His  interlocutors  all  Swedenborgianize  "  (Emerson). 
On  Swedenborg,  see  Hours  with  the  Mystics,  2 :  230 ;  Moehler,  Symbolism,  430-466 ;  New 
Englander,  Jan.,  1874  :  195 ;  Baptist  Review,  1883 :  143-157 ;  Pond,  Swedenborgianism. 

3.     The  Dictation-theory. 

This  theory  holds  that  inspiration  consisted  in  such  a  possession  of  the 
minds  and  bodies  of  the  Scripture  writers  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  they 
became  passive  instruments  or  amanuenses — pens,  not  penmen,  of  God. 

This  theory  naturally  connects  itself  with  that  view  of  miracles  which  regards  them 
as  suspensions  or  violations  of  natural  law.  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  624  (transl.  2 : 
J86-189),  calls  it  a  "docetic  view  of  inspiration.  It  holds  to  the  abolition  of  second 
causes,  and  to  the  perfect  passivity  of  the  human  instrument ;  denies  any  inspiration  of 
persons,  and  maintains  inspiration  of  writings  only.  This  exaggeration  of  the  divine 
element  led  to  the  hypothesis  of  a  multiform  divine  sense  in  Scripture,  and,  in  assigning 
the  spiritual  meaning,  a  rationalizing  spirit  led  the  way."  Representatives  of  this  view 
are  Quenstedt,  Theol.  Didact.,  1 :  76—"  The  Holy  Ghost  inspired  his  amanuenses  with 
those  expressions  which  they  would  have  employed,  had  they  been  left  to  themselves"; 


THEORIES   OF   INSPIRATION.  101 

Hooker,  Works,  2 :  383— u  They  neither  spake  nor  wrote  any  word  of  their  own,  but 
uttered  syllable  by  syllable  as  the  Spirit  put  it  into  their  mouths";  Gaussen,  Theo- 
pneusty,  61—"  The  Bible  is  not  a  book  which  God  charged  men  already  enlightened  to 
make  under  his  protection;  it  is  a  book  which  God  dictated  to  them"  ;  Cunningham, 
Theol.  Lectures,  349— "  The  verbal  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  [which  he  advocates] 
implies  in  general  that  the  words  of  Scripture  were  suggested  or  dictated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  well  as  the  substance  of  the  matter,  and  this,  not  only  in  some  portion  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  through  the  whole."  This  reminds  us  of  the  old  theory  that  God  created 
fossils  in  the  rocks,  as  they  would  be  had  ancient  seas  existed. 

Of  this  view  we  may  remark  : — 

(a)  We  grant  that  there  are  instances  when  God's  communications  were 
uttered  in  an  audible  voice  and  took  a  definite  form  of  words,  and  that  this 
was  sometimes  accompanied  with  the  command  to  commit  the  words  to 
writing. 

For  examples,  see  Numbers  7  :  89 — "  And  when  Moses  went  into  the  tent  of  meeting  to  speak  with  him,  then, 
he  heard  the  Voice  speaking  unto  him  from  above  the  mercy-seat  that  was  upon  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  from  between 
the  two  cherubim :  and  he  spake  unto  him  "  ;  8  : 1 — "And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying",  etc. ;  Dan.  4  :  31 — 
"  While  the  word  was  in  the  King's  mouth,  there  fell  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying,  0  King  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee  it  is 
spoken :  the  kingdom  is  departed  from  thee  "  ;  Acts  9 :  5 — "  And  he  said,  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest"  ;  Rev.  19 :  9 — "  And  he  saith  unto  me,  Write.  Blessed  are  they  which  are  bidden  to  the  marriage- 
supper  of  the  Lamb  "  ;  21 :  5—"  And  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new  "  ;  c/.  1 : 10,  11— 
"  And  I  heard  behind  me  a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet  saying,  What  thou  seest,  write  in  a  book,  and  send  it  into  the 
seven  churches." 

(6)  The  theory  in  question,  however,  rests  upon  a  partial  induction  of 
Scripture  facts, — unwarrantably  assuming  that  such  occasional  instances  of 
direct  dictation  reveal  the  invariable  method  of  God's  communications  of 
truth  to  the  writers  of  the  Bible. 

Scripture  nowhere  declares  that  this  immediate  communication  of  the  words  was  uni- 
versal. On  1  Cor.  2  :  13 — OVK  ev  StSaKToi?  ai/flpwTrtVrj?  <TO(f)ia<;  Aoyoi?,  aAA'  ei>  SiSaKTols  Trvev/uaTO?,  the 

text  usually  cited  as  proof  of  invariable  dictation— Meyer  says :  "  There  is  no  dictation 
here;  fiifioxrois  excludes  everything  mechanical."  Henderson,  Inspiration  (2nd  ed.),  333» 
349 :  "  As  human  wisdom  did  not  dictate  word  for  word,  so  the  Spirit  did  not."  Paul 
claims  for  Scripture  simply  a  general  style  of  plainness  which  is  due  to  the  influence  of 
the  Spirit. 

(c)  It  cannot  account  for  the  manifestly  human  element  in  the  Scrip- 
tures.    There  are  peculiarities  of  style  which  distinguish  the  productions 
of  each  writer  from  those  of  every  other,  and  there  are  variations  in  accounts 
of  the  same  transaction  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  theory  of  a  solely 
divine  authorship. 

Notice  Paul's  anacoloutha  and  his  bursts  of  grief  and  indignation  (Rom.  5  : 12  SQ.,  2  Cor. 
11 :  1  sq.),  and  his  ignorance  of  the  precise  number  whom  he  had  baptized  (1  Cor.  1 : 16). 
One  beggar  or  two  (Mat.  20  :  30;  c/.  Luke  18  :  35) ;  "about  five  and  twenty  or  thirty  furlongs"  (John  6 :  19) ; 
"shed  for  many"  (Mat.  26:  28  has  nepi,  Mark  14  :  24  and  Luke  22  :  21  have  vTrep).  Dictation  of  words 
which  were  immediately  to  be  lost  by  imperfect  transcription  ? 

(d)  It  is  inconsistent  with  a  wise  economy  of  means,  to  suppose  that  the 
Scripture  writers  should  have  had  dictated  to  them  what  they  knew  already, 
or  what  they  could  inform  themselves  of  by  the  use  of  their  natural  powers. 

Why  employ  eye-witnesses  at  all  ?  Why  not  dictate  the  gospels  to  Gentiles  living  a 
thousand  years  before  ? 

(e)  It  contradicts  what  we  know  of  the  law  of  God's  working  in  the  soul. 
The  higher  and  nobler  God's  communications,  the  more  fully  is  man  in  pos- 


102  THE   SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM   GOD. 

session  and  use  of  his  own  faculties.     We  cannot  suppose  that  this  highest 
work  of  man  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  was  purely  mechanical. 

Joseph  receives  communication  by  vision  (Mat.  1 :  20) ;  Mary,  by  words  of  an  angel  spoken 
in  her  waking  moments  (Luke  1 :  28).  The  more  advanced  the  recipient,  the  more  con- 
scious the  communication. 

4.     The  Dynamical  theory. 

The  true  view  holds,  in  opposition  to  the  first  of  these  theories,  that  in- 
spiration is  not  a  natural  but  a  supernatural  fact,  and  that  it  is  the  immedi- 
ate work  of  a  personal  God  in  the  soul  of  man. 

It  holds,  in  opposition  to  the  second,  that  inspiration  belongs,  not  only  to 
the  men  who  wrote  the  Scriptures,  but  to  the  Scriptures  which  they  wrote, 
and  to  every  part  of  them,  so  that  they  are  in  every  part  the  word  of  God. 

It  holds,  in  opposition  to  the  third  theory,  that  the  Scriptures  contain  a 
human  as  well  as  a  divine  element,  so  that  while  they  constitute  a  body  of 
infallible  truth,  this  truth  is  shaped  in  human  moulds  and  adapted  to  ordi- 
nary human  intelligence. 

In  short,  inspiration  is  neither  natural,  partial,  nor  mechanical,  but  super- 
natural, plenary,  and  dynamical.  Further  explanations  will  be  grouped 
under  the  following  head  : 

IV.     THE  UNION  OF  THE  DIVINE  AND  HUMAN  ELEMENTS  IN  INSPIRATION. 

1.  The  Scriptures  are  the  production  equally  of  God  and  of  man,  and 
are  therefore  never  to  be  regarded  as  merely  human  or  merely  divine. 

The  mystery  of  inspiration  consists  in  neither  of  these  terms  separately, 
but  in  the  union  of  the  two.  Of  this,  however,  there  are  analogies  in  the 
interpenetration  of  human  powers  by  the  divine  efficiency  in  regeneration 
and  sanctification,  and  in  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ. 

According  to  "  Daltoii's  law,"  each  gas  is  as  a  vacuum  to  every  other:  "  Gases  are 
mutually  pas>ive,  and  pass  into  each  other  as  into  vacua."  Each  interpenetrates  the 
other.  But  this  does  not  furnish  a  perfect  illustration  of  our  subject.  The  atom  of 
oxygen  and  the  atom  of  nitrogen,  in  common  air,  remain  side  by  side,  but  they  do  not 
unite.  In  inspiration  the  human  and  the  divine  elements  do  unite.  The  Lutheran 
maxim,  Mens  humana  capax  divince,  is  one  of  the  most  important  principles  of  a  true 
theology. 

2.  This  union  of  the  divine  and  human  agencies  in  inspiration  is  not  to 
be  conceived  of  as  one  of  external  impartation  and  reception. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  whom  God  raised  up  and  providentially  qualified 
to  do  this  work,  spoke  and  wrote  the  words  of  God,  when  inspired,  not  as 
from  without,  but  as  from  within,  and  that  not  passively,  but  in  the  most 
conscious  possession  and  the  most  exalted  exercise  of  their  own  powers  of 
intellect,  emotion,  and  will. 

The  Holy  Spirit  does  not  dwell  in  man  as  water  in  a  vessel.  We  may  rather  illustrate 
the  experience  of  the  Scripture  writers  by  the  experience  of  the  preacher  who  under  the 
influence  of  God's  Spirit  is  carried  beyond  himself,  and  is  conscious  of  a  clearer  appre- 
hension of  truth  and  of  a  greater  ability  to  utter  it  than  belong  to  his  unaided  nature, 
yet  knows  himself  to  be  no  passive  vehicle  of  a  divine  communication,  but  to  be  as  never 
before  in  possession  and  exercise  of  his  own  powers.  The  inspiration  of  the  Scripture 
writers,  however,  goes  far  beyond  the  illumination  granted  to  the  preacher,  in  that  it 
qualifies  them  to  put  the  truth,  without  error,  into  permanent  and  written  form.  This  in- 
spiration, moreover,  is  more  than  providential  preparation.  Like  miracles,  inspiration 


DIVINE   AND    HUMAN    ELEMENTS    IN    INSPIRATION.  103 

may  use  man's  natural  powers,  but  man's  natural  powers  do  not  explain  it.  Moses, 
David,  Paul,  and  John  were  providentially  endowed  and  educated  for  their  work  of 
writing  Scripture,  but  this  endowment  and  education  were  not  inspiration  itself,  but 
•only  the  preparation  for  it. 

3.  Inspiration,  therefore,  did  not  remove,  but  rather  pressed  into  its  own 
service,  all  the  personal  peculiarities  of  the  writers,  together  with  their  de- 
fects of  culture  and  literary  style. 

Every  imperfection  not  inconsistent  with  truth  in  a  human  composition 
may  exist  in  inspired  Scripture.  The  Bible  is  God's  word,  in  the  sense  that 
it  presents  to  us  divine  truth  in  human  forms,  and  is  a  revelation  not  for  a 
select  class  but  for  the  common  mind.  Rightly  understood,  this  very 
humanity  of  the  Bible  is  a  proof  of  its  divinity. 

Locke :  "  When  God  made  the  prophet,  he  did  not  unmake  the  man."  Prof.  Day : 
•"  The  bush  in  which  God  appeared  to  Moses  remained  a  bush,  Avhile  yet  burning-  with  the 
brightness  of  God  and  uttering-  forth  the  majesty  of  the  mind  of  God."  The  paragraphs 
•of  the  Koran  are  called  ayat,  or  "  sign,"  from  their  supposed  supernatural  elegance.  But 
elegant  literary  productions  do  not  touch  the  heart.  The  Bible  is  not  merely  the  word 
of  God;  it  is  also  the  word  made  flesh.  The  Holy  Spirit  hides  himself,  that  he  may 
.show  forth  Christ  (John  3:8);  he  is  known  only  by  his  effects  — a  pattern  for  preachers, 
who  are  ministers  of  the  Spirit  (2  Cor.  3:6).  See  Conant  on  Genesis,  page  65. 

4.  Inspiration  went  no  further  than  to  secure  an  infallible  transmission 
by  the  sacred  writers  of  the  special  truth  which  they  were  commissioned  to 
deliver. 

Inspiration  was  not  omniscience.  It  was  TroTivrpoTrus  (Heb.  1  :  1), — a  be- 
stowment  of  various  kinds  and  degrees  of  knowledge  and  aid,  according  to 
need ;  sometimes  suggesting  new  truth,  sometimes  presiding  over  the  col- 
lection of  preexisting  material,  though  always  guarding  from  error  in  the 
final  elaboration.  As  inspiration  was  not  omniscience,  so  it  was  not  com- 
plete sanctification.  It  involved  neither  personal  infallibility  nor  entire 
freedom  from  sin. 

The  Scripture  writers  were  perfect  teachers,  but  not  perfect  men.  Paul  at  Antioch 
resisted  Peter,  "because  he  stood  condemned  "  (Gal.  2:  11).  But  Peter  differed  from  Paul,  not  in 
public  utterances,  nor  in  written  words,  but  in  following  his  own  teachings  (cf.  Acts  15: 
•6-11) ;  versus  Norman  Fox,  in  Bap.  Rev.  1885 :  469-482.  Personal  defects  do  not  invalidate 
an  ambassador,  though  they  may  hinder  the  reception  of  his  message.  So  with  the 
apostles'  ignorance  of  the  time  of  Christ's  second  coming.  It  was  only  gradually  that 
they  came  to  understand  Christian  doctrines ;  they  did  not  teach  the  truth  all  at  once ; 
their  final  utterances  supplemented  and  completed  the  earlier;  and  all  together  fur- 
nished only  that  measure  of  knowledge  which  God  saw  needful  for  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious teaching  of  mankind.  Many  things  are  yet  unrevealed,  and  many  things  which 
inspired  men  uttered,  they  did  not,  when  they  uttered  them,  fully  understand. 

5.  Inspiration  did  not  always,  or  even  generally,  involve  a  direct  com- 
munication to  the  Scripture  writers  of  the  words  they  wrote. 

Thought  is  possible  without  words,  and  in  the  order  of  nature  precedes 
words.  The  Scripture  writers  appear  to  have  been  so  influenced  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  that  they  perceived  and  felt  even  the  new  truths  they  were  to 
publish,  as  discoveries  of  their  own  minds,  and  were  left  to  the  action  of 
their  own  minds  in  the  expression  of  these  truths,  with  the  single  excep- 
tion that  they  were  supernaturally  held  back  from  the  selection  of  wrong 
words,  and  when  needful  were  provided  with  right  ones.  Inspiration  is 
therefore  verbal  as  to  its  result,  but  not  verbal  as  to  its  method. 

Thought  is  possible  without  language.    The  concept  may  exist  without  words.    See 


104  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

experience  of  deaf-mutes,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1881 :  104-128.  The  prompter  inter- 
rupts only  when  the  speaker's  memory  fails.  The  writing-master  guides  the  pupil'a 
hand  only  when  it  would  otherwise  go  wrong.  The  father  suffers  the  child  to  walk  alone, 
except  when  it  is  in  danger  of  stumbling.  If  knowledge  be  rendered  certain,  it  is  as  good 
as  direct  revelation.  But  whenever  the  mere  communication  of  ideas  or  the  direction  to 
proper  material  would  not  suffice  to  secure  a  correct  utterance,  the  sacred  writers  were 
guided  in  the  very  selection  of  their  words.  Minute  criticism  proves  more  and  more 
conclusively  the  suitableness  of  the  verbal  dress  to  the  thoughts  expressed  ;  all  Biblical 
exegesis  is  based,  indeed,  upon  the  assumption  that  divine  wisdom  has  made  the  out- 
ward form  a  trustworthy  and  exact  vehicle  of  the  inward  substance  of  revelation.  See 
Henderson,  Inspiration  (2nd  ed.),  102,  114 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  1872 :  428,  640. 

6.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  ever-present  human  element,  the  all-per- 
vading inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  constitutes  these  various  writings  an 
organic  whole. 

Since  the  Bible  is  in  all  its  parts  the  work  of  God,  each  part  is  to  be  judged, 
not  by  itself  alone,  but  in  its  connection  with  every  other  part.  The  Scrip- 
tures are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  so  many  merely  human  productions  by 
different  authors,  but  as  also  the  work  of  one  divine  mind.  Seemingly  trivial 
things  are  to  be  explained  from  their  connection  with  the  whole.  One  his- 
tory is  to  be  built  up  from  the  several  accounts  of  the  life  of  Christ.  One 
doctrine  must  supplement  another.  The  Old  Testament  is  part  of  a  pro- 
gressive system,  whose  culmination  and  key  are  to  be  found  in  the  New. 
The  central  subject  and  thought  which  binds  all  parts  of  the  Bible  together, 
and  in  the  light  of  which  they  are  to  be  interpreted,  is  the  person  and  work 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Bible  says  :  "  There  is  no  God  "  (Ps.  14 : 1) ;  but  then,  this  is  to  be  taken  with  the  context : 
"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart."  Satan's  "  It  is  written  "  (Mat.  4 :  6)  is  supplemented  by  Christ's  "  It  is 
written  again  "  (Mat.  4 :  7).  Trivialities  are  like  the  hair  and  nails  of  the  body— they  have  their 
place  as  parts  of  a  complete  and  organic  whole ;  see  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  40.  The 
verse  which  mentions  Paul's  cloak  at  Troas  (2  Tim.  4 :  13)  is  (1)  a  sign  of  genuineness— a 
forger  would  not  invent  it ;  ( 2 )  an  evidence  of  temporal  need  endured  for  the  gospel ; 
(3)  an  indication  of  the  limits  of  inspiration— even  Paul  must  have  books  and  parch- 
ments. 

7.  The  preceding  discussion  enables  us,  at  least,  to  lay  down  two  cardinal 
principles,  and  to  answer  two  common  questions,  with  regard  to  inspiration. 

Principles  : — (a)  The  human  mind  can  be  inhabited  and  energized  by 
God,  while  yet  attaining  and  retaining  therein  its  own  highest  intelligence 
and  freedom.  (6)  The  Scriptures,  being  the  work  of  the  one  God,  as  well  a» 
of  the  men  in  whom  God  moved  and  dwelt,  constitute  an  articulated  and 
organic  unity.  Questions  : —  (a)  Is  any  part  of  Scripture  uninspired  ? 
Answer:  Every  part  of  Scripture  is  inspired  in  its  connection  and  relation 
with  every  other  part.  (6)  Are  there  degrees  of  inspiration?  Answer: 
There  are  degrees  of  value,  but  not  of  inspiration.  Each  part  in  its  con- 
nection with  the  rest  is  made  completely  true,  and  completeness  has  no 
degrees. 

Notice  the  value  of  the  Old  Testament,  revealing  as  it  does  the  natural  attributes  of 
God,  as  a  basis  and  background  for  the  revelation  of  mercy  in  the  New  Testament. 
Revelation  was  in  many  parts  (TrcAti/uepis— Heb.  1:1)  as  well  as  in  many  ways.  "  Each 
individual  oracle,  taken  by  itself,  was  partial  and  incomplete  "  (Robertson  Smith,  O.  T. 
in  Jewish  Ch.,  21).  But  the  person  and  the  words  of  Christ  sum  up  and  complete  the 
revelation,  so  that,  taken  together  and  in  their  connection  with  him,  the  various  parts 
of  Scripture  constitute  an  infallible  and  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  See 
Browne,  Inspiration  of  the  N.  T.;  Bernard,  Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  N.  T.;  Stanley 
Leathes,  Structure  of  the  O.  T.;  Rainy,  Delivery  and  Development  of  Doctrine. 


OBJECTIONS   TO    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    INSPIRATION.  105 

V.     OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  INSPIEATION. 

In  connection  with  a  divine-human  work  like  the  Bible,  insoluble  diffi- 
culties may  be  expected  to  present  themselves.  So  long,  however,  as  its 
inspiration  is  sustained  by  competent  and  sufficient  evidence,  these  difficulties 
cannot  justly  prevent  our  full  acceptance  of  the  doctrine,  any  more  than  dis- 
order and  mystery  in  nature  warrant  us  in  setting  aside  the  proofs  of  its 
divine  authorship.  These  difficulties  are  lessened  with  time  ;  some  have 
already  disappeared  ;  many  may  be  due  to  ignorance,  and  may  be  removed 
hereafter  ;  those  which  are  permanent  may  be  intended  to  stimulate  inquiry 
and  to  discipline  faith. 

It  is  noticeable  that  the  common  objections  to  inspiration  are  urged,  not 
so  much  against  the  religious  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  as  against  certain 
errors  in  secular  matters  which  are  supposed  to  be  interwoven  with  it.  But 
if  these  were  proved  to  be  errors  indeed,  it  would  not  necessarily  overthrow 
the  doctrine  of  inspiration  ;  it  would  only  compel  us  to  give  a  larger  place 
to  the  human  element  in  the  composition  of  the  Scriptures,  and  to  regard 
them  more  exclusively  as  a  text-book  of  religion.  As  a  rule  of  religious 
faith  and  practice,  they  might  still  be  the  infallible  word  of  God. 

But  we  deny  that  such  errors  have  as  yet  been  proved  to  exist.  While 
we  are  never  to  forget  that  the  Bible  is  to  be  judged  as  a  book  whose  one 
great  aim  is  man's  rescue  from  sin,  and  reconciliation  to  God,  we  still  hold 
that  it  is  not  only  in  religious  respects,  but  in  all  respects,  a  record  of  sub- 
stantial truth.  This  will  more  fully  appear  from  an  examination  of  the  ob- 
jections in  detail. 

"  The  Scriptures  are  given  to  teach  us,  not  how  the  heavens  go,  but  how  to  go  to 
heaven."  Their  aim  is  certainly  not  to  teach  science  or  history.  Yet  certain  of  their 
doctrines  are  historical  facts,  and  certain  of  their  facts  are  doctrines.  It  seems  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  separate  between  the  historical  and  scientific  credibility,  and  the 
religious  credibility,  of  the  Scriptures.  As  the  undermining  of  the  scientific  trust- 
worthiness of  the  Vedas  is  an  undermining  of  the  religion  which  they  teach,  so  with  the 
Christian  Scriptures.  With  John  Smyth  (died,  Amsterdam,  1612),  we  say  :  "  I  profess  I 
have  changed,  and  shall  be  ready  still  to  change,  for  the  better  "  ;  and  with  John  Robin- 
son, in  his  farewell  address  to  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  :  "  I  am  verily  persuaded  that  the 
Lord  hath  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  from  his  holy  word." 

But  we  do  not  yet  see  reason  to  give  up  our  belief  that  the  Bible,  even  in  historical 
and  scientific  matters,  so  far  as  it  commits  itself  to  definite  statements,  and  when  it  is 
fairly  interpreted,  is  worthy  of  all  credence.  As  to  obscurities,  "  we  may  say,  as  Isocrates 
did  of  the  work  of  Heraclitus :  '  What  I  understand  of  it  is  so  excellent  that  I  can  draw 
conclusions  from  it  concerning  what  I  do  not  understand.'"  "If  Bengel  finds  things 
in  the  Bible  too  hard  for  his  critical  faculty,  he  finds  nothing  too  hard  for  his  believing 
faculty."  See  Luthardt,  Saving  Truths,  205 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  205  sq. ;  Bap.  Rev., 
April,  1881,  art.  by  O.  P.  Baches.  Cardinal  Newman,  in  19th  Century,  Feb.,  1884. 

1.     Errors  in  matters  of  Science. 
Upon  this  objection  we  remark  : 

(a)  We  do  not  admit  the  existence  of  scientific  error  in  the  Scripture. 
What  is  charged  as  such  is  simply  truth  presented  in  popular  and  impressive 
forms. 

The  common  rnind  receives  a  more  correct  idea  of  unfamiliar  facts  when 
these  are  narrated  in  phenomenal  language  and  in  summary  form  than 
when  they  are  described  in  the  abstract  terms  and  in  the  exact  detail  of 
science. 


106  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

Herbert  Spencer's  principle  of  style :  Economy  of  the  reader's  and  hearer's  atten- 
tion —  the  more  mental  energy  is  expended  upon  the  form,  the  less  remains  for  the  sub- 
stance (Essays,  1-47).  In  narrative,  to  substitute  for  "sunset"  some  scientific  descrip- 
tion would  divert  attention  from  the  main  subject.  The  language  of  appearance  is 
probably  used  in  Gen.  7 :  19—"  all  the  high  mountains  that  were  under  the  whole  heaven  were  covered  "—such 
would  be  the  appearance,  even  if  the  deluge  were  local  instead  of  universal ;  in  Josh.  10 : 
12, 13— "  and  the  sun  stood  still  "—such  would  be  the  appearance,  even  if  the  sun's  rays  were 
merely  refracted  so  as  preternaturally  to  lengthen  the  day;  in  Ps.  93:  1— "the  world  also  is 
stablished  that  it  cannot  be  moved  "—such  is  the  appearance,  even  though  the  earth  turns  on  its 
axis  and  moves  round  the  sun. 

(6)  It  is  not  necessary  to  a  proper  view  of  inspiration  to  suppose  that  the 
human  authors  of  Scripture  had  in  mind  the  proper  scientific  interpretation 
of  the  natural  events  they  recorded. 

It  is  enough  that  this  was  in  the  mind  of  the  inspiring  Spirit.  Through 
the  comparatively  narrow  conceptions  and  inadequate  language  of  the 
Scripture  writers,  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  may  have  secured  the  expression 
of  the  truth  in  such  germinal  form  as  to  be  intelligible  to  the  times  in  which 
it  was  first  published,  and  yet  capable  of  indefinite  expansion  as  science 
should  advance.  In  the  miniature  picture  of  creation  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,  and  in  its  power  of  adjusting  itself  to  every  advance  of  scientific 
investigation,  we  have  a  strong  proof  of  inspiration. 

The  word  "  day  "  in  Genesis  1  is  an  instance  of  this  germinal  mode  of  expression.  It  would 
be  absurd  to  teach  early  races,  that  deal  only  in  small  numbers,  about  the  myriads  of 
years  of  creation.  The  child's  object-lesson,  with  its  graphic  summary,  conveys  to  his 
mind  more  of  truth  than  elaborate  and  exact  statement  would  convey.  Conant  (Genesis 
2 :  10)  says  of  the  description  of  Eden  and  its  rivers :  "  Of  course  the  author's  object  is 
not  a  minute  topographical  description,  but  a  general  and  impressive  conception  as  a 
whole."  Yet  the  progress  of  science  only  shows  that  these  accounts  are  not  less  but 
more  true  than  was  supposed  by  those  who  first  received  them.  Neither  the  Hindu 
Shasters  nor  any  heathen  cosmogony  can  bear  such  comparison  with  the  results  of 
science.  Why  change  our  interpretations  of  Scripture  so  often  ?  Answer :  We  do  not 
assume  to  be  original  teachers  of  science,  but  only  to  interpret  Scripture  with  the  new 
lights  we  have.  See  Dana,  Manual  of  Geology,  741-746;  Guyot,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1855 :  324 ; 
Dawson,  Story  of  Earth  and  Man,  32. 

(c)  It  may  safely  be  said  that  science  has  not  yet  shown  any  fairly  in- 
terpreted passage  of  Scripture  to  be  untrue. 

With  regard  to  the  antiquity  of  the  race,  we  may  say  that  owing  to  the 
differences  of  reading  between  the  Septuagint  and  the  Hebrew  there  is  room 
for  doubt  whether  either  of  the  received  chronologies  has  the  sanction  of  in- 
spiration. If  science  should  prove  the  existence  of  man  upon  the  earth  at  a 
period  preceding  the  dates  hitherto  assigned,  no  statement  of  inspired  Scrip- 
ture would  necessarily  be  proved  false.  But  such  antiquity  cannot  as  yet  be 
considered  a  matter  of  demonstration. 

Usher's  scheme  of  chronology,  on  the  basis  of  the  Hebrew,  puts  the  creation  4004 
years  before  Christ.  Hales's,  on  the  basis  of  the  Septuagint,  puts  it  5411  B.  C.  The 
Fathers  followed  the  LXX.  But  the  genealogies  before  and  after  the  flood  may  present 
us  only  with  the  names  of  "  leading  and  representative  men."  Some  of  these  names 
seem  to  stand,  not  for  individuals,  but  for  tribes,  e.  g.:  G«n.  10 :  16— where  Canaan  is  said 
to  have  begotten  the  Jebusite  and  the  Amorite ;  29— Joktan  begat  Ophir  and  Havilah. 
The  appearance  of  completeness  in  the  text  may  be  due  to  alteration  of  the  text  in  the 
course  of  centuries ;  see  Bib.  Com.,  1 :  30.  In  the  phrase  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  son  of  David,  the  son  of 
Abraham  "  (Mat.  1:1)  thirty-eight  to  forty  generations  are  omitted.  It  may  be  so  in  some 
of  the  Old  Testament  genealogies.  There  is  room  for  a  hundred  thousand  years,  if 
necessary  (Conant). 

But  no  such  extent  of  time  seems  necessary.    Rawlinson  (Journ.  Christ.  Philos.,  1883 : 


OBJECTIONS   TO   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    INSPIRATION.  107 

339-364),  dates  the  beginning-  of  the  Chaldean  monarchy  at  2400  B.  C.  Lenormant  puts 
the  entrance  of  the  Sanskritic  Indians  into  Hindustan  at  2500  B.  C.  The  earliest  Vedas 
are  between  1200  and  1000  B.  C.  (Max  Mtiller).  Call  of  Abraham,  probably  1945  B.  C.  Chi- 
nese history  possibly  began  as  early  as  2&56  B.  C.  (Legge).  The  old  Empire  in  Egypt 
possibly  began  as  early  as  2650  B.  C.  Rawlinson  puts  the  flood  at  3600  B.  C.,  and  adds 
2000  years  between  the  deluge  and  the  creation,  making  the  age  of  world  1886  +  3600  + 
2000  =  7486.  S.  R.  Pattison,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  3:  no.  13,  concludes  that  "a  term  of 
about  8000  years  is  warranted  by  deductions  from  history,  geology,  and  Scripture."  See 
also  Duke  of  Argyll,  Primeval  Man,  76-128 ;  Cowles  on  Genesis,  49-80 :  Dawsoii,  Fossil 
Men,  246 ;  Hicks,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  July,  1884  (15000  years). 

2.     Errors  in  matters  of  History. 

To  this  objection  we  reply  : 

(a)  What  are  charged  as  such  are  often  mere  mistakes  in  transcription, 
and  have  no  force  as  arguments  against  inspiration,  unless  it  can  first  be 
shown  that  inspired  documents  are  by  the  very  fact  of  their  inspiration 
exempt  from  the  operation  of  those  laws  which  affect  the  transmission  of 
other  ancient  documents. 

We  have  no  right  to  expect  that  the  inspiration  of  the  original  writer  will  be  followed 
by  a  miracle  in  the  case  of  every  copyist.  Why  believe  in  infallible  copyists,  more  than 
in  infallible  printers?  God  educates  us  to  care  for  his  word,  and  for  its  correct  trans- 
mission. Reverence  has  kept  the  Scriptures  more  free  from  various  readings  than 
are  other  ancient  manuscripts.  None  of  the  existing  variations  endanger  any  important 
article  of  faith.  Yet  some  mistakes  in  transcription  there  probably  are.  In  1  Chron.  22 : 14, 
instead  of  100,000  talents  of  gold  and  1,000,000  talents  of  silver  (=$3,750,000,000),  Jose- 
phus  divides  the  sum  by  ten.  In  2  Chron.  13 :  3,  where  the  numbers  of  armies  in  little  Pal- 
estine are  stated  as  400,000,  800,000  and  500,000,  "  some  ancient  copies  of  the  Vulgate  and 
Latin  translations  of  Josephus  have  40,000,  80,000  and  50,000."  "In  Hebrew,  numbers 
were  expressed  by  letters  of  the  alphabet.  A  little  alteration,  like  that  of  c  to  e,  may 
convert  3  into  50,  4  into  200,  8  into  400.  The  addition  of  a  dot  or  a  line  may  greatly 
multiply  the  numerical  power  of  a  letter  "  (Annotated  Paragraph  Bible,  516).  Compare 
1  L  7 :  26  ( "  2000  baths  "),  with  2  Chron.  4  :  5  ("  3000  baths " ) ;  here  5,  =  2000,  has  probably  been  con- 
founded with  J,  =  3000.  Similarly,  compare  2  Sam.  8:  4  ("1700  horsemen")  with  1  Chron.  18:  4 
< "  7000  horsemen  "  )  ;  see  Pope,  Theology,  1 :  188.  In  Mat.  27 :  9,  we  have  "  Jeremiah  "  for  "  Zechariah  " 
—this  Calvin  allows  to  be  a  mistake.  In  Acts  7: 16— "the  tomb  that  Abraham  bought "— Hackett 
regards  "  Abraham  "  as  a  clerical  error  for  "  Jacob  "  (compare  Gen.  33 : 18, 19).  See  Bible  Com., 
3  :  165,  249,  251,  317. 

(6)  Other  so-called  errors  are  to  be  explained  as  a  permissible  use  of 
round  numbers,  which  cannot  be  denied  to  the  sacred  writers  except  upon 
the  principle'  that  mathematical  accuracy  was  more  important  than  the 
general  impression  to  be  secured  by  the  narrative. 

In  Numbers  25 :  9,  we  read  that  there  fell  in  the  plague  24,000 ;  1  Cor.  10 :  8  says  23,000.  The 
actual  number  was  possibly  somewhere  between  the  two.  Upon  a  similar  principle,  we 
do  not  scruple  to  celebrate  the  Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  December  22nd  and  the 
birth  of  Christ  on  December  25th.  We  speak  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  although  at 
Bunker  Hill  no  battle  was  really  fought.  » 

(c)  Diversities  of  statement  in  accounts  of  the  same  event,  so  long  as 
they  touch  no  substantial  truth,  may  be  due  to  the  meagreness  of  the 
narrative,  and  might  be  fully  explained  if  some  single  fact,  now  unrecorded, 
were  only  known.  To  explain  these  apparent  discrepancies  would  not  only 
be  beside  the  purpose  of  the  record,  but  would  destroy  one  valuable 
evidence  of  the  independence  of  the  several  writers  or  witnesses. 

On  the  Stokes  trial,  the  judge  spoke  of  two  apparently  conflicting  testimonies  as 
neither  of  them  necessarily  false.  On  the  difference  between  Matthew  and  Luke  as  to 
the  scene  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Mat.  5:1;  cf .  Luke  6 : 17)  see  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Pales- 


108  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

tine,  360;  as  to  one  blind  man  or  two  (Mat.  20 :  30 ;  cf.  Luke  18:  35)  see  Bliss,  Com.  on  Luke, 
275,  and  Gardiner,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  July,  1879 :  513,  514.  On  Christ's  last  Passover,  see  Rob- 
inson, Harmony,  212 ;  E.  H.  Sears,  Fourth  Gospel,  Appendix  A ;  Edersheim,  Life  and 
Times  of  the  Messiah,  2  :  507.  Augustine :  "  Locutiones  variae,  sed  non  contrariae ; 
diversae,  sed  non  adversae." 

Bartlett,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1880:  46,  47,  gives  the  following  modern  illustrations: 
Winslow's  Journal  (of  Plymouth  Plantation)  speaks  of  a  ship  sent  out  "  by  Master 
Thomas  Weston."  But  Bradford,  in  his  far  briefer  narrative  of  the  matter,  mentions  it 
as  sent  "  by  Mr.  Weston  and  another."  John  Adams,  in  his  letters,  tells  the  story  of  the 
daughter  of  Otis  about  her  father's  destruction  of  his  own  manuscripts.  At  one  time 
he  makes  her  say:  "In  one  of  his  unhappy  moments  he  committed  them  all  to  the 
flames  "  ;  yet,  in  the  second  letter,  she  is  made  to  say  that  "  he  was  several  days  in  doing 
it."  One  newspaper  says :  President  Hayes  attended  the  Bennington  centennial ;  another 
newspaper  says :  the  President  and  Mrs.  Hayes ;  a  third :  the  President  and  his  Cabinet ; 
a  fourth :  the  President,  Mrs.  Hayes  and  the  majority  of  his  Cabinet.  See,  on  the  gen- 
eral subject,  Haley,  Alleged  Discrepancies. 

(d)  Every  advance  in  historical  and  archaeological  discovery  goes  to 
sustain  the  correctness  of  the  Scripture  narratives,  while  the  objector  may 
be  confidently  challenged  to  point  out  a  single  statement  really  belonging 
to  the  inspired  record  which  has  been  proved  to  be  false. 

With  regard  to  the  great  age  of  the  O.  T.  patriarchs,  we  are  no  more  warranted  in 
rejecting  the  Scripture  accounts  upon  the  ground  that  life  in  later  times  is  so  much 
shorter,  than  we  are  entitled  to  reject  the  testimony  of  botanists  as  to  trees  of  the 
Sequoia  family  between  four  and  five  hundred  feet  high,  or  the  testimony  of  geologists  as 
to  Saurians  a  hundred  feet  long,  upon  the  ground  that  the  trees  and  reptiles  with  which 
we  are  acquainted  are  so  much  smaller.  Every  species,  at  its  introduction,  seems  to 
exhibit  the  maximum  of  size  and  vitality.  On  the  genealogies  in  Matthew  and  Luke, 
see  Lord  Harvey,  Genealogies  of  our  Lord,  and  his  art.  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 
On  Cyrenius  and  the  enrollment  for  taxation  (Luke  2:2),  see  Pres.  Woolsey,  art.  in  N. 
Englander,  1870.  On  the  general  subject,  see  Rawlinson,  Historical  Evidences,  and  essay 
in  Modern  Scepticism,  pub'd  by  Christian  Evidence  Soc.,  1 :  265. 

3.     Errors  in  Morality. 

(a)  What  are  charged  as  such  are  sometimes  evil  acts  and  words  of  good 
men — acts  and  words  not  sanctioned  by  God.  These  are  narrated  by  the 
inspired  writers  as  simple  matters  of  history,  and  subsequent  results,  or  the 
story  itself,  is  left  to  point  the  moral  of  the  tale. 

Instances  of  this  sort  are  Noah's  drunkenness  (Gen.  9:  20-27) ;  Lot's  incest  (Gen.  19:  30-38) ; 
Jacob's  falsehood  ( Gen.  27 : 19-24 );  David's  adultery  (2  Sam.  11:1-4);  Peter's  denial  (Mat.  26: 
69-75).  See  Lee,  Inspiration,  265,  note. 

(6)  Where  evil  acts  appear  at  first  sight  to  be  sanctioned,  it  is  frequently 
some  right  intent  or  accompanying  virtue,  rather  than  the  act  itself,  upon 
which  commendation  is  bestowed. 

As  Rahab's  faith,  not  her  duplicity  (Josh.  2:  1-24;  cf.  Heb.  11:31  and  James  2:25);  Jael's 
patriotism,  not  her  treachery  ( Judges  4 : 17-22 ;  c/.  5 :  24 ). 

(c)  Certain  commands  and  deeds  are  sanctioned  as  relatively  just — ex- 
pressions of  justice  such  as  the  age  could  comprehend,  and  are  to  be  judged 
as  parts  of  a  progressively  unfolding  system  of  morality  whose  key  and 
culmination  we  have  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Ez.  20  :  25—"  I  gave  them  statutes  that  were  not  good  "—as  Moses'  permission  of  divorce  and  retalia- 
tion ( Deut.  24  : 1 ;  cf.  Mat.  5 :  31,  32  ;  19  :  7-9.  Ex.  21 :  24  ;  cf.  Mat.  5  :  38,  39 ).  Compare  Elijah's  calling 
down  fire  from  heaven  ( 2  K.  1 : 10-12 )  with  Jesus'  refusal  to  do  the  same,  and  his  intimation 
that  the  spirit  of  Elijah  was  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  ( Luke  9 :  52-56).  The  appeal  in  the  O. 
T.  to  the  hope  of  earthly  rewards  was  suitable  to  a  stage  of  development  not  yet 
instructed  as  to  heaven  and  hell  by  the  coming  and  work  of  Christ;  compare  Ex.  20 : 12 


OBJECTIONS   TO    THE    DOCTRINE   OF    INSPIRATION.  109 

with  Mat.  5 : 19 ;  25 :  46.  The  Old  Testament  aimed  to  fix  in  the  mind  of  a  selected  people 
the  idea  of  the  unity  and  holiness  of  God ;  in  order  to  exterminate  idolatry,  much  other 
teaching-  was  postponed.  See  Peabody,  Religion  of  Nature,  45 ;  Mozley,  Ruling-  Ideas  of 
Early  Ages ;  Green,  in  Presb.  Quar.,  April,  1877 :  231-355 ;  Mcllvaine,  Wisdom  of  Holy 
Scripture,  338-368 ;  Brit,  and  For.  Evang-.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1878 :  1-33. 

(d)  God's  righteous  sovereignty  affords  the  key  to  other  events.     He 
has  the  right  to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own,  and  to  punish  the  trans- 
gressor when  and  where  he  will ;  and  he  may  justly  make  men  the  foretel- 
lers or  executors  of  his  purposes. 

Foretellers,  as  in  the  imprecatory  Psalms  ( Ps.  137 :  9 ;  cf.  Is.  13 : 16-18  and  Jer.  50 : 15,  29 ) ; 
executors,  as  in  the  destruction  of  the  Canaanites  ( Deut.  7 :  2,  16 ).  In  the  former  case  the 
Psalm  was  not  the  ebullition  of  personal  ang-er,  but  the  expression  of  judicial  indigna- 
tion ag-ainst  the  enemies  of  God.  We  must  distinguish  the  substance  from  the  form. 
The  substance  was  the  denunciation  of  God's  righteous  judgments;  the  form  was  taken 
from  the  ordinary  customs  of  war  in  the  Psalmist's  time.  See  Park,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1863 : 
165 ;  Cowles,  Com.  on  Ps.  137 ;  Perowne  on  Psalms,  Introd.,  61.  In  the  latter  case,  an 
exterminating  war  was  only  the  benevolent  surgery  that  amputated  the  putrid  limb, 
and  so  saved  the  religious  life  of  the  Hebrew  nation  and  of  the  after-world.  See  Dr. 
Thomas  Arnold,  Essay  on  the  Right  Interpretation  of  Scripture ;  Fisher,  Beginnings  of 
Christianity,  11-34. 

(e)  Other  apparent  immoralities  are  due  to  unwarranted  interpretations. 
Symbol  is  sometimes  taken  for  literal  fact ;  the  language  of  irony  is  under- 
stood as  sober  affirmation  ;  the  glow  and  freedom  of  oriental  description  are 
judged  by  the  unimpassioned  style  of  western  literature. 

In  Hosea  1:2,  3,  the  command  to  the  prophet  to  marry  a  harlot  was  probably  received 
and  executed  in  vision,  and  was  intended  only  as  symbolic :  compare  Jer.  25 :  15-18—"  Take 
the  cup  ....  and  cause  all  the  nations  ...  to  drink."  Literal  obedience  would  have  made  the  prophet 
contemptible  to  those  whom  he  would  instruct,  and  would  require  so  long  a  time  as  to 
weaken,  if  not  destroy,  the  designed  effect ;  see  Ann.  Par.  Bible,  in  loco.  In  2  K.  6 : 19, 
Elisha's  deception,  so  called,  was  probably  only  ironical  and  benevolent;  the  enemy 
dared  not  resist,  because  they  were  completely  in  his  power.  In  the  Song  of  Solomon,  we 
have,  as  Jewish  writers  have  always  held,  a  highly-wrought  dramatic  description  of  the 
union  between  Jehovah  and  his  people,  which  we  must  judge  by  eastern  and  not  by 
western  literary  standards.  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Hessey,  Moral  Difficulties  of  the 
Bible;  Jellet,  Moral  Diff.  of  O.  T.;  Faith  and  Free  Thought  (Lect.  by  Christ.  Ev.  Soc.), 
2 : 173 ;  Rogers,  Eclipse  of  Faith  ;  Butler,  Analogy,  part  3,  chap.  3. 

4.     Errors  of  Reasoning. 

(a)  What  are  charged  as  such  are  generally  to  be  explained  as  valid 
argument  expressed  in  highly  condensed  form.  The  appearance  of  error 
may  be  due  to  the  suppression  of  one  or  more  links  in  the  reasoning. 

In  Mat.  22  :  32,  Christ's  argument  for  the  resurrection,  drawn  from  the  fact  that  God  is 
the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  is  perfectly  and  obviously  valid,  the  moment  we 
put  in  the  suppressed  premise  that  the  living  relation  to  God  which  is  here  implied  can- 
not properly  be  conceived  as  something  merely  spiritual,  but  necessarily  requires  a  new 
and  restored  life  of  the  body.  If  God  is  the  God  of  the  living,  then  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob  shall  rise  from  the  dead.  See  more  full  exposition,  under  Eschatology. 

(6)  Where  we  cannot  see  the  propriety  of  the  conclusions  drawn  from 
given  premises,  there  is  greater  reason  to  attribute  our  failure  to  ignorance 
of  divine  logic  on  our  part,  than  to  accommodation  or  ad  hominem  arguments 
on  the  part  of  the  Scripture  writers. 

By  divine  logic  we  mean  simply  a  logic  whose  elements  and  processes  are  correct, 
though  not  understood  by  us.  In  Heb.  7:  9, 10  ( Levi's  paying  tithes  in  Abraham),  there  is 
probably  a  recognition  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  family,  which  in  miniature  illustrates 


110  THE    SCKIPTURES    A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

the  orgafaic  unity  of  the  race.  In  Gal.  3  : 20-  "  A  mediator  is  not  a  mediator  of  one ;  but  God  is  one  "—the 
law,  with  its  two  contracting  parties,  is  contrasted  with  tlie  promise,  which  proceeds 
from  the  sole  fiat  of  God  and  is  therefore  unchangeable.  Paul's  argument  here  rests 
on  Christ's  divinity  as  its  foundation— otherwise  Christ  would  have  been  a  mediator  in 
the  same  sense  in  which  Moses  was  a  mediator  (see  Lightfoot,  in  loco). 

(c)  The  adoption  of  Jewish  methods  of  reasoning,  where  it  could  be 
proved,  would  not  indicate  error  on  the  part  of  the  Scripture  writers,  but 
rather  an  inspired  sanction  of  the  method  as  applied  to  that  particular  case. 

In  Gal.  3  : 16— "he  saith  not,  And  to  seeds,  as  of  many ;  but  as  of  one,  And  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ."  Here  it 
is  intimated  that  the  very  form  of  the  expression,  in  Gen.  22  : 18,  which  denotes  unity,  was 
selected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  significant  of  that  one  person,  Christ,  who  was  the  true 
seed  of  Abraham  and  in  whom  all  nations  were  to  be  blessed.  Argument  from  the  form 
of  a  single  word  is  in  this  case  correct,  although  the  Rabbins  often  made  more  of  single 
words  than  the  Holy  Spirit  ever  intended.  In  1  Cor.  10  : 1-6—"  and  the  rock  was  Christ  "—the  Rab- 
binic tradition  that  the  smitten  rock  followed  the  Israelites  in  their  wanderings  is  de- 
clared to  be  only  the  absurd  literalizing  of  a  spiritual  fact— the  continual  presence  of 
Christ,  as  preexistent  Logos,  with  his  ancient  people.  Per  contra,  see  Row,  Rev.  and 
Mod.  Theories,  98-128. 

5.     Errors  in  quoting  or  interpreting  the  Old  Testament. 

(a)  What  are  charged  as  such  are  commonly  interpretations  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  original  Scripture  by  the  same  Spirit  who  first  inspired  it. 

In  Eph.  5 : 14,  "Arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee"  is  an  inspired  interpretation  of 
Is.  60  : 1 — "  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come."  Ps.  68 : 18 — "  Thou  hast  received  gifts  among  men" — is  quoted  in 
Eph.  4 :  8  as  "gave  gifts  to  msn."  The  words  in  Hebrew  are  probably  a  concise  expression  for 
"thou  hast  taken  spoil  which  thou  mayest  distribute  as  gifts  to  men."  Eph.  4 :  8  agrees 
exactly  with  the  sense,  though  not  with  the  words,  of  the  Psalm. 

(6)  Where  an  apparently  false  translation  is  quoted  from  the  Septuagint, 
the  sanction  of  inspiration  is  given  to  it,  as  expressing  a  part  at  least  of  the 
fulness  of  meaning  contained  in  the  divine  original — a  fulness  of  meaning 
which  two  varying  translations  do  not  in  some  cases  exhaust. 

Ps.  4 :  4— Heb. :  "Tremble,  and  sin  not"  (=no  longer) ;  LXX :  "Be  ye  angry,  and  sin  not."  Eph.  4  :  26 
quotes  the  LXX.  The  words  may  originally  have  been  addressed  to  David's  comrades, 
exhorting  them  to  keep  their  anger  within  bounds.  Both  translations  together  are 
needed  to  bring  out  the  meaning  of  the  original.  Ps.  40 :  6-8—"  Mine  ears  hast  thou  opened  "  is 
translated  in  Heb.  10  :  5-7  "A  body  didst  thou  prepare  for  me"  ).  Here  the  Epistle  quotes  from  the 
LXX.  But  the  Hebrew  means  literally  :  "  Mine  ears  hast  thou  bored  "—  an  allusion  to  the  cus- 
tom of  pinning  a  slave  to  the  doorpost  of  his  master  by  an  awl  driven  through  his  ear, 
in  token  of  his  complete  subjection.  The  sense  of  the  verse  is  therefore  given  in  the 
epistle  :  "  Thou  hast  made  me  thine  in  body  and  soul  —  lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will." 

(c)  The  freedom  of  these  inspired  interpretations,  however,  does  not 
warrant  us  in  like  freedom  of  interpretation  in  the  case  of  other  passages 
whose  meaning  has  not  been  authoritatively  made  known. 

We  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  scarlet  thread  of  Rahab  (Josh.  2: 18)  was  a  de- 
signed prefiguration  of  the  blood  of  Christ,  nor  that  the  three  measures  of  meal  in 
which  the  woman  hid  her  leaven  (Mat.  13:  33)  symbolized  Shem,  Ham  and  Japheth,  the 
three  divisions  of  the  human  race.  C.  H.  M.,  in  his  notes  on  the  tabernacle  in  Exodus, 
tells  us  that  "  the  loops  of  blue  =  heavenly  grace ;  the  taches  of  gold  =  the  divine  energy 
of  Christ ;  the  ram's  skins  dyed  red  =  Christ's  consecration  and  devotedness ;  the  badg- 
er's skins  =  his  holy  vigilance  against  temptation  "  !  The  tabernacle  was  indeed  a  type 
of  Christ  ( John  1 : 14— eo-Krji/uxrei'.  2  : 19,  21—"  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up  ....  but  he  spake  of  the  temple  of 
his  body  " ) ;  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  every  detail  of  the  structure  was  significant.  So 
each  parable  teaches  some  one  main  lesson— the  particulars  may  be  mere  drapery,  and 
while  we  may  use  the  parables  for  illustration,  we  should  never  ascribe  divine  authority 
to  our  private  impressions  of  their  meaning.  See  Toy,  Quotations  in  the  N.  T. 


OBJECTIONS   TO    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    INSPIRATION.  Ill 

6.  Errors  in  Prophecy. 

(a)  What  are  charged  as  such  may  frequently  be  explained  by  remem- 
bering that  much  of  prophecy  is  yet  unfulfilled. 

It  is  sometimes  taken  for  granted  that  the  book  of  Revelation,  for  example,  refers 
entirely  to  events  already  past.  Moses  Stuart,  in  his  Commentary,  and  Warren's 
Parousia,  represent  this  preterist  interpretation.  Thus  judged,  however,  many  of  the 
predictions  of  the  book  might  seem  to  have  failed. 

(6)  The  personal  surmises  of  the  prophets  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
prophecies  they  recorded  may  have  been  incorrect,  while  yet  the  prophe- 
cies themselves  are  inspired. 

In  1  Pet.  1 : 10, 11,  the  apostle  declares  that  the  prophets  searched  "  what  time  or  what  manner  of 
time  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  them  did  point  unto,  when  it  testified  beforehand  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the 
glories  that  should  follow  them."  So  Paul,  although  he  does  not  announce  it  as  certain,  seems  to 
have  some  hope  that  he  might  live  to  witness  Christ's  second  coming.  See  2  Cor.  5 :  4 — 
"  Not  for  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would  be  clothed  upon  "  (  eTrecSuo-ao-^ai— put  on  the  spirit- 
ual body,  as  over  the  present  one,  without  the  intervention  of  death ) ;  1  Thess.  4 : 15, 17—"  we 
that  are  alive,  that  are  left  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord." 

(c)  The  prophet's  earlier  utterances  are  not  to  be  severed  from  the  later 
utterances  which  elucidate  them,  nor  from  the  whole  revelation  of  which 
they  form  a  part.     It  is  unjust  to  forbid  the  prophet  to  explain  his  own 
meaning. 

2  Thessalonians  was  written  expressly  to  correct  wrong  inferences  as  to  the  apostle's 
teaching  drawn  from  his  peculiar  mode  of  speaking  in  the  first  epistle.  In  2  Thess.  2 :  2-5 
he  removes  the  impression  "  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  now  present "  or  "just  at  hand  "  ;  declares  that 
"  it  will  not  be,  except  the  falling  away  come  first,  and  the  man  of  sin  be  revealed  "  ;  reminds  the  Thessalo- 
nians :  "  when  I  was  yet  with  you,  I  told  you  these  things."  Yet  still,  in  verse  1,  he  speaks  of  "  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  together  unto  him." 

These  passages,  taken  together,  show  :  (1)  that  the  two  epistles  are  one  in  their  teach- 
ing; (2)  that  in  neither  epistle  is  there  any  prediction  of  the  immediate  coming  of  the 
Lord ;  ( 3 )  that  in  the  second  epistle  great  events  are  foretold  as  intervening  before  that 
coming;  (4)  that  while  Paul  never  taught  that  Christ  would  come  during  his  own  life- 
time, he  hoped  at  least  during  the  earlier  part  of  his  life  that  it  might  be  so— a  hope  that 
seems  to  have  been  dissipated  in  his  later  years.  (See  2  Tim.  4  :  6 — "  I  am  already  being  offered,  and 
the  time  of  my  departure  is  come  "  ). 

The  second  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  therefore,  only  makes  more  plain  the  meaning 
of  the  first,  and  adds  new  items  of  prediction.  It  is  important  to  recognize  in  Paul's 
epistles  a  progress  in  prophecy,  in  doctrine,  in  church  polity.  The  full  statement  of  the 
truth  was  gradually  drawn  out,  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  upon  occasion  of 
successive  outward  demands  and  inward  experiences.  Much  is  to  be  learned  by  study- 
ing the  chronological  order  of  Paul's  epistles,  as  well  as  of  the  other  N.  T.  books.  For 
evidence  of  similar  progress  in  the  epistles  of  Peter,  compare  1  Pet.  4  :  7  with  2  Pet.  3 : 4  sq. 

(d)  The  character  of  prophecy  as  a  rough  general  sketch  of  the  future,  in 
highly  figurative  language,  and  without  historical  perspective,  renders  it 
peculiarly  probable  that  what  at  first  sight  seem  to  be  errors  are  due  to  a 
misinterpretation  on  our  part,  which  confounds  the  drapery  with  the  sub- 
stance, or  applies  its  language  to  events  to  which  it  had  no  reference. 

James  5  :  9  and  Phil.  4  :  5  are  instances  of  that  large  prophetic  speech  which  regards  the 
distant  future  as  near  at  hand,  because  so  certain  to  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  church. 
See  the  more  full  statement  of  the  nature  of  prophecy,  on  pages  68,  69.  Also  Bernard, 
Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  N.  T. 

7.  Certain  books  unworthy  of  a  place  in  inspired  Scripture. 

(d)  This  charge  may  be  shown,  in  each  single  case,  to  rest  upon  a  mis- 
apprehension of  the  aim  and  method  of  the  book,  and  its  connection  with 


112  THE    SCRIPTURES    A    REVELATION   FROM   GOD. 

the  remainder  of  the  Bible,  together  with  a  narrowness  of  nature  or  of 
doctrinal  view,  which  prevents  the  critic  from  appreciating  the  wants  of  the 
peculiar  class  of  men  to  which  the  book  is  especially  serviceable. 

Luther  called  James  "a  right  strawy  epistle."  His  constant  pondei'ing  of  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith  alone  made  it  difficult  for  him  to  grasp  the  complemen- 
tary truth  that  we  are  justified  only  by  such  faith  as  brings  forth  good  works,  or  to 
perceive  the  essential  agreement  of  James  and  Paul.  Thomas  Arnold,  with  his  exagger- 
ated love  for  historical  accuracy  and  definite  outline,  found  the  oriental  imagery  and 
sweeping  visions  of  the  book  of  Revelation  so  bizarre  and  distasteful  that  he  doubted 
their  divine  authority. 

(6)  The  testimony  of  church  history  and  of  general  Christian  experience 
to  the  profitableness  and  divinity  of  the  disputed  books  is  of  greater  weight 
than  the  personal  impressions  of  the  few  who  criticise  them. 

Instance  the  testimonies  of  the  ages  of  persecution  to  the  worth  of  the  prophecies, 
which  assure  God's  people  that  his  cause  shall  surely  triumph. 

(c)  Such  testimony  can  be  adduced  in  favor  of  the  value  of  each  one  of 
the  books  to  which  exception  is  taken,  such  as  Esther,  Job,  Song  of  Solo- 
mon, Ecclesiastes,  James,  Revelation. 

Esther  is  the  book,  next  to  the  Pentateuch,  held  in  highest  reverence  by  the  Jews. 
Rutherford,  McCheyne,  and  Spurgeon  have  taken  more  texts  from  the  Song  of  Solomon 
than  from  any  other  portion  of  Scripture  of  like  extent.  Charles  G.  Finney,  Autobio- 
graphy, 378—"  At  this  time  it  seemed  as  if  my  soul  was  wedded  to  Christ  in  a  sense  which 
I  never  had  any  thought  or  conception  of  before.  The  language  of  the  Song  of  Solomon 
was  as  natural  to  me  as  my  breath.  I  thought  I  could  understand  well  the  state  he  was 
in  when  he  wrote  that  Song,  and  concluded  then,  as  I  have  ever  thought  since,  that  that 
Song  was  written  by  him  after  he  had  been  reclaimed  from  his  great  backsliding-.  I  not 
only  had  all  the  fulness  of  my  first  love,  but  a  vast  accession  to  it.  Indeed,  the  Lord 
lifted  me  up  so  much  above  anything  that  I  had  experienced  before,  and  taught  me  so 
much  of  the  meaning  of  the  Bible,  of  Christ's  relations  and  power  and  willingness,  that 
I  found  myself  saying  to  him :  I  had  not  known  or  conceived  that  any  such  thing  was 
true." 

8.  Portions  of  the  Scripture  books  written  by  others  than  the  persona 
to  whom  they  are  ascribed. 

The  objection  rests  upon  a  misunderstanding  of  the  nature  and  object  of 
inspiration.  It  may  be  removed  by  considering  that 

(a)  In  the  case  of  books  made  up  from  preexisting  documents,  inspira- 
tion simply  preserved  the  compilers  of  them  from  selecting  inadequate  or 
false  material.  The  fact  of  such  compilation  does  not  impugn  their  truth- 
fulness and  value. 

Luke  distinctly  informs  us  that  he  secured  the  materials  for  his  gospel  from  the  reports 
of  others  who  were  eye-witnesses  of  the  events  he  recorded  (Luke  1 :  1-4).  The  book  of 
Genesis  bears  marks  of  having  incorporated  documents  of  earlier  times.  The  account 
of  creation  which  begins  with  Gen.  2  :  4  is  evidently  written  by  a  different  hand  from  that 
which  penned  1 : 1-31  and  2  : 1-3.  Instances  of  the  same  sort  may  be  found  in  the  books 
of  Chronicles.  In  like  manner,  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington  incorporates  documents 
by  other  writers.  By  thus  incorporating  them,  Marshall  vouches  for  their  truth.  See 
Bible  Com.,  1:2,22. 

(6)  In  the  case  of  additions  to  Scripture  books  by  later  writers,  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  additions,  as  well  as  the  originals,  were  made 
by  inspiration,  and  no  essential  truth  is  sacrificed  by  allowing  the  whole  to 
go  under  the  name  of  the  chief  author. 

Mark  16  :  9-20  appears  to  have  been  added  by  a  later  hand  (see  English  Revised  Version). 


OBJECTIONS   TO    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    INSPIRATION.  113 

The  Eng.  Rev.  Vers.  also  brackets  or  segregates  a  part  of  verse  3  and  the  whole  of  verse  4 
in  John  5  (the  moving  of  the  water  by  the  angel),  and  the  whole  passage  John  7  :  53  —  8  : 11 
( the  woman  taken  in  adultery).  Westcott  and  Hort  regard  the  latter  passage  as  an  in- 
terpolation, probably  "  Western  "  in  its  origin  (so  also  Mark  16  :  9-20).  Others  regard  it  as 
authentic,  though  not  written  by  John. 

Isaiah  is  again  sawn  asunder  by  the  recent  criticism.  But  his  prophecy  opens  (Is.  1 : 1 ) 
with  the  statement  that  it  was  composed  during  a  period  which  covered  the  reigns  of 
four  Kings,— Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah,— nearly  forty  years.  In  so  long  a  time 
the  style  of  a  writer  greatly  changes.  Chapters  40-66  may  have  been  written  in  Isaiah's 
later  age,  after  he  had  retired  from  public  life.  Compare  the  change  in  the  style  of  the 
apostle  John,  in  Revelation  and  in  the  Gospel.  The  same  principle  may  apply  to  the 
prophecy  of  Zechariah.  On  Isaiah,  see  Smyth,  Prophecy  a  Preparation  for  Christ; 
Bib.  Sac.,  Apr.,  1881 :  330-253 ;  also  July,  1881.  The  closing  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  was 
apparently  added  after  Moses'  death — perhaps  by  Joshua.  If  criticism  should  prove 
portions  of  the  Pentateuch  to  have  been  composed  after  Moses'  time,  the  inspiration  of 
the  Pentateuch  would  not  be  invalidated,  so  long  as  Moses  was  its  chief  author  (John  5  : 
46 — "  he  wrote  of  me  "  ). 

(c)  It  is  unjust  to  deny  to  inspired  Scripture  the  right  exercised  by  all 
historians  of  introducing  certain  documents  and  sayings  as  simply  historical, 
while  their  complete  truthfulness  is  neither  vouched  for  nor  denied. 

An  instance  in  point  is  the  letter  of  Claudius  Lysias  in  Acts  23 :  26-30— a  letter  which 
represents  his  conduct  in  a  more  favorable  light  than  the  facts  would  justify— for  he 
had  not  learned  that  Paul  was  a  Roman  when  he  rescued  him  in  the  temple  ( Acts  21 :  31- 
33;  22:26-29). 

9.     Sceptical  or  fictitious  Narratives. 

(a)  Descriptions  of  human  experience  may  be  embraced  in  Scripture, 
not  as  models  for  imitation,  but  as  illustrations  of  the  doubts,  struggles,  and 
needs  of  the  soul.  In  these  cases  inspiration  may  vouch,  not  for  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  views  expressed  by  those  who  thus  describe  their  mental 
history,  but  only  for  the  correspondence  of  the  description  with  actual  fact, 
and  for  its  usefulness  as  indirectly  teaching  important  moral  lessons. 

The  book  of  Ecclesiastes,  for  example,  is  a  record  of  the  mental  struggles  of  a  soul 
seeking  satisfaction  without  God.  If  written  by  Solomon  during  the  time  of  his  religious 
•declension,  or  near  the  close  of  it,  it  would  constitute  a  most  valuable  commentary 
upon  the  inspired  history.  Yet  it  might  be  equally  valuable,  though  composed  by  some 
later  writer  under  divine  direction  and  inspiration. 

(&)  Moral  truth  may  be  put  by  Scripture  writers  into  parabolic  or  dra- 
matic form,  and  the  sayings  of  Satan  and  of  perverse  men  may  form  parts 
of  such  a  production.  In  such  cases,  inspiration  may  vouch,  not  for  the 
historical  truth,  much  less  for  the  moral  truth  of  each  separate  statement, 
tout  only  for  the  correspondence  of  the  whole  with  ideal  fact ;  in  other 
words,  inspiration  may  guarantee  that  the  story  is  true  to  nature,  and  is 
valuable  as  conveying  divine  instruction. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  poetical  speeches  of  Job's  friends  were  actually 
delivered  in  the  words  that  have  come  down  to  us.  Though  Job  never  had  had  a  histori- 
cal existence,  the  book  would  still  be  of  the  utmost  value,  and  would  convey  to  us  a  vast 
amount  of  true  teaching  with  regard  to  the  dealings  of  God  and  the  problem  of  evil. 
Fact  is  local ;  truth  is  universal.  Some  novels  contain  more  truth  than  can  be  found 
in  some  histories.  Other  books  of  Scripture,  however,  assure  us  that  Job  was  an  actual 
historical  character  (Ez.  14  : 14 ;  James  5  : 11 ).  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  suppose  that  our  Lord, 
in  telling  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  (Luke  15: 11-32)  or  that  of  the  Unjust  Steward 
<16 : 1-8),  had  in  mind  actual  persons  of  whom  each  parable  was  an  exact  description. 

(c)     In  none  of  these  cases  ought  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  man's 
words  from  God's  words,  or  ideal  truth  from  actual  truth,  to  prevent  our 
8 


114  THE    SCRIPTURES   A    REVELATION    FROM    GOD. 

acceptance  of  the  fact  of  inspiration  ;  for  in  this  very  variety  of  the  Bible, 
combined  with  the  stimulus  it  gives  to  inquiry  and  the  general  plainness  of 
its  lessons,  we  have  the  very  characteristics  we  should  expect  in  a  book 
whose  authorship  was  divine. 
God's  word  is  a  stream  in  which  "  the  lamb  may  wade  and  the  elephant  may  swim." 

10.  Acknowledgment  of  the  non-inspiration  of  Scripture  teachers 
and  their  writings. 

This  charge  rests  mainly  upon  the  misinterpretation  of  two  particular 
passages  : 

(a)  Acts  23  :  5  (  "I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high  priest") 
may  be  explained  either  as  the  language  of  indignant  irony  :  "I  would  not 
recognize  such  a  man  as  high  priest ;  "  or,  more  naturally,  as  an  actual  con- 
fession of  personal  ignorance  and  fallibility,  which  does  not  affect  the  inspi- 
ration of  any  of  Paul's  final  teachings  or  writings. 

Of  a  more  reprehensible  sort  was  Peter's  dissimulation  at  Antioch,  or  practical 
disavowal  of  his  convictions  by  separating  or  withdrawing  himself  from  the  Gentile 
Christians  (Gal.  2: 11-13).  Here  was  no  public  teaching,  but  the  influence  of  private  ex- 
ample. But  neither  in  this  case,  nor  in  that  mentioned*  above,  did  God  suffer  the  error  to 
be  a  final  one.  Through  the  agency  of  Paul  the  Holy  Spirit  set  the  matter  right. 

(6)  1  Cor.  7  :  12,  10  (  "  I,  not  the  Lord  "  ;  "  not  I,  but  the  Lord  "  ).  Here 
the  contrast  is  not  between  the  apostle  inspired  and  the  apostle  uninspired, 
but  between  the  apostle's  words  and  an  actual  saying  of  our  Lord,  as  in 
Matt.  5  :  32 ;  19:  3-10 ;  Mark  10  :  11  ;  Luke  16  :  18  (Stanley  on  Corinthians). 
The  expressions  may  be  paraphrased  : — "  With  regard  to  this  matter  no  ex- 
press command  was  given  by  Christ  before  his  ascension.  As  one  inspired 
by  Christ,  however,  I  give  you  my  command." 

Meyer  on  1  Cor.  7  : 10 — "  Paul  distinguishes,  therefore,  here  and  in  verses  12,  25,  not  be- 
tween his  own  and  inspired  commands,  but  between  those  which  proceeded  from  his 
own  (God-inspired)  subjectivity,  and  those  which  Christ  himself  supplied  by  his  object- 
ive word."  "Paul  knew  from  the  living  voice  of  tradition  what  commands  Christ  had 
given  concerning  divorce."  Or  if  it  should  be  maintained  that  Paul  here  disclaims 
inspiration,— a  supposition  contradicted  by  the  following  SOKU> — "  I  think  that  I  also  have  the  Spirit 
of  God"  (verse  40),— it  only  proves  a  single  exception  to  his  inspiration,  and  since  it  is  ex- 
pressly mentioned,  and  mentioned  only  once,  it  implies  the  inspiration  of  all  the  rest  of 
his  writings. 


PART   IV. 

THE  NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD. 

In  contemplating  the  words  and  acts  of  God,  as  in  contemplating  the 
words  and  acts  of  individual  men,  we  are  compelled  to  assign  uniform  and 
permanent  effects  to  uniform  and  permanent  causes.  Holy  acts  and  words, 
we  argue,  must  have  their  source  in  a  principle  of  holiness ;  truthful  acts 
and  words,  in  a  settled  proclivity  to  truth  ;  benevolent  acts  and  words,  in  a 
benevolent  disposition. 

Moreover,  these  permanent  and  uniform  sources  of  expression  and  action 
to  which  we  have  applied  the  terms  principle,  proclivity,  disposition,  since 
they  exist  harmoniously  in  the  same  person,  must  themselves  inhere,  and 
find  their  unity,  in  an  underlying  spiritual  substance  or  reality  of  which 
they  are  the  inseparable  characteristics  and  partial  manifestations. 

Thus  we  are  led  naturally  from  the  works  to  the  attributes,  and  from  the 
attributes  to  the  essence,  of  God. 

For  all  practical  purposes  we  may  use  the  words  essence,  substance,  being-,  nature,  as 
synonymous  with  each  other.  So,  too,  we  may  speak  of  attribute,  quality,  character- 
istic, principle,  proclivity,  disposition,  as  practically  one.  As,  in  cognizing  matter,  we 
pass  from  its  effects  in  sensation  to  the  qualities  which  produce  the  sensations,  and  then 
to  the  material  substance  to  which  the  qualities  belong ;  and  as,  in  cognizing  mind,  we 
pass  from  its  phenomena  in  thought  and  action  to  the  faculties  and  dispositions  which 
give  rise  to  these  phenomena,  and  then  to  the  mental  substance  to  which  these  faculties 
and  dispositions  belong;  so,  in  cognizing  God,  we  pass  from  his  words  and  acts  to  his 
qualities  or  attributes,  and  then  to  the  substance  or  essence  to  which  these  qualities  or 
attributes  belong. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  THE  TERM  ATTRIBUTES. 

The  attributes  of  God  are  those  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  divine 
nature  which  are  inseparable  from  the  idea  of  God  and  which  constitute  the 
basis  and  ground  for  his  various  manifestations  to  his  creatures. 

We  call  them  attributes,  because  we  are  compelled  to  attribute  them  to  God 
as  fundamental  qualities  or  powers  of  his  being,  in  order  to  give  rational 
account  of  certain  constant  facts  in  God's  self -revelations. 

Shedd,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 : 240;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3: 172-188. 

115 


116 


NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS    OF    GOD. 


II.     BELATION  OF  THE  DIVINE  ATTRIBUTES  TO  THE  DIVINE  ESSENCE. 

1.  The   attributes  have   an  objective  existence.     They  are  not  mere 
names  for  human  conceptions  of  God — conceptions  which   have  their  only 
ground  in  the  imperfection  of  the  finite  mind.     They  are  qualities  object- 
ively distinguishable  from  the  divine  essence  and  from  each  other. 

The  nominalistic  notion  that  God  is  a  being  of  absolute  simplicity,  and 
that  in  his  nature  there  is  no  internal  distinction  of  qualities  or  powers, 
tends  directly  to  pantheism  ;  denies  all  reality  to  the  divine  perfections  ;  or, 
if  these  in  any  sense  still  exist,  precludes  all  knowledge  of  them  on  the  part 
of  finite  beings.  To  say  that  knowledge  and  power,  eternity  and  holiness, 
are  identical  with  the  essence  of  God  and  with  each  other,  is  to  deny  that 
we  can  know  God  at  all. 

The  Scripture  declarations  of  the  possibility  of  knowing  God,  together 
with  the  manifestation  of  the  distinct  attributes  of  his  nature,  are  conclu- 
sive against  this  false  notion  of  the  divine  simplicity. 

Aristotle  says  well  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  science  of  the  unique,  of  that  which 
has  no  analogies  or  relations.  Knowing  is  distinguishing  ;  what  we  cannot  distinguish 
from  other  things  we  cannot  know.  Yet  a  false  tendency  to  regard  God  as  a  being  of 
absolute  simplicity  has  come  down  from  mediaeval  scholasticism,  has  infected  much  of 
the  post-reformation  theology,  and  is  found  even  as  recently  as  Schleiermacher,  Rothe, 
and  Olshausen. 

Illustrations  of  this  tendency  are  found  in  Scotus  Erigena :  "  Deus  nescit  se  quid  est, 
quia  non  est  quid"  ;  and  in  Occam :  The  divine  attributes  are  distinguished  neither  sub- 
stantially nor  logically  from  each  other  or  from  the  divine  essence ;  the  only  distinction 
is  that  of  names ;  so  Gerhard  and  Quenstedt.  Charnock,  the  Puritan  writer,  identifies 
both  knowledge  and  will  with  the  simple  essence  of  God ;  Schleiermacher  makes  all  the 
attributes  to  be  modifications  of  power,  Rothe  of  omniscience ;  Olshausen,  on  John  1 : 1, 
attempts  to  prove  that  the  Word  of  God  must  have  objective  and  substantial  being,  by 
assuming  that  knowing  =  willing ;  whence  it  would  seem  to  follow  that,  since  God  wills 
all  that  he  knows,  he  must  will  moral  evil.  Bushnell  and  others  identify  righteousness 
in  God  with  benevolence,  and  therefore  cannot  see  that  any  atonement  needs  to  be  made 
to  God.  Herbert  Spencer  only  carries  the  principle  further,  when  he  concludes  God  to 
be  simple  unknowable  force. 

But  to  call  God  everything  is  the  pame  as  to  call  him  nothing.  With  Dorner,  we  say 
that  "definition  is  no  limitation."  As  we  rise  in  the  scale  of  creation  from  the  mere 
jelly-sac  to  man,  the  homogeneous  becomes  the  heterogeneous,  there  is  differentiation 
of  functions,  complexity  increases.  We  infer  that  God,  the  highest  of  all,  instead  of 
being  simple  force,  is  infinitely  complex,  that  he  has  an  infinite  variety  of  attributes 
and  powers.  Tennyson,  Palace  of  Art  (lines  omitted  in  the  later  editions) :  "All  nature 
widens  upward:  evermore  The  simpler  essence  lower  lies:  More  complex  is  more  per- 
fect, owning  more  Discourse,  more  widely  wise." 

Jer.  10  : 10— God  is  "the  living  God"  ;  John  5  :  26,  he  "hath  life  in  himself  "=  unsearchable  riches  of 
positive  attributes ;  John  17  :  23,  "  thou  lovedst  me  "=  manifoldness  in  unity.  This  complexity  in 
God  is  the  ground  of  blessedness  for  him  and  of  progress  for  us:  1  Tim.  1 : 11— "the  blessed 
God  "  ;  Jer.  9  :  23,  24—"  let  him  glory  in  this,  that  he  knoweth  me."  The  complex  nature  of  God  permits 
anger  at  the  sinner  and  compassion  for  him  at  the  same  moment :  Ps.  7  :  11 — "  a  God  that 
hath  indignation  every  day"  ;  John  3  :  16— "God  so  loved  the  world" ;  Ps.  85  : 10,  11— "mercy  and  truth  are  met 
together".  See  Julius  Mliller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  : 116  sq. ;  Schweizer,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  229-235  ; 
Thomasius,  Christ!  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  43,  50 ;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  91— "  If  God  were 
the  simply  One,  rb  OTTAWA  eV,  the  mystic  abyss  in  which  every  form  of  determination  were 
extinguished,  there  would  be  nothing  in  the  Unity  to  be  known."  Hence  "  nominalism 
is  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  revelation.  We  teach,  with  realism,  that  the  attributes 
of  God  are  objective  determinations  in  his  revelation,  and  as  such  are  rooted  in  his 
inmost  essence." 

2.  The  attributes  inhere  in  the  divine  essence.     They  are  not  separate 
existences.     They  are  attributes  of  God. 


DELATION  OF  THE  ATTRIBUTES  TO  THE  ESSENCE  OF  GOD.        117 

While  we  oppose  the  nominalistic  view  which,  holds  them  to  be  mere 
names  with  which,  by  the  necessity  of  our  thinking,  we  clothe  the  one  sim- 
ple divine  essence,  we  need  equally  to  avoid  the  opposite  realistic  extreme 
of  making  them  separate  parts  of  a  composite  God. 

We  cannot  conceive  of  attributes  except  as  belonging  to  an  underlying 
essence  which  furnishes  their  ground  of  unity.  In  representing  God  as  a 
compound  of  attributes,  realism  endangers  the  living  unity  of  the  Godhead. 

Notice  the  analogous  necessity  of  attributing  the  properties  of  matter  to  an  underly- 
ing1 substance,  and  the  phenomena  of  thought  to  an  underlying  spiritual  essence ;  else 
matter  is  reduced  to  mere  force,  and  mind  to  mere  sensation-  in  short,  all  things  are 
swallowed  up  in  a  vast  idealism.  The  purely  realistic  explanation  of  the  attributes 
tends  to  low  and  polytheistic  conceptions  of  God.  Instance  Christmas  Evans's  sermon 
describing  a  Council  in  the  Godhead,  in  which  the  Attributes  of  Justice,  Mercy,  Wisdom, 
and  Power  argue  with  one  another.  "  Realism  may  so  exalt  the  attributes  that  no  per- 
sonal subject  is  left  to  constitute  the  ground  of  unity.  Looking  upon  personality  as 
anthropomorphism,  it  falls  into  a  worse  personification,  that  of  omnipotence,  holiness, 
benevolence,  which  are  mere  blind  thoughts,  unless  there  is  one  who  is  the  Omnipotent, 
the  Holy,  the  Good."  See  Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  70. 

3.  The  attributes  belong  to  the  divine  essence  as  such.     They  are  to  be 
distinguished  from  those  other  powers  or  relations  which  do  not  appertain 
to  the  divine  essence  universally. 

The  personal  distinctions  (proprietates)  in  the  nature  of  the  one  God  are 
not  to  be  denominated  attributes  ;  for  each  of  these  personal  distinctions 
belongs  not  to  the  divine  essence  as  such  and  universally,  but  only  to  the 
particular  person  of  the  Trinity,  who  bears  its  name,  while  on  the  contrary 
all  of  the  attributes  belong  to  each  of  the  persons. 

The  relations  which  God  sustains  to  the  world  (predicata),  moreover, 
such  as  creation,  preservation,  government,  are  not  to  be  denominated 
attributes ;  for  these  are  accidental,  not  necessary  or  inseparable  from  the 
idea  of  God.  God  would  be  God,  if  he  had  never  created. 

To  make  creation  eternal  and  necessary  is  to  dethrone  God  and  to  enthrone  a  fatalistic 
development.  It  follows  that  the  nature  of  the  attributes  is  to  be  illustrated,  not  alone 
or  chiefly  from  wisdom  and  holiness  in  man,  which  are  not  inseparable  from  man's 
nature,  but  rather  from  intellect  and  will  in  man,  without  which  he  would  cease  to  be 
man  altogether.  Only  that  is  an  attribute,  of  which  it  can  be  safely  said  that  he  who 
possesses  it  would,  if  deprived  of  it,  cease  to  be  God.  Shedd:  "The  attribute  is  the 
whole  essence  acting  in  a  certain  way.  The  centre  of  unity  is  not  in  any  one  attribute, 
but  in  the  esserice." 

4.  The  attributes  manifest  the  divine  essence.    The  essence  is  revealed 
only  through  the  attributes.     Apart  from  its  attributes  it  is  unknown  and 
unknowable. 

But  though  we  can  know  God  only  as  he  reveals  to  us  his  attributes,  we 
do,  notwithstanding,  in  knowing  these  attributes,  know  the  being  to  whom 
these  attributes  belong.  That  this  knowledge  is  partial  does  not  prevent  its 
corresponding,  so  far  as  it  goes,  to  objective  reality  in  the  nature  of  God. 

All  God's  revelations  are,  therefore,  revelations  of  himself  in  and  through 
his  attributes.  Our  aim  must  be  to  determine  from  God's  works  and  words 
what  qualities,  dispositions,  determinations,  powers  of  his  otherwise  unseen 
and  unsearchable  essence  he  has  actually  made  known  to  us ;  or  in  other 
words,  what  are  the  revealed  attributes  of  God. 

John  1 : 18—"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath 


118  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 

declared  him  ";  1  Tim.  6  : 16—"  whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can  see  "  ;  Mat.  5 :  8—"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart : 
for  they  shall  see  God  "  ;  11 :  27 — "  Neither  doth  any  man  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the 
Son  willeth  to  reveal  him." 

HI.     METHODS  OF  DETERMINING  THE  DIVINE  ATTRIBUTES. 

We  have  seen  that  the  existence  of  God  is  a  first  truth.  It  is  presupposed 
in  all  human  thinking,  and  is  more  or  less  consciously  recognized  by  all  men. 
This  intuitive  knowledge  of  God  we  have  seen  to  be  corroborated  and  expli- 
cated by  arguments  drawn  from  nature  and  from  mind.  Reason  leads  us  to 
a  causative  and  personal  Intelligence  upon  whom  we  depend.  This  Being 
of  infinite  greatness  we  clothe,  by  a  necessity  of  our  thinking,  with  all  the 
attributes  of  perfection .  The  two  great  methods  of  determining  what  these 
attributes  are,  are  the  Rational  and  the  Biblical. 

1.  The  Rational  method.     This  is  threefold  : — (a)  the  via  negationis, 
or  the  way  of  negation,  which  consists  in  denying  to  God  all  imperfections 
observed  in  created  beings  ;  (6)  the  via  eminentice,  or  the  way  of  climax, 
which  consists  in  attributing  to  God  in  infinite  degree  all  the  perfections 
found  in  creatures  ;  and     (<r)  the  via  causalitatis,  or  the  way  of  causality, 
which  consists  in  predicating  of  God  those  attributes  which  are  required  in 
him  to  explain  the  world  of  nature  and  of  mind. 

This  rational  method  explains  God's  nature  from  that  of  his  creation, 
whereas  the  creation  itself  can  be  fully  explained  only  from  the  nature  of 
God.  Though  the  method  is  valuable,  it  has  insuperable  limitations,  and 
its  place  is  a  subordinate  one.  While  we  use  it  continually  to  confirm  and 
supplement  results  otherwise  obtained,  our  chief  means  of  determining  the 
divine  attributes  must  be 

2.  The  Biblical  method.    This  is  simply  the  inductive  method,  applied 
to  the  facts  with  regard  to  God  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.     Now  that  we 
have  proved  the  Scriptures  to  be  a  revelation  from  God,  inspired  in  every 
part,  we  may  properly  look  to  them  as  decisive  authority  with  regard  to 
God's  attributes. 

The  rational  method  of  determining  the  attributes  of  God  is  sometimes  said  to  have 
been  originated  by  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  reputed  to  have  been  a  judge  at  Athens 
at  the  time  of  Paul  and  to  have  died  A.  D.  95.  It  is  more  probably  eclectic,  combining 
the  results  attained  by  many  theologians,  and  applying  the  intuitions  of  perfection  and 
causality  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  religious  thinking.  It  is  evident  from  our  pre- 
vious study  of  the  arguments  for  God's  existence,  that  from  nature  we  cannot  learn 
either  of  the  Trinity  or  of  the  mercy  of  God,  and  that  these  deficiencies  in  our  rational 
conclusions  with  respect  to  God  must  be  supplied,  if  at  all,  by  revelation.  See  Kahnis, 
Dogmatik,  3 : 181. 

IV.     CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE  ATTRIBUTES. 

The  attributes  may  be  divided  into  two  great  classes  :  Absolute  or  Imma- 
nent, and  Relative  or  Transitive. 

By  Absolute  or  Immanent  Attributes,  we  mean  attributes  which  respect 
the  inner  being  of  God,  which  are  involved  in  God's  relations  to  himself, 
and  which  belong  to  his  nature  independently  of  his  connection  with  the 
universe. 

By  Relative  or  Transitive  Attributes,  we  mean  attributes  which  respect  the 
outward  revelation  of  God's  being,  which  are  involved  in  God's  relations  to 


CLASSIFICATION"  OF  THE  ATTRIBUTES.  119 

the  creation,  and  which  are  exercised  in  consequence  of  the  existence  of  the 
universe  and  its  dependence  upon  him. 

Under  the  head  of  Absolute  or  Immanent  Attributes,  we  make  a  threefold 
division  into  Spirituality,  with  the  attributes  therein  involved,  namely, 
Life  and  Personality;  Infinity,  with  the  attributes  therein  involved,  namely, 
Self  -existence,  Immutability,  and  Unity;  and  Perfection,  with  the  attributes 
therein  involved,  namely,  Truth,  Love,  and  Holiness. 

Under  the  head  of  Eelative  or  Transitive  Attributes,  we  make  a  threefold 
division,  according  to  the  order  of  their  revelation,  into  Attributes  having 
relation  to  Time  and  Space,  as  Eternity  and  Immensity;  Attributes  having 
relation  to  Creation,  as  Omnipresence,  Omniscience,  and  Omnipotence;  and 
Attributes  having  relation  to  Moral  Beings,  as  Veracity  and  Faithfulness,  or 
Transitive  Truth  ;  Mercy  and  Goodness,  or  Transitive  Love  ;  and  Justice 
^,nd  Righteousness,  or  Transitive  Holiness. 

This  classification  may  be  better  understood  from  the  following  schedule  : 

1.     Absolute  or  Immanent  Attributes  : 
A.  Spirituality,  involving 


(a)   Self-existence,                         ^  t±> 

B.  Infinity,  involving                   -j  (6)   Immutability,                          >  £: 

(c)    Unity.                                         )  g 

r  (a)   Truth,                                     j  g 

O.  Perfection,  involving               <  (6)   Love,                                        >  ^ 

(  (c)   Holiness.                                   '  g_ 

tt 

2.     Relative  or  Transitive  Attributes  :  §> 

A.  Belated  to  Time  and  Space-  j  ^  ^ternity                                 .  | 

^  (0)   Immensity.                              ^  3 

QD 

c  (a)   Omnipresence,                        \  & 

B.  Related  to  Creation —  •!  (6)   Omniscience, 

(  (c)    Omnipotence.                          )  |t 

I 

f  (a)   Veracity  and  Faithfulness,  ]  P* 

or  Transitive  Truth. 

€.  Related  to  Moral  Beings-       ^  Werc?  and  Goodness,  | 

or  Transitive  Love.               i  ^ 
I   (c)  Justice  and  Righteousness, 


or  Transitive  Holiness. 

It  will  be  observed,  upon  examination  of  the  preceding  schedule,  that  our  classification 
p  esents  God  first  as  Spirit,  then  as  the  infinite  Spirit,  and  finally  as  the  perfect  Spirit. 
This  accords  with  our  definition  of  the  term  God  (see  page  29).  It  also  corresponds  with 
the  order  in  which  the  attributes  commonly  present  themselves  to  the  human  mind. 
Our  first  thought  of  God  is  that  of  mere  spirit,  mysterious  and  undefined,  over  against 
our  own  spirits.  Our  next  thought  is  that  of  God's  greatness  ;  the  quantitative  element 
.suggests  itself;  his  natural  attributes  rise  before  us;  we  recognize  him  as  the  infinite 


120  NATURE,    DECEEES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

One.  Finally  comes  the  qualitative  element ;  our  moral  natures  recognize  a  moral  God ; 
over  against  our  error,  selfishness,  and  impurity,  we  perceive  his  absolute  perfection. 

It  should  also  be  observed  that  this  moral  perfection,  as  it  is  an  immanent  attribute,, 
involves  relations  of  God  to  himself.  Truth,  love,  and  holiness,  as  they  respectively 
imply  an  exercise  in  God  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will,  may  be  conceived  of  as  God'& 
self -knowing,  God's  self -loving,  and  God's  self-willing.  The  significance  of  this  will 
appear  more  fully  in  the  discussion  of  the  separate  attributes. 

Notice  the  distinction  between  absolute  and  relative,  between  immanent  and  transi- 
tive attributes.  Absolute  =  existing  in  no  necessary  relation  to  things  outside  of  God. 
Relative  =  existing  in  such  relation.  Immanent  =  "  remaining  within,  limited  to,  God's 
own  nature  in  their  activity  and  effect,  inherent  and  indwelling,  internal  and  subjective 
—opposed  to  emanent  or  transitive."  Transitive  =  having  an  object  outside  of  God 
himself.  We  speak  of  transitive  verbs,  and  we  mean  verbs  that  are  followed  by  an 
object.  God's  transitive  attributes  are  so  called,  because  they  respect  and  affect  things 
and  beings  outside  of  God. 

On  classification  of  attributes,  see  Luthardt,  Compendium,  71;  Rothe,  Dogmatik,  71; 
Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3 :  162 ;  Thomasius,  Christ!  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  47,  52,  138.  On  the 
general  subject,  see  Charnock,  Attributes ;  Bruch,  Eigenschaftslehre. 

V.     ABSOLUTE  OB  IMMANENT  ATTRIBUTES. 

First  Division. — Spirituality,  and  attributes  therein  involved. 

In  calling  spirituality  an  attribute  of  God,  we  mean,  not  that  we  are  justi- 
fied in  applying  to  the  divine  nature  the  adjective  "spiritual,"  but  that  the 
substantive  "Spirit"  describes  that  nature  (John  4:  24,  marg. — "God  is 
spirit " ;  Rom.  1:  20 — "the  invisible  things  of  him  ";  I  Tim.  1:  17 — " incor- 
ruptible, invisible";  Col.  1:  15 — "the  invisible  God").  This  implies, 
negatively,  that  (a)  God  is  not  matter.  Spirit  is  not  a  refined  form  of  mat- 
ter, but  an  immaterial  substance,  invisible,  un compounded,  indestructible. 
(6)  God  is  not  dependent  upon  matter.  It  cannot  be  shown  that  the  human 
mind,  in  any  other  state  than  the  present,  is  dependent  for  consciousness 
upon  its  connection  with  a  physical  organism.  Much  less  is  it  true  that 
God  is  dependent  upon  the  material  universe  as  his  sensorium.  God  is  not 
only  spirit,  but  he  is  pure  spirit.  He  is  not  only  not  matter,  but  he  has  no 
necessary  connection  with  matter. 

Those  passages  of  Scripture  which  seem  to  ascribe  to  God  the  possession 
of  bodily  parts  and  organs,  as  eyes  and  hands,  are  to  be  regarded  as  anthro- 
pomorphic and  symbolic.  When  God  is  spoken  of  as  appearing  to  the 
patriarchs  and  walking  with  them,  the  passages  are  to  be  explained  as 
referring  to  God's  temporary  manifestations  of  himself  in  human  form — 
manifestations  which  prefigured  the  final  tabernacling  of  the  Son  of  God  in 
human  flesh.  Side  by  side  with  these  anthropomorphic  expressions  and 
manifestations,  moreover,  are  specific  declarations  which  repress  any  ma- 
terializing conceptions  of  God ;  as,  for  example,  that  heaven  is  his  throne 
and  the  earth  his  footstool  (Is.  66:  1),  and  that  the  heaven  of  heavens  can 
not  contain  him  (IK.  8:  27). 

The  repudiation  of  images  among  the  ancient  Persians  (Herod.  1 :  131),  as  among  the 
modern  Japanese  Shintos,  indicates  the  remains  of  a  primitive  spiritual  religion.  The 
representation  of  Jehovah  with  body  or  form  degrades  him  to  the  level  of  heathen  gods. 
Pictures  of  the  Almighty  over  the  chancels  of  Romanist  cathedrals  confine  the  mind 
and  degrade  the  conceptions  of  the  worshipper.  We  may  use  imagination  in  prayer, 
picturing  God  as  a  benignant  form  holding  out  arms  of  mercy,  but  we  should  regard 
such  pictures  only  as  scaffolding  for  the  building  of  our  edifice  of  worship,  while  yet  we 
recognize,  with  the  Scripture,  that  the  reality  worshiped  is  immaterial  and  spiritual. 

The  longing  for  a  tangible,  incarnate  God  meets  its  satisfaction  in  Jesus  Christ.    Yet 


ABSOLUTE    OE   IMMANENT   ATTRIBUTES. 

even  pictures  of  Christ  soon  lose  their  power.  Luther  said :  "  If  I  have  a  picture  of 
Christ  in  my  heart,  why  not  one  upon  canvas?"  We  answer:  Because  the  picture  in 
the  heart  is  capable  of  change  and  improvement,  as  we  ourselves  change  and  improve ; 
the  picture  upon  canvas  is  fixed,  and  holds  us  to  old  conceptions  which  we  should  out- 
grow. Swedenborg,  in  modern  times,  represents  the  view  that  God  exists  in  the  shape 
of  a  man — an  anthropomorphism  of  which  the  making  of  idols  is  only  a  grosser  and 
more  barbarous  form  ;  see  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Theology,  9, 10.  This  is  also  the  doc- 
trine of  Mormonism ;  see  Spencer,  Catechism  of  the  Church  of  Latter  Day  Saints. 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  positive  import  of  the  term  Spirit.  The 
spirituality  of  God  involves  the  two  attributes  of  Life  and  Personality. 

1.  Life. 

The  Scriptures  represent  God  as  the  living  God. 

Jer.  10  : 10—"  he  is  the  living  God  "  ;  1  Thess.  1  :  9—"  turned  unto  God  from  idols,  to  serve  a  living  and  true  God  "  ; 

John  5  :  26— "hath  life  in  himself"  ;   cf.  14  :  6— "I  am the  life",  and  Heb.  7  : 16— "the  power  of  an  endlesa 

life." 

Life  is  a  simple  idea,  and  is  incapable  of  real  definition.  We  know  it, 
however,  in  ourselves,  and  we  can  perceive  the  insufficiency  or  inconsistency 
of  certain  current  definitions  of  it.  We  cannot  regard  life  in  God  as 

(a)  Mere  process,  without  a  subject ;  for  we  cannot  conceive  of  a  divine 
life  without  a  God  to  live  it. 

Versus  Lewes,  Problems  of  Life  and  Mind,  1 :  110  — "  Life  and  mind  are  processes ; 
neither  is  a  substance;  neither  is  a  force;  *  *  the  name  given  to  the  whole  group  of 
phenomena  becomes  the  personification  of  the  phenomena,  and  the  product  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  producer."  Here  we  have  a  product  without  any  producer— a  series 
of  phenomena  without  any  quality  or  substance  of  which  they  are  manifestations. 

Nor  can  we  regard  life  as 

(6)  Mere  correspondence  with  outward  condition  and  environment ;  for 
this  would  render  impossible  a  life  of  God  before  the  existence  of  the 
universe. 

Versus  Herbert  Spencer,  Biology,  1:  59-71— "Life  is  the  definite  combination  of 
heterogeneous  changes,  both  simultaneous  and  successive,  in  correspondence  with 
external  coexistences  and  sequences."  Here  we  have,  at  best,  a  definition  of  physical 
and  finite  life ;  and  even  this  is  insufficient,  because  the  definition  recognizes  no  original 
source  of  activity  within,  but  only  a  power  of  reaction  in  response  to  stimulus  from 
without.  We  might  as  well  say  that  the  boiling  tea-kettle  is  alive  (Pres.  Hopkins). 

(c)  God  is  rather  the  living  God,  as  having  in  his  own  being  a  source  of 
movement  and  activity,  both  for  himself  and  for  others. 

Life  means  energy,  activity,  movement.  Aristotle :  "  Life  is  energy  of  mind."  Man's 
nature  is  a  concave  glass,  reflecting  in  miniature  the  nature  of  God.  If  spirit  in  man 
implies  life,  Spirit  in  God  implies  endless  and  inexhaustible  life.  The  total  life  of  the 
universe  is  only  a  faint  image  of  that  moving  energy  which  we  call  the  life  of  God. 

2.  Personality. 

The  Scriptures  represent  God  as  a  personal  being.  By  personality  we 
mean  the  power  of  self-consciousness  and  of  self-determination.  By  way 
of  further  explanation  we  remark  : 

(a)  Self-consciousness  is  more  than  consciousness.  This  last  the  brute 
may  be  supposed  to  possess,  since  the  brute  is  not  an  automaton.  Man  is 
distinguished  from  the  brute  by  his  power  to  objectify  self.  Man  is  not 
only  conscious  of  his  own  acts  and  states,  but  by  abstraction  and  reflection 
he  recognizes  the  self  which  is  the  subject  of  these  acts  and  states.  (6)  Self- 
determination  is  more  than  determination.  The  brute  shows  determination, 


122 


XATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 


but  his  determination  is  the  result  of  influences  from  without ;  there  is  no 
inner  spontaneity.  Man,  by  virtue  of  his  free-will,  determines  his  action 
from  within.  He  determines  self  in  view  of  motives,  but  his  determination 
is  not  caused  by  motives ;  he  himself  is  the  cause. 

God,  as  personal,  is  in  the  highest  degree  self-conscious  and  self-deter- 
mining. The  rise  in  our  own  minds  of  the  idea  of  God,  as  personal,  depends 
largely  upon  our  recognition  of  personality  in  ourselves.  Those  who  deny 
spirit  in  man  place  a  bar  in  the  way  of  the  recognition  of  this  attribute  of 
God. 

Ex.  3  : 14 — "And  God  said  unto  Moses,  I  AM  THAT  I  AM  :  and  he  said,  Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of 
Israel,  I  AM  hath  sent  me  unto  you."  God  is  not  the  everlasting  "!T  is,"  but  the  everlasting 
"  I  AM  "  (Morris,  Philosophy  and  Christianity,  128).  1  Cor.  2  : 11— "the  things  of  God  none  knoweth, 
save  the  Spirit  of  God"  ;  Eph.  1  :  9— "good  pleasure  which  he  purposed  "  ;  11— "the  counsel  of  his  will."  Defini- 
tions of  personality  are  the  following- :  Boethius— "  Persona  est  animae  rationalis  indi- 
vidua  substantia  "  (quoted  in  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  415).  F.  W.  Robertson,  Genesis, 
3— "Personality  =  self-consciousness,  will,  character."  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  626— 
"Distinct  subsistence,  either  actually  or  latently  self-conscious  and  self -determining-." 
Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism  :  Person  =  "  being,  conscious  of  self,  subsisting  in  indi- 
viduality and  identity,  and  endowed  with  intuitive  reason,  rational  sensibility,  and  free- 
will." See  Harris,  98,  99,  quotation  from  Hansel—"  The  freedom  of  the  will  is  so  far 
from  being,  as  it  is  generally  considered,  a  controvertible  question  in  philosophy,  that 
it  is  the  fundamental  postulate  without  which  all  action  and  all  speculation,  philosophy 
in  all  its  branches  and  human  consciousness  itself,  would  be  impossible." 

One  of  the  most  astounding  announcements  in  all  literature  is  that  of  Matthew 
Arnold,  in  his  "Literature  and  Dogma,"  that  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  recognize  in  God 
only  "  the  power,  not  ourselves,  that  makes  for  righteousness  "=  the  God  of  pantheism . 
The  "I  AM"  of  Ex.  3  : 14  could  hardly  have  been  so  misunderstood,  if  Matthew  Arnold 
had  not  lost  the  sense  of  his  own  personality  and  responsibility.  From  free-will  in  man 
we  rise  to  freedom  in  God— "That  living  Will  that  shall  endure,  When  all  that  seems  shall 
suffer  shock."  Observe  that  personality  needs  to  be  accompanied  by  life— the  power 
of  self-consciousness  and  self-determination  needs  to  be  accompanied  by  activity— in 
order  to  make  up  our  total  idea  of  God  as  Spirit.  Only  this  personality  of  God  gives 
proper  meaning  to  his  punishments  or  to  his  forgiveness,  See  Bib.  Sac.,  April,  1884: 
217-233 ;  Eichhorn,  die  Personlichkeit  Gottes :  also,  this  Compendium,  page  57. 

/Second  Division — Infinity,  and  attributes  therein  involved. 

By  infinity  we  mean,  not  that  the  divine  nature  has  no  known  limits  or 
bounds,  but  that  it  has  no  limits  or  bounds.  That  which  has  simply  no 
known  limits  is  the  indefinite. 

Psalm  145  :  3—"  his  greatness  is  unsearchable  "  ;  Job  11 :  7-9  — "  high  as  heaven  "...."  deeper  than  Sheol." 

In  explanation  of  the  term  infinity,  we  may  notice 

(a)  That  the  infinity  of  God  is  not  a  negative  but  a  positive  idea.     It 
does  not  take  its  rise  from  an  impotence  of  thought,  but  is  an  intuitive  con- 
viction which  constitutes  the  basis  of  all  other  knowledge. 

Verms  Mansel,  Proleg.  Logica,  chap.  1— "Such  negative  notions imply  at  once 

an  attempt  to  think,  and  a  failure  in  that  attempt."  Per  contra,  see  Porter,  Human 
Intellect,  651,  652 ;  and  these  notes,  page  29  sq. 

(b)  That  the  infinity  of  God  does  not  involve  his  identity  with  '  the  all,' 
or  the  sum  of  existence,  nor  prevent  the  coexistence  of  derived  and  finite 
beings  to  which  he  bears  relation.     Infinity  implies  simply  that  God  exists 
in  no  necessary  relation  to  finite  things  or  beings,  and  that  whatever  limita- 
tion of  the  divine  nature  results  from  their  existence  is,  on  the  part  of  God, 
a  self -limitation. 

Ps.  113  :  5,  6  —  "That  humbleth  himself  to  behold  the  things  that  are  in  heaven  and  in  the  earth."    It  is  involved 


ABSOLUTE    OR    IMMANENT   ATTRIBUTES.  123 

in  God's  infinity  that  there  should  be  no  barriers  to  his  self-limitation  in  creation  and 
redemption  (see  page  6,  F).  Jacob  Boehme  said  :  "  God  is  infinite,  for  God  is  all."  But 
this  is  to  make  God  all  imperfection,  as  well  as  all  perfection.  Harris,  Philos.  Basis 
Theism  :  "  The  relation  of  the  absolute  to  the  finite  is  not  the  mathematical  relation  of 
a  total  to  its  parts,  but  it  is  a  dynamical  and  rational  relation." 

(c)  That  the  infinity  of  God  is  to  be  conceived  of  as  intensive,  rather 
than  as  extensive.  We  do  not  attribute  to  God  infinite  extension,  but  rather 
infinite  energy  of  spiritual  life.  That  which  acts  up  to  the  measure  of  its 
power  is  simply  natural  and  physical  force.  Man  rises  above  nature  by 
virtue  of  his  reserves  of  power.  But  in  God  the  reserve  is  infinite.  There 
is  a  transcendent  element  in  him,  which  no  self -revelation  exhausts,  whether 
creation  or  redemption,  whether  law  or  promise. 

Ps.  89  :  2—"  Mercy  shall  be  built  up  forever"  =  ever  growing  manifestions,  cycles  of  fulfilment ; 
first  literal,  then  spiritual.  Mai.  2 : 15—"  Did  he  not  make  one,  although  he  had  the  residue  of  the  Spirit  ?  "= 
he  might  have  created  many  wives  for  Adam,  though  he  did  actually  create  but  one. 
Is.  52:10— "the  Lord  hath  made  bare  his  holy  arm "  =  nature  does  not  exhaust  or  entomb  God; 
nature  is  the  mantle  in  which  he  commonly  reveals  himself ;  but  he  is  not  fettered  by 
the  robe  he  wears— he  can  thrust  it  aside,  and  make  bare  his  arm  in  providential  inter- 
positions for  earthly  deliverance,  and  in  mighty  movements  of  history  for  the  salvation 
of  the  sinner  and  for  the  setting  up  of  his  own  kingdom.  See  also  John  1 : 16  — "  Of  his  fulness 
we  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace  "  =  "  Each  blessing  appropriated  became  the  foundation  of  a 
greater  blessing.  To  have  realized  and  used  one  measure  of  grace  was  to  have  gained 
a  larger  measure  in  exchange  for  it  (x^v  a-vrl  xaptros)  " ;  so  Westcott,  in  Bib.  Com.,  in 
oco,  Christ  can  ever  say  to  the  believer,  as  he  said  to  Nathanael  (John  1 :  50 ) :  " Greater  things 
than  these  shall  ye  see." 

Because  God  is  infinite,  he  can  love  each  believer  as  much  as  if  that  single  soul  were 
the  only  one  for  whom  he  had  to  care.  Both  in  providence  and  in  redemption  the  whole 
heart  of  God  is  busy  with  plans  for  the  interest  and  happiness  of  the  single  Christian. 
Threaten  ings  do  not  half  reveal  God,  nor  his  promises  half  express  the  "eternal  weight  of 
glory"  (2  Cor.  4  :17).  Dante,  Paradiso,  19:  40-63— God  "Could  not  upon  the  universe  so 
write  The  impress  of  his  power,  but  that  his  word  Must  still  be  left  in  distance  infinite." 
To  '* limit  the  Holy  One  of  Israel "  (Ps.  78  :  41— marg.)  is  falsehood  as  well  as  sin. 

This  attribute  of  infinity,  or  of  transcendence,  qualifies  all  the  other  attributes,  and  so 
is  the  foundation  for  the  representations  of  majesty  and  glory  as  belonging  to  God  (see 
Ex.  33  : 18 ;  Ps.  19  : 1 ;  Is.  6  :  3 ;  Mat.  6  :  13 ;  Acts  7  :  2 ;  Rom.  1  :  23 ;  9  :  23 ;  Heb.  1  :  3 ;  1  Pet.  4  : 14 ;  Rev.  21  :  23 ). 
Glory  is  not  itself  a  divine  attribute ;  it  is  rather  a  result  — an  objective  result  — of  the 
exercise  of  the  divine  attributes.  This  glory  exists  irrespective  of  the  revelation  and 
recognition  of  it  in  the  creation  (John  17  :  5).  Only  God  can  worthily  perceive  and  rev- 
erence his  own  glory.  He  does  all  for  his  own  glory.  All  religion  is  founded  on  the 
glory  of  God.  All  worship  is  the  result  of  this  immanent  quality  of  the  divine  nature. 

God's  infinity  implies  absolute  completeness.  We  proceed  therefore  to  consider  the 
attributes  therein  involved. 

Of  the  attributes  involved  in  infinity,  we  mention: 

1.     Self-existence. 

By  self -existence  we  mean 

(a)  That  God  is  causa  sui,  having  the  ground  of  his  existence  in  him- 
self. Every  being  must  have  the  ground  of  its  existence  either  in  or  out 
of  itself.  We  have  the  ground  of  our  existence  outside  of  us.  God  is  not 
thus  dependent.  He  is  a  se  ;  hence  we  speak  of  the  aseity  of  God. 

God's  self-existence  is  implied  in  the  name  "Jehovah"  (Ex.  6 :  3)  and  in  the  declaration 
*'I  AM  THAT  I  AM  "  ( Ex.  3  : 14),  both  of  which  signify  that  it  is  God's  nature  to  be.  Self- 
existence  is  certainly  incomprehensible  to  us,  yet  a  self -existent  person  is  no  greater 
mystery  than  a  self-existent  thing,  such  as  Herbert  Spencer  supposes  the  universe  to 
be ;  indeed  it  is  not  so  great  a  mystery,  for  it  is  easier  to  derive  matter  from  mind  than 
to  derive  mind  from  matter.  See  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  661. 


124  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF   GOD. 

But  lest  this  should  be  misconstrued,  we  add 

(b)  That  God  exists  by  necessity  of  his  own  being.  It  is  his  nature  to 
be.  Hence  the  existence  of  God  is  not  a  contingent  but  a  necessary  exist- 
ence. It  is  grounded,  not  in  his  volitions,  but  in  his  nature. 

Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2 : 126, 130, 170,  seems  to  hold  that  God  is  primarily  will, 
so  that  the  essence  of  God  is  his  act :  "  God's  essence  does  not  precede  his  freedom  "  ; 
"  if  the  essence  ef  God  were  for  him  something-  given,  something  already  present,  the 
the  question  'from  whence  it  is  given?'  could  not  be  evaded;  God's  essence  must  in 
this  case  have  its  origin  in  something  apart  from  him,  and  thus  the  true  conception  of 
God  would  be  entirely  swept  away."  But  this  implies  that  truth,  reason,  love,  holiness, 
equally  with  God's  essence,  are  all  products  of  will.  If  God's  essence,  moreover,  were 
his  act,  it  would  be  in  the  power  of  God  to  annihilate  himself.  Act  presupposes  essence ; 
else  there  is  no  God  to  act.  The  will  by  which  God  exists,  and  in  virtue  of  which  he  is 
causa  sui,  is  therefore  not  will  in  the  sense  of  volition,  but  will  in  the  sense  of  the  whole 
movement  of  his  active  being.  With  MUller's  view  Thomasius  and  Delitzsch  are  agreed. 
For  refutation  of  it,  see  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  63. 

2.     Immutability. 

By  this  we  mean  that  the  nature,  attributes,  and  will  of  God  are  exempt 
from  all  change.  Eeason  teaches  us  that  no  change  is  possible  in  God, 
whether  of  increase  or  decrease,  progress  or  deterioration,  contraction  or 
development.  All  change  must  be  to  better  or  to  worse.  But  God  is  abso- 
lute perfection,  and  no  change  to  better  is  possible.  Change  to  worse 
would  be  equally  inconsistent  with  perfection .  No  cause  for  such  change 
exists,  either  outside  of  God  or  in  God  himself. 

Psalm  102  :  27— "thou  art  the  same"  ;  Mai.  3  :  6— "I  the  Lord  change  not"  ;  James  1 : 17— "with  whom  can  be  no 
variation,  neither  shadow  that  is  cast  by  turning."  Spencer,  Faerie  Queen,  Cantos  of  Mutability,  8 :  2 
—"Then  'gin  I  think  on  that  which  nature  sayde,  Of  that  same  time  when  no  more 
change  shall  be,  But  steadfast  rest  of  all  things,  firmly  stayed  Upon  the  pillours  of 
eternity ;  For  all  that  moveth  doth  in  change  delight,  But  henceforth  all  shall  rest 
eternally  With  him  that  is  the  God  of  Sabaoth  hight;  Oh  thou  great  Sabaoth  God, 
grant  me  that  Sabbath's  sight ! " 

The  passages  of  Scripture  which  seem  at  first  sight  to  ascribe  change  to 
God  are  to  be  explained  in  one  of  two  ways  : 

(a)  As  anthropomorphic  representations  of  the  revelation  of  God's  un- 
changing attributes  in  the  changing  circumstances  and  varying  moral  con- 
ditions of  creatures. 

Gen.  6  :  6— "it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had  made  man"  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  Num.  23  : 19 
— "  God  is  not  a  man,  that  he  should  lie :  neither  the  son  of  man,  that  he  should  repent."  So  c/.  1  Sam.  15  : 11  with 
15  :  29.  God's  unchanging  holiness  requires  him  to  treat  the  wicked  differently  from  the 
righteous.  When  the  righteous  become  wicked,  his  treatment  of  them  must  change. 
The  sun  is  not  fickle  or  partial  because  it  melts  the  wax  but  hardens  the  clay— the 
change  is  not  in  the  sun  but  in  the  objects  it  shines  upon.  The  change  in  God's  treat- 
ment of  men  is  described  anthromorphically,  as  if  it  were  a  change  in  God  himself— 
other  passages  in  close  conjunction  with  the  first  being  given  to  correct  any  possible 
misapprehension.  Threats  not  fulfilled,  as  in  Jonah  3  :  4, 10,  are  to  be  explained  by  their 
conditional  nature.  Hence  God's  immutability  itself  renders  it  certain  that  his  love 
will  adapt  itself  to  every  varying  mood  and  condition  of  his  children,  so  as  to  guide 
their  steps,  sympathize  with  their  sorrows,  answer  their  prayers.  God  responds  to  us 
more  quickly  than  the  mother's  face  to  the  changing  moods  of  her  babe. 

(&)  As  describing  executions,  in  time,  of  purposes  eternally  existing  in 
the  mind  of  God.  Immutability  must  not  be  confounded  with  immobility. 
This  would  deny  all  those  imperative  volitions  of  God  by  which  he  enters 
into  history.  The  Scriptures  assure  us  that  creation,  miracles,  incarnation, 


ABSOLUTE    OR    IMMANENT    ATTRIBUTES.  125 

regeneration,  are  immediate  acts  of  God.  Immutability  is  consistent  with 
constant  activity  and  perfect  freedom. 

The  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation  indicates  no  change  in  God's  plan ;  it  is 
rather  the  execution  of  his  plan.  Christ's  coming  and  work  were  no  sudden  makeshift, 
to  remedy  unforeseen  defects  in  the  Old  Testament  scheme :  Christ  came  rather  in  "the 
fulness  of  the  time  "  ( Gal.  4  :  4 ),  to  fulfil  the  "  counsel "  of  God  ( Acts  2  :  23 ).  Gen.  8  : 1—"  God  remembered 
Noah  "=  interposed  by  special  act  for  Noah's  deliverance,  showed  that  he  remembered 
Noah.  While  we  change,  God  does  not.  There  is  no  fickleness  or  inconstancy  in  him. 
Where  we  once  found  him,  there  we  may  find  him  still,  as  Jacob  did  at  Bethel  (Gen.  35  : 1, 
€,  9).  Immutability  is  a  consolation  to  the  faithful,  but  a  terror  to  God's  enemies  ( Mai.  3 :  6 
— "I  the  Lord  change  not ;  therefore  ye,  0  sons  of  Jacob,  are  not  consumed  "  ;  Ps.  7  :  11— "a  God  that  hath  indignation 
every  day").  It  is  consistent  with  constant  activity  in  nature  and  in  grace  (John  5  : 17— 

"  My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work  "  ;  Job  23  :  13,  14 — "  He  is  in  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  him 

he  performeth  the  thing  that  is  appointed  for  me;  and  many  such  things  are  with  him"  ).  If  God's  immuta- 
bility were  immobility,  we  could  not  worship  him,  any  more  than  the  ancient  Greeks 
were  able  to  worship  Fate.  On  this  attribute,  see  Charnock,  Attributes,  1 :  310-362 ; 
Dorner,  Gesammelte  Schriften,  188-377;  translated  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1879:  28-59,  209-223. 

3.     Unity. 

By  this  we  mean  (a)  that  the  divine  nature  is  undivided  and  indivisible 
(unus)  ;  and  (6)  that  there  is  but  one  infinite  and  perfect  Spirit  (unicus). 

Deut.  6  :  4—"  Hear,  0  Israel ;  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord  "  ;  Is.  44  :  6— "Beside  me  there  is  no  God "  ;  John  5  :  44 
—  "  the  only  God  "  ;  17  :  3—"  the  only  true  God  "  ;  1  Cor.  8  :  4—"  no  God  but  one "  ;  1  Tim.  1  :  17—"  the  only  God." 

Against  polytheism,  tritheism,  or  dualism,  we  may  urge  that  the  notion 
of  two  or  more  Gods  is  self-contradictory  ;  since  each  limits  the  other  and 
destroys  his  godhood.  In  the  nature  of  things,  infinity  and  absolute  per- 
fection are  possible  only  to  one.  It  is  unphilosophical,  moreover,  to  assume 
the  existence  of  two  or  more  Gods,  when  one  will  explain  all  the  facts.  The 
unity  of  God  is,  however,  in  no  way  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  for  while  this  doctrine  holds  to  the  existence  of  hypostatical,  or 
personal,  distinctions  in  the  divine  nature,  it  also  holds  that  this  divine 
nature  is  numerically  and  eternally  one. 

Polytheism  is  man's  attempt  to  rid  himself  of  the  notion  of  responsibility  to  one  moral 
Lawgiver  and  Judge  by  dividing  up  his  manifestations,  and  attributing  them  to  sepa- 
rate wills.  So  Force,  in  the  terminology  of  some  modern  theorizers,  is  only  God  with 
his  moral  attributes  left  out.  "  Henotheism  "  (says  Max  Mtiller,  Origin  and  Growth  of 
Religion,  285),  "  conceives  of  each  individual  god  as  unlimited  by  the  power  of  other 
gods.  Each  is  felt,  at  the  time,  as  supreme  and  absolute,  notwithstanding  the  limitations 
which  to  our  minds  must  arise  from  his  power  being  conditioned  by  the  power  of  all 
the  gods." 

Even  polytheism  cannot  rest  in  the  doctrine  of  many  gods,  as  an  exclusive  and  all-com- 
prehending explanation  of  the  universe.  The  Greeks  believed  in  one  supreme  Fate  that 
ruled  both  gods  and  men.  Aristotle :  "  God,  though  he  is  one,  has  many  names,  because 
he  is  called  according  to  states  into  which  he  is  ever  entering1  anew."  The  doctrine  of 
God's  unity  should  teach  men  to  give  up  hope  of  any  other  God,  to  reveal  himself  to 
them  or  to  save  them.  They  are  in  the  hands  of  the  one  and  only  God,  and  therefore 
there  is  but  one  law,  and  one  salvation.  On  the  origin  of  polytheism,  see  articles  by 
Tholuck,  in  Bib.  Repos.,  2 :  84,  246,  441,  and  Max  Miiller,  Science  of  Religion,  124. 

Third  Division. — Perfection,  and  attributes  therein  involved. 

By  perfection  we  mean,  not  mere  quantitative  completeness,  but  qualita- 
tive excellence.  The  attributes  involved  in  perfection  are  moral  attributes. 
Kight  action  among  men  presupposes  a  perfect  moral  organization,  a  nor- 
mal state  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will.  So  God's  activity  presupposes  a 
principle  of  intelligence,  of  affection,  of  volition,  in  his  inmost  being,  and 


12t>  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

the  existence  of  a  worthy  object  for  each  of  these  powers  of  his  nature. 
But  in  eternity  past  there  is  nothing  existing  outside  or  apart  from  God. 
He  must  find,  and  he  does  find,  the  sufficient  object  of  intellect,  affection, 
and  will,  in  himself.  There  is  a  self-knowing,  a  self-loving,  a  self-willing, 
which  constitute  his  absolute  perfection.  The  consideration  of  the  imma- 
nent attributes  is,  therefore,  properly  concluded  with  an  account  of  that 
truth,  love,  and  holiness,  which  render  God  entirely  sufficient  to  himself. 
Mat.  5  :  47—"  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect." 

1.     Truth. 

By  truth  we  mean  that  attribute  of  the  divine  nature  in  virtue  of  which 
God's  being  and  God's  knowledge  eternally  conform  to  each  other. 

(a)  The  immanent  truth  of  God  is  to  be  distinguished  from  that  veracity 
and  faithfulness  which  partially  manifest  it  to  creatures.  These  are  transi- 
tive truth,  and  they  presuppose  the  absolute  and  immanent  attribute. 

Deut.  32  :  4— "  A  God  of  faithfulness  and  without  iniquity,  just  and  right  is  he  "  ;  John  17  :  3— "the  only  true  God  " 
( a\T)div6v ) ;  1  John  5:20  — "we  know  him  that  is  true"  (rbv  a\T)&t.i>6i> ) .  In  both  these  passages 
dAr^tvo;  describes  God  as  the  genuine,  the  real,  as  distinguished  from  aArj^s,  the  vera- 
cious (compare  John  6  :  32—"  the  true  bread  "  ;  Heb.  8  :  2—"  the  true  tabernacle  "  ).  John  14  :  6—"  I  am  .... 
the  truth."  As  "I  am  ....  the  life"  signifies,  not  "  T  am  the  living  one,"  but  rather  "I  am  he 

who  is  life  and  the  source  of  life,"  so  "I  am the  truth"  signifies,  not  "  I  am  the  truthful 

one,"  but  "I  am  he  who  is  truth  and  the  source  of  truth" — in  other  words,  truth  of 
being,  not  merely  truth  of  expression.  So  1  John  5  :  7— "the  Spirit  is  the  truth."  Cf.  1  Esdras  4  :  38 
— "The  truth  abideth  and  is  forever  strong,  and  it  liveth  and  ruleth  forever "= personal  Truth? 

(6)  God  is  truth,  not  only  in  the  sense  that  he  is  the  being  who  truly 
knows,  but  also  in  the  sense  that  he  is  the  truth  that  is  known.  The  passive 
precedes  the  active  ;  truth  of  being  precedes  truth  of  knowing. 

Plato :  "  Truth  is  his  (God's)  body,  and  light  his  shadow."  Hollaz  (quoted  in  Thom- 
asius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  137 )  says  that  "  truth  is  the  conformity  of  the  divine 
essence  with  the  divine  intellect."  See  Gerhard,  loc.  ii :  152 ;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  2  :  272, 
279;  3:  193 — "Distinguish  in  God  the  personal  self-consciousness  [spirituality,  person- 
ality— see  page  121, 122]  from  the  unfolding  of  this  in  the  divine  knowledge,which  can  have 
no  other  object  but  God  himself.  So  far,  now,  as  self-knowing  in  God  is  absolutely 
identical  with  his  being,  is  he  the  absolutely  true.  For  truth  is  the  knowledge  which 
answers  to  the  being,  and  the  being  which  answers  to  the  knowledge." 

(c)  All   truth   among   men,   whether   mathematical,    logical,   moral,  or 
religious,  is  to  be  regarded  as  having  its  foundation  in  this  immanent  truth 
of  the  divine  nature  and  as  disclosing  facts  in  the  being  of  God. 

There  is  a  higher  Mind  than  our  mind.  No  apostle  can  say  "  I  am  the  truth,"  though 
each  of  them  can  say  "I  speak  the  truth."  Truth  is  not  a  scientific  or  moral,  but  a 
substantial,  thing — "  nicht  Schulsache,  sondern  Lebenssache."  Here  is  the  dignity  of 
education,  that  knowledge  of  truth  is  knowledge  of  God.  The  laws  of  mathematics 
arc  disclosures  to  us,  not  of  the  divine  reason  merely,  for  this  would  imply  truth  outside 
of  and  before  God,  but  of  the  divine  nature. 

(d)  This  attribute  therefore  constitutes  the  principle  and  guarantee  of 
all  revelation,  while  it  shows  the  possibility  of  an  eternal  divine  self-con- 
templation apart  from  and  before  all  creation.     It  is  to  be  understood  only 
in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

To  all  this  doctrine,  however,  a  great  school  of  philosophers  have  opposed  themselves. 
Duns  Scotus  held  that  God's  will  made  truth  as  well  as  right.  Descartes  said  that  God 
could  have  made  it  untrue  that  the  radii  of  a  circle  are  all  equal.  Lord  Bacon  said  that 
Adam's  sin  consisted  in  seeking  a  good  in  itself,  instead  of  being  content  with  the  merely 
empirical  good.  Whedon,  On  the  Will,  316—"  Infinite  wisdom  and  infinite  holiness  con- 


ABSOLUTE    OK    IMMANENT   ATTRIBUTES.  127 

sist  in,  and  result  from,  God's  volitions  eternally."  We  reply,  that  to  make  truth  and 
good  matters  of  mere  will,  instead  of  regarding  them  as  characteristics  of  God's  being, 
is  to  deny  that  anything  is  true  or  good  in  itself.  If  God  can  make  truth  to  be  false- 
hood, and  injustice  to  be  justice,  then  God  is  indifferent  to  truth  or  falsehood,  to  good 
or  evil,  and  he  ceases  thereby  to  be  God.  Truth  is  not  arbitrary— it  is  matter  of  being 
—the  being  of  God.  There  are  no  regulative  principles  of  knowledge,  which  are  not 
transcendental  also.  God  knows  and  wills  truth,  because  he  is  truth.  Robert  Brown- 
ing, A  Soul's  Tragedy,  214—"  Were't  not  for  God,  I  mean,  what  hope  of  truth— Speaking 
truth,  hearing  truth,  would  stay  with  Man  ?  "  See  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.  1877 :  735 ;  Finney, 
Syst.  Theology,  661 ;  Janet,  Final  Causes,  416. 

2.     Love. 

By  love  we  mean  that  attribute  of  the  divine  nature  in  virtue  of  which 
God  is  eternally  moved  to  self -communication. 

1  John  4  :  8 — "God  is  love "  ;  3  : 16 — "hereby  know  we  love,  because  he  laid  down  his  life  for  us"  ;  John  17  :  24 
— "  thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  "  ;  Rom.  15  :  30—"  the  love  of  the  Spirit." 

(a)  The  immanent  love  of  God  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  mercy  and 
goodness  toward  creatures.  These  are  its  manifestations,  and  are  to  be 
denominated  transitive  love. 

Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  138, 139—"  God's  regard  for  the  happiness  of 
his  creatures  flows  from  this  self-communicating  attribute  of  his  nature.  Love,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word,  is  living  good-will,  with  impulses  to  impartation  and  union; 
self -communication  (bonum  communicativum  sui);  devotion,  merging  of  the  ego  in 
another,  in  order  to  penetrate,  fill,  bless  this  other  with  itself,  and  in  this  other,  as  in 
another  self,  to  possess  itself,  without  giving  up  itself  or  losing  itself.  Love  is  therefore 
possible  only  between  persons,  and  always  presupposes  personality.  Only  as  Trinity 
has  God  love,  absolute  love ;  because  as  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  he  stands  in  per- 
fect self-impartation,  self-devotion,  and  communion  with  himself."  Julius  Miiller, 
Doct.  Sin,  2 :  136—"  God  has  in  himself  the  eternal  and  wholly  adequate  object  of  his 
love,  independently  of  his  relation  to  the  world." 

(&)  The  immanent  love  of  God  therefore  requires  and  finds  a  personal 
object  in  the  image  of  his  own  infinite  perfections.  It  is  to  be  understood 
only  in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

As  there  is  a  higher  Mind  than  our  mind,  so  there  is  a  greater  Heart  than  our  heart. 
God  is  not  simply  the  loving  One— he  is  also  the  Love  that  is  loved.  There  is  an  infinite 
life  of  sensibility  and  affection  in  God.  God  has  feeling,  and  in  an  infinite  degree.  But 
feeling  alone  is  not  love.  Love  implies  not  merely  receiving  but  giving,  not  merely 
emotion  but  impartation.  So  the  love  of  God  is  shown  in  his  eternal  giving.  James  1 :  5 
—"God,  who  giveth,"  or  "the  giving  God"  (roO  SiSovTos  ®eov  )  =  giving  is  not  an  episode  in  his 
being— it  is  his  nature  to  give.  And  not  only  to  give,  but  to  give  himself.  This  he  does 
eternally  in  the  self-communications  of  the  Trinity ;  this  he  does  transitively  and  tem- 
porally in  his  giving  of  himself  for  us  in  Christ,  and  to  us  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  • 

(c)  The  immanent  love  of  God  constitutes  a  ground  of  the  divine  bles- 
sedness. Since  there  is  an  infinite  and  perfect  object  of  love,  as  well  as  of 
knowledge  and  will,  in  God's  own  nature,  the  existence  of  the  universe  is 
not  necessary  to  his  serenity  and  joy. 

Blessedness  is  not  itself  a  divine  attribute ;  it  is  rather  a  result  of  the  exercise  of  the 
divine  attributes.  It  is  a  subjective  result  of  this  exercise,  as  glory  is  an  objective  re- 
sult. Perfect  faculties,  with  perfect  objects  for  their  exercise,  ensure  God's  blessedness. 
But  love  is  especially  its  source.  Acts  20  :  35— "it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  Happiness 
(hap,  happen)  is  grounded  in  circumstances;  blessedness,  in  character. 

Is  this  blessedness  of  God  consistent  with  sorrow  for  human  misery  and  sin  ?  Is  God 
passible,  capable  of  suffering  ?  Scripture  seems  to  attribute  to  God  emotions  of  grief 
and  anger  at  human  sin  (Gen  6  :  6—"  it  grieved  him  at  his  heart "  ;  Rom.  1  : 18—"  wrath  of  God  "  ;  Eph.  4  :  30 
—"grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God"  ) ;  painful  sacrifice  in  the  gift  of  Christ  (Rom.  8  :  32— "spared  not 
his  own  son"  ;  cf.  Gen.  22  : 16— -'hast  not  withheld  thy  son")  and  participation  in  the  suffering  of 


128 


NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 


his  people  (Is.  63  :  9— "in  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted  "  ) ;  Jesus  Christ  in  his  sorrow  and  sym- 
pathy, his  tears  and  agony,  seems  to  be  the  revealer  of  God's  feelings  toward  the  race, 
and  we  are  urged  to  follow  in  his  steps,  that  we  may  be  perfect,  as  our  Father  in  heaven 
is  perfect.  We  cannot,  indeed,  conceive  of  love  without  self-sacrifice,  nor  of  self-sacrifice 
without  suffering-.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  as  immutability  is  consistent  with  impera- 
tive volitions  in  human  history,  so  the  blessedness  of  God  may  be  consistent  with  emo- 
tions of  sorrow. 

But  does  God  feel  in  proportion  to  his  greatness,  as  the  mother  suffers  more  than  the 
sick  child  whom  she  tends?  Does  God  suffer  infinitely  in  every  suffering  of  his  crea- 
tures? We  must  remember  that  God  is  infinitely  greater  than  his  creation,  and  that  he 
sees  all  human  sin  and  woe  as  part  of  his  great  plan.  We  are  entitled  to  attribute  to 
him  only  such  passibleness  as  is  consistent  with  infinite  perfection.  In  combining  pas- 
sibleness  with  blessedness,  then,  we  must  allow  blessedness  to  be  the  controlling  ele- 
ment, for  ftur  fundamental  idea  of  God  is  that  of  absolute  perfection.  Martensen,  Dog- 
matics, 101— "  This  limitation  is  swallowed  up  in  the  inner  life  of  perfection  which  God 
lives,  in  total  independence  of  his  creation,  and  in  triumphant  prospect  of  the  fulfilment 
of  his  great  designs.  We  may  therefore  say  with  the  old  theosophic  writers :  '  In  the 
outer  chambers  is  sadness,  but  in  the  inner  ones  is  unmixed  joy.' "  Per  contra,  see 
Shedd,  Essays  and  Addresses,  277,  279,  note. 

3.     Holiness. 

Holiness  is  self -affirming  purity.  In  virtue  of  this  attribute  of  his  nature, 
God  eternally  wills  and  maintains  his  own  moral  excellence.  In  this  defi- 
nition are  contained  three  elements  :  first,  purity;  secondly,  purity  willing; 
thirdly,  purity  willing  itself. 

Ex.  15  : 11— "Glorious  in  holiness" ;  19  : 10-16 — the  people  of  Israel  must  purify  themselves  be- 
fore they  come  into  the  presence  of  God  ;  Is.  6  :  3— "Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts"— notice 
the  contrast  with  the  unclean  lips,  that  must  be  purged  with  a  coal  from  the  altar  (verses 
5-7) ;  2  Cor.  7  :  1 — "cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God  "  ; 
1  Thess.  3  : 13 — "unblamable  in  holiness"  ;  4  :  7 — "God  called  us  not  for  uncleanness,  but  in  sanctification "  ;  Heb. 
12  :  29—"  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire  "—  to  all  iniquity.  These  passages  show  that  holiness  is  the 
opposite  to  impurity,  that  it  is  itself  purity. 

In  further  explanation  we  remark  : 
A.     Negatively,  that  holiness  is  not 

(a)  Justice,  or  purity  demanding  purity  from   creatures.     Justice,  the 
relative  or  transitive  attribute,  is  indeed  the  manifestation  and  expression 
of  the  immanent  attribute  of  holiness,  but  it  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
it. 

Quenstedt,  Theol.,  8  : 1 :  34,  defines  holiness  as  "summa  omnisque  labis  expers  in  Deo 
puritas,  puritatem  debitam  exigens  a  creaturis  " — a  definition  of  transitive  holiness,  or 
justice,  rather  than  of  the  immanent  attribute. 

(b)  A  complex  term  designating  the  aggregate  of  the  divine  perfections. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  notion  of  holiness  is,  both  in  Scripture  and  in  Chris- 
tian experience,  perfectly  simple,  and  perfectly  distinct  from  that  of  other 
attributes. 

Dick,  Theol.,  1 :  275— Holiness  =  venerableness,  L  e.,  "no  particular  attribute,  but  the 
general  character  of  God  as  resulting  from  his  moral  attributes."  Wardlaw  calls  holi- 
ness the  union  of  all  the  .attributes,  as  pure  white  light  is  the  union  of  all  the  colored 
rays  of  the  spectrum  (Theology,  1 :  618-634).  So  Nitzsch,  System  of  Christ.  Doct.,  166 ; 
H.  W.  Beecher :  "  Holiness  =  wholeness." 

(c)  God's  self-love,  in  the  sense  of  supreme  regard  for  his  own  interest 
and  happiness.     There  is  no  utilitarian  element  in  holiness. 

Buddeus,  Theol.  Dogmat.,  2 :  1 :  36,  defines  holiness  as  God's  self-love.  But  God 
loves  and  affirms  self,  not  as  self,  but  as  the  holiest.  There  is  no  self-seeking-  in  God. 


ABSOLUTE    OR   IMMANENT   ATTRIBUTES.  129 

Not  the  seeking  of  God's  interests,  but  love  for  God  as  holy,  is  the  principle  and  source 
of  holiness  in  man.  To  call  holiness  God's  self-love  is  to  say  that  God  is  holy  because  of 
what  he  can  make  by  it,  i.  e.,  to  deny  that  holiness  has  any  independent  existence.  See 
Thotnasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  155. 

(d)  Identical  with,  or  a  manifestation  of,  love.  Holiness,  the  self-affirm- 
ing attribute,  can  in  no  way  be  resolved  into  love,  the  self-communicating. 

Samuel  Hopkins,  Works,  2:  9-66— Holiness  =  love  of  being  in  general.  Bushnell, 
Vicarious  Sacrifice :  "  Righteousness,  translated  into  a  word  of  the  affections,  is  love  ; 
and  love,  translated  back  into  a  word  of  the  conscience,  is  righteousness"  ;  "the  eter- 
nal law  of  right  is  only  another  conception  of  the  law  of  love" ;  "the  two  principles, 
right  and  love,  appear  exactly  to  measure  each  other."  Many  New  School  theologians 
agree  with  Bushnell.  So  Park,  Discourses,  155-180. 

But  this  principle  that  holiness  is  a  manifestation  of  love,  or  a  form  of  benevolence, 
leads  to  the  conclusions  that  happiness  is  the  only  good,  and  the  only  end ;  that  law  is 
a  mere  expedient  for  the  securing  of  happiness;  that  penalty  is  simply  deterrent  or 
reformatory  in  its  aim ;  that  no  atonement  needs  to  be  offered  to  God  for  human  sin ; 
that  eternal  retribution  cannot  be  vindicated,  since  there  is  no  hope  of  reform.  This 
view  ignores  the  testimony  of  conscience  and  of  Scripture  that  sin  is  intrinsically  ill- 
deserving,  and  must  be  punished  on  that  account,  not  because  punishment  will  work 
good  to  the  universe  — indeed,  it  could  not  work  good  to  the  universe,  unless  it  were 
just  and  right  in  itself.  It  ignores  the  fact  that  mercy  is  optional  with  God,  while 
holiness  is  invariable;  that  punishment  is  many  times  traced  to  God's  holiness,  but 
never  to  God's  love ;  that  God  is  not  simply  love  but  light— moral  light— and  therefore 
is  "a  consuming  fire"  (Heb.  12  :  29)  to  all  iniquity.  Love  chastens  (Heb.  12  :  6),  but  only  holiness 
punishes  ( Jer.  10  :  24 — "  Correct  me,  but  with  judgment ;  not  in  thine  anger  "  ;  Ez.  28  :  22 — "  I  shall  have  executed 
judgments  in  her,  and  shall  be  sanctified  in  her"  ;  36  :  21,  22  — in  judgment  "I  do  not  this  for  your  sake,  but  for 
my  holy  name"  ;  1  John  1 :  5— "God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness "—  moral  darkness;  Rev.  15  : 1,  4  — 
<(  the  wrath  of  &od  .  .  .  thou  only  art  holy  .  .  .  thy  righteous  acts  have  been  made  manifest"  ;  16  :  5 — "  righteous  art 

thou because  thou  didst  thus  judge"  ;  19  :  2 — "true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments;  for  he  hath  judged  the 

great  harlot").  See  Hovey,  God  with  Us,  187-221;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  80-82;  Tho- 
masius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  154,  J55,  346-353 ;  Lange,  Pos.  Dogmatik,  203. 

B.     Positively,  that  holiness  is 

(a)  Purity  of  substance.  In  God's  moral  nature,  as  necessarily  acting, 
there  are  indeed  the  two  elements  of  willing  and  being.  But  the  passive 
logically  precedes  the  active ;  being  comes  before  willing  ;  God  is  pure 
before  he  wills  purity. 

As  truth  of  being  logically  precedes  truth  of  knowing,  and  as  a  loving  nature  pre- 
cedes loving  emotions,  so  purity  of  substance  precedes  purity  of  will.  The  opposite 
doctrine  leads  to  such  utterances  as  that  of  Whedon  (On  the  Will,  316) :  "  God  is  holy,  in 
that  he  freely  chooses  to  make  his  own  happiness  in  eternal  right.  Whether  he  could 
not  make  himself  equally  happy  in  wrong,  is  more  than  we  can  say."  "  Infinite  wisdom 
and  infinite  holiness  consist  in,  and  result  from,  God's  volitions  eternally."  Whedon 
therefore  believes,  not  in  God's  unchangeableness,  but  in  God's  unchangingness.  He  can- 
not say  whether  motives  may  not  at  some  time  prove  strongest  for  divine  apostasy  to 
<3vil.  The  essential  holiness  of  God  affords  no  basis  for  certainty.  Here  we  have  to  rely 
•on  our  faith,  more  than  on  the  object  of  faith  ;  see  H.  B.  Smith,  Review  of  Whedon,  in 
Faith  and  Philosophy,  355-399.  As  we  said  with  regard  to  truth,  so  here  we  say  with 
regard  to  holiness,  that  to  make  holiness  a  matter  of  mere  will,  instead  of  regarding  it 
as  a  characteristic  of  God's  being,  is  to  deny  that  anything  is  holy  in  itself.  If  God  can 
make  impurity  to  be  purity,  then  God  in  himself  is  indifferent  to  purity  or  impurity, 
and  he  ceases  thereby  to  be  God.  Robert  Browning,  A  Soul's  Tragedy,  223—"  I  trust  in 
Ood— the  Right  shall  be  the  Right  And  other  than  the  Wrong,  while  He  endures." 

(&)  Energy  of  will.  This  purity  is  not  simply  a  passive  and  dead  qual- 
ity ;  it  is  the  attribute  of  a  personal  being ;  it  is  penetrated  and  pervaded 
by  will.  Holiness  is  the  free  moral  movement  of  the  Godhead. 

As  there  is  a  higher  Mind  than  our  mind,  and  a  greater  Heart  than  our  heart,  so  there 
is  a  grander  Will  than  our  will.    Holiness  contains  this  element  of  will,  although  it  is  a 
9 


130  NATURE,  DECREES,  AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

will  which  expresses  nature,  instead  of  causing  nature.  It  is  not  a  still  and  moveless 
purity,  like  the  whiteness  of  the  new-fallen  snow,  or  the  stainless  blue  of  the  summer 
sky.  It  is  the  most  tremendous  of  energies,  in  unsleeping  movement.  It  is  "a  glassy 
sea"  (Rev.  15  :2),  but  "a  glassy  sea  mingled  with  fire."  A.  J.  Gordon:  "Holiness  is  not  a  dead- 
white  purity,  the  perfection  of  the  faultless  marble  statue.  Life,  as  well  as  purity, 
enters  into  the  idea  of  holiness.  They  who  are  '  without  fault  before  the  throne'  are 
they  who  'follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth'  — holy  activity  attending  and 
expressing  their  holy  state."  Martensen,  Christian  Ethics,  62,  63—"  God  is  the  perfect 
unity  of  the  ethically  necessary  and  the  ethically  free"  ;  "God  cannot  do  otherwise 
than  will  his  own  essential  nature."  See  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  141 ;  and 
on  the  Holiness  of  Christ,  see  Godet,  Defense  of  the  Christian  Faith,  203-241. 

(c)  Self-affirmation.  Holiness  is  God's  self- willing.  His  own  purity  is 
the  supreme  object  of  his  regard  and  maintenance.  God  is  holy,  in  that  hi» 
infinite  moral  excellence  affirms  and  asserts  itself  as  the  highest  possible 
motive  and  end.  Like  truth  and  love,  this  attribute  can  be  understood 
only  in  the  light  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

Holiness  is  purity  willing  itself.  We  have  an  analogy  in  man's  duty  of  self-preserva- 
tion, self-respect,  self-assertion.  Virtue  is  bound  to  maintain  and  defend  itself,  as  in 
the  case  of  Job.  In  his  best  moments,  the  Christian  feels  that  purity  is  not  simply  the 
negation  of  sin,  but  the  affirmation  of  an  inward  and  divine  principle  of  righteousness. 
Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 : 137 — "  Holiness  is  the  perfect  agreement  of  the 
divine  willing  with  the  divine  being :  for  as  the  personal  creature  is  holy  when  it  wills 
and  determines  itself  as  God  wills,  so  is  God  the  holy  one  because  he  wills  himself  as- 
what  he  is  (or,  to  be  what  he  is).  In  virtue  of  this  attribute,  God  excludes  from  himself 
everything  that  contradicts  his  nature,  and  affirms  himself  in  his  absolutely  good  being 
—  his  being  like  himself."  Tholuck  on  Romans,  5th  ed.,  151—"  The  term  holiness  should 
be  used  to  indicate  a  relation  of  God  to  himself.  That  is  holy  which,  undisturbed  from 
without,  is  wholly  like  itself."  Dorner,  System  of  Doctrine,  1 :  456— "It  is  the  part  of 
goodness  to  protect  goodness."  We  shall  see,  when  we  consider  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  that  that  doctrine  has  close  relations  to  the  doctrine  of  the  immanent  attri- 
butes. It  is  in  the  Son  that  God  has  a  perfect  object  of  will,  as  well  as  of  knowledge 
and  love.  On  the  whole  subject  of  Holiness,  see  Baudissin,  Begriff  der  Heiligkeit  im 
A.  T. ;  synopsis  in  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1880  : 169 ;  Robertson  Smith,  Prophets  of" 
Israel,  224-234. 

VI.     EELATIVE  OB  TRANSITIVE  ATTRIBUTES. 

First  Division. — Attributes  having  relation  to  Time  and  Space. 

1.     Eternity. 

By  this  we  mean  that  God's  nature  (a)  is  without  beginning  or  end  ; 
(6)  is  free  from  all  succession  of  time  :  and  (c)  contains  in  itself  the 
cause  of  time. 

Deut.  32  :  40 — "  For  I  lift  up  my  hand  to  heaven,  and  say,  As  I  live  forever  .  .  .  ;  "  Ps.  90 :  2 — "  Before  the  mountains 

....  from  everlasting thou  art  God  "  ;  102 : 27—"  thy  years  shall  have  no  end  " ;  Is.  41 :  4—"  I  the  Lord,  the  first. 

and  with  the  last ;"  1  Cor.  2:7 — npb  -rlav  aiJjvmv — "before  the  worlds"  or  "ages"=  irpb  KarajSoA^s  KOCT/ULOV 
— "before  the  foundation  of  the  world  (Eph.  1:4).  1  Tim.  1 : 17 — /ScuriAeZ  riav  a'uavw— "  King  of  the  ages  "  (so  also 
Rev.  15  :  3).  1  Tim.  6  : 16— "who  only  hath  immortality."  Rev.  1 :  8— "the  Alpha  and  the  Omega."  Dorner : 
"  We  must  not  make  Kronos  (time)  and  Uranos  (space)  earlier  divinities  before  God." 
They  are  among  the  "  all  things  "  that  were  "  made  by  him  "  (John  1 :  3).  Yet  time  and  space  are 
not  substances ;  neither  are  they  attributes  (qualities  of  substance) ;  they  are  rather 
relations  of  finite  existence.  (Porter,  Human  Intellect,  568,  prefers  to  call  time  and 
space  "cmrdates  to  beings  and  events.")  With  finite  existence  they  come  into  being  - 
they  are  not  mere  regulative  conceptions  of  our  minds ;  they  exist  objectively,  whether 
we  perceive  them  or  not. 

Eternity  is  infinity  in  its  relation  to  time.  It  implies  that  God's  nature  is 
not  subject  to  the  law  of  time.  God  is  not  in  time.  It  is  more  correct  to  say 
that  time  is  in  God.  Although  there  is  logical  succession  in  God's  thoughts,, 
there  is  no  chronological  succession. 


RELATIVE    OE    TRANSITIVE    ATTRIBUTES.  131 

Time  is  duration  measured  by  successions.  Duration  without  succession  would 
still  be  duration,  though  it  would  be  immeasurable.  Reid,  Intellectual  Powers,  essay 
3,  chap.  5—"  We  may  measure  duration  by  the  succession  of  thoughts  in  the  mind,  as 
we  measure  length  by  inches  or  feet,  but  the  notion  or  idea  of  duration  must  be  ante- 
cedent to  the  mensuration  of  it,  as  the  notion  of  length  is  antecedent  to  its  being  meas- 
ured." God  is  not  under  the  law  of  time.  Solly,  The  Will,  254— "God  looks  through 
time  as  we  look  through  space."  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  90—"  Eternity  is  not,  as  men 
believe,  Before  and  after  us,  an  endless  line.  No,  'tis  a  circle,  infinitely  great— All  the 
circumference  with  creations  thronged :  God  at  the  centre  dwells,  beholding  all.  And 
as  we  move  in  this  eternal  round,  The  finite  portion  which  alone  we  see  Behind  us,  is 
the  past ;  what  lies  before  We  call  the  future.  But  to  him  who  dwells  Far  at  the  centre, 
equally  remote  From  every  point  of  the  circumference,  Both  are  alike,  the  future  and 
the  past." 

Yet  we  are  far  from  saying  that  time,  now  that  it  exists,  has  no  objective 
reality  to  God.  To  him,  past,  present,  and  future  are  "  one  eternal  now," 
not  in  the  sense  that  there  is  no  distinction  between  them,  but  only  in  the 
sense  that  he  sees  past  and  future  as  vividly  as  he  sees  the  present.  With 
creation  time  began,  and  since  the  successions  of  history  are  veritable  suc- 
cessions, he  who  sees  according  to  truth  must  recognize  them. 

Finney,  quoted  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1877  :  723—"  Eternity  to  us  means  all  past,  present, 
and  future  duration.  But  to  God  it  means  only  now.  Duration  and  space,  as  they 
respect  his  existence,  mean  infinitely  different  things  from  what  they  do  when  they 
respect  our  existence.  God's  existence  and  his  acts,  as  they  respect  finite  existence, 
have  relation  to  time  and  space.  But  as  they  respect  his  own  existence,  everything  is 
licre  and  nvw.  With  respect  to  all  finite  existences,  God  can  say :  I  was,  I  am,  I  shall 
be,  I  will  do ;  but  with  respect  to  his  own  existence,  all  that  he  can  say  is  :  I  am,  I  do." 

Edwards  the  younger,  Works,  1 :  386,  387—"  There  is  no  succession  in  the  divine  mind ; 
therefore  no  new  operations  take  place.  All  the  divine  acts  are  from  eternity,  nor  is 
there  any  time  with  God.  The  effects  of  these  divine  acts  do  indeed  all  take  place  in 
time  and  in  a  succession.  If  it  should  be  said  that  on  this  supposition  the  effects  take 
place  not  till  long  after  the  acts  by  which  they  are  produced,  I  answer  that  they  do  so 
in  our  view,  but  not  in  the  view  of  God.  With  him  there  is  no  time ;  no  before  or  after 
with  respect  to  time ;  nor  has  time  any  existence  in  the  divine  mind,  or  in  the  nature  of 
things  independently  of  the  minds  and  perceptions  of  creatures;  but  it  depends  on  the 
succession  of  those  perceptions."  We  must  qualify  this  statement  of  the  younger  Ed- 
wards by  the  following  from  Julius  Miiller :  "  If  God's  working  can  have  no  relation  to 
time,  then  all  bonds  of  union  between  God  and  the  world  are  snapped  asunder." 

It  is  an  interesting  question  whether  the  human  spirit  is  capable  of  timeless  existence, 
and  whether  the  conception  of  time  is  purely  physical.  In  dreams  we  seem  to'lose 
sight  of  succession ;  an  age  is  compressed  into  a  minute.  Does  this  throw  light  upon 
the  nature  of  prophecy?  Is  the  soul  of  the  prophet  rapt  into  God's  timeless  existence 
and  vision  ?  It  is  doubtful  whether  Rev.  10  :  6—"  there  shall  be  time  no  longer  "  can  be  relied  upon 
to  prove  the  affirmative ;  for  the  Rev.  Vers.  marg.  and  the  American  Revisers  translate 
"  there  shall  be  delay  no  longer."  Julius  Miiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2 : 147—"  All  self-consciousness  is  a 
victory  over  time."  So  with  memory;  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  471.  On  space 
and  time  as  unlimited,  see  Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  564-566.  On  the  conception  of  etern- 
ity, see  Mansel,  Lectures,  Essays,  and  Reviews,  111-126,  and  Modern  Spiritualism,  255- 
292 ;  New  Englander,  April,  1875 :  art.  on  the  Metaphysical  Idea  of  Eternity.  For  prac- 
tical lessons  from  the  Eternity  of  God,  see  Park,  Discourses,  137-154. 

2.     Immensity. 

By  this  we  mean  that  God's  nature  (a)  is  without  extension  ;  (6)  is  sub- 
ject to  no  limitations  of  space ;  and  (c)  contains  in  itself  the  cause  of  space. 

1  Kings  8  : 27—"  Behold,  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  thee."  Space  is  a  creation  of  God ; 
Rom.  8 :  39—"  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature." 

Immensity  is  infinity  in  its  relation  to  space.  God's  nature  is  not  subject 
to  the  law  of  space.  God  is  not  in  space.  It  is  more  correct  to  say  that 
space  is  in  God.  Yet  space  has  an  objective  reality  to  God.  With  creation 


132  MATURE,  DECREES,  AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

space  began  to  be,  and  since  God  sees  according  to  truth,  he  recognizes 
relations  of  space  in  his  creation. 

Many  of  the  remarks  made  in  explanation  of  time  apply  equally  to  space.  Space  is 
not  a  substance  nor  an  attribute,  but  a  relation.  It  exists  so  soon  as  extended  matter 
exists,  and  exists  as  its  necessary  condition,  whether  our  minds  perceive  it  or  not. 
Reid,  Intellectual  Powers,  essay  2,  chap.  9—"  Space  is  not  so  properly  an  object  of  sense, 
as  a  necessary  concomitant  of  the  objects  of  sight  and  touch."  When  we  see  or  touch 
body,  we  get  the  idea  of  space  in  which  the  body  exists,  but  the  idea  of  space  is  not  fur- 
nished by  the  sense ;  it  is  an  a  priori  cognition  of  the  reason.  Experience  furnishes  the 
occasion  of  its  evolution,  but  the  mind  evolves  the  conception  by  its  own  native  energy. 

It  is  not  precisely  accurate  to  say  that  space  is  in  God,  for  this  expression  seems  to  in- 
timate that  God  is  a  greater  space  which  somehow  includes  the  less.  God  is  rather 
unspatial  and  is  the  Lord  of  space.  The  notion  that  space  and  the  divine  immensity  are 
identical  leads  to  a  materialistic  conception  of  God.  Space  is  not  an  attribute  of  God, 
as  Clarke  maintained,  and  no  argument  for  the  divine  existence  can  be  constructed 
from  this  premise  (see  page  48).  On  space,  see  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  662;  Hazard, 
Letters  on  Causation  in  Willing,  appendix ;  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1877 :  723.  For  the  view  that 
space  and  time  are  relative,  see  Cocker,  Theistio  Conception  of  the  World,  66-96;  Calder- 
wood,  Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  331-335.  Per  contra,  see  Geer,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  July,  1880 : 
434 ;  Lowndes,  Philos.  of  Primary  Beliefs,  144-161. 

Second  Division. — Attributes  having  relation  to  Creation. 

1.     Omnipresence. 

By  this  we  mean  that  God,  in  the  totality  of  his  essence,  without  diffusion 
or  expansion,  multiplication  or  division,  penetrates  and  fills  the  universe  in 
all  its  parts. 

Ps.  139  :  7  sq.— "  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit,  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ?  "  Jer.  23  :  23,  24— 
"Am  I  a  God  at  hand,  saith  the  Lord,  and  not  a  God  afar  off?  .  .  .  .  Do  not  I  fill  heaven  and  earth?  "  Acts.  17:  27— 
"  He  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us :  for  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 

In  explanation  of  this  attribute  we  may  say  : 

(a)  God's  omnipresence  is  not  potential  but  essential. — We  reject  the 
Socinian  representation  that  God's  essence  is  in  heaven,  only  his  power  on 
earth.     When  God  is  said  to  "  dwell  in  the  heavens,"  we  are  to  understand 
the  language  either  as  a  symbolic  expression  of  his  exaltation  above  earthly 
things,  or  as  a  declaration  that  his  most  special  and  glorious  self -manifesta- 
tions are  to  the  spirits  of  heaven.  - 

Ps.  123  : 1—"  0,  thou  that  sittest  in  the  heavens  "  ;  113 :  5—"  that  hath  his  seat  on  high  " ;  Is.  57 : 15—"  the  high  and 
lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity."  Mere  potential  omnipresence  is  Deistic  as  well  as  Socinian. 
Like  birds  in  the  air  or  fish  in  the  sea,  "at  home,  abroad,  We  are  surrounded  still  with 
God."  We  do  not  need  to  go  up  to  heaven  to  call  him  down,  or  into  the  abyss  to  call 
him  up  (Rom.  10 :  6,  7).  The  best  illustration  is  found  in  the  presence  of  the  soul  in  every 
part  of  the  body.  Mind  seems  not  confined  to  the  brain.  Natural  realism  in  philosophy, 
as  distinguished  from  idealism,  requires  that  the  mind  should  be  at  the  point  of  contact 
with  the  outer  world,  instead  of  having  reports  and  ideas  brought  to  it  in  the  brain  ;  see 
Porter,  Human  Intellect,  149.  All  believers  in  a  soul  regard  the  soul  as  at  least  present 
in  all  parts  of  the  brain,  and  this  is  a  relative  omnipresence  no  less  difficult  in  principle 
than  its  presence  in  all  parts  of  the  body.  An  animal's  brain  may  be  frozen  into  a  piece 
solid  as  ice,  yet,  after  thawing,  it  will  act  as  before ;  although  freezing  of  the  whole 
body  will  cause  death.  If  the  immaterial  principle  were  confined  to  the  brain  we  should 
expect  freezing  of  the  brain  to  cause  death.  But  if  soul  may  be  omnipresent  in  the 
body  or  even  in  the  brain,  the  divine  Spirit  may  be  omnipresent  in  the  universe.  Bowne, 
Metaphysics,  136—"  If  finite  things  are  modes  of  the  infinite,  each  thing  must  be  a  mode 
of  the  entire  infinite ;  and  the  infinite  must  be  present  in  its  unity  and  completeness 
in  every  finite  thing,  just  as  the  entire  soul  is  present  in  all  its  acts." 

(b)  God's  omnipresence  is  not  the  presence  of  a  part  but  of  the  whole  of 
God  in  every  place. — This  follows  from  the  conception  of  God  as  incorporeal. 


KELATIVE    OK   TRANSITIVE    ATTRIBUTES.  133 

We  reject  the  materialistic  representation  that  God  is  composed  of  material 
elements  which  can  be  divided  or  sundered.  There  is  no  multiplication  or 
diffusion  of  his  substance  to  correspond  with  the  parts  of  his  dominions. 
The  one  essence  of  God  is  present  at  the  same  moment  in  all. 

1  Kings  8 :  27 — "  the  heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  (circumscribe)  thee."  God  must  be 
present  in  all  his  essence  and  all  his  attributes  in  every  place.  He  is  "  totus  in  omni 
parte."  From  this  it  follows  that  the  whole  Logos  can  be  united  to  and  be  present  in 
the  man  Christ  Jesus,  while  at  the  same  time  he  fills  and  governs  the  whole  universe ; 
and  that  the  whole  Christ  can  be  united  to,  and  can  be  present  in,  the  single  believer, 
as  fully  as  if  that  believer  were  the  only  one  to  receive  of  his  fulness. 

(c)  God's  omnipresence  is  not  necessary  but  free. — We  reject  the  pan- 
theistic notion  that  God  is  bound  to  the  universe  as  the  universe  is  bound 
to  God.  God  is  immanent  in  the  universe,  not  by  compulsion,  but  by  the 
free  act  of  his  own  will,  and  this  immanence  is  qualified  by  his  transcend- 
ence. 

God  might  at  will  cease  to  be  omnipresent,  for  he  could  destroy  the  universe ;  but 
while  the  universe  exists,  he  is  and  must  be  in  all  its  parts.  God  is  the  life  and  law  of 
the  universe— this  is  the  truth  in  pantheism.  But  he  is  also  personal  and  free— this 
pantheism  denies.  Christianity  holds  to  a  free,  as  well  as  to  an  essential,  omnipresence- 
qualified  and  supplemented,  however,  by  God's  transcendence.  The  boasted  truth  in 
pantheism  is  an  elementary  principle  of  Christianity,  and  is  only  the  stepping  stone  to  a 
nobler  truth— God's  personal  presence  with  his  church.  The  Talmud  contrasts  the  wor- 
ship of  an  idol  and  the  worship  of  Jehovah :  "  The  idol  seems  so  near,  but  is  so  far  ;  Jeho- 
vah seems  so  far,  but  is  so  near !  "  God's  omnipresence  assures  us  that  he  is  present 
with  us  to  hear,  and  present  in  every  heart  and  in  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  answer, 
prayer.  See  Rogers,  Supernatural  Origin  of  the  Bible,  10 ;  Bowne,  Metaphysics,  136 ; 
Charnock,  Attributes,  1 :  363-405. 

2.     Omniscience. 

By  this  we  mean  God's  perfect  and  eternal  knowledge  of  all  things  which 
are  objects  of  knowledge,  whether  they  be  actual  or  possible,  past,  present, 
or  future. 

God  knows  his  inanimate  creation :  Ps.  147 :  4— "telleth  the  number  of  the  stars ;  he  giveth  them  all 
their  names."  He  has  knowledge  of  brute  creatures  :  Mat.  10 :  29— sparrows— "  not  one  of  them  shall 
fall  on  the  ground  without  your  Father."  Of  men  and  their  works :  Ps.  33  : 13-15—"  beholdeth  all  the  sons  of 
men  ....  considereth  all  their  works."  Of  hearts  of  men  and  their  thoughts:  Acts.  15 :  8— "God/ 
which  knoweth  the  heart ;  "  Heb.  4 : 13—"  no  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  his  sight  ....  all  things  are  naked  and 
laid  open  before  the  eyes  of  him  ;  "  Ps.  139 :  2—"  Understandest  my  thought  afar  off."  Of  our  wants :  "  Mat.  6 :  8— 
"  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need  of."  Of  the  least  things :  Mat.  10 :  30—"  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are 
all  numbered. '  Of  the  past :  Mai.  3 : 16— "book  of  remembrance."  Of  the  future  :  Is.  46  :*9, 10—"  declar- 
ing the  end  from  the  beginning."  Of  men's  future  free  acts :  Is.  44:  28— "that  saith  of  Cyrus,  He  is  my 
shepherd  and  shall  perform  all  my  pleasure."  Of  men's  future  evil  acts  :  Acts  2 :  23— "him,  being  delivered 
up  by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God."  Of  the  ideally  possible  :  1  Sam.  23  : 12— "Will 
the  men  of  Keilah  deliver  up  me  and  my  men  into  the  hands  of  Saul  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  They  will  deliver  thee  up  " 
(sc.  if  thou  remainest) ;  Mat.  11 : 21—"  If  the  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Sodom  which  were  done  in  thee, 
it  would  have  repented."  From  eternity:  Acts  15 : 18— "  the  Lord,  who  maketh  these  things  known  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world."  Incomprehensible:  Ps.  139:6— "Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me;"  Rom. 
11 :33— "0,  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the  knowledge  of  God."  Related  to  wisdom  :  Ps. 
104:  24— "In  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all;  "  Eph.  3 : 10— " manifold  wisdom  of  God." 

(a)  The  omniscience  of  God  may  be  argued  from  his  omnipresence,  as 
well  as  from  his  truth  or  self-knowledge,  in  which  the  plan  of  creation  has 
its  eternal  ground. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  omniscience,  as  the  designation  of  a  relative  and  tran- 
sitive attribute,  does  not  include  God's  self-knowledge.  The  term  is  used  in  the  tech- 
nical sense  of  God's  knowledge  of  all  things  that  pertain  to  the  universe  of  his  creation. 


134         NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

(6)  As  free  from  all  imperfection,  God's  knowledge  is  immediate,  as 
distinguished  from  the  knowledge  that  comes  through  sense  or  imagina- 
tion ;  simultaneous,  as  not  acquired  by  successive  observations,  or  built 
up  by  processes  of  reasoning ;  distinct,  as  free  from  all  vagueness  or 
confusion;  true,  as  perfectly  corresponding  to  the  reality  of  things; 
eternal,  as  comprehended  in  one  timeless  act  of  the  divine  mind. 

An  infinite  mind  must  always  act,  and  must  always  act  in  an  absolutely  perfect  man- 
ner. There  is  in  God  no  sense,  symbol,  memory,  abstraction,  growth,  reflection,  rea- 
soning—his knowledge  is  all  direct  and  without  intermediaries.  God  was  properly 
represented  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  not  as  having  eye,  but  as  being  eye.  His  thoughts 
toward  us  are  "more  than  can  be  numbered  "  (Ps.  40  : 5),  not  because  there  is  succession  in  them, 
now  a  remembering  and  now  a  forgetting,  but  because  there  is  never  a  moment  of  our 
existence  in  which  we  are  out  of  his  mind ;  he  is  always  thinking  of  us.  See  Charnock, 
Attributes,  1  :  406-497.  Gen.  16  : 13—"  Thou  art  a  God  that  seeth."  Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature, 
374—"  Every  creature  of  every  order  of  existence,  while  its  existence  is  sustained,  is  so 
complacently  contemplated  by  God,  that  the  intense  and  concentrated  attention  of  all 
men  of  science  together  upon  it  could  but  form  an  utterly  inadequate  symbol  of  such 
divine  contemplation."  So  God's  scrutiny  of  every  deed  of  darkness  is  more  searching 
than  the  gaze  of  a  whole  Coliseum  of  spectators,  and  his  eye  is  more  watchful  over  the 
good  than  would  be  the  united  care  of  all  his  hosts  in  heaven  and  earth. 

(c)  Since   God   knows  things  as  they  are,  he  knows  the  necessary  se- 
quences of  his  creation  as  necessary,  the  free  acts  of  his  creatures  as  free, 
the  ideally  possible  as  ideally  possible. 

God  knows  what  would  have  taken  place  under  circumstances  not  now  present ; 
knows  what  the  universe  would  have  been,  had  he  chosen  a  different  plan  of  creation  : 
knows  what  our  lives  would  have  been,  had  we  made  different  decisions  in  the  past 

(Is.  48 : 18— "Oh  that  thou  hadst  hearkened then  had  thy  peace  been  as  a  river"). 

(d)  The  fact  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  present  condition  of  things 
from  which  the  future  actions  of  free  creatures  necessarily  follow  by  nat- 
ural law  does  not  prevent  God  from   foreseeing   such   actions,   since   his 
knowledge  is   not  mediate,  but  immediate.     He  not  only  foreknows  the 
motives  which  will  occasion  men's  acts,  but  he  directly  foreknows  the  acts 
themselves. 

Aristotle  "maintained  that  there  is  no  certain  knowledge  of  contingent  future  events. 
Socinus,  in  like  manner,  Avhile  he  admitted  that  God  knows  all  things  that  are  know- 
able,  abridged  the  objects  of  the  divine  knowledge  by  withdrawing  from  the  number 
those  objects  whose  future  existence  he  considered  as  uncertain,  such  as  the  determina- 
tions of  free  agents.  These,  he  held,  cannot  be  certainly  foreknown,  because  there  is 
nothing  in  the  present  condition  of  things  from  which  they  will  necessarily  follow  by 
natural  law.  The  man  who  makes  a  clock  can  tell  when  it  will  strike.  But  free-will, 
not  being  subject  to  mechanical  laws,  cannot  have  its  acts  predicted  or  foreknown. 
God  knows  things  only  in  their  causes— future  events  only  in  their  antecedents."  John 
Milton  seems  also  to  deny  God's  foreknowledge  of  free  acts :  "  So,  without  least  impulse 
or  shadow  of  fate,  Or  aught  by  me  immutably  foreseen,  They  trespass." 

With  this  Socinian  doctrine  some  Arminians  agree,  as  McCabe,  in  his  Foreknowledge 
of  God,  and  in  his  Divine  Nescience  of  Future  Contingencies  a  Necessity.  McCabe, 
however,  sacrifices  the  principle  of  free  will,  in  defense  of  which  he  makes  this  surrender 
of  God's  foreknowledge,  by  saying  that  in  cases  of  fulfilled  prophecy,  like  Peter's  denial 
and  Judas's  betrayal,  God  brought  special  influences  to  bear  to  secure  the  result.  So 
that  Peter's  and  Judas's  wills  acted  irresponsibly  under  the  law  of  cause  and  effect. 
He  quotes  Dr.  Daniel  Curry  as  declaring  that  "the  denial  of  absolute  divine  fore- 
knowledge is  the  essential  complement  of  the  Methodist  theology,  without  which  its 
philosophical  incompleteness  is  defenseless  against  the  logical  consistency  of  Calvin- 
ism." So  Dugald  Stewart :  "  Shall  we  venture  to  affirm  that  it  exceeds  the  power  of  God 
to  permit  such  a  train  of  contingent  events  to  take  place  as  his  own  foreknowledge 
shall  not  extend  to?"  Martensen  holds  this  view,  and  Rothe,  Theologische  Ethik,  1: 


RELATIVE    OR   TRANSITIVE    ATTRIBUTES.  135 

212-234,  who  declares  that  the  free  choices  of  men  are  continually  increasing  the 
knowledge  of  God. 

Against  this  doctrine  of  divine  nescience  we  urge  not  only  our  fundamental  convic- 
tion of  God's  perfection,  but  the  constant  testimony  of  Scripture.  In  Is.  41 :  21,  22,  God 
makes  his  foreknowledge  the  test  of  his  Godhead  in  the  controversy  with  idols.  If  God 
canntft  foreknow  free  human  acts,  then  "  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  " 
'Rev.  13 :  8)  was  only  a  sacrifice  to  be  offered  in  case  Adam  should  fall,  God  not  knowing 
whether  he  would  or  not,  and  in  case  Judas  should  betray  Christ,  God  not  knowing 
whether  he  would  or  not.  Indeed,  since  the  course  of  nature  is  changed  by  man's  will 
when  he  burns  towns  and  fells  forests,  God  cannot  on  this  theory  predict  even  the 
•course  of  nature.  All  prophecy  is  therefore  a  protest  against  this  view. 

How  God  foreknows  free  human  decisions  we  may  not  be  able  to  say,  but  then  the 
method  of  God's  knowledge  in  many  other  respects  is  unknown  to  us.  The  following 
explanations  have  been  proposed.  God  may  foreknow  free  acts 

1.  Mediately,  by  foreknowing  the  motives  of  these  acts,  and  this  either  because  these 
motives  induce  the  acts,  ( 1 )  necessarily,  or  ( 2 )  certainly.    This  last  "  certainly  "  is  to  be 
.accepted,  if  either,  since  motives  are  never  causes,  but  are  only  occasions,  of  action. 
The  cause  is  the  will,  or  the  man  himself.    But  it  may  be  said  that  foreknowing  acts 
through  their  motives  is  not  foreknowing  at  all,  but  is  reasoning  or  inference  rather. 
Moreover,  although  intelligent  beings  commonly  act  according  to  motives  previously 
•dominant,  they  also  at  critical  epochs,  as  at  the  fall  of  Satan  and  of  Adam,  choose 
between  motives,  and  in  such  cases  knowledge  of  the  motives  which  have  hitherto 
actuated  them  gives  no  clue  to  their  next  decisions.    Another  statement  is  therefore 
proposed  to  meet  these  difficulties,  namely,  that  God  may  foreknow  free  acts 

2.  Immediately,  by  pure  intuition,  inexplicable  to  us.    Julius  Mliller,  Doctrine  of  Sin, 
2  :  203,  225—"  If  God  can  know  a  future  event  as  certain  only  by  a  calculation  of  causes, 
it  must  be  allowed  that  he  cannot  with  certainty  foreknow  any  free  act  of  man  ;  for  his 
foreknowledge  would  then  be  proof  that  the  act  in  question  was  the  necessary  conse- 
quence of  certain  causes,  and  was  not  in  itself  free.    If,  on  the  contrary,  the  divine 
knowledge   be   regarded  as  intuitive,  we  see  that  it  stands  in  the  same  immediate 
relation  to  the  act  itself  as  to  its  antecedents,  and  thus  the  difficulty  is  removed."   Even 
upon  this  view  there  still  remains  the  difficulty  of  perceiving  how  there  can  be  in  God's 
mind  a  subjective  certitude  with  regard  to  acts  in  respect  to  which  there  is  no  assign- 
able objective  ground  of  certainty     Yet,  in  spite  of  this  difficulty, we  feel  bound  both 
by  Scripture  and  by  our  fundamental  idea  of  God's  perfection  to  maintain  God's  per- 
fect knowledge  of  the  future  free  acts  of  his  creatures.  With  President  Pepper  we  say  : 
'"  Knowledge  of  contingency  is  not  necessarily  contingent  knowledge."    With  Whedon  : 
•"  It  is  not  calculation,  but  pure  knowledge."    See  Dorner,  System  of  Doct.,  1 :  332-337,  2 : 
58-62 ;  Jahrbuch  fur  deutsche  Theologie,  1858  :  601-605 ;  Charnock,  Attributes,  1 :  429-446 ; 
^olly,  The  Will,  240-254.    For  a  valuable  article  on  the  whole  subject,  though  advocating 
the  view  that  God  foreknows  acts  by  foreknowing  motives,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1883:  655- 
•694.    See  also  Hill,  Divinity,  517. 

(e)  Prescience  is  not  itself  causative.  It  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  predetermining  will  of  God.  Free  actions  do  not  take  place  because 
they  are  foreseen,  but  they  are  foreseen  because  they  are  to  take  place. 

Seeing  a  thing  in  the  future  does  not  cause  it  to  be,  more  than  seeing  a  thing  in  the 
past  causes  it  to  be.  As  to  future  events,  we  may  say  with  Whedon :  "  Knowledge 
takes  them,  not  makes  them."  Foreknowledge  may,  and  does,  presuppose  predeter- 
mination, but  it  is  not  itself  predetermination. 

(/)  Omniscience  embraces  the  actual  and  the  possible,  but  it  does  not 
-embrace  the  self-contradictory  and  the  impossible,  because  these  are  not 
objects  of  knowledge. 

God  does  not  know  what  the  result  would  be  if  two  and  two  made  five,  nor  does  he 
know  "whether  a  chimsera  ruminating  in  a  vacuum  devoureth  second  intentions"; 
and  that  simply  for  the  reason  that  he  cannot  know  self-contradiction  and  nonsense. 
These  things  are  not  objects  of  knowledge. 

(g)     Omniscience,  as  qualified  by  holy  will,  is  in  Scripture  denominated 


136  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

"wisdom."    In  virtue  of  his  wisdom  God  chooses  the  highest  ends,  and 
uses  the  fittest  means  to  accomplish  them. 

Wisdom  is  not  simply  "  estimating  all  things  at  their  proper  value  "  (Olmstead) ;  it  has 
in  it  also  the  element  of  counsel  and  purpose.  It  has  been  defined  as  "  the  talent  of  using 
one's  talents."  It  implies  two  things :  first,  choice  of  the  highest  end ;  secondly,*choice 
of  the  best  means  to  secure  this  end. 

3.     Omnipotence. 

By  this  we  mean  the  power  of  God  to  do  all  things  which  are  objects  of 
power,  whether  with  or  without  the  use  of  means. 

Gen.  17 : 1— "  I  am  God  Almighty."  He  performs  natural  wonders :  Gen.  1 : 1-3—"  Let  there  be  light ; " 
Is.  44:  24— " stretcheth  forth  the  heavens  alone;"  Heb.  1:  3—" upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power." 
Spiritual  wonders  :  2  Cor.  4 :  6—"  God  that  said,  Light  shall  shine  out  of  darkness,  who  shined  in  our  hearts ;" 
Eph.  1 : 19— " exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  us- ward  who  believe;  "  Eph.  3:  20— "able  to  do  exceeding  abund- 
antly." Power  to  create  new  things :  Mat.  3 :  9—"  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham; " 
Rom.  4: 17 — "quickeneth  the  dead,  and  calleth  the  things  that  are  not,  as  though  they  were."  After  his  own 
pleasure:  Ps.  115:3— "He  hath  done  whatsoever  he  hath  pleased;"  Eph.  1 : 11— " worketh  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  his  will."  Nothing  impossible :  Gen.  18  : 14—"  Is  anything  too  hard  for  the  Lord  ?  "  Mat.  19 :  26— 
"With  God  all  things  are  possible." 

(a)     Omnipotence  does  not  imply  power  to  do  that  which  is  not  an  object 
of  power  ;  as,  for  example,  that  which  is  self-contradictory  or  contradictory 
•  to  the  nature  of  God. 

Self-contradictory  things :  facere  factum  infectum—ihe  making  of  a  past  event  to  have 
not  occurred  (hence  the  uselessness  of  praying :  "  May  it  be  that  much  good  was  done  ") ; 
drawing  a  shorter  than  a  straight  line  between  two  given  points ;  putting  two  separate 
mountains  together  without  a  valley  between  them.  Things  contradictory  to  the  nature 
of  God :  for  God  to  lie,  to  sin,  to  die.  To  do  such  things  would  not  imply  power,  but 
impotence.  God  has  all  the  power  that  is  consistent  with  infinite  perfection — all  power 
to  do  what  is  worthy  of  himself.  So  no  greater  thing  can  be  said  by  man  than  this :  "  I 
dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man ;  Who  dares  do  more  is  none."  Even  God  cannot 
make  wrong  to  be  right,  nor  hatred  of  himself  to  be  blessed.  Some  have  held  that  the 
prevention  of  sin  in  a  moral  system  is  not  an  object  of  power,  and  therefore  that  God 
cannot  prevent  sin  in  a  moral  system.  We  hold  the  contrary ;  see  this  Compendium  : 
Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Decrees,  3  (c). 

(6)  Omnipotence  does  not  imply  the  exercise  of  all  his  power  on  the 
part  of  God.  He  has  power  over  his  power  ;  in  other  words,  his  power  is 
under  the  control  of  wise  and  holy  will.  God  can  do  all  he  will,  but  he 
will  not  do  all  he  can.  Else  his  power  is  mere  force  acting  necessarily,  and 
God  is  the  slave  of  his  own  omnipotence. 

Schleiermacher  held  that  nature  not  only  is  grounded  in  the  divine  causality,  but  fully 
expresses  that  causality ;  there  is  no  causative  power  in  God  for  anything  that  is  not 
real  and  actual.  This  doctrine  does  not  essentially  differ  from  Spinoza's  natura  natu- 
rans  and  natura  naturata.  See  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  62-66.  But  omnipotence  is 
not  instinctive ;  it  is  a  power  used  according  to  God's  pleasure.  God  is  by  no  means 
encompassed  by  the  laws  of  nature,  or  shut  up  to  a  necessary  evolution  of  his  own 
being,  as  pantheism  supposes.  As  Rothe  has  shown,  God  has  a  will-power  over  his 
nature-power,  and  is  not  compelled  to  do  all  that  he  can  do.  He  is  able  from  the  stones 
of  the  street  to  "  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham  ",  but  he  has  not  done  it.  In  God  are 
unopened  treasures,  an  inexhaustible  fountain  of  new  beginnings,  new  creations,  new 
revelations.  To  suppose  that  in  creation  he  has  expended  all  the  inner  possibilities  of 
his  being  is  to  deny  his  omnipotence.  So  Job  26  : 14— "Lo,  these  are  but  the  outskirts  of  his  ways: 
and  how  small  a  whisper  do  we  hear  of  him ;  but  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  understand  ?  "  See  Rogers, 
Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible,  10;  Hodgson,  Time  and  Space,  579,  580. 

(c)  Omnipotence  in  God  does  not  exclude,  but  implies,  the  power  of  self- 
limitation.  Since  all  such  self -limitation  is  free,  proceeding  from  neither 


RELATIVE    OR   TRANSITIVE    ATTRIBUTES.  137 

external  nor  internal  compulsion,  it  is  the  act  and  manifestation  of  God's 
power.  Human  freedom  is  not  rendered  impossible  by  the  divine  omnipo- 
tence, but  exists  by  virtue  of  it.  It  is  an  act  of  omnipotence  when  God 
humbles  himself  to  the  taking  of  human  flesh  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ. 
Thomasius :  "  If  God  is  to  be  over  all  and  in  all,  he  cannot  himself  be  all."  Ps.  113  :  5,  6— 

>'  Who  is  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God that  humbleth  himself  to  behold  the  things  that  are  in  heaven  and  in  the 

earth "  ;  Phil.  2  :  6,  8— "emptied  himself humbled  himself."     See  Charnock,  Attributes,  2  :  5-107. 

Third  Division. — Attributes  having  relation  to  Moral  Beings. 

1.  Veracity  and  Faithfulness,  or  Transitive  Truth. 

By  veracity  and  faithfulness  we  mean  the  transitive  truth  of  God,  in  its 
twofold  relation  to  his  creatures  in  general  and  to  his  redeemed  people  in 
particular. 

John  3  :  33 — "  hath  set  his  seal  to  this,  that  God  is  true  "  ;  Rom.  3  :  4 — "  let  God  be  found  true,  but  every  man  a  liar  " 
Rom.  1  :  25— "the  truth  of  God"  ;  John  14  :  17— "the  Spirit  of  truth"  ;  1  John  5  :  6— "the  Spirit  is  the  truth"  ; 

1  Cor.  1  :  9—"  God  is  faithful "  ;  1  Thess.  5  :  24—"  faithful  is  he  that  calleth  you  "  ;  1  Pet.  4  : 19—"  a  faithful  Creator  "  ; 

2  Cor.  1  :  20 — "  how  many  soever  be  the  promises  of  God,  in  him  is  the  yea  "  ;   Num.  23  :  19 — "  God  is  not  a  man  that 
he  should  lie  "  ;  Tit.  1  :  2 — "  God,  who  cannot  lie,  promised  "  ;  Heb.  6  :  18 — "  in  which  it  is  impossible  for  God  to  lie." 

(a)  In  virtue  of  his  veracity,  all  his  revelations  to  creatures  consist  with 
his  essential  being  and  with  each  other. 

In  God's  veracity  we  have  the  guarantee  that  our  faculties  in  their  normal  exercise 
do  not  deceive  us ;  that  the  laws  of  thought  are  also  laws  of  things ;  that  the  external 
world,  and  second  causes  in  it,  have  objective  existence ;  that  the  same  causes  will  always 
produce  the  same  effects ;  that  the  threats  of  the  moral  nature  will  be  executed  upon 
the  unrepentant  transgressor ;  that  man's  moral  nature  is  made  in  the  image  of  God's ; 
and  that  we  may  draw  just  conclusions  from  what  conscience  is  in  us  to  what  holiness 
is  in  him.  We  may  therefore  expect  that  all  past  revelations,  whether  in  nature  or  in  his 
word,  will  not  only  not  be  contradicted  by  our  future  knowledge,  but  will  rather 
prove  to  have  in  them  more  of  truth  than  we  ever  dreamed.  Man's  word  may  pass 
away,  but  God's  word  abides  forever  ( Mat.  5  : 18—"  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  away  from 
the  law  "  ;  Is.  40  :  8—"  the  word  of  our  God  shall  stand  forever.") 

(6)  In  virtue  of  his  faithfulness,  he  fulfils  all  his  promises  to  his  people, 
whether  expressed  in  words  or  implied  in  the  constitution  he  has  given 
them. 

In  God's  faithfulness  we  have  the  sure  ground  of  confidence  that  he  will  perform 
what  his  love  has  led  him  to  promise  to  those  who  obey  the  gospel.  Since  his  promises 
are  based,  not  upon  what  we  are  or  have  done,  but  upon  what  Christ  is  and  has  done,  our 
defects  and  errors  do  not  invalidate  them,  so  long  as  we  are  truly  penitent  and  believ- 
ing :  1  John  1  :  9 — "  faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive  us  our  sins  "=faithf ul  to  his  promise,  and  right- 
eous to  Christ.  God's  faithfulness  also  ensures  a  supply  for  all  the  real  wants  of  our 
being,  both  here  and  hereafter,  since  these  wants  are  implicit  promises  of  him  who  made 
us  :  (Ps.  84  : 11—"  No  good  thing  will  he  withhold  from  them  that  walk  uprightly  "  ;  Mat.  6  :  33— "all  these  things, 
shall  be  added  unto  you  "  ;  1  Cor.  2  :  9—"  things  which  eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not,  and  which  entered  not  into  the 
heart  of  man,  whatsoever  things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 

2.  Mercy  and  Goodness,  or  Transitive  Love. 

By  mercy  and  goodness  we  mean  the  transitive  love  of  God  in  its  twofold 
relation  to  the  disobedient  and  to  the  obedient  portions  of  his  creatures. 

Titus  3  :  4— "his  love  toward  man"  ;  Rom.  2:  4—"  goodness  of  God  "  ;  Mat.  5 :  44,  45— "love  your  enemies 

that  ye  may  be  sons  of  your  Father  "  ;  John  3 : 16— "God  so  loved  the  world  "  ;  2  Pet,  1 :  3— "granted  unto  us  all 
things  that  pertain  unto  life  and  godliness  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  32—"  freely  give  us  all  things  "  ;  1  John  4 : 10—"  Herein  is  love, 
not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins." 


138  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF   GOD. 

(a)  Mercy  is  that  eternal  principle  of  God's  nature  which  leads  him  to 
seek  the  temporal  good  and  eternal  salvation  of  those  who  have  opposed 
themselves  to  his  will,  even  at  the  cost  of  infinite  self-sacrifice. 

Martensen :  "  Viewed  in  relation  to  sin,  eternal  love  is  compassionate  grace."  God's 
continual  impartation  of  natural  life  is  a  foreshadowing-,  in  a  lower  sphere,  of  what  he 
desires  to  do  for  his  creatures  in  the  higher  sphere — the  communication  of  spiritual  and 
eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ. 

(6)  Goodness  is  the  eternal  principle  of  God's  nature  which  leads  him  to 
communicate  of  his  own  life  and  blessedness  to  those  who  are  like  him  in 
moral  character.  Goodness,  therefore,  is  nearly  identical  with  the  love  of 
complacency  ;  mercy,  with  the  love  of  benevolence. 

Notice,  however,  that  transitive  love  is  but  an  outward  manifestation  of  immanent 
love.  The  eternal  and  perfect  object  of  God's  love  is  in  his  own  nature.  Men  become 
subordinate  objects  of  that  love  only  as  they  become  connected  and  identified  with  its 
principal  object,  the  image  of  God's  perfections  in  Christ.  Only  in  the  Son  do  men 
become  sons  of  God.  To  this  is  requisite  an  acceptance  of  Christ  on  the  part  of  man. 
Thus  it  can  be  said  that  God  imparts  himself  to  men  just  so  far  as  men  are  willing  to 
receive  him.  And  as  God  gives  himself  to  men,  in  all  his  moral  attributes,  to  answer  for 
them  and  to  renew  them  in  character,  there  is  truth  in  the  statement  of  Nordell  (Exam- 
iner, Jan.  17, 1884)  that  "the  maintenance  of  holiness  is  the  function  of  divine  justice; 
the  diffusion  of  holiness  is  the  function  of  divine  love."  We  may  grant  this  as  substan- 
tially true,  while  yet  we  deny  that  love  is  a  mere  form  or  manifestation  of  holiness. 
Self -impartation  is  different  from  self-affirmation.  The  attribute  which  moves  God  to 
pour  out  is  not  identical  with  the  attribute  which  moves  him  to  maintain.  The  two 
ideas  of  holiness  and  of  love  are  as  distinct  as'the  idea  of  integrity  on  the  one  hand  and 
of  generosity  on  the  other.  Park :  "  God  loves  Satan,  in  a  certain  sense,  and  we  ought 
to."  Shedd :  "  This  same  love  of  compassion  God  feels  toward  the  non-elect ;  but  the 
expression  of  that  compassion  is  forbidden  for  reasons  which  are  sufficient  for  God,  but 
are  entirely  unknown  to  the  creature."  The  goodness  of  God  is  the  basis  of  reward, 
under  God's  government.  Faithfulness  leads  God  to  keep  his  promises ;  goodness  leads 
him  to  make  them. 

3.     Justice  and  Righteousness,  or  Transitive  Holiness. 

By  justice  and  righteousness  we  mean  the  transitive  holiness  of  God,  in 
virtue  of  which  his  treatment  of  his  creatures  conforms  to  the  purity  of  his 
nature, — righteousness  demanding  from  all  moral  beings  conformity  to  the 
moral  perfection  of  God,  and  justice  visiting  non-conformity  to  that  per- 
fection with  penal  loss  or  suffering. 

Gen.  18 :  25—"  shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?  "  Deut.  32 :  4—"  All  his  ways  are  judgment ;  a  God  of 
faithfulness  and  without  iniquity,  just  and  right  is  he  "  ;  Ps.  7 :  9-12 — "the  righteous  God  trieth  the  hearts  . .  .  saveth 

the  upright is  a  righteous  judge,  yea,  a  God  that  hath  indignation  every  day  "  ;  18 :  24—"  the  Lord  recompensed  me 

according  to  my  righteousness  ....  with  the  merciful,  thou  wilt  show  thyself  merciful ....  with  the  perverse  thou  wilt 
show  thyself  froward  "  ;  Mat.  5 :  48—"  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  even  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect "  ;  Rom.  2 : 
6—"  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works "  ;  1  Pet.  1 : 16—"  Ye  shall  be  holy  ;  for  I  am  holy." 

(a)  Since  justice  and  righteousness  are  simply  transitive  holiness — right- 
eousness designating  this  holiness  chiefly  in  its  mandatory,  justice  chiefly 
in  its  punitive,  aspect, — they  are  not  mere  manifestations  of  benevolence,  or 
of  God's  disposition  to  secure  the  highest  happiness  of  his  creatures,  nor 
are  they  grounded  in  the  nature  of  things  as  something  apart  from  or  above 
God. 

Cremer,  N.  T.  Lexicon :  Spates  =  "  the  perfect  coincidence  existing  between  God's 
nature,  which  is  the  standard  for  all,  and  his  acts."  Justice  and  righteousness  are 
simply  holiness  exercised  toward  creatures.  The  same  holiness  which  exists  in  God  in 
eternity  past  manifests  itself  as  justice  and  righteousness,  so  soon  as  intelligent  crea- 
tures come  into  being. 


RELATIVE    OR   TRANSITIVE    ATTRIBUTES.  139 

(6)  Transitive  holiness,  as  righteousness,  imposes  law  in  conscience  and 
Scripture,  and  may  be  called  legislative  holiness.  As  justice,  it  executes 
the  penalties  of  law,  and  may  be  called  distributive  or  judicial  holiness.  In 
righteousness  God  reveals  chiefly  his  love  of  holiness ;  in  justice,  chiefly 
Ms  hatred  of  sin. 

The  self -affirming  purity  of  God  demands  a  like  purity  in  those  who  have  been  made 
in  his  image.  As  God  wills  and  maintains  his  own  moral  excellence,  so  all  creatures 
must  will  and  maintain  the  moral  excellence  of  God.  There  can  be  only  one  centre  in 
the  solar  system— the  sun  is  its  own  centre  and  the  centre  for  all  the  planets  also.  So 
God's  purity  is  the  object  of  his  own  will— it  must  be  the  object  of  all  the  wills  of  all  his 
creatures  also. 

(c)  Neither  justice  nor  righteousness,  therefore,  are  matters  of  arbitrary 
will.     They  are  revelations  of  the  inmost  nature  of  God,  the  one  in  the 
form  of  moral  requirement,  the  other  in  the  form  of  judicial  sanction.     As 
God  cannot  but  demand  of  his  creatures  that  they  be  like  him  in  moral 
character,  so  he  cannot  but  enforce  the  law  which  he  imposes  upon  them. 
Justice  just  as  much  binds  God  to  punish  as  it  binds  the  sinner  to  be  pun- 
ished. 

All  arbitrariness  is  excluded  here.  God  is  what  he  is— infinite  purity.  He  cannot 
change.  If  creatures  are  to  attain  the  end  of  their  being,  they  must  be  like  God  in 
moral  purity.  Justice  is  nothing  but  the  recognition  and  enforcement  of  this  natural 
necessity.  Law  is  only  the  transcript  of  God's  nature.  Justice  does  not  make  law— it 
only  reveals  law.  Penalty  is  only  the  reaction  of  God's  holiness  against  that  which  is 
its  opposite.  Since  righteousness  and  justice  are  only  legislative  and  retributive  holi- 
ness, God  can  cease  to  demand  purity  and  to  punish  sin  only  when  he  ceases  to  be  holy, 
that  is,  only  when  he  ceases  to  be  God.  "  Judex  damnatur  cum  nocens  absolvitur." 

(d)  Neither  justice  nor  righteousness  bestows  rewards.     This  follows 
from  the  fact  that  obedience  is  due  to  God,  instead  of  being  optional  or  a 
gratuity.     No  creature   can   claim  anything  for»  his  obedience.     If   God 
rewards,  he  rewards  in  virtue  of  his  goodness  and  faithfulness,  not  in  virtue 
of  his  justice  or  his  righteousness.     What  the  creature  cannot  claim,  how- 
ever, Christ  can  claim,  and  the  rewards  which  are  goodness  to  the  creature 
are  righteousness  to  Christ.     God  rewards  Christ's  work  for  us  and  in  us. 

Bruch,  Eigenschaftslehre,  280-282,  and  John  Austin,  Province  of  Jurisprudence,  1 :  88- 
93,  220-223,  both  deny,  and  rightly  deny,  that  justice  bestows  rewards.  Justice  simply 
punishes  infractions  of  law.  In  Mat.  25  :  34— "  inherit  the  kingdom  "—inheritance  implies  no 
merit ;  46— the  wicked  are  adjudged  to  eternal  punishment ;  the  righteous,  not  to  eternal 
reward,  but  to  eternal  life.  Luke  17 :  7-10—"  when  ye  shall  have  done  all  the  things  that  are  commanded 
you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  servants ;  we  have  done  that  which  it  was  our  duty  to  do."  Rom.  6  :  23— punishment 
is  the  "  wages  of  sin  "  :  but  salvation  is  "  the  gift  of  God  "  ;  2 :  6— God  rewards,  not  on  account  of 
man's  works,  but  "according  to  his  works."  Reward  is  thus  seen  to  be  in  Scripture  a  matter 
of  grace  to  the  creature ;  only  to  the  Christ  who  works  for  us  in  atonement,  and  in  us 
in  regeneration  and  sanctification,  is  reward  a  matter  of  debt  (see  also  2  John  8). 

(e)  Justice  in  God,  as  the  revelation  of  his  holiness,  is  devoid  of  all  pas- 
sion  or  caprice.     There  is  in  God  no  selfish  anger.     The  penalties  he 
inflicts  upon  transgression  are  not  vindictive  but  vindicative.     They  express 
the  revulsion  of  God's  nature  from  moral  evil,  the  judicial  indignation  of 
purity  against  impurity,  the  self-assertion  of  infinite  holiness  against  its 
antagonist  and  would-be  destroyer.     But  because  its  decisions  are  calm 
they  are  irreversible. 

Anger,  within  certain  limits,  is  a  duty  of  man.  Ps.  97  : 10— l<  Ye  that  love  the  Lord,  hate  evil"  ; 
Eph.  4  :  26 — "Be  ye  angry,  and  sin  not."  The  calm  indignation  of  the  judge,  who  pronounces 
sentence  with  tears,  is  the  true  image  of  the  holy  anger  of  God  against  sin.  Weber, 


140  NATUEE.,    DECEEES,    AND    WOEKS    OF    GOD. 

Zorn  Gottes,  28,  makes  wrath  only  the  jealousy  of  love.  It  is  more  truly  the  jealousy  of 
holiness.  Prof.  W.  A.  Stevens,  Com.  on  1  Thess.  2  : 10—  "Holily  and  righteously  are  terms  that 
describe  the  same  conduct  in  two  aspects :  the  former,  as  conformed  to  God's  character 
in  itself;  the  latter,  as  conformed  to  his  law ;  both  are  positive."  Lillie,  Com.  on  2  Thess. 
1 :  6—"  Judgment  is  '  a  righteous  thing  with  God.'  Divine  justice  requires  it  for  its  own  satisfac- 
tion." 

The  moral  indignation  of  a  whole  universe  of  holy  beings  against  moral  evil,  added 
to  the  agonizing  self-condemnations  of  awakened  conscience  in  all  the  unholy,  is  only 
a  faint  and  small  reflection  of  the  awful  revulsion  of  God's  infinite  justice  from  the 
impurity  and  selfishness  of  his  creatures,  and  of  the  intense,  organic,  necessary,  and 
eternal  reaction  of  his  moral  being  in  self-vindication  and  the  punishment  of  sin ;  see 
Jer.  44  :  4—"  Oh,  do  not  that  abominable  thing  that  I  hate ! "  Num.  32  : 23—"  Be  sure  your  sin  will  find  you  out "  ; 
leb.  10  :  30,  31—"  For  we  know  him  that  said,  Vengeance  belongeth  unto  me,  I  will  recompense.  And  again,  The  Lord 
shall  judge  his  people.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  On  justice  as  an  attrib- 
ute of  a  moral  governor,  see  N.  "W.  Taylor,  Moral  Government,  2:253-293;  Owen, 
Dissertation  on  Divine  Justice,  in  Works,  10  :  483-624. 

VII.     BANK  AND  RELATIONS  or  THE  SEVERAL  ATTRIBUTES. 

The  attributes  have  relations  to  each  other.  Like  intellect,  affection,  and 
will  in  man,  none  of  them  are  to  be  conceived  of  as  exercised  separately 
from  the  rest.  Each  of  the  attributes  is  qualified  by  all  the  others.  God's 
love  is  immutable,  wise,  holy.  Infinity  belongs  to  God's  knowledge,  power, 
justice.  Yet  this  is  not  to  say  that  one  attribute  is  of  as  high  rank  as  an- 
other. The  moral  attributes  of  truth,  love,  holiness,  are  worthy  of  higher 
reverence  from  men,  and  they  are  more  jealously  guarded  by  God,  than  the 
natural  attributes  of  omnipresence,  omniscience,  and  omnipotence.  And 
yet  even  among  the  moral  attributes  one  stands  as  supreme.  Of  this  and  of 
its  supremacy  we  now  proceed  to  speak. 

1.     Holiness  the  fundamental  attribute  in  God. 

That  holiness  is  the  fundamental  attribute  in  God,  is  evident : 

(a)     From  Scripture, — in  which  God's  holiness  is  not  only  most  constantly 

and  powerfully  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  man,  but  is  declared  to  be  the 

chief  subject  of  rejoicing  and  adoration  in  heaven. 

It  is  God's  attribute  of  holiness  that  first  and  most  prominently  presents  itself  to  the 
mind  of  the  sinner,  and  conscience  only  follows  the  method  of  Scripture :  1  Pet.  1 : 16— 
"ye  shall  be  holy ;  for  I  am  holy  "  ;  Heb.  12  :  14 — "the  sanctification  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  "  :  c/. 
Luke  5  :  8 — "Depart  from  me;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  0  Lord."  Yet  this  constant  insistence  upon  holi- 
ness cannot  be  due  simply  to  man's  present  state  of  sin,  for  in  heaven,  where  there  is  no 
sin,  there  is  the  same  reiteration:  Is.  6:3 — "Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts";  Rev.  4  :  8 — 
"Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  God,  the  Almighty." 

(6)  From  our  own  moral  constitution, — in  which  conscience  asserts  its 
supremacy  over  every  other  impulse  and  affection  of  our  nature.  As  we 
may  be  kind,  but  must  be  righteous,  so  God,  in  whose  image  we  are  made, 
may  be  merciful,  but  must  be  holy. 

See  Bishop  Butler's  Sermons  upon  Human  Nature,  Bohn's  ed.,  385-414,  showing  "  the 
supremacy  of  conscience  in  the  moral  constitution  of  man."  We  must  be  just,  before 
we  are  generous.  So  with  God,  justice  must  be  done  always ;  mercy  is  optional  with 
him.  He  was  not  under  obligation  to  provide  a  redemption  for  sinners :  2  Pet.  2  :  4— "God 
spared  not  angels  when  they  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell."  Salvation  is  a  matter  of  grace,  not  of 
debt.  Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  277-298—"  The  quality  of  justice  is  necessary  exac- 
tion; but  'the  quality  of  mercy  is  not  (con)strained '  "  [c/.  Denham :  "His  mirth  is 
forced  and  strained"].  God  can  apply  the  salvation,  after  he  has  wrought  it  out,  to 
whomsoever  he  will :  Rom.  9  : 18— "he  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will."  The  poet  says :  "  A  God  all 
mercy  is  a  God  unjust."  Emerson:  "Your  goodness  must  have  some  edge  to  it ;  else 


BANK    AND    RELATIONS    OF   THE    ATTRIBUTES.  141 

it  is  none."  We  may  learn  of  God's  holiness  a  priori.  Even  the  heathen  could  say 
"Fiat  justitia,  ruat  ccelum",  or  "pereat  mundus."  But,  for  our  knowledge  of  God's 
mercy,  we  are  dependent  upon  special  revelation.  See  Shedd,  Sermons  to  the  Natural 
Man:  Sermon  on  "Mercy  optional  with  God,"  366:  Mercy,  like  omnipotence,  may  exist 
in  God  without  being-  exercised.  "But  justice  is  an  attribute  which  not  only  exists 
of  necessity,  but  must  be  exercised  of  necessity ;  because  not  to  exercise  it  would  be 
injustice." 

If  it  be  said  that,  by  parity  of  reasoning-,  for  God  not  to  exercise  mercy  is  to  show 
himself  unmerciful,— we  reply  that  this  is  not  true  so  long-  as  higher  interests  require 
that  exercise  to  be  withheld.  I  am  not  unmerciful  when  I  refuse  to  give  to  the  poor 
the  money  needed  to  pay  an  honest  debt;  nor  is  the  Governor  unmerciful  who  refuses 
to  pardon  the  condemned  and  unrepentant  criminal.  Mercy  has  its  conditions,  as  we 
proceed  to  show,  and  it  does  not  cease  to  be,  when  these  conditions  do  not  permit  it  to 
be  exercised.  Not  so  with  justice :  justice  must  always  be  exercised  ;  when  it  ceases  to 
be  exercised,  it  also  ceases  to  be. 

(c)  From  the  actual  dealings  of  God, — in  which  holiness  conditions  and 
limits  the  exercise  of  other  attributes.     Thus,  for  example,  in  Christ's  re- 
deeming work,  though  love  makes  the  atonement,  it  is  violated  holiness  that 
requires  it ;  and  in  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  wicked,  the  demand  of 
holiness  for  self -vindication  overbears  the  pleading  of  love  for  the  sufferers. 

That  which  conditions  all  is  highest  of  all.  Holiness  shows  itself  higher  than  love,  in 
that  it  conditions  love.  Hence  God's  mercy  does  not  consist  in  outraging  his  own  law 
of  holiness,  but  in  enduring  the  penal  affliction  by  which  that  law  of  holiness  is  satisfied. 
Conscience  in  man  is  but  the  reflex  of  holiness  in  God.  Conscience  demands  either 
retribution  or  atonement.  This  demand  Christ  meets  by  his  substituted  suffering.  His 
sacrifice  assuages  the  thirst  of  conscience  in  man,  as  well  as  the  demand  of  holiness  in 
God:  John  6  :  55— "For  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed."  See  Shedd,  Discourses 
and  Essays,  280,  291,  292,  from  which  much  of  the  above  is  in  substance  taken.  See  also 
Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1:  137-155,  346-353;  Patton,  art.  on  Retribution 
and  the  Divine  Goodness,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1878 :  8-16 ;  Owen,  Dissertation  on  the 
Divine  Justice,  in  Works,  10  :  483-624. 

(d)  From  God's  eternal  purpose  of  salvation, — in  which  justice  and 
mercy  are  reconciled  only  through  the  foreseen  and  predetermined  sacrifice 
of  Christ.     The  declaration  that  Christ  is  "the  Lamb  ....  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world  "  implies  the  existence  of  a  principle  in  the  divine 
nature  which  requires  satisfaction,  before  God  can  enter  upon  the  work  of 
redemption.     That  principle  can  be  none  other  than  holiness. 

Since  both  mercy  and  justice  are  exercised  toward  sinners  of  the  human  race,  the 
otherwise  inevitable  antagonism  between  them  is  removed  only  by  the  atoning  death  of 
the  God-man.  Their  opposing  claims  do  not  impair  the  divine  blessedness,  because  the 
reconciliation  exists  in  the  eternal  counsels  of  God.  This  is  intimated  in  Rev.  13  :  8— "the 
Iamb  that  hath  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  This  same  reconciliation  is  alluded  to  in 
Ps.  85  :  10 — "  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together ;  righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other  "  ;  and  in  Rom.  3  :  26 
—"that  he  might  himself  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus."  The  atonement,  then,  if 
man  was  to  be  saved,  was  necessary,  not  primarily  on  man's  account,  but  on  God's  ac- 
count. Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  279 :  The  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  an  "  atonement 
ab  intra,  a  self-oblation  on  the  part  of  Deity  himself,  by  which  to  satisfy  those  imma- 
nent and  eternal  imperatives  of  the  divine  nature  which  without  it  must  find  their 
satisfaction  in  the  punishment  of  the  transgressor,  or  else  be  outraged."  Thus  God's 
word  of  redemption,  as  well  as  his  word  of  creation,  is  forever  "settled  in  heaven  "  (Ps.  119  :  89). 
Its  execution  on  the  cross  was  "according  to  the  pattern"  on  high.  The  Mosaic  sacrifice  pre- 
figured the  sacrifice  of  Christ ;  but  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  but  the  temporal  disclosure 
of  an  eternal  fact  in  the  nature  of  God.  See  Kreibig,  Versohnung,  155, 156. 

2.     The  holiness  of  God  the  ground  of  moral  obligation. 

A.     Erroneous  Views.     The  ground  of  moral  obligation  is  not 

(a)    In  power, — whether  of  civil  law  (Hobbes,  Gassendi),  or  of  divine 


142  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

will  (Occam,  Descartes).  We  are  not  bound  to  obey  either  of  these,  except 
upon  the  ground  that  they  are  right.  This  theory  assumes  that  nothing  is 
good  or  right  in  itself,  and  that  morality  is  mere  prudence. 

Civil  Law :  See  Hobbes,  Leviathan,  part  i,  chap.  6  and  13 ;  part  ii,  chap.  30.  Gassendi, 
Opera,  6  : 120.  Upon  this  view,  might  makes  right ;  the  laws  of  Nero  are  always  binding ; 
a  man  may  break  his  promise  when  civil  law  permits ;  there  is  no  obligation  to  obey  a 
father,  a  civil  governor,  or  God  himself,  when  once  it  is  certain  that  the  disobedience 
will  be  hidden,  or  when  the  offender  is  willing  to  incur  the  punishment. 

Divine  will:  See  Occam,  lib.  2,  quaes.  19  (quoted  in  Porter,  Moral  Science,  125);  Des- 
cartes (referred  to  in  Hickok,  Moral  Science,  27,  28).  Upon  this  view,  right  and  wrong 
are  variable  quantities.  Duns  Scotus  held  that  God's  will  makes  not  only  truth  but 
right.  God  can  make  lying  to  be  virtuous  and  purity  to  be  wrong.  If  Satan  were  God, 
we  should  be  bound  to  obey  him.  God  is  essentially  indifferent  to  right  and  wrong, 
good  and  evil.  We  reply  that  behind  the  divine  will  is  the  divine  nature,  and  that  in 
the  moral  perfection  of  that  nature  lies  the  only  ground  of  moral  obligation. 

As  between  power  or  utility  on  the  one  hand,  and  right  on  the  other  hand,  we  must 
regard  right  as  the  more  fundamental.  We  do  not,  however,  as  will  be  seen  further  on, 
place  the  ground  of  moral  obligation  even  in  right,  considered  as  an  abstract  principle ; 
but  place  it  rather  in  the  moral  excellence  of  him  who  is  the  personal  Right  and  there- 
fore the  source  of  right. 

(6)  Nor  in  utility, — whether  our  own  happiness  or  advantage  present  or 
eternal  (Paley),  for  supreme  regard  for  our  own  interest  is  not  virtuous  ;  or 
the  greatest  happiness  or  advantage  of  being  in  general  (Edwards),  for  we 
judge  conduct  to  be  useful  because  it  is  right,  not  right  because  it  is  useful. 
This  theory  would  compel  us  to  believe  that  in  eternity  past  God  was  holy 
only  because  of  the  good  he  got  from  it — that  is,  there  was  no  such  thing  as 
holiness  in  itself,  and  no  such  thing  as  moral  character  in  God. 

Our  own  happiness:  Paley,  Mor.  and  Pol.  Philos.,  book  i,  chap,  vii— "  Virtue  is  the 
doing  good  to  mankind,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  and  for  the  sake  of  everlasting 
happiness."  This  unites  (a)  and  (b).  John  Stuart  Mill  and  Dr.  N.  W.  Taylor  held  that 
our  own  happiness  is  the  supreme  end.  These  writers  indeed  regard  the  highest  happi- 
ness as  attained  only  by  living  for  others  (Mill's  altruism),  but  they  can  assign  no  reason 
why  one  who  knows  no  other  happiness  than  the  pleasures  of  sense  should  not  adopt 
the  maxim  of  Epicurus,  who,  according  to  Lucretius,  taught  that "  ducit  quemqae  volup- 
tas."  This  theory  renders  virtue  impossible;  for  a  virtue  which  is  mere  regard  to  our 
own  interest  is  not  virtue  but  prudence.  "  We  have  a  sense  of  right  and  wrong  inde- 
pendently of  all  considerations  of  happiness  or  its  loss." 

Greatest  good  of  being :  Not  only  Edwards,  but  Priestly,  Bentham,  Dwight,  Finney, 
Hopkins,  Fairchild,  hold  this  view.  See  Edwards,  Works,  2 :  261-304—"  Virtue  is  benevo- 
lence toward  being  in  general "  ;  Dwight,  Theology,  3 :  150-162— "  Utility  the  Foundation 
of  Virtue";  Hopkins,  Law  of  Love,  7-28;  Fairchild,  Moral  Philosophy;  Finney,  Syst. 
Theol.,  42-135.  This  theory  regards  good  as  a  mere  state  of  the  sensibility,  instead  of 
consisting  in  purity  of  being.  It  forgets  that  in  eternity  past  "love  for  being  in  gen- 
eral "  =  simply  God's  self-love,  or  God's  regard  for  his  own  happiness.  This  implies  that 
God  is  holy  only  for  a  purpose ;  he  is  bound  to  be  unholy,  if  greater  good  would  result ; 
that  is,  holiness  has  no  independent  existence  in  his  nature.  We  grant  that  a  thing  is 
often  known  to  be  right  by  the  fact  that  it  is  useful ;  but  this  is  very  different  from  say- 
ing that  its  usefulness  makes  it  right.  "  Utility  is  only  the  setting  of  the  diamond,  which 
•marks,  but  does  notmafre,  its  value."  "If  utility  be  a  criterion  of  rectitude,  it  is  only 
because  it  is  a  revelation  of  the  divine  nature."  See  British  Quarterly,  July,  1877,  on 
Matthew  Arnold  and  Bishop  Butler.  Bp.  Butler,  Nature  of  Virtue,  in  Works,  Bohn's  ed., 
334.  Love  and  holiness  are  obligatory  in  themselves,  and  not  because  they  promote  the 
general  good.  Cicero  well  said  that  they  who  confounded  the  honestum  with  the  uttte 
deserved  to  be  banished  f rom  society.  See  criticism  on  Porter's  Moral  Science,  in  Luth- 
eran Quarterly,  Apr.,  1885  :  326-331. 

(c)  Nor  in  the  nature  of  things  (Price), — whether  by  this  we  mean  their 
fitness  (Clarke),  truth  (Wollaston),  order  (Jouffroy),  relations  (Way land), 
worthiness  (Hickok),  sympathy  (Adam  Smith),  or  abstract  right  (Haven  and 


BANK    AND    RELATIONS    OF   THE    ATTRIBUTES.  143 

Alexander) ;  for  this  nature  of  things  is  not  ultimate,  but  has  its  ground  in 
the  nature  of  God.  We  are  bound  to  worship  the  highest;  if  anything 
exists  beyond  and  above  God,  we  are  bound  to  worship  that — that  indeed  is 
God. 

See  Wayland,  Moral  Science,  33-48 ;  Hickok,  Moral  Science,  27-34 ;  Haven,  Moral  Phi- 
losophy, 37-50;  Alexander,  Moral  Science,  159-198.  In  opposition  to  all  the  forms  of  this 
theory,  we  urge  that  nothing-  exists  independently  of  or  above  God.  "  If  the  ground 
of  morals  exist  independently  of  God,  either  it  has  ultimately  no  authority,  or  it  usurps 
the  throne  of  the  Almighty.  Any  rational  being-  who  kept  the  law  would  be  perfect 
without  God,  and  the  moral  centre  of  all  intelligences  would  be  outside  of  God  "  (Talbot). 
God  is  not  a  Jupiter  controlled  by  Fate.  He  is  subject  to  no  law  but  the  law  of  his  own 
nature.  Noblesse  oblige— character  rules— purity  is  the  highest.  And  therefore  to  holi- 
ness all  creatures,  voluntarily  or  involuntarily,  are  constrained  to  bow.  Hopkins,  Law 
of  Love,  77—"  Right  and  wrong  have  nothing  to  do  with  things,  but  only  with  actions ; 
nothing  to  do  with  any  nature  of  things  existing  necessarily,  but  only  with  the  nature  of  , 
persons."  Another  has  said:  "The  idea  of  right  cannot  be  original,  since  right  means 
conformity  to  some  standard  or  rule."  This  standard  or  1'ule  is  not  an  abstraction,  but 
an  existing  being— the  infinitely  perfect  God. 

B.  The  Scriptural  View.  According  to  the  Scriptures,  the  ground  of 
moral  obligation  is  the  holiness  of  God,  or  the  moral  perfection  of  the 
divine  nature,  conformity  to  which  is  the  law  of  our  moral  being  (Chalmers, 
Calderwood,  Gregory,  Wuttke).  We  show  this  : 

(a)  From  the  commands  :  "Ye  shall  be  holy,"  where  the  ground  of  ob- 
ligation assigned  is  simply  and  only  :  "for  I  am  holy"  (1  Pet.  1  :  16) ;  and 
"  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,"  where  the  standard  laid  down  is  :  "  as  your 
heavenly  Father  is  perfect "  (Mat.  5  :  48).  Here  we  have  an  ultimate  reason 
and  ground  for  being  and  doing  right,  namely,  that  God  is  right,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  holiness  is  his  nature. 

(6)  From  the  nature  of  the  love  in  which  the  whole  law  is  summed  up 
(Mat.  22  :  37—  "thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God"  ;  Kom.  13  :  10— "love 
therefore  is  the  fulfilment  of  the  law  " ).  This  love  is  not  regard  for  ab- 
stract right  or  for  the  happiness  of  being,  much  less  for  one's  own  interest, 
but  it  is  regard  for  God  as  the  fountain  and  standard  of  moral  excellence, 
or,  in  other  words,  love  for  God  as  holy.  Hence  this  love  is  the  principle 
and  source  of  holiness  in  man. 

(c)  From  the  example  of  Christ,  whose  life  was  essentially  an  exhibition 
of  supreme  regard  for  God,  and  of  supreme  devotion  to  his  holy  will.  As 
Christ  saw  nothing  good  but  what  was  in  God  (Mark  10  :  18 — "  none  is  good 
save  one,  even  God  "),  and  did  only  what  he  saw  the  Father  do  (John  5  :  19  ; 
see  also  30 — "I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me "), 
so  for  us,  to  be  like  God  is  the  sum  of  all  duty,  and  God's  infinite  moral 
excellence  is  the  supreme  reason  why  we  should  be  like  him. 

For  statements  of  the  correct  view  of  the  ground  of  moral  obligation,  see  Chalmers, 
Moral  Philosophy,  412-420;  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy;  Gregory,  Christian  Ethics, 
112-122;  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  2 :  80-107 ;  Talbot,  Ethical  Prolegomena,  in  Bap.  Quar.r 
July,  1877,  257-274 :  "  The  ground  of  all  moral  law  is  the  nature  of  God,  or  the  ethical 
nature  of  God  in  relation  to  the  like  nature  in  man,  or  the  imperativeness  of  the  divine 
nature."  Plato:  "The  divine  will  is  the  fountain  of  all  efficiency;  the  divine  reason  is 
the  fountain  of  all  law;  the  divine  nature  is  the  fountain  of  all  virtue."  For  further 
discussion  of  the  subject,  see  section  on  the  Law  of  God.  See  also  Thornwell,  Theology , 
1:  363-373;  Hinton,  Art  of  Thinking,  47-62;  Goldwin  Smith,  in  Contemporary  Review, 
March,  1882,  and  Jan.,  1884 ;  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Theology,  195-231,  esp.  223.  Holiness 
is  the  goal  of  man's  spiritual  career ;  see  1  Thess.  3  : 13 — "  To  the  end  he  may  stablish  your  hearts 
unblamable  in  holiness  before  our  God  and  Father."  The  greatest  recent  work  on  the  general  subject 
is  that  of  James  Martineau,  Types  of  Ethical  Theory. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DOCTRINE    OF   THE   TRINITY. 

In  the  nature  of  the  one  God  there  are  three  eternal  distinctions  which 
are  represented  to  us  under  the  figure  of  persons,  and  these  three  are  equal. 
This  tripersonality  of  the  Godhead  is  exclusively  a  truth  of  revelation.  It 
is  clearly,  though  not  formally,  made  known  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
intimations  of  it  may  be  found  in  the  Old. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  may  be  expressed  in  the  six  following  state- 
ments :  1.  In  Scripture  there  are  three  who  are  recognized  as  God. 
2.  These  three  are  so  described  in  Scripture  that  we  are  compelled  to  conceive 
of  them  as  distinct  persons.  3.  This  tripersonality  of  the  divine  nature  is 
not  merely  economic  and  temporal,  but  is  immanent  and  eternal.  4.  This 
tripersonality  is  not  tritheism  ;  for  while  there  are  three  persons,  there  is 
but  one  essence.  5.  The  three  persons,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  are 
equal.  6.  Inscrutable  yet  not  self-contradictory,  this  doctrine  furnishes 
the  key  to  all  other  doctrines.  These  statements  we  proceed  now  to  prove 
and  to  elucidate. 

Reason  shows  us  the  Unity  of  God ;  only  revelation  shows  us  the  Trinity  of  God,  thus 
filling  out  the  indefinite  outlines  of  this  unity  and  vivifying  it.  The  term  '  Trinity  '  is 
not  found  in  Scripture,  although  the  conception  it  expresses  is  Scriptural.  The  inven- 
tion of  the  term  is  ascribed  to  Tertullian.  The  Montanists  first  defined  the  personality 
of  the  Spirit,  and  first  formulated  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  The  term  '  Trinity '  is  not 
a  metaphysical  one.  It  is  only  a  designation  of  four  facts  :  ( 1 )  the  Father  is  God ; 
( 2 )  the  Son  is  God ;  ( 3 )  the  Spirit  is  God ;  ( 4 )  there  is  but  one  God. 

Park  :  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  does  not  on  the  one  hand  assert  that  three  per- 
sons are  united  in  one  person,  or  three  beings  in  one  being,  or  three  Gods  in  one  God 
(tritheism) ;  nor  on  the  other  hand  that  God  merely  manifests  himself  in  three  different 
ways  (modal  trinity,  or  trinity  of  manifestations) ;  but  rather  that  there  are  three 
eternal  distinctions  in  the  substance  of  God."  Smyth,  preface  to  Edwards,  Observations 
on  the  Trinity :  "  The  church  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  affirms  that  there  are  in  the  Godhead 
three  distinct  hypostases  or  subsistences— the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit— each 
possessing  one  and  the  same  divine  nature,  though  in  a  different  manner.  The  essential 
points  are  ( 1 )  the  unity  of  essence ;  ( 2 )  the  reality  of  immanent  or  ontolosrical  distinc- 
tions." See  Park  on  Edwards's  View  of  the  Trinity,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  April,  1881 :  333.  Prince- 
ton Essays,  1 :  28—"  There  is  one  God ;  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  this  one  God ; 
there  is  such  a  distinction  between  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  as  to  lay  a  sufficient 
ground  for  the  reciprocal  use  of  the  personal  pronouns."  Joseph  Cook:  "(l)The 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  are  one  God ;  (2 )  each  has  a  peculiarity  incommuni- 
cable to  the  others ;  (3)  neither  is  God  without  the  others ;  (4)  each,  with  the  others,  is 
God." 

For  treatment  of  the  whole  doctrine,  see  Dorner,  System  of  Doctrine,  1 :  344-465 ;  Twes- 
ten,  Dogmatik,  and  translation  in  Bib.  Sac.,  3 :  502 ;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 : 145-199 ;  Thomas- 
ius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1  :  57-135;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3  :  203-229;  Shedd,  History 
of  Doctrine,  1  :  246-385 ;  Farrar,  Science  and  Theology,  138 ;  Schaff,  Nicene  Doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  in  Theol.  Eclectic,  4 : 209.  For  the  Unitarian  view,  see  Norton, 
Statement  of  Reasons,  and  J.  F.  Clarke,  Truths  and  Errors  of  Orthodoxy. 

144 


SCRIPTURE    RECOGNIZES   THREE    AS    GOD.  145 

I.     IN  SCRIPTURE  THERE  ARE  THREE  WHO  ARE  RECOGNIZED  AS  GOD. 
1.     Proofs  from  the  New  Testament. 

A.  The  Father  is  recognized  as  God, — and  that  in  so  great  a  number  of 
passages  (such  as  John  6  :  27 — "him  the  Father,  even  God,  hath  sealed," 
and  1  Pet.  1  :  2— "foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father")  that  we  need  not 
delay  to  adduce  extended  proof. 

B.  Jesus  Christ  is  recognized  as  God. 
(a)     He  is  expressly  called  God. 

In  John  1  :  1 — 9eof  %v  6  /l<5yof — the  absence  of  the  article  shows  0£<fc  to  be 
the  predicate  (cf.  4  :  24 — -rrvKv^a  6  6eof).  This  predicate  precedes  the  verb 
by  way  of  emphasis,  to  indicate  progress  in  the  thought  =  '  the  Logos  was 
not  only  with  God,  but  was  God  '  (see  Meyer  and  Luthardt,  Comm.  in  loco). 
"  Only  6  Adyof  can  be  the  subject,  for  in  the  whole  Introduction  the  question 
is,  not  who  God  is,  but  who  the  Logos  is  "  (Godet). 

In  Bom.  9  :  5,  the  clause  6  bv  M  -rravruv  Qeb?  ev^oyrj-og  cannot  be  translated 
''blessed  be  the  God  over  all,'  for  bv  is  superfluous  if  the  clause  is  a  dox- 
ology  ;  evAoy^rdf  precedes  the  name  of  God  in  a  doxology,  but  follows  it,  as 
here,  in  a  description"  (Hovey).  The  clause  can  therefore  justly  be 
interpreted  only  as  a  description  of  the  higher  nature  of  the  Christ  who  had 
just  been  said,  TO  Kara  capua,  or  according  to  his  lower  nature,  to  have  had 
his  origin  from  Israel  (see  Tholuck,  Com.  in  loco). 

In  Titus  2  :  13,  kirifAvetitV  rfjq  ddj-rjg  TOV  ueyd/iov  Qeov  Kal  vurrjpos  f/jutiv  'Iqaov 
Xpiarov  we  regard  (with  Ellicott)  as  "a  direct,  definite,  and  even  studied 

declaration  of  Christ's  divinity "=  "the appearing  of  the  glory 

of  our  great  God  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ"  (so  Eng.  Eevised  Version). 
' Enclave ia  is  a  term  applied  specially  to  the  Son  and  never  to  the  Father, 
and  [leyahov  is  uncalled  for  if  used  of  the  Father,  but  peculiarly  appropriate 
if  used  of  Christ.  Upon  the  same  principles  we  must  interpret  the  similar 
text  2  Pet.  1  :  1  (see  Huther,  in  Meyer's  Com.  :  "The  close  juxtaposition 
indicates  the  author's  certainty  of  the  oneness  of  God  and  of  Jesus 
Christ " ). 

In  Heb.  1:8,  T/oof  fie  rbv  vl6v  •  6  iftp6vo£  aov,  6  Qebc,  elg  TOV  alcjva  is  quoted  as 
an  address  to  Christ,  and  verse  10  which  follows — "  Thou,  Lord,  in  the 
beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth  " — by  applying  to  Christ  an 
Old  Testament  ascription  to  Jehovah,  shows  that  6  Ge^-,  in  verse  8,  is  used 
in  the  sense  of  absolute  Godhead. 

In  1  John  5  :  20 — kotiev  kv  T&  aX,TT$tv(Lt  kv  r£  vl&  avruv  'Irj&ov  Xp«rrtj.  uvTog 
koTiv  6  aty&ivbc  Qe6f  — "it  would  be  a  flat  repetition,  after  the  Father  had  been 
twice  called  6  d^tfmJf,  to  say  now  again  :  '  this  is  o  atyftivbc  Gecfc.'  Our  being 
in  God  has  its  basis  in  Christ  his  Son,  and  this  also  makes  it  more  natural 
that  ov-oq  should  be  referred  to  viti.  But  ought  not  b  aty$iv6c  then  to  be 
without  the  article  (as  in  John  1  :  1 — Gtoc  rjv  b  Adyof)  ?  No,  for  it  is  John's 
purpose  in  1  John  5  :  20  to  say,  not  what  Christ  is,  but  who  he  is.  In 
declaring  what  one  is,  the  predicate  must  have  no  article  ;  in  declaring  who 
one  is,  the  predicate  must  have  the  article.  St.  John  here  says  that  this 
10 


14G  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

Son,  oil  whom  our  being  in  the  true  God  rests,  is  this  true  God  himself" 
(see  Ebrard,  Com.  in  loco). 

Other  passages  might  be  here  adduced,  as  John  20  :  28 — "My  Lord  and  my  God  "  ;  Col.  2:  9 — "in  him 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  "  ;  Phil.  2 :  6—"  being  in  the  form  of  God  " ;  but  we  prefer  to  con- 
sider these  under  other  heads  as  indirectly  proving  Christ's  divinity.  Still  other 
passages  once  relied  upon  as  direct  statements  of  the  doctrine  must  be  given  up  for 
textual  reasons.  Such  are  Acts.  20 :  28,  where  the  correct  reading  is  in  all  probability  not 
eKK\r)<ria.v  TOV  ©ecu,  but  eKK\Tfi<ria.v  TOV  Kvpiov  (so  ACDE  Tregelles  and  Tischendorf ;  B 
and  X,  however,  have  TOV  ©eoO.  The  Rev.  Vers.  continues  to  read  "church  of  God" ;  Arner. 
Revisers,  however,  read  "church  of  the  Lord"— see  Ezra  Abbot's  investigation  in  Bib.  Sac., 
1876:313-352);  and  1  Tim.  3:16,  where  6?  is  unquestionably  to  be  substituted  for  ©ed?, 
though  even  here  e<j>ai>epu&ri  intimates  prefe'xistence. 

In  John  1 : 18,  although  Tischendorf  (8th  ed.)  has  /u.ovoyeyijs  inds,  Westcott  and  Hort  (with 
K*BC*L  Pesh.  Syr.)  read  novoyevris  @e6?,  and  the  Rev.  Vers.  puts  "  the  only  begotten  God  "  in  the 
margin,  though  it  retains  "the  only  begotten  Son"  in  the  text.  Harnack  says  the  reading 
/movo-yevrj?  ©eo?  is  established  beyond  contradiction;  see  Westcott,  Bib.  Com.  on  John, 
pages  32,  33.  If  so,  we  have  here  a  new  and  unmistakable  assertion  of  the  deity  of 
Christ.  Meyer  says  that  the  apostles  actually  call  Christ  God  only  in  John  1 : 1  and  20  :  28, 
and  that  Paul  never  so  recognizes  him.  But  Meyer  is  able  to  maintain  his  position  only 
by  calling  the  doxologies  to  Christ,  in  2  Tim.  4 : 18,  Heb.  13 :  21  and  2  Pet.  3  : 18,  post-apostolic. 

It  is  sometimes  objected  that  the  ascription  of  the  name  God  to  Christ  proves  nothing 
as  to  his  absolute  deity,  since  angels  and  even  human  judges  are  called  gods,  as  repre- 
senting God's  authority  and  executing  his  will.  But  we  reply  that,  while  it  is  true  that  the 
name  is  sometimes  so  applied,  it  is  always  with  adjuncts  and  in  connections  which  leave 
no  doubt  of  its  figurative  and  secondary  meaning.  When,  however,  the  name  is  applied 
to  Christ,  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  with  adjuncts  and  in  connections  which  leave  no  doubt 
that  it  signifies  absolute  Godhead.  See  Ex.  4  : 16—"  Thou  shalt  be  to  him  as  God  "  ;  7  : 1—"  See,  I  have 
made  thee  a  god  to  Pharaoh"  ;  22  :  28 — "Thou  shalt  not  revile  God  [marg.  the  judges],  nor  curse  a  ruler  of  thy  peo- 
ple" ;  Ps.  82  : 1 — "  God  standeth  in  the  congregation  of  God  [among  the  mighty]  ;  he  judgeth  among  the  gods  "  : 
6 — "  I  said,  Ye  are  gods,  and  all  of  you  sons  of  the  Most  High  "  ;  7 — "nevertheless  ye  shall  die  like  men,  and  fall  like 
one  of  the  princes."  C/.  John  10  :  34-36—"  If  he  called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of  God  came  "  (who  were 
God's  commissioned  and  appointed  representatives),  how  much  more  proper  for  him 
who  is  one  with  the  Father  to  call  himself  God. 

As  in  Ps.  82  .-  7  those  who  had  been  called  gods  are  represented  as  dying,  so  in  Ps.  97 :  7 — 
"Worship  him,  all  ye  gods"— they  are  bidden  to  fall  down  before  Jehovah.  Ann.  Par.  Bible  : 
"  Although  the  deities  of  the  heathen  have  no  positive  existence,  they  are  often  described 
in  Scripture  as  if  they  had,  and  are  represented  as  bowing  down  before  the  majesty  of 
Jehovah."  This  verse  is  quoted  in  Heb.  1 :  6 — "let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him" —  i.  e.  Christ. 
Here  Christ  is  identified  with  Jehovah.  The  quotation  is  made  from  the  Septuagint, 
which  has  "  angels "  for  "  gods."  "  Its  use  here  is  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Hebrew 
word,  which  includes  all  that  human  error  might  regard  as  objects  of  worship."  Those 
who  are  figuratively  and  rhetorically  called  "gods"  are  bidden  to  fall  down  in  worship 
before  him  who  is  the  true  God,  Jesus  Christ.  See  Dick,  Lectures  on  Theology,  1 :  314 ; 
Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  10. 

(6)     Old  Testament  descriptions  of  God  are  applied  to  him. 

This  application  to  Christ  of  titles  and  names  exclusively  appropriated  to 
God  is  inexplicable,  if  Christ  was  not  regarded  as  being  himself  God.  The 
peculiar  awe  with  which  the  term  '  Jehovah '  was  set  apart  by  a  nation  of 
strenuous  monotheists  as  the  sacred  and  incommunicable  name  of  the  one 
self-existent  and  covenant-keeping  God  forbids  the  belief  that  the  Scrip- 
ture writers  could  have  used  it  as  the  designation  of  a  subordinate  and 
created  being. 

Mat.  3  :  3— "Make  ye  ready  the  way  of  the  Lord  "—is  a  quotation  from  Is.  40  :  3—"  Prepare  ye  ...  the  way 
of  Jehovah."  John  12  :  41  — "  These  things  said  Isaiah,  because  he  saw  his  glory ;  and  he  spake  of  him  "  [i.  c.  Christ] 
—refers  to  Is.  6  : 1—"  In  the  year  that  Ring  Uzziah  died  I  saw  Jehovah  sitting  upon  a  throne."  So  in  Bph.  4  :  7,  8 
— "  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ ...  led  captivity  captive  "—is  an  application  to  Christ  of  what  is  said  of 
Jehovah  in  Ps.  68  : 18.  In  1  Pet.  3  : 15,  moreover,  we  read,  with  all  the  great  uncials,  several  of 
the  Fathers,  and  all  the  best  versions :  "sanctify  in  your  hearts  Christ  as  Lord " ;  here  the  apostle 
borrows  his  language  from  Is.  8:13,  where  we  read:  "The  Lord  of  hosts,  him  shall  ye  sanctify." 


SCRIPTURE    RECOGNIZES    THREE    AS    GOD.  147 

When  we  remember  that,  with  the  Jews,  God's  covenant-title  was  so  sacred  that  for  the 
Kethlb  (="  written  ")  Jehovah  there  was  always  substituted  the  Keri  (="  read  "—imper- 
ative) Adonai,  in  order  to  avoid  pronunciation  of  the  great  Name,  it  seems  the  more  re- 
markable that  the  Greek  equivalent  of  'Jehovah '  should  have  been  so  constantly  used  of 

Christ.    Cf.  Rom.  10  :  9— "confess Jesus  as  Lord"  ;  1  Cor.  12  :  3— "no  man  can  say,  Jesus  is  Lord,  but  in 

the  Holy  Spirit." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  1  Maccabees  does  not  once  use  the  word  @e6?,  or  Kvpios,  or 
any  other  direct  designation  of  God  unless  it  be  ovpai/6?  (cf.  "swear. .  .by  the  heaven"— 
Mat.  5  :  34).  So  the  book  of  Esther  contains  no  mention  of  the  name  of  God,  though  the 
apocryphal  additions  to  Esther,  which  are  found  only  in  Greek,  contain  the  name  of 
God  in  the  flrst  verse,  and  mention  it  in  all  eight  times.  See  Bissell,  Apocrypha,  in 
Lange's  Commentary ;  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  93;  Max  Mtiller  on  Semitic  Mono- 
theism, in  Chips  from  a  German  Workshp,  1  :  337. 

(c)  He  possesses  the  attributes  of  God. 

Among  these  are  life,  self-existence,  immutability,  truth,  love,  holiness, 
eternity,  omnipresence,  omniscience,  omnipotence.  All  these  attributes 
are  ascribed  to  Christ  in  connections  which  show  that  the  terms  are  used 
in  no  secondary  sense,  nor  in  any  sense  predicable  of  a  creature. 

Life :  John  1 :  4—"  In  him  was  life  "  ;  14  :  6—"  I  am the  life."  Self -existence :  John  5  :  26—"  have 

life  in  himself"  ;  Heb.  7  : 16— "power  of  an  endless  life."  Immutability :  Heb.  13  :  8— "Jesus  Christ  is  the  same 

yesterday  and  to-day,  yea  and  forever."  Truth :  John  14  :  6— "I  am the  truth"  ;  Rev.  3  :  7— "he  that  is 

true."  Love:  1  John  3  : 16 — "Hereby  know  we  love"  (TTJV  a.ya.irr)v  =  the  personal  Love,  as  the  per- 
sonal Truth)  "  because  he  laid  down  his  life  for  us."  Holiness :  Luke  1 :  35 — "  that  which  is  to  be  born  shall  be 
called  holy,  the  Son  of  God"  •  John  6  :  69— "thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God  "  ;  Heb.  7  :  26— "holy,  guileless,  undefiled, 
separated  from  sinners." 

Eternity:  John  1 : 1— "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word."  Godet  says  ei/  apxv  =  not  'in  eternity,' 
but  '  in  the  beginning  of  the  creation ' ;  the  eternity  of  the  Word  being  an  inference 
from  the  i^— the  Word  was,  when  the  worli  was  created;  cf.  Gen.  1 : 1— "In  the  beginning  God 
creatad."  But  Meyer  says,  et>  apxf?  here  rises  above  the  historical  conception  of  "  in  the  begin- 
ning" in  Genesis  (which  includes  the  beginning  of  time  itself)  to  the  absolute  conception 
of  anteriority  to  time ;  the  creation  is  something  subsequent.  He  finds  a  parallel  in 
Prov.  8  :  23— ev  apxfi  npb  TOV  r^v  yi]v  Troirjacu.  The  interpretation  'in  the  beginning  of  the 
gospel '  is  entirely  unexegetical ;  so  Meyer.  So  John  17  :  5—"  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the 
world  was";  Eph.  1  :  4 — "chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  Dorner  also  says  that 
ev  apxfi  in  John  1 : 1  is  not '  the  beginning  of  the  world,'  but  designates  the  point  back  of 
which  it  is  impossible  to  go,  i.  e.  eternity ;  the  world  is  first  spoken  of  in  verse  3.  John 
8  :  58— "before  Abraham  was  born,  I  am"  ;  Col.  1  :  17— "he is  before  all  things  "  ;  Heb.  1  : 11— the  heavens  "shall 
perish ;  but  thou  continuest"  ;  Rev.  21  :  6 — "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end." 

Omnipresence :  Mat.  28  :  20—"  I  am  with  you  alway  "  ;  Eph.  1 :  23—"  the  fulness  of  Mm  that  fllleth  all  in  all." 
Omniscience:  Mat.  9  :  4 — "Jesus  knowing  their  thoughts"  ;  John  2  :  24,  25—"  knew  all  men  ....  knew  what  was 
in  man"  ;  16  :  30 — "knowest  all  things"  ;  1  Cor.  4  :  5 — "until  the  Lord  come,  who  will  both  bring  to  light  the  hidden 
things  of  darkness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  hearts  " ;  Col.  2  :  3— "in  whom  are  all  the  treasures  of  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  hidden."  Omnipotence :  Mat.  28  : 18 — "  All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
on  earth"  ;  ^v.  1  :  8 — "the  Lord  God,  which  is  and  which  was  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 

(d)  The  works  of  God  are  ascribed  to  him. 

We  do  not  here  speak  of  miracles,  which  may  be  wrought  by  communi- 
cated power,  but  of  such  works  as  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  upholding 
of  all  things,  the  final  raising  of  the  dead,  and  the  judging  of  all  men. 
Power  to  perform  these  works  cannot  be  delegated,  for  they  are  character- 
istic of  omnipotence. 

Creation :  John  1  :  3—"  All  things  were  made  through  him  "  ;  1  Cor.  8  :  6—"  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom 
are  all  things "  ;  Col.  1  : 16— "all  things  have  been  created  through  him,  and  unto  him "  ;  Heb.  1  : 10—" Thou,  Lord,  in 
the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy  hands"  ;  Rev.  3  : 14— "the 
beginning  of  the  creation  of  God"  (cf.  Plato:  "Mind  is  the  apxn  of  motion").  Upholding:  Col. 
1  : 17—"  in  him  all  things  consist "  (marg.  "  hold  together  " ) ;  Heb.  1  :  3—  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power."  Raising  the  dead  and  judging  the  world:  John  5  :  27,  28— " authority  to  execute  judgment"  ; 


148  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 

"  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  "  ;  Mat.  25  :  31, 32—"  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory : 
and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  the  nations." 

See  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  153.  Per  contra,  see  Examination  of  Liddon's  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures,  72.  Christ's  work  in  the  world  as  Revealer  of  God  and  Redeemer  from 
sin  is  also,  to  the  believer,  a  proof  of  his  divinity.  We  do  not  here  urge  this  argument, 
for  the  reason  that  opponents  of  the  doctrine  in  question,  having  low  views  of  the 
nature  of  that  work,  assume  that  it  could  have  been  wrought,  as  they  believe  that 
Jesus'  miracles  were  wrought,  by  communicated  power. 

(e)     He  receives  honor  and  worship  due  only  to  God. 

The  address  of  Thomas,  in  John  20  :  28,  cannot  be  interpreted  as  a  sud- 
den appeal  to  God  in  surprise  and  admiration,  without  charging  the  apostle 
with  profanity.  Nor  can  it  be  considered  a  mere  exhibition  of  overwrought 
enthusiasm,  since  it  was  accepted  by  Christ.  As  addressed  directly  to 
Christ  and  as  unrebuked  by  Christ,  it  can  be  regarded  only  as  a  just  ac- 
knowledgment on  the  part  of  Thomas  that  Christ  was  his  Lord  and  his  God. 

John  20  :  28 — "  Thomas  answered  and  said  unto  him,  My  Lord  and  my  God."  Alf ord,  Com.  in  toco :  "  The 
Socinian  view  that  these  words  are  merely  an  exclamation  is  refuted  ( 1 )  by  the  fact 
that  no  such  exclamations  were  in  use  among  the  Jews ;  ( 2 )  by  the  direi/  avrcp ;  ( 3 )  by 
the  impossibility  of  referring  the  6  *cv>6?  juov  to  another  than  Jesus  :  see  verse  13  ;  ( 4 )  by 
the  N.  T.  usage  of  expressing  the  vocative  by  the  nominative  with  an  article ;  ( 5 ) 
by  the  psychological  absurdity  of  such  a  supposition:  that  one  just  convinced  of 
the  presence  of  him  whom  he  dearly  loved  should,  instead  of  addressing  him,  break 
out  into  an  irrelevant  cry;  (6)  by  the  further  absurdity  of  supposing  that,  if  such 
were  the  case,  the  Apostle  John,  who  of  all  the  sacred  writers  most  constantly  keeps  in 
mind  the  object  for  which  he  is  writing,  should  have  recorded  anything  so  beside  that 
object:  (7)  by  the  intimate  conjunction  of  TreiriVrevKa?." 

John  5  :  23 — "  that  all  may  honor  the  Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  Father  "  ;  Acts  7  :  59 — "Stephen,  calling  upon  the 
Lord,  and  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit"  (c/.  Lifte  23  :  46 — Jesus'  words:  "Father,  into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit ") ;  Rom.  10  :  9—"  confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord  "  ;  13—"  whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved  "  (c/.  Gen.  4  :  28—"  Then  began  men  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  ") ;  1  Cor.  11  : 
24,  25—"  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me  "  =  worship  of  Christ ;  Heb.  1 :  6—"  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship 
him  "  ;  Phil.  2  : 10,  11 — "  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow  ....  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  Lord" ;  Rev.  5  : 12-14— "  worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  to  receive  the  power  ....";  2  Pet.  3 : 18— 
"  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ.  To  him  be  the  glory  "  ;  2  Tim.  4  : 18  and  Heb.  13  :  21—"  to  whom  be  the  glory  for  ever 
and  ever  "—these  ascriptions  of  eternal  glory  to  Christ  imply  his  deity.  See  also  1  Pet.  3  : 
15— "sanctify  in  your  hearts  Christ  as  Lord,"  and  Bph.  5  :  21—"  subjecting  yourselves  one  to  another  in 'the  fear  of 
Christ."  Here  is  enjoined  an  attitude  of  mind  toward  Christ  which  would  be  idolatrous  if 
Christ  were  not  God.  See  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  266,  366. 

(/)     His  name  is  associated  with  that  of  God  upon  a  footing  of  equality. 

We  do  not  here  allude  to  1  John  5  :  7  (the  three  heavenly  witnesses),  for 
the  latter  part  of  this  verse  is  unquestionably  spurious  ;  but  to  the  formula 
of  baptism,  to  the  apostolic  benedictions,  and  to  those  passages  ifi  which 
eternal  life  is  said  to  be  dependent  equally  upon  Christ  and  upon  God,  or 
in  which  spiritual  gifts  are  attributed  to  Christ  equally  with  the  Father. 

The  formula  of  baptism:  Mat.  28  : 19— " baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost "  ;  c/.  Acts  2  :  38 — "  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ "  ;  Rom.  6  :  3 — "  baptized 
into  Christ  Jesus."  "In  the  common  baptismal  formula  the  Son  and  the  Spirit  are  cob'rdi- 
nated  with  the  Father,  and  e«  ovona  has  religious  significance."  It  would  be  both  absurd 
and  profane  to  speak  of  baptizing  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  Moses. 

The  apostolic  benedictions  •  1  Cor.  1 :  3—"  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ"  ;  2  Cor.  13  : 14— "The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  be  with  you  all."  "  In  these  benedictions  grace  is  something  divine,  and  Christ  has 
power  to  impart  it.  But  why  do  we  find  '  God,'  instead  of  simply  '  the  Father,'  as  in  the  bap- 
tismal formula?  Because  it  is  only  the  Father  who  does  not  become  man  or  have  a 
Vistorical  existence.  Elsewhere  he  is  specially  called  'God  the  Father,'  to  distinguish  him 
from  God  the  Son  and  God  the  Holy  Spirit  (Gal.  1  : 1,  3;  Eph.  3  : 14 ;  6  :  23)." 


SCRIPTURE    RECOGNIZES   THREE    AS    GOD.  149 

Other  passages :  John  17  :  3 — "  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  him  whom 
thou  didst  send,  even  Jesus  Christ "  ;  Mat.  11  :  27—"  No  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father ;  neither  doth  any  know 
the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him "  ;  1  Cor.  12  :  4-6— "the  same  Spirit .  .  . 
the  same  Lord  [Christ]  ....  the  same  &od "  (the  Father)  bestow  spiritual  gifts,  e.  g.  faith: 
Rom.  10  :  17— "belief  cometh  of  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  Christ"  ;  peace :  Col.  3  :  15— "let  the  peace  of 
Christ  rule  in  your  hearts."  2  Thess.  2 : 16 — "Now  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself,  and  God  our  Father  ....  comfort  your 
hearts"— two  names  with  a  verb  in  the  singular  intimate  the  oneness  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  (LilJie).  Rev.  22  :  3— "the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb." 

(g]     Equality  with  God  is  expressly  claimed. 

Here  we  may  refer  to  Jesus'  testimony  to  himself,  already  treated  of 
among  the  proofs  of  the  supernatural  character  of  the  Scripture  teaching 
(see  page  91).  Equality  with  God  is  not  only  claimed  for  himself  by 
Jesus,  but  it  is  claimed  for  him  by  his  apostles. 

John  5  : 18—"  called  God  his  own  Father,  making  himself  equal  with  God  "  ;  Phil.  2  :  6—"  who,  being  in  the  form  of 
God,  counted  not  the  being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped  "  =  counted  not  his  equality  with 
God  a  thing  to  be  forcibly  retained.  Christ  made  and  left  upon  his  contemporaries  the 
impression  that  he  claimed  to  be  God.  The  Newk  Testament  has  left,  upon  the  great 
mass  of  those  who  have  read  it,  the  impression  that  Jesus  Christ  claims  to  be  God.  If 
he  is  not  God,  he  is  a  deceiver  or  is  self -deceived,  and,  in  either  case,  CTiristus,  si  non 
Dem,  non  bonus.  See  Nicoll,  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  187. 

(h)  Further  proofs  of  Christ's  deity  may  be  found  in  the  application  to 
him  of  the  phrases  :  '  Son  of  God,'  '  Image  of  God  ' ;  in  the  declarations  of 
his  oneness  with  God  ;  in  the  attribution  to  him  of  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head. 

Mat.  26  :  63,  64—"  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God,  that  thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 
Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Thou  hast  said  "—it  is  for  this  testimony  that  Christ  dies.  Col.  1 : 15 — "the  image 
of  the  invisible  God  "  ;  Heb.  1  :  3 — "the  effulgence  of  his  [the  Father's]  glory,  and  the  very  imago  of  his  sub- 
stance "  ;  John  10  :  30—"  I  and  my  Father  are  one  "  ;  14  :  9—"  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father  "  ;  17  :  11,  22 
— "  that  they  may  be  one  even  as  we  are  one  "  ;  Col.  2  :  9 — "in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  "  ; 
cf.  1  : 19— "for  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  the  fulness  dwell,"  or  (marg.)  "  for  the 
whole  fulness  ol  God  was  pleased  to  dwell  in  him."  John  16  : 15 — "  all  things  whatsoever  the  Father  hath  are  mine  "  ; 
17  :  10—"  all  things  that  are  mine  are  thine,  and  thine  are  mine." 

(i)  These  proofs  of  Christ's  deity  from  the  New  Testament  are  corrobo- 
rated by  Christian  experience. 

Christian  experience  recognizes  Christ  as  an  absolutely  perfect  Savior, 
perfectly  revealing  the  Godhead  and  worthy  of  unlimited  worship  and 
adoration ;  that  is,  it  practically  recognizes  him  as  Deity.  But  Christian 
experience  also  recognizes  that  through  Christ  it  has  introduction  and 
reconciliation  to  God  as  one  distinct  from  Jesus  Christ,  as  one  who  was 
alienated  from  the  soul  by  its  sin,  but  who  is  now  reconciled  through  Jesus' 
death.  In  other  words,  while  recognizing  Jesus  as  God,  we  are  also  com- 
pelled to  recognize  a  distinction  between  the  Father  and  the  Son  through 
whom  we  come  to  the  Father. 

Although  this  experience  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  independent  witness 
to  Jesus'  claims,  since  it  only  tests  the  truth  already  made  known  in  the 
Bible,  still  the  irresistible  impulse  of  every  person  whom  Christ  has  saved 
to  lift  his  Redeemer  to  the  highest  place,  and  bow  before  him  in  the  lowliest 
worship,  is  strong  evidence  that  only  that  interpretation  of  Scripture  can  be 
true  which  recognizes  Christ's  absolute  Godhead.  It  is  the  church's  con- 
sciousness of  her  Lord's  divinity,  indeed,  and  not  mere  speculation  upon 


150  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

the  relations  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  that  has  compelled  the  formu- 
lation of  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

In  the  letter  of  Pliny  to  Trajan,  it  is  said  of  the  early  Christians  "  quod  essent  soliti 
carmen  Christo  quasi  Deo  dicere  invicem."  The  prayers  and  hymns  of  the  Church  show 
what  the  church  has  believed  Scripture  to  teach.  Dwight  Moody  is  said  to  have  received 
his  first  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel  from  hearing-  the  concluding-  words  of  a 
prayer,  "For  Christ's  sake,  Amen,"  when  awakened  from  physical  slumber  in  Dr. 
Kirk's  church,  Boston.  These  words,  wherever  uttered,  imply  man's  dependence  and 
Christ's  deity.  See  New  Eng-lander,  1878 :  432.  Dr.  Shedd :  "  The  construction  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  started,  not  from  the  consideration  of  the  three  persons,  but 
from  belief  in  the  deity  of  one  of  them  "—Christ. 

In  contemplating  passages  apparently  inconsistent  with  those  now  cited, 
in  that  they  impute  to  Christ  weakness  and  ignorance,  limitation  and  sub- 
jection, we  are  to  remember,  first,  that  our  Lord  was  truly  man,  as  well  as 
truly  God,  and  that  this  ignorance  or  weakness  may  be  predicated  of  his 
human  nature  alone ;  secondly,  that  the  divine  nature  itself  was  in  some 
way  limited  and  humbled  during  our  Savior's  earthly  life,  and  that  these 
passages  may  describe  him  as  he  was  in  his  estate  of  humiliation,  rather 
than  in  his  original  and  present  glory ;  and,  thirdly,  that  there  is  an  order  of 
office  and  operation  which  is  consistent  with  essential  oneness  and  equality, 
but  which  permits  the  Father  to  be  spoken  of  as  first  and  the  Son  as  second. 
These  statements  will  be  further  elucidated  in  the  treatment  of  the  present 
doctrine  and  in  subsequent  examination  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Person  of 
Christ. 

There  were  certain  things  of  which  Christ  was  ig-norant:  Mark  13  :  32 — "of  that  day  or  tha1 
hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Fathsr."  He  was  subject  to 
physical  fatigue  :  John  4  :  6— "Jesus  therefore,  being  wearied  with  his  journey,  sat  thus  by  the  well."  There 
was  a  limitation  connected  with  Christ's  taking  of  human  flesh :  Phil.  2  :  7— "emptied  himself, 
taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men" ;  John  14  :  28— "the  Father  is  greater  than  I." 
There  is  a  subjection,  as  respects  order  of  office  and  operation,  which  is  yet  consistent 
with  equality  of  essence  and  oneness  with  God  :  1  Cor.  15  :  28—"  then  shall  the  Son  also  himsslf  be 
subjected  to  him  that  did  subject  all  things  unto  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all."  This  must  be  interpreted 
consistently  with  John  17  :  5 — "glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee 
before  the  world  was,"  and  with  Phil.  2  :  6,  where  this  glory  is  described  as  being  "the  form  of  God" 
and  "equality  with  God." 

It  is  inconceivable  that  any  mere  creature  should  say,  "  God  is  greater  than  I  am,"  or 
should  be  spoken  of  as  ultimately  and  in  a  mysterious  way  becoming  "subject  to  God." 
In  his  state  of  humiliation  Christ  was  subject  to  the  Spirit  ( Acts  1 :  2— "after  that  he  had  given 

commandment  through  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  10  :  38  —  "  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost for  God  was  with 

him  "  ;  Heb.  9  : 14—"  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God  " ),  but  in  his  state  of 
exaltation  Christ  is  Lord  of  the  Spirit  (/cupcou  TrveujuoTo?— 2  Cor.  3  : 18 — Meyer),  giving  the 
Spirit  and  working  through  the  Spirit.  Heb.  2  :  7,  marg. — "  Thou  madest  him  for  a  little  while  lower 
lhan  the  angels."  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  262,  &51 ;  Thomasius, 
Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  61-64 ;  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  127,  207,  458 ;  per  contra, 
see  Examination  of  Liddon,  252,  294. 

C.     The  Holy  Spirit  is  recognized  as  God. 

(a)  He  is  spoken  of  as  God ;  (b)  the  attributes  of  God  are  ascribed  to 
him,  such  as  life,  truth,  love,  holiness,  eternity,  omnipresence,  omniscience, 
omnipotence ;  (c)  he  does  the  works  of  God,  such  as  creation,  regenera- 
tion, resurrection  ;  (d)  he  receives  honor  due  only  to  God  ;  (e)  he  is  asso- 
ciated with  God  on  a  footing  of  equality,  both  in  the  formula  of  baptism 
and  in  the  apostolic  benedictions. 


SCRIPTURE    RECOGNIZES   THREE    AS    GOD.  151 

(a)  Spoken  of  as  God.    Acts  5  :  3,  4— "lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost not  lied  unto  men,  but  unto  God"; 

1  Cor.  3  :  16—"  ye  are  a  temple  of  God  ....  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you  "  ;  6  : 19— "your  body  is  a  temple  of  the 
Holy  Ghost "  ;  12  :  4-6—  "  same  Spirit ....  same  Lord  ....  same  God,  who  worketh  all  things  in  all "— "  The  divine 
Trinity  is  here  indicated  in  an  ascending-  climax,  in  such  a  way  that  we  pass  from  the 
Spirit  who  bestows  the  gifts  to  the  Lord  [Christ]  who  is  served  by  means  of  them,  and 
finally  to  God,  who  as  the  absolute  first  cause  and  possessor  of  all  Christian  powers 
works  the  entire  sum  of  all  charismatic  gifts  in  all  who  are  gifted  "  ( Meyer  in  loco). 

(b)  Attributes  of  God.    Life:  Rom.  8  :  2— "Spirit  of  life."    Truth:  John  16  : 13— "Spirit  of  truth.'' 
Love :  Rom.  15  :  30—"  love  of  the  Spirit."     Holiness  :  Eph.  4  :  30—"  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."    Eternity : 
Heb.  9  : 14—"  the  eternal  Spirit."    Omnipresence :  Ps.  139  :  7—"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  "    Omnis- 
cience :  1  Cor.  2  : 10— "the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of  God."     Omnipotence :  1  Cor. 
12  : 11—"  all  these  [  including  gifts  of  healings  and  miracles  ]  worketh  the  one  and  the  same  Spirit, 
dividing  to  each  one  severally  even  as  he  will." 

(c)  Worlts  of  God.    Creation  :  Gen.  1 :  2,  marg.  —  "  spirit  of  God  was  brooding  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." 
Casting  out  of  demons  :  Mat.  12  :  28,  marg.— "if  I  by  the  Spirit  of  God  cast  out  demons."    Conviction 
of  sin  :  John  16  :  8—"  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin."    Regeneration  :  John  3  :  8—"  born  of  the  Spirit" 
Tit.  3  :  5—"  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost."    Resurrection :  Rom.  8  : 11—"  quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies  through 
his  Spirit "  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  45—"  The  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit." 

(d)  Honor  due  to  God.    1  Cor.  3  : 16—"  ye  are  a  temple  of  God  ...  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you"— he 
who  inhabits  the  temple  is  the  object  of  worship  there.    See  also  the  next  item. 

(e)  Associated  with  God.    Formula  of  baptism :  Mat.  28  : 19—"  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of 
the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."    If  the  baptismal  formula  is  worship,  then  we  have 
here  worship  paid  to  the  Spirit.    Apostolic  benedictions :  2  Cor.  13  : 14—"  The  grace  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all."    If  the  apostolic  bene- 
dictions are  prayers,  then  we  have  here  a  prayer  to  the  Spirit.     1  Pet.  1 :  2—"  foreknowledge  of 
God  the  Father  ....  sanctification  of  the  Spirit .  . .  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ." 

As  spirit  is  nothing  less  than  the  inmost  principle  of  life,  and  the  spirit 
of  man  is  man  himself,  so  the  Spirit  of  God  must  be  God  (see  1  Cor. 

2  :  11 — Meyer).     Christian  experience,  moreover,  expressed  as  it  is  in  the 
prayers  and  hymns  of  the  church,  furnishes  an  argument  for  the  deity  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  similar  to  that  for  the  deity  of  Christ.     When  our  eyes  are 
opened  to  see  Christ  as  a  Savior,  we  are  compelled  to  recognize  the  work  in 
us  of  a  divine  Spirit  who  has  taken  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  has  shown 
them  to  us  ;  and  this  divine  Spirit  we  necessarily  distinguish  both  from  the 
Father  and  from  the  Son.    Christian  experience,  however,  is  not  an  original 
and  independent  witness  to  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  it  simply  shows 
what  the  church  has  held  to  be  the  natural  and  unforced  interpretation  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  so  confirms  the  Scripture  argument  already  adduced. 

This  proof  of  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  invalidated  by  the  limi- 
tations of  his  work  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation.  John  7  :  39 — 
"for  the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  yet" — means  simply  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
could  not  fulfil  his  peculiar  office  as  Eevealer  of  Christ  until  the  atoning 
work  of  Christ  should  be  accomplished. 

John  7  :  39  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  other  Scriptures  which  assert  the  agency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  under  the  old  dispensation  (Ps.  51 : 11— "take  not  thy  holy  spirit  from  me"  )  and 
which  describe  his  peculiar  office  under  the  new  dispensation  (John  16  : 14, 15— "he  shall  take 
of  mine,  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you").  Limitation  in  the  manner  of  the  Spirit's  work  in  the 
O.  T.  involved  a  limitation  in  the  extent  and  power  of  it  also.  Pentecost  was  the  flowing 
forth  of  a  tide  of  spiritual  influence  which  had  hitherto  been  dammed  up.  Henceforth 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  taking  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing 
them,  applying  his  finished  work  to  human  hearts,  and  rendering  the  hitherto  localized 
Savior  omnipresent  with  all  his  scattered  followers  to  the  end  of  time. 

For  proofs  of  the  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  see  Walker,  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
Hare,  Mission  of  the  Comforter ;  Parker,  The  Paraclete ;  Cardinal  Manning,  Temporal 
Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  Dick,  Lectures  on  Theology,  1 :  341-350.  Further  references 
are  given  in  connection  with  the  proof  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  personality. 


152  MATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS    OF   GOD. 

2.     Intimations  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  passages  which  seem  to  show  that  even  in  the  Old  Testament  there 
are  three  who  are  implicitly  recognized  as  God  may  be  classed  under  four 
heads  : 

A.     Passages  which  seem  to  teach  plurality  of  some  sort  in  the  Godhead. 

(a)  The  plural  noun  D^K  is  employed,  and  that  with  a  plural  verb—  a 
use  remarkable,  when  we  consider  that  the  singular  vX  was  also  in  existence  ; 
(6)  God  uses  plural  pronouns  in  speaking  of  himself;  (c)  Jehovah 
distinguishes  himself  from  Jehovah  ;  (d  )  a  Son  is  ascribed  to  Jehovah  ; 
(e)  the  Spirit  of  God  is  distinguished  from  God  ;  (/)  there  are  a  threefold 
ascription  and  a  threefold  benediction. 

(a)  Gen.  20  :  13—"  God  caused  [  plural  ]  me  to  wander  from  my  father's  house  "  ;  35  :  7—"  built  there  an  altar, 
and  called  the  place  El-Bethel  :  because  there  God  was  revealed  [plural]  unto  him."  (b)  Gen.  1  :  26  —  "Let  us  make 
man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness"  ;  3  :  22  —  "Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us"  ;  11  :  7  —  "Go  to,  let  us  go 
down,  and  there  confound  their  language  "  ;  Is.  6  :  8—"  Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?  "  (c)  Gen.  19  :  24 
—  "  Then  Jehovah  rained  upon  Sodom  and  upon  Gomorrah  brimstone  and  fire  from  Jehovah  out  of  heaven"  ;  Hos.  1  :  7  — 
"  I  will  have  mercy  upon  the  house  of  Judah,  and  will  save  them  by  Jehovah  their  God."  (d)  Ps.  2  :  7—"  Thou  art  my 
son;  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee"  ;  Prov.  30  :  4—  "Who  hath  established  all  the  ends  of  the  earth?  What  is  his. 
name,  and  what  is  his  son's  name,  if  thou  knowest  ?  "  (e)  Gen.  1  :  1,  and  2,  marg.  —  "  God  created  ....  the  spirit  of  God 
was  brooding  "  ;  Ps.  33  :  6—  "  By  the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made  ;  And  all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath 
[spirit]  of  his  mouth"  ;  Is.  48  :  16—  "the  Lord  God  hath  sent  me,  and  his  spirit"  ;  63  :  7,  10—  "loving  kindnesses  of 
Jehovah  .  .  .  grieved  his  holy  spirit."  (/)  Is.  6  :  3—  the  trisagion  :  "Holy,  holy,  holy  "  ;  Num.  6  :  24-26—  "The 
Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee  :  The  Lord  make  his  face  to  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee  :  The  Lord  lift  up 
his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace." 

It  has  been  suggested  that  as  Baal  was  worshiped  in  different  places  and  under  dif- 
ferent names,  as  Baal-berith,  Baal-hanan,  Baal-peor,  Baal-zebu  b,  and  his  priests  could 
call  upon  any  one  of  these  as  possessing  certain  personified  attributes  of  Baal,  while 
yet  the  whole  was  called  by  the  plural  term  '  Baalim,'  and  Elijah  could  say  :  "  Call  ye  upon 
your  Gods,"  so  *  Elohim  '  may  be  the  collective  designation  of  the  God  who  was  worshiped 
in  different  localities  ;  see  Robertson  Smith,  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  239. 
But  this  ignores  the  fact  that  Baal  is  always  addressed  in  the  singular,  never  in  the 
plural,  while  the  plural  '  Elohim  '  is  the  term  commonly  used  in  addresses  to  God.  This 
seems  to  show  that  '  Baalim  '  is  a  collective  term,  while  '  Elohim  '  is  not.  So  when  Ewald,, 
Lehre  von  Gott,  2  :  333,  distinguishes  five  names  of  God,  corresponding  to  five  great 
periods  of  the  history  of  Israel,  viz.  the  "Almighty  "  of  the  Patriarchs,  the  "  Jehovah" 
of  the  Covenant,  the  "  God  of  Hosts  "  of  the  Monarchy,  the  "  Holy  One  "  of  the  Deuter- 
onomist  and  the  later  prophetic  age,  and  the  "  Our  Lord  "  of  Judaism,  he  ignores  the 
fact  that  these  designations  are  none  of  them  confined  to  the  times  to  which  they  are 
attributed,  though  they  may  have  been  predominantly  used  in  those  times. 


The  fact  that  DK  is  sometimes  used  in  a  narrower  sense,  as  applicable 
to  the  Son  (Ps.  45  :  6  ;  c/.  Heb.  1:8),  need  not  prevent  us  from  believing 
that  the  term  was  originally  chosen  as  containing  an  allusion  to  a  certain 
plurality  in  the  divine  nature.  Nor  is  it  sufficient  to  call  this  plural  a  simple 
'  pluralis  majestaticus  ';  since  it  is  easier  to  derive  this  common  figure  from 
divine  usage  than  to  derive  the  divine  usage  from  this  common  figure  — 
especially  when  we  consider  the  constant  tendency  of  Israel  to  polytheism. 

Ps.  45  :  6  ;  c/.  Heb.  1  :  8—"  of  the  Son  he  saith,  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever."  Here  it  is  God  who- 
calls  Christ  "  God  "  or  "  Elohim."  The  royal  style  of  speech  was  probably  a  custom  of  much 
later  date  than  the  time  of  Moses.  Pharaoh  does  not  use  it.  In  Gen.  41  :  41-44,  he  says  :  "  I 
have  set  thee  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt  .....  I  am  Pharaoh." 

This  ancient  Hebrew  application  of  the  plural  to  -God  is,  often  explained  as  a  mere 
plural  of  dignity,  =  one  who  combines  in  himself  many  reasons  for  adoration  (D'rt  7X  from 
H^N  to  fear,  to  adore).  Oehler,  O.  T.  Theology,  1  :  128-130,  calls  it  a  "  quantitative 
plural,"  signifying  unlimited  greatness.  The  Hebrews  had  many  plural  forms,  where  we 
should  use  the  singular,  as  'heavens'  instead  of  '  heaven,'  '  waters'  instead  of  '  water." 


SCRIPTURE    RECOGNIZES   THREE    AS    GOD.  153 

We  too  speak  of  '  news,'  '  wages,'  and  say  '  you '  instead  of  '  thou ' ;  see  F.  W.  Robertson, 
on  Genesis,  12.  But  the  ancient  Christians  saw  in  this  plural  an  allusion  to  the  Trinity, 
and  we  are  inclined  to  follow  them.  So  Barnabas,  Justin  Martyr,  Trenaaus,  Theophilus, 
Epiphanius,  Theodoret.  See  Conant,  Gesenius'  Hebrew  Grammar,  198;  Green,  Hebrew 
Grammar,  306;  Girdlestone,  O.  T.  Synonyms,  38,  53;  Alexander  on  Psalm  Jl :  7;  29  : 1; 
58  : 12. 

B.  Passages  relating  to  the  Angel  of  Jehovah. 

(a)  The  angel  of  Jehovah  identifies  himself  with  Jehovah ;  (6)  he  is 
identified  with  Jehovah  by  others ;  (c)  he  accepts  worship  due  only  to 
God.  Though  the  phrase  '  angel  of  Jehovah '  is  sometimes  used  in  the 
later  Scriptures  to  denote  a  merely  human  messenger  or  created  angel,  it 
seems  in  the  Old  Testament,  with  hardly  more  than  a  single  exception,  to 
designate  the  pre-incarnate  Logos,  whose  manifestations  in  angelic  or 
human  form  foreshadowed  his  final  coming  in  the  flesh. 

(a)  Gen.  22:  11,  16— "the  angel  of  Jehovah  called  unto  him  [Abraham,  when  about  to  sacrifice 
Isaac]  ....  by  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith  Jehovah" ;  31: 11,  13 — "the  angel  of  God  said  unto  me  [Jacob} 
....  I  am  the  God  of  Beth-el."  (b)  Gen.  16  :  9, 13— "angel  of  Jehovah  said  unto  her  ....  and  she  called  the  name 
of  Jehovah  that  spake  unto  her,  Thou  art  a  God  that  seeth"  ;  48  : 15, 16— "the  God  which  hath  fed  me  ....  the  angel 
which  hath  redeemed  me."  (c)  Ex.  3  :  2,  4,  5 — "the  angel  of  Jehovah  appeared  unto  him.  .  .  .  God  called  unto  him  out 

of  the  midst  of  the  bush put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet"  ;  Judges  13  :  20-22— "angel  of  the  Lord  ascended  .  .  . 

Manoah  and  his  wife  . .  .  fell  on  their  faces  .  .  .  Manoah  said  ...  We  shall  surely  die,  because  we  have  seen  God." 

The  "angel  of  the  Lord"  appears  to  be  a  human  messenger  in  Haggai  1 : 13— "Haggai  the  Lord's  mes- 
senger"; a  created  angel  in  Mat.  1:20— "an  angel  of  the  Lord  [called  Gabriel]  appeared  unto" 
Joseph ;  in  Acts  8  :  26—"  an  angel  of  the  Lord  spake  unto  Philip  "  ;  and  in  12  :  7 — "  an  angel  of  the  Lord  stood 
by  him"  (Peter).  But  commonly,  in  the  O.  T.,  these  appearances  seein  to  be  preliminary 
manifestations  of  the  divine  Logos,  as  in  Gen.  18  :  2, 13 — "three  men  stood  over  against  him  [Abra- 
ham] .  .  .  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Abraham" ;  Dan.  3  :  25,  28 — "the  aspect  of  the  fourth  is  like  a  son  of  the  gods. 

....  Blessed  be  the  God who  hath  sent  his  angel."  The  N.  T.  "angel  of  the  Lord"  does  not  permit, 

the  O.  T.  "angel  of  the  Lord"  requires,  worship  (Rev.  22  :  8,  9— "See  thou  do  it  not"  ;  c/.  Ex.  3  :  5— "put 
off  thy  shoes").  As  supporting  this  interpretation,  see  Hengstenberg,  Christology,  1 : 107- 
123;  J.  Pye  Smith,  Scripture  Testimony  to  the  Messiah.  As  opposing  it,  see  Hofmann, 
Schriftbeweis,  1 :  329,  378 ;  Kurtz,  History  of  Old  Covenant,  1 : 181.  On  the  whole  sub- 
ject, see  Bib.  Sac.,  1879  :  593-615. 

C.  Descriptions  of  the  divine  Wisdom  and  Word. 

(a)  Wisdom  is  represented  as  distinct  from  God,  and  as  eternally  exist- 
ing with  God;  (6)  the  Word  of  God  is  distinguished  from  God,  as 
executor  of  his  will  from  everlasting. 

(a)  Prov.  8  : 1—"  Doth  not  wisdom  cry  ?  "  C/.  Mat.  11  : 19—"  wisdom  is  justified  by  her  works  "  ;  Luke  7  :  35 — 
"wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children"  ;  11:  49 — "Therefore  also  said  the  wisdom  of  God,  I  will  send  unto  them 
prophets  and  apostles"  ;  Prov.  8  :  22,  30,  31 — "The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way,  Before  his  works  of 

old  ....  I  was  by  him,  as  a  master  workman :  and  I  was  daily  his  delight And  my  delight  was  with  the  sons  of 

men  "  ;  c/.  3  : 19 — "The Lord  by  wisdom  founded  the  earth,"  and  Heb.  1  :  2 — "his  Son  ....  through  whom  ....  he 
made  the  worlds."  (b)  Ps.  107  :  20— " He  sendeth  his  word,  and  healeth  them";  119:89— "For  ever,  0  Lord,  Thy 
word  is  settled  in  heaven  "  ;  147  :  15-18—"  He  sendeth  out  his  commandment ....  He  sendeth  out  his  word."  , 

In  the  Apocryphal  book  entitled  Wisdom,  7  :  26, 28,  wisdom  is  described  as  "  the  bright- 
ness of  the  eternal  light,"  "the  unspotted  mirror  of  God's  majesty,"  and  "the  image 
of  his  goodness  "—reminding  us  of  Heb.  1 :  3— "the  effulgence  of  his  glory,  and  the  very  image  of  his 
substance."  In  Wisdom,  9  :  9,  10,  wisdom  is  represented  as  being  present  with  God  when 
he  made  the  world,  and  the  author  of  the  book  prays  that  wisdom  may  be  sent  to  him 
out  of  God's  holy  heavens  and  from  the  throne  of  his  glory. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that  in  none  of  these  descriptions  is  the  idea  of 
personality  clearly  developed.  Still  less  is  it  true  that  John  the  apostle 
derived  his  doctrine  of  the  Logos  from  the  interpretations  of  these  descrip- 
tions in  Philo  Judseus.  John's  doctrine  (John  1  :  1-18)  is  radically  differ- 
ent from  the  Alexandrian  Logos-idea  of  Philo.  This  last  is  a  Platonizing 


154  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 

speculation  upon  the  mediating  principle  between  God  and  the  world. 
Philo  seems  at  times  to  verge  towards  a  recognition  of  personality  in  the 
Logos,  though  his  monotheistic  scruples  lead  him  at  other  times  to  take 
back  what  he  has  given,  and  to  describe  the  Logos  either  as  the  thought  of 
God  or  as  its  expression  in  the  world.  But  John  is  the  first  to  present 
to  us  a  consistent  view  of  this  personality,  to  identify  the  Logos  with  the 
Messiah,  and  to  distinguish  the  Word  from  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Dorner,  in  his  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ,  1 : 13-45,  and  in  his 
System  of  Doctrine,  1 :  348,  349,  gives  the  best  account  of  Philo's  doctrine  of  the  Logos. 
He  says  that  Philo  calls  the  Logos  apx<*ryeA°s.  dpxtepevs,  Sevrepos  #e6s.  Whether  this  is 
anything  more  than  personification  is  doubtful,  for  Philo  also  calls  the  Logos  the  /c6<r/otos 
vorjTos.  Certainly,  so  far  as  he  makes  the  Logos  a  distinct  personality,  he  makes  him 
also  a  subordinate  being.  It  is  charged  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  owes  its  origin 
to  the  Platonic  philosophy  in  its  Alexandrian  union  with  Jewish  theology.  But  Pla- 
tonism  had  no  Trinity.  The  truth  is  that  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  Christianity 
secured  itself  against  false  heathen  ideas  of  God's  multiplicity  and  immanence,  as  well 
as  against  false  Jewish  ideas  of  God's  unity  and  transcendence.  It  owes  nothing  to 
foreign  sources. 

We  need  not  assign  to  John's  gospel  a  later  origin,  in  order  to  account  for  its  doctrine 
of  the  Logos,  any  more  than  we  need  to  assign  a  later  origin  to  the  Synoptics  in  order 
to  account  for  their  doctrine  of  a  suffering  Messiah.  Both  doctrines  were  equally  un- 
known to  Philo.  Philo's  Logos  does  not  and  cannot  become  man.  So  says  Dorner. 
Westcott,  in  Bible  Commentary  on  John,  Introd.  xv-xviii,  and  on  John  1 : 1— "The  theo- 
logical use  of  the  term  [in  John's  gospel]  appears  to  be  derived  directly  from  the 
Palestinian  Memra,  and  not  from  the  Alexandrian  Logos."  See  also  Reville,  Doctrine 
of  the  Logos  in  John  and  Philo ;  Godet  on  John,  German  transl.,  13, 135 ;  Cudworth, 
Intellectual  System,  2  :  320-333 ;  Pressense,  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  83 ;  Hagenbach,  History 
of  Doctrine,  1 : 114-117 ;  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  59-71 ;  Conant  on  Proverbs,  53. 

D.     Descriptions  of  the  Messiah. 

(a)  He  is  one  with  Jehovah  ;  (6)  yet  he  is  in  some  sense  distinct  from 
Jehovah. 

(a)    Is.  9  :  6 — "  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given  ....  and  his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful 
Counsellor,  Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father,  Prince  of  Peace "  ;  Micah  5  :  2—"  thou  Bethlehem  ....  which  art  little 
out  of  thee  shall  one  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from. 

everlasting."     (b)  Ps.  45  :  6,  7—"  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed 

thee" ;  Mai.  3  : 1 — "I  send  my  messenger  and  he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me:  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seel^, 
shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple;  and  the  messenger  of  the  covenant  whom  ye  delight  in."  Henderson,  in  his 
Commentary  on  this  passage,  points  out  that  the  Messiah  is  here  called  "the  Lord  "  or  "the 
Sovereign" — a  title  nowhere  given  in  this  form  (with  the  article)  to  any  but  Jehovah ;  that 
he  is  predicted  as  coming  to  the  temple  as  its  proprietor ;  and  that  he  is  identified  with 
the  angel  of  the  covenant,  elsewhere  shown  to  be  one  with  Jehovah  himself. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  in  considering  this,  as  well  as  other  classes  of  pas- 
sages previously  cited,  that  no  Jewish  writer  before  Christ's  coming  had 
succeeded  in  constructing  from  them  a  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  Only  to 
those  who  bring  to  them  the  light  of  New  Testament  revelation  do  they 
show  their  real  meaning. 

Our  general  conclusion  with  regard  to  the  Old  Testament  intimations 
must  therefore  be  that,  while  they  do  not  by  themselves  furnish  a  sufficient 
basis  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  they  contain  the  germ  of  it,  and  may 
be  used  in  confirmation  of  it  when  its  truth  is  substantially  proved  from 
the  New  Testament. 

That  the  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  plainly  taught  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  Jews  unite  with  Mohammedans  in  accusing  trinitarians  of 
polytheism.  It  should  not  surprise  us  that  the  Old  Testament  teaching  on  this  subject 


SCRIPTURE    DESCRIBES   THE   THREE    AS    PERSONS.  155 

is  undeveloped  and  obscure.  The  first  necessity  was  that  the  unity  of  God  should  be 
insisted  on.  Until  the  danger  of  idolatry  was  past,  a  clear  revelation  of  the  Trinity 
might  have  been  a  hindrance  to  religious  progress.  We  should  not  therefore  begin  our 
proof  of  the  Trinity  with  a  reference  to  passages  in  the  Old  Testament.  We  should 
speak  of  these  passages,  indeed,  as  furnishing  intimations  of  the  doctrine  rather  than 
proof  of  it.  Yet,  after  having  found  proof  of  the  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,  we 
may  expect  to  find  traces  of  it  in  the  Old  which  will  corroborate  our  conclusions.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  we  shall  see  that  traces  of  the  idea  of  a  trinity  are  found  not  only  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  but  in  some  of  the  heathen  religions  as  well. 

II.  THESE  THBEE  ABE  so  DESCRIBED  IN  SCBIPTUBE  THAT  WE  ABE  COM- 
PELLED TO  CONCEIVE  OF  THEM  AS  DISTINCT  PEBSONS. 

1.  The  Father  and  the  Son  are  persons  distinct  from  each  other. 

(a)  Christ  distinguishes  the  Father  from  himself  as  *  another ' ;  (6)  the 
Father  and  the  Son  are  distinguished  as  the  begetter  and  the  begotten ; 
(c)  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  distinguished  as  the  sender  and  the  sent. 

(a)  John  5  :  32,  37 — "  it  is  another  that  beareth  witness  of  me  ....  the  Father  which  sent  me,  he  hath  borne  witness 
of  me."  (b)  Ps.  2  :  7 — "  Thou  art  my  Son ;  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee  "  ;  John  1  :  14 — "  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father  "  ;  18—"  the  only  begotten  Son  "  ;  3  : 16—"  gave  his  only  begotten  Son."  (c)  John  10  :  36—"  Say  ye  of  him, 
whom  the  Father  sanctified  and  sent  into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest ;  because  I  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God  ?  "  Gal.  4  : 
4 — "when  the  fulness  of  the  time  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son." 

2.  The  Father  and  the  Son  are  persons  distinct  from  the  Spirit. 

(a)  Jesus  distinguishes  the  Spirit  from  himself  and  from  the  Father; 
(6)  the  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father ;  (c)  the  Spirit  is  sent  by  the 
Father  and  by  the  Son. 

(a)  John  14  : 16,  17—"  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  will  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  be  with  you 
for  ever,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth  " — or  "Spirit  of  the  truth,"  =  he  whose  work  it  is  to  reveal  and  apply 
the  truth,  and  especially  to  make  manifest  him  who  is  the  truth.  Jesus  had  been  their 
Comforter ;  he  now  promises  them  another  Comforter.  If  he  himself  was  a  person, 
then  the  Spirit  is  a  person.  (I))  John  15  :  26—"  the  Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father."  (c) 
John  14  :  26—"  the  Comforter,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name  "  ;  15  :  26—"  when  the  Com- 
forter is  come,  whom  I  will  sand  unto  you  from  the  Father  "  ;  Gal.  4  :  6 — "  God  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our 
hearts."  The  Greek  church  holds  that  the  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  only;  the 
Latin  church,  that  the  Spirit  proceeds  both  from  the  Father  and  from  the  Son.  The 
true  formula  is :  The  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father  through  or  by  ( not '  and ')  the  Son. 
See  Hagenbach,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 :  262,  263. 

3.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  a  person. 

A.     Designations  proper  to  personality  are  given  him. 

(a)  The  masculine  pronoun  enKivoc;,  though  Trvevfia  is  neuter ;  (6)  the 
name  Trapa/c/byrof ,  which  cannot  be  translated  by  '  comfort ',  or  be  taken  as 
the  name  of  any  abstract  influence.  The  Comforter,  Instructor,  Patron, 
Guide,  Advocate,  whom  this  term  brings  before  us,  must  be  a  person.  This 
is  evident  from  its  application  to  Christ  in  1  John  2  :  1 — "  we  have  an  Advo- 
cate— Trapa.K.'krjTov — with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous." 

(a)  John  16  : 14— "He  (e/ceivos)  shall  glorify  me"  ;  in  Eph.  1  : 14  also,  some  of  the  best  authorities, 
including  Tischendorf  (8th  ed.),  read  os,  the  masculine  pronoun:  " who  is  an  earnest  of  our 
inheritance."  (b)  John  16  :  7—"  if  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you."  The  word  TrapaKArjros, 
as  appears  from  1  John  2 : 1,  quoted  above,  is  a  term  of  broader  meaning  than  merely 
"Comforter."  The  Holy  Spirit  is.  indeed,  as  has  been  said,  "  the  mother-principle  in  the 
Godhead,"  and  "as  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth"  so  God  by  his  Spirit  comforts  his  children 
(Is.  66  : 13).  But  the  Holy  Spirit  is  also  an  Advocate  of  God's  claims  in  the  soul,  and  of 
the  soul's  interests  in  prayer  (Rom.  8  :  26— "maketh  intercession  for  us"  ).  He  comforts  not  only 
by  being  our  advocate,  but  by  being  our  instructor,  patron,  and  guide ;  and  all  these 


156  NATURE,  DECREES,  AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 


ideas  are  found  attaching  to  the  word  irapaxAijTo?  in  good  Greek  usage.  See  Creraer, 
Lexicon  of  N.  T.  Greek,  in  voce.  The  idea  of  encouragement  is  included  in  it,  as  well  as 
those  of  comfort  and  of  advocacy. 

B.  His  name  is  mentioned  in  immediate  connection  with  other  persons, 
and  in  such  a  way  as  to  imply  his  own  personality. 

(a)  In  connection  with  Christians  ;  (b)  in  connection  with  Christ  ; 
(c)  in  connection  with  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If  the  Father  and  the  Son 
are  persons,  the  Spirit  must  be  a  person  also. 

(a)  Acts  15  :  28—"  it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us."  (Z>)  John  16  :  14--"  he  shall  glorify  me  ;  for  he  shall 
take  of  mine,  and  shall  declare  it  unto  you  "  ;  c/.  17  :  4—"  I  glorified  thee  on  the  earth."  (c)  Mat.  28  :  19—"  baptizing 
them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  2  Cor.  13  :  14—  "the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with  you  all"  ;  Jude  21—  "praying  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  ;  1  Pet.  1  :  1,  2—"  elect  .... 
according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  in  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ." 

C.  He  performs  acts  proper  to  personality. 

That  which  searches,  knows,  speaks,  testifies,  reveals,  convinces,  com- 
mands, strives,  moves,  helps,  guides,  creates,  recreates,  sanctifies,  inspires, 
makes  intercession,  orders  the  affairs  of  the  church,  performs  miracles, 
raises  the  dead  —  cannot  be  a  mere  power,  influence,  efflux,  or  attribute  of 
God,  but  must  be  a  person. 

Gen.  1  :  2,  marg.  —  "the  spirit  of  God  was  brooding  upon  the  face  of  the  waters"  ;  6  :  3  —  "  My  spirit  shall  not  strive 
with  man  for  ever"  ;  Luke  12  :  12—  "The  Holy  Spirit  shall  teach  you  in  that  very  hour  what  ye  ought  to  say  "  ;  John 
3  :  8—  "born  of  the  Spirit"  ;  16  :  8  —  "convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment"  ; 
Acts  2  :  4—"  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance  "  ;  8  :  29—"  the  Spirit  said  unto  Philip,  Go  near  "  ;  10  :  19,  20—"  the  Spirit 
said  unto  him  [Peter],  Behold,  three  men  seek  thee  ...  go  with  them  ...  for  I  have  sent  them  "  ;  13  :  2—"  the  Holy 
Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul"  ;  16  :  6,  7—  "forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ____  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered  them 
not  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  11—  "  quicken  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  "  ;  26—"  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity  ..... 
maketh  intercession  for  us"  ;  15  :  19—  "in  the  power  of  signs  and  wonders,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  1  Cor. 
2:  10,  11—  "the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things  ....  things  of  God  none  knoweth,  save  the  Spirit  of  God"  ;  12  :  8-11—  dis- 
tributes spiritual  gifts  "  to  each  one  severally  even  as  he  will  "  ;  2  Pet.  1  :  21—"  men  spake  from  God,  being 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  "  ;  1  Pet.  1  :  2—"  sanctification  of  the  Spirit."  It  is  sometimes  asked  how  a  person 
can  be  given  in  various  measures.  We  answer,  by  being  permitted  to  work  in  our 
behalf  with  various  degrees  of  power.  Dorner  :  "To  be  power  does  not  belong  to  the 
impersonal." 

D.  He  is  affected  as  a  person  by  the  acts  of  others. 

That  which  can  be  resisted,  grieved,  vexed,  blasphemed,  must  be  a  per- 
son ;  for  only  a  person  can  perceive  insult  and  be  offended.  The  blasphemy 
against  the  Holy  Ghost  cannot  be  merely  blasphemy  against  a  power  or 
attribute  of  God,  since  in  that  case  blasphemy  against  God  would  be  a 
less  crime  than  blasphemy  against  his  power.  That  against  which  the  un- 
pardonable sin  can  be  committed  must  be  a  person. 

Is.  6  :  10—  "they  rebelled  and  grieved  his  holy  spirit"  ;  Mat.  12  :  31—  "every  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven 
unto  men  ;  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Spirit  shall  not  be  forgiven  "  ;  Acts  5  :  3,  4,  9—"  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost  .  .  . 
thou  hast  not  lied  unto  men,  but  unto  God  ...  agreed  together  to  tempt  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  "  ;  7  :  51—  "ye  do  always 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  Eph.  4  :  30—  "grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."  Satan  cannot  be  'grieved/ 
Selfishness  can  be  angered,  but  only  love  can  be  grieved.  The  passages  just  quoted 
show  the  Spirit's  possession  of  an  emotional  nature.  Hence  we  read  of  "  the  love  of  the 
Spirit"  (Rom.  15  :  30).  The  unutterable  sighings  of  the  Christian  iu  intercessory  prayer  (Rom. 
8  :  26,  27)  reveal  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  and  show  the  infinite  depths  of  feeling  which  are 
awakened  in  God's  heart  by  the  sins  and  needs  of  men.  These  deep  desires  and  emotions 
which  are  only  partially  communicated  to  us,  and  which  only  God  can  understand,  are 
conclusive  proof  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  person. 


THIS   TRIPERSONALITY    IMMANENT    AND    ETERNAL.  157 

E.  He  manifests  himself  in  visible  form  as  distinct  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  yet  in  direct  connection  with  personal  acts  performed  by  them. 

Mat.  3  : 16, 17—"  Jesus,  when  ha  was  baptized,  want  up  straightway  from  the  water  :  and  lo,  the  heavens  were  opened 
unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  as  a  dove,  and  coming  upon  him ;  and  lo,  a  voice  out  of  the  heavens, 
saying,  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased"  ;  Luke 3  :  21,  22 — "Jesus  also  having  been  baptized,  and 
praying,  the  heaven  was  opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily  form,  as  a  dova,  upon  him,  and  a  voice  came 
out  of  heaven,  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son;  in  thee  I  am  well  pleased."  Here  are  the  prayer  of  Jesus,  the 
approving  voice  of  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  descending1  in  visible  form  to  anoint 
the  Son  of  God  for  his  work.  "  I  ad  Jordanem,  et  videbis  Trinitatem." 

F.  This  ascription  to  the  Spirit  of  a  personal  subsistence  distinct  from 
that  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  cannot  be  explained  as  personification ;  for : 

(a)  This  would  be  to  interpret  sober  prose  by  the  canons  of  poetry. 
Such  sustained  personification  is  contrary  to  the  genius  of  even  Hebrew 
poetry,  in  which  Wisdom  itself  is  most  naturally  interpreted  as  designating 
a  personal  existence.  (6)  Such  an  interpretation  would  render  a  multitude 
of  passages  either  tautological,  meaningless,  or  absurd — as  can  be  easily 
seen  by  substituting  for  the  name  Holy  Ghost  the  terms  which  are  wrongly 
held  to  be  its  equivalents ;  such  as  the  power,  or  influence,  or  efflux,  or 
attribute  of  God.  (c)  It  is  contradicted,  moreover,  by  all  those  passages 
in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  is  distinguished  from  his  own  gifts. 

(a)  The  Bible  is  not  primarily  a  book  of  poetry,  although  there  is  poetry  in  it.  It  is 
more  properly  a  book  of  history  and  law.  Even  if  the  methods  of  allegory  were  used  by 
the  psalmist  and  the  prophets,  it  would  be  puerile  to  introduce  them  into  the  g-ospels  and 
epistles.  Yet  it  is  the  gospels  and  epistles  which  most  constantly  represent  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  a  person,  (b)  Acts  10  :  38—"  God  anointed  him  [Jesus]  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power  "  = 
anointed  him  with  power  and  with  power?  Rom.  15  : 13 — "  abound  in  hope,  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost "  =  in  the  power  of  the  power  of  God?  19 — "  in  the  power  of  signs  and  wonders,  in  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  "  =  in  the  power  of  the  power  of  God  ?  1  Cor.  2  :  4—"  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and 
of  power  "==  demonstration  of  power  and  of  power?  (c)  Luke  1 :  35— "  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come 
upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee"  ;  4  :  14— "Jesus  returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
into  Galilee  " ;  1  Cor.  12  :  4,  8, 11— after  mention  of  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  such  as  wisdom,  knowl- 
edge, faith,  healings,  miracles,  prophecy,  discerning  of  spirits,  tongues,  interpretation 
of  tongues,  all  these  are  traced  back  to  the  Spirit  who  bestows  them  :  "  all  these  worketh  the 
one  and  the  same  Spirit,  dividing  to  each  one  severally  even  as  he  will."  Here  is  not  only  giving,  but 
giving  discreetly,  in  the  exercise  of  an  independent  will  such  as  belongs  only  to  a  person. 
On  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  see  John  Owen,  in  Works,  3 : 47-64 ;  Dick,  Lectures 
on  Theology,  1 :  341-350. 

III.     THIS    TRIPERSONALITY  OF   THE    DIVINE   NATURE  is  NOT  MERELY 

ECONOMIC  AND  TEMPORAL,  BUT  IS  IMMANENT  AND  ETERNAL. 

1.     Scripture  proof  that  these  distinctions  of  personality  are  eternal. 

We  prove  this  (a)  from  those  passages  which  speak  of  the  existence  of 
the  Word  from  eternity  with  the  Father ;  (6)  from  passages  asserting  or 
implying  Christ's  preexistence  ;  (c)  from  passages  implying  intercourse  be- 
tween the  Father  and  the  Son  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  (d)  from 
passages  asserting  the  creation  of  the  world  by  Christ ;  (e)  from  passages 
asserting  or  implying  the  eternity  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(a)  John  1  : 1,  2—"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God  " ;'  c/.  Gen. 
1  : 1—"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth  "  ;  Phil.  2  :  6— "being  in  the  form  of  God  ....  on  an 
equality  with  God."  (ft)  John  8  :  58—"  before  Abraham  was  born,  I  am" ;  1 : 18— "the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Father  "  ;  Col.  1  : 15-17 — "  firstborn  of  all  creation  "  or  "  before  every  creature  ....  he  is  before 
all  things."  In  these  passages  "am"  and  "is"  indicate  an  eternal  fact;  the  present  tense 
expresses  permanent  being.  Rev.  22  : 13, 14—"  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the 


158  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

beginning  and  the  end."  (c)  John  17  :  5— "0  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had 
with  thee  before  the  world  was"  ;  24— "thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  (d)  John  1  :  3— "  All 
things  were  made  through  him  " ;  1  Cor.  8 :  6—"  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  are  all  things  "  ;  Col.  1 : 16— 
"  all  things  have  been  created  through  him,  and  unto  him  "  ;  Heb.  1 :  2—"  through  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds "  ; 
10—"  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy  hands." 
(e)  Gen.  1 :  2— "the  spirit  of  God  was  brooding  "—existed  therefore  before  creation ;  Ps.  33  :  6—"  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord  were  the  heavens  made ;  and  all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath  [spirit]  of  his  mouth  "  ;  Heb.  9  : 14 
—"through  the  eternal  Spirit." 

2.     Errors  refuted  by  the  foregoing  passages. 

A.     The  SabeUian. 

Sabellius  (of  Ptolemais  in  Pentapolis,  250)  held  that  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost  are  mere  developments  or  revelations  to  creatures,  in  time, 
of  the  otherwise  concealed  Godhead — developments  which,  since  creatures 
will  always  exist,  are  not  transitory,  but  which  at  the  same  time  are  not 
eternal  a  parte  ante.  God  as  united  to  the  creation  is  Father ;  God  as 
united  to  Jesus  Christ  is  Son  ;  God  as  united  to  the  church  is  Holy  Spirit. 
The  Trinity  of  Sabellius  is  therefore  an  economic  and  not  an  immanent 
Trinity — a  Trinity  of  forms  or  manifestations,  but  not  a  necessary  and 
eternal  Trinity  in  the  divine  nature. 

Some  have  interpreted  Sabellius  as  denying  that  the  Trinity  is  eternal  a 
parte  post,  as  well  as  a  parte  ante,  and  as  holding  that,  when  the  purpose 
of  these  temporary  manifestations  is  accomplished,  the  Triad  is  resolved  into 
the  Monad.  This  view  easily  merges  in  another,  which  makes  the  persons 
of  the  Trinity  mere  names  for  the  ever-shifting  phases  of  the  divine  activity. 

The  best  statement  of  the  Sabellian  doctrine,  according  to  the  interpretation  first 
mentioned,  is  that  of  Schleiermacher,  translated  with  comments  by  Moses  Stuart,  in 
Biblical  Repository,  6 :  1-116.  The  one  unchanging  God  is  differently  reflected  from  the 
world  on  account  of  the  world's  different  receptivities.  Praxeas  of  Rome  (200),  Noetus 
of  Smyrna  (230),  and  Beryl  of  Arabia  (250)  advocated  substantially  the  same  views. 
They  were  called  Monarchians  (M°"i7  ap*1?),  because  they  believed,  not  in  the  Triad,  but 
only  in  the  Monad.  They  were  called  Patripassians,  because  they  held  that,  as  Christ  is 
only  God  in  human  form,  and  this  God  suffers,  therefore  the  Father  suffers. 

A  view  similar  to  that  of  Sabellius  was  held  by  Horace  Bushnell,  in  his  God  in  Christ, 
113-115,  130  sq.,  172-J75,  and  Christ  in  Theology,  119,  120— "  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
being  incidental  to  the  revelation  of  God,  may  be  and  probably  are  from  eternity  to 
eternity,  inasmuch  as  God  may  have  revealed  himself  from  eternity,  and  certainly  will 
reveal  himself  so  long  as  there  are  minds  to  know  him.  It  may  be,  in  fact,  the  nature 
of  God  to  reveal  himself,  as  truly  as  it  is  of  the  sun  to  shine  or  of  living  mind  to  think." 
He  does  not  deny  the  immanent  Trinity,  but  simply  says  we  know  nothing  about  it. 
Yet  a  Trinity  of  Persons  in  the  divine  essence  itself  he  called  plain  tritheism.  He  prefers 
"  instrumental  Trinity  "  to  "  modal  Trinity  "  as  a  designation  of  his  doctrine.  The  dif- 
ference between  Bushnell  on  the  one  hand,  and  Sabellius  and  Schleiermacher  on  the 
other,  seems  then  to  be  the  following :  Sabellius  and  Schleiermacher  hold  that  the  One 
becomes  three  in  the  process  of  revelation,  and  the  three  are  only  media  or  modes  of 
revelation.  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  are  mere  names  applied  to  these  modes  of  the  divine 
action,  there  being  no  internal  distinctions  in  the  divine  nature.  This  is  modalism,  or  a 
modal  Trinity.  Bushnell  stands  by  the  Trinity  of  revelation  alone,  and  protests  against 
any  constructive  reasonings  with  regard  to  the  immanent  Trinity. 

It  is  evident  that  this  theory,  in  whatever  form  it  may  be  held,  is  far  from 
satisfying  the  demands  of  Scripture.  Scripture  speaks  of  the  second  person  of 
the  Trinity  as  existing  and  acting  before  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  existing  and  acting  before  the  formation  of  the  church. 
Both  have  a  personal  existence,  eternal  in  the  past  as  well  as  in  the  future— 
which  this  theory  expressly  denies. 


THE   THREE    PERSOKS   HAVE    ONE    ESSENCE.  159 

Stuart :  Since  God  is  revealed  as  Three,  he  must  be  essentially  or  immanently  three,, 
back  of  revelation  ;  else  the  revelation  would  not  be  true.  Dorner :  A  Trinity  of  reve- 
lation is  a  misrepresentation,  if  there  is  not  behind  it  a  Trinity  of  nature.  Twesten 
properly  arrives  at  the  threeness  by  considering,  not  so  much  what  is  involved  in  the 
revelation  of  God  to  us,  as  what  is  involved  in  the  revelation  of  God  to  himself.  The 
unscripturalness  of  the  Sabellian  doctrine  is  plain,  when  we  remember  that  upon  this 
view  the  Three  cannot  exist  at  once,  and  that  when  God  says  "  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son  "  (Luke 
3  :  22),  he  is  simply  speaking-  to  himself.  John  1 : 1— "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God"—"  sets  aside  the  false  notion  that  the  Word  became  personal 
first  at  the  time  of  creation,  or  at  the  incarnation  "  (Westcott,  Bib.  Com.  in  loco).  See 
Bushnell's  doctrine  reviewed  by  Hodge,  Essays  and  Reviews,  433-473.  On  the  whole 
subject,  see  Dorner,  Hist.  Doct.  Person  of  Christ,  2 :  152-169 ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine, 
1:  259;  Baur,  Lehre  von  der  Dreieinigkeit,  1:  256-305;  Thornasius,  Christi  Person  und 
Werk,  1 :  83. 

B.     The  Arian. 

Arms  (of  Alexandria  ;  condemned  by  Council  of  Nice,  325  ;)  held  that  the 
Father  is  the  only  divine  being  absolutely  without  beginning  ;  the  Son  and 
the  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  God  creates  and  recreates,  having  been 
themselves  created  out  of  nothing  before  the  world  was  ;  and  Christ  being 
called  God,  because  he  is  next  in  rank  to  God,  and  is  endowed  by  God  with 
divine  power  to  create. 

The  followers  of  Arms  have  differed  as  to  the  precise  rank  and  claims  of 
Christ.  While  Socinus  held  with  Arius  that  worship  of  Christ  was  obliga- 
tory, the  later  Unitarians  have  perceived  the  impropriety  of  worshiping 
even  the  highest  of  created  beings,  and  have  constantly  tended  to  a  view  of 
the  Redeemer  which  regards  him  as  a  mere  man,  standing  in  a  peculiarly 
intimate  relation  to  God. 

It  is  evident  that  the  theory  of  Arius  does  not  satisfy  the  demands  of 
Scripture.  A  created  God,  a  God  whose  existence  had  a  beginning  and 
therefore  may  come  to  an  end,  a  God  made  of  a  substance  which  once  was 
not,  and  therefore  a  substance  different  from  that  of  the  Father,  is  not  God, 
but  a  finite  creature.  But  the  Scriptures  speak  of  Christ  as  being  in  the 
beginning  God,  with  God,  and  equal  with  God. 

For  statement  of  the  Arian  doctrine,  see  J.  Freeman  Clarke,  Orthodoxy,  Its  Truths 
and  Errors.  Per  contra,  see  Schaff,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  21 : 1,  article  on  Athaaasius  and  the 
Arian  controversy.  The  so-called  Athanasian  Creed,  which  Athanasius  never  wrote,  is 
more  properly  designated  as  the  Symbolum  Quicumque.  It  has  also  been  called,  though 
facetiously,  '  the  Anathemasian  Creed.'  Yet  no  error  in  doctrine  can  be  more  perilous  or 
worthy  of  condemnation  than  the  error  of  Arius  ( 1  Cor.  16  :  22 — "  if  any  man  loveth  not  the  Lord, 
let  him  be  anathema"  ;  1  John  2 :  23— " whosoever  denieth  the  Son,  the  same  hath  not  the  Father"  ;  4  :  3— "every 
spirit  that  confesseth  not  Jesus  is  not  of  God :  and  this  is  the  spirit  of  the  antichrist" ). 

On  the  doctrines  of  the  early  Socinians,  see  Princeton  Essays,  1 :  195.  Davidis  was 
persecuted  and  died  in  prison  for  refusing  to  worship  Christ,  and  Socinus  was  charged, 
though  probably  unjustly,  with  having  caused  his  imprisonment.  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke, 
when  asked  whether  the  Father  who  had  created  could  not  also  destroy  the  Son,  said 
that  he  had  not  considered  that  question.  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Gwatkin,  Studies 
of  Arianism;  Blunt,  Dictionary  of  Heretical  Sects,  art.:  Arius;  Guericke,  History  of 
Doctrine,  1 :  313,  319.  See  also  a  further  account  of  Arianism  in  the  chapter  of  this 
Compendium  on  the  Person  of  Christ. 

IV.  THIS  TRIPERSONAMTY  is  NOT  TRITHEISM  ;  FOB,  WHILE  THERE  ARE 
THREE  PERSONS,  THERE  is  BUT  ONE  ESSENCE. 

(a)  The  term  'person'  only  approximately  represents  the  truth.  Al- 
though this  word,  more  nearly  than  any  other  single  word,  expresses  the 


160  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

conception  which  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  the  relation  between  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  not  itself  used  in  this  connection  in 
Scripture,  and  we  employ  it  in  a  qualified  sense,  not  in  the  ordinary  sense 
in  which  we  apply  the  term  '  person '  to  Peter,  Paul,  and  John. 

The  word  '  person  '  is  only  the  imperfect  and  inadequate  expression  of  a  fact  that 
transcends  our  experience  and  comprehension.  Bunyan  :  "  My  dark  and  cloudy  words, 
they  do  but  hold  The  truth,  as  cabinets  encase  the  gold."  Three  Gods,  limiting-  each 
other,  would  deprive  each  other  of  Deity.  While  we  show  that  the  unity  is  articulated 
by  the  persons,  it  is  equally  important  to  remember  that  the  persons  are  limited  by  the 
unity.  With  us  personality  implies  entire  separation  from  all  others— distinct  individ- 
uality. But  in  the  one  God  there  can  be  no  such  separation.  The  personal  distinctions 
in  him  must  be  such  as  are  consistent  with  essential  unity.  This  is  the  merit  of  the 
statement  in  the  Symbolum  Quicumque  (or  Athanasian  Creed,  wrongly  so  called) :  "  The 
Father  is  God,  the  Son  is  God,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  God ;  and  yet  there  are  not  three  Gods 
but  one  God.  So  likewise  the  Father  is  Lord,  the  Son  is  Lord,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  Lord ; 
yet  there  are  not  three  Lords  but  one  Lord.  For  as  we  are  compelled  by  Christian  truth 
to  acknowledge  each  person  by  himself  to  be  God  and  Lord,  so  we  are  forbidden  by  the 
same  truth  to  say  that  there  are  three  Gods  or  three  Lords."  See  Hagenbaeh,  History 
of  Doctrine,  1 :  270. 

(6)  The  necessary  qualification  is  that,  while  three  persons  among  men 
have  only  a  specific  unity  of  nature  or  essence — that  is,  have  the  same 
species  of  nature  or  essence, — the  persons  of  the  Godhead  have  a  numeri- 
cal unity  of  nature  or  essence — that  is,  have  the  same  nature  or  essence. 
The  undivided  essence  of  the  Godhead  belongs  equally  to  each  of  the 
persons ;  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  each  possesses  all  the  substance 
and  all  the  attributes  of  Deity.  The  plurality  of  the  Godhead  is  therefore 
not  a  plurality  of  essence,  but  a  plurality  of  hypostatical,  or  personal, 
distinctions.  God  is  not  three  and  one,  but  three  in  one.  The  one  indi- 
visible essence  has  three  modes  of  subsistence. 

The  Trinity  is  not  simply  a  partnership,  in  which  each  member  can  sign  the  name  of 
the  firm ;  for  this  is  unity  of  counsel  and  operation  only,  not  of  essence.  God's  nature 
is  not  an  abstract  but  an  organic  unity.  God,  as  living,  cannot  be  a  mere  Monad.  Trin- 
ity is  the  organism  of  the  Deity.  The  one  divine  Being  exists  in  three  modes.  The  life 
of  the  vine  makes  itself  known  in  the  life  of  the  branches,  and  this  union  between  vine 
and  branches  Christ  uses  to  illustrate  the  union  between  the  Father  and  himself.  ( See 
John  15  : 10— "  If  ye  keep  my  commandments,  ye  shall  abide  in  my  love ;  even  as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  command- 
ments, and  abide  in  his  love  "  ;  c/.  verse  5 — "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches ;  he  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him, 
the  same  beareth  much  fruit"  ;  17  :  22,  23 — "that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one ;  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me." 
So,  in  the  organism  of  the  body,  the  arm  has  its  own  life,  a  different  life  from  that  of  the 
head  or  the  foot,  yet  has  this  only  by  partaking  of  the  life  of  the  whole.  See  Dorner, 
System  of  Doctrine,  1 :  450-453—"  The  one  divine  personality  is  so  present  in  each  of  the 
distinctions,  that  these,  which  singly  and  by  themselves  would  not  be  personal,  yet  do 
participate  in  the  one  divine  personality,  each  in  its  own  manner.  This  one  divine  per- 
sonality is  the  unity  of  the  three  modes  of  subsistence  which  participate  in  itself. 
Neither  is  personal  without  the  others.  In  each,  in  its  manner,  is  the  whole  Godhead." 

(c)  This  oneness  of  essence  explains  the  fact  that,  while  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit,  as  respects  their  personality,  are  distinct  subsistences,  there  is 
an  intercommunion  of  persons  and  an  immanence  of  one  divine  person  in 
another  which  permits  the  peculiar  work  of  one  to  be  ascribed,  with  a  sin- 
gle limitation,  to  either  of  the  others,  and  the  manifestation  of  one  to  be 
recognized  in  the  manifestation  of  another.  The  limitation  is  simply  this, 
that  although  the  Son  is  sent  by  the  Father,  and  the  Spirit  by  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  it  cannot  be  said  vice  versa  that  the  Father  is  sent  either  by 
the  Son  or  by  the  Spirit.  The  Scripture  representations  of  this  intercom- 


THE   THREE    PERSONS    ARE   EQUAL.  161 

xnunion  prevent  us  from  conceiving  of  the  distinctions  called  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Spirit  as  involving  separation  between  them. 

Dorner  adds  that  "in  one  is  each  of  the  others."  This  is  true  with  the  limitation 
mentioned  in  the  text  above.  Whatever  Christ  does,  God  the  Father  can  be  said  to  do ; 
for  God  acts  only  in  and  through  Christ  the  Revealer.  Whatever  the  Holy  Spirit  does, 
Christ  can  be  said  to  do  :  for  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ.  The  Spirit  is  the 
omnipresent  Jesus,  and  Bengel's  dictum  is  true:  UN  Spiritus,  ibi  Christus.  Passages 
illustrating  this  intercommunion  are  the  following:  Gen.  1  : 1— "God  created" ;  c/.  Heb.  1 :  2— 
"'through  whom  [the  Son]  also  he  made  the  worlds  "  ;  John  5  : 17,  19— "My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I 
•work  ....  the  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  doing  ;  for  what  things  soever  he  doeth, 
these  the  Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner  "  ;  14  :  9—"  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father  "  ;  11—"  I  am  in  the  Father 
and  the  Father  in  me  "  ;  18 — "  I  will  not  leave  you  desolate :  I  come  unto  you  "  (by  the  Holy  Spirit) ;  15  :  26 — 
"  when  the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth  "  ;  17  :  21— "that  they 
may  all  be  one ;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee "  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 19—"  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  "  ;  Titus 
2  : 10—"  God  our  Savior  "  ;  leb.  12  :  23—"  God  the  Judge  of  all  "  ;  c/.  John  5  :  22—"  neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any 
man,  but  he  hath  given  all  judgment  unto  the  Son" ;  Acts  17  :  31— "judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  the  man 
whom  he  hath  ordained." 

It  is  this  intercommunion,  together  with  the  order  of  personality  and  operation  to 
be  mentioned  hereafter,  which  explains  the  occasional  use  of  the  term  '  Father '  for  the 
whole  Godhead ;  as  in  Eph.  4  :  6— "one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all  [in  Christ], 
and  in  you  all  "  (by  the  Spirit).  This  intercommunion  also  explains  the  designation  of  Christ 
as  "  the  Spirit,"  and  of  the  Spirit  as  "  the  Spirit  of  Christ,"  as  in  1  Cor.  15  :  45— "the  last  Adam  became  a  life- 
giving  Spirit"  ;  2  Cor.  3  : 17— "Now  the  Lord  is  the  Spirit "  ;  Gal.  4  :  6— "sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  "  ;  Phil.  1 : 19 
— "  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ "  (see  Alford  and  Lange  on  2  Cor.  3  : 17,  18).  So  the  Lamb,  in 
Rev.  5  :  6,  has  "seven  horns,  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth "=  the 
Holy  Spirit,  with  his  manifold  powers,  is  the  Spirit  of  the  omnipotent  and  omniscient 
and  omnipresent  Christ.  Theologians  have  designated  this  intercommunion  by  the 
terms  Trepi^wpr/o'is,  circumincessw,  intercommunicate),  circulatio,  inexistentia.  The  word 
ovo-i'a  was  used  to  denote  essence,  substance,  nature,  being ;  and  the  words  npooruwov  and 
vTroo-rao-is,  for  person,  distinction,  mode  of  subsistence.  On  the  changing  uses  of  the 
words  Trpoo-wTTOj'  and  vTroorao-i?,  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  321,  note  2.  On  the  meaning 
of  the  word  '  person '  in  connection  with  the  Trinity,  see  John  Howe,  Calm  Discourse 
of  the  Trinity ;  Jonathan  Edwards,  Observations  on  the  Trinity. 

Y.     THE  THREE  PERSONS,  FATHER,  SON,  AND  HOLY  SPIRIT,  ARE  EQUAL. 

In  explanation,  notice  that : 

1.     These  titles  belong  to  the  Persons. 

(a)  The  Father  is  not  God  as  such  ;  for  God  is  not  only  Father,  but  also 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  The  term  'Father'  designates  that  hypostatical 
distinction  in  the  divine  nature  in  virtue  of  which  God  is  related  to  the 
Son,  and  through  the  Son  and  the  Spirit  to  the  church  and  the  world.  As 
author  of  the  believer's  spiritual  as  well  as  natural  life,  God  is  doubly  his 
Father  ;  but  this  relation  which  God  sustains  to  creatures  is  not  the  ground 
of  the  title.  God  is  Father  primarily  in  virtue  of  the  relation  which  he 
sustains  to  the  eternal  Son ;  only  as  we  are  spiritually  united  to  Jesus 
Christ  do  we  become  children  of  God. 

(6)  The  Son  is  not  God  as  such  ;  for  God  is  not  only  Son,  but  also  Father 
and  Holy  Spirit.  '  The  Son '  designates  that  distinction  in  virtue  of  which 
God  is  related  to  the  Father,  is  sent  by  the  Father  to  redeem  the  world,  and 
with  the  Father  sends  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(c)  The  Holy  Spirit  is  not  God  as  such  ;  for  God  is  not  only  Holy  Spirit, 
but  also  Father  and  Son.  '  The  Holy  Spirit '  designates  that  distinction  in 
virtue  of  which  God  is  related  to  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  is  sent  by 
11 


162         MATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

them  to  accomplish  the  work  of  renewing  the  ungodly  and  of  sanctifying- 
the  church. 

Neither  of  these  names  designates  the  Monad  as  such.  Each  designates  rather  that 
personal  distinction  which  forms  the  eternal  basis  and  ground  for  a  particular  self- 
revelation.  In  the  sense  of  being  the  Author  and  Provider  of  men's  natural  life,  God 
is  the  Father  of  all.  But  even  this  natural  sonship  is  mediated  by  Jesus  Christ;  see 

1  Cor.  8  :  6 — "  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  are  all  things,  and  we  through  him."  The  phrase  "  our  Father," 
however,  can  be  used  with  the  highest  truth  only  by  the  regenerate,  who  have  been 
newly  born  of  God  by  being  united  to  Christ  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

See  Gal.  3  :  26 — "for  je  are  all  sons  of  God,  through  faith,  in  Jesus  Christ"  ;  4  :  4-6—"  God  sent  forth  his  Son 

that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons ....  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father  "  ; 
Eph.  1 :  5— "foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons,  through  Jesus  Christ."  God's  love  for  Christ  is  the 
measure  of  his  love  for  those  who  are  one  with  Christ.  Human  nature  in  Christ  is  lifted 
up  into  the  life  and  communion  of  the  eternal  Trinity. 

2.     Qualified  sense  of  these  titles. 

Like  the  word  '  person ',  the  names  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  not 
to  be  confined  within  the  precise  limitations  of  meaning  which  would  be 
required  if  they  were  applied  to  men. 

(a)  The  Scriptures  enlarge  our  conceptions  of  Christ's  sonship  by  giving 
to  him  in  his  preexistent  state  the  names  of  the  Logos,  the  Image,  and  the 
Effulgence  of  God.  — The  term  '  Logos '  combines  in  itself  the  two  ideas  of 
thought  and  word,  of  reason  and  expression.  While  the  Logos  as  divine 
thought  or  reason  is  one  with  God,  the  Logos  as  divine  word  or  expression 
is  distinguishable  from  God.  Words  are  the  means  by  which  personal 
beings  express  or  reveal  themselves.  Since  Jesus  Christ  was  "the  Word  " 
before  there  were  any  creatures  to  whom  revelations  could  be  made,  it 
would  seem  to  be  only  a  necessary  inference  from  this  title  that  in  Christ 
God  must  be  from  Eternity  expressed  or  revealed  to  himself  ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  Logos  is  the  principle  of  truth,  or  self -consciousness,  in  God. — The 
term  '  Image '  suggests  the  ideas  of  copy  or  counterpart.  Man  is  the  image 
of  God  only  relatively  and  derivatively.  Christ  is  the  Image  of  God  abso- 
lutely and  archetypally.  As  the  perfect  representation  of  the  Father's  per- 
fections, the  Son  would  seem  to  be  the  object  and  principle  of  love  in  the 
Godhead. — The  term  'Effulgence,'  finally,  is  an  allusion  to  the  sun  and  its 
radiance.  As  the  effulgence  of  the  sun  manifests  the  sun's  nature,  which 
otherwise  would  be  unrevealed,  yet  is  inseparable  from  the  sun  and  ever 
one  with  it,  so  Christ  reveals  God,  but  is  eternally  one  with  God.  Here  is  a 
principle  of  movement,  of  will,  which  seems  to  connect  itself  with  the 
holiness,  or  self -asserting  purity,  of  the  divine  nature. 

Smyth,  Introd.  to  Edwards'  Observations  on  the  Trinity :  "  The  ontological  relations  of 
the  persons  of  the  Trinity  are  not  a  mere  blank  to  human  thought."  John  1 : 1— "In  the  be- 
ginning was  the  Word  "  means  more  than  "in  the  beginning  was  the  x,  or  the  zero."  Godet 
indeed  says  that  Logos  =  '  reason '  only  in  philosophical  writings,  but  never  in  the 
Scriptures.  He  calls  this  a  Hegelian  notion.  But  both  Plato  and  Philo  had  made  this  sig- 
nification a  common  one.  On  Aoyo?  as  =  reason  +  speech,  see  Lightfoot  on  Colossiansr 
143, 144.  Meyer  interprets  it  as  "personal  subsistence,  the  self -revelation  of  the  divine 
essence,  before  all  time  immanent  in  God."  Neander,  Planting  and  Training,  369 :  Lo- 
gos =  "the  eternal  Revealer  of  the  divine  essence."  Bushnell:  "Mirror  of  creative 
imagination";  "form  of  God." 

Passages  representing  Christ  as  the  Image  of  God  are  Col.  1 : 15— "who  is  the  image  of  the  invis- 
ible God"  ;  2  Cor.  4  :  4— "Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God"  (e^uif);  Heb.  1  :  3— "the  very  image  of  his  substance" 
(xapaccTTjp  rrj?  viroffTa.<reta<;  avrov) ;  here  xapaKTrjp  means  'impress,'  'counterpart.'  Christ  is 
the  perfect  image  of  God,  as  men  are  not.  He  therefore  has  consciousness  and  will. 


THE  THREE  PERSONS  ARE  EQUAL.  163 

He  possesses  all  the  attributes  and  powers  of  God.    The  word  '  Image '  suggests  the  per- 
fect equality  with  God  which  the  title  '  Son  '  might  at  first  sight  seem  to  deny. 

Christ  is  spoken  of  as  the  Effulgence  of  God  in  Heb.  1 :  3— "who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory" 
(ajrairyao-jua  TT;?  SO^TJS)  ;  cf.  2  Cor.  4  :  6 — "  shined  in  our  hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  Notice  that  the  radiance  of  the  sun  is  as  old  as  the  sun  itself, 
and  without  it  the  sun  would  not  be  sun.  So  Christ  is  coequal  and  coeternal  with  the 
Father. 

(6)  The  names  thus  given  to  the  second  person  of  the  Trinity,  if  they 
have  any  significance,  bring  him  before  our  minds  in  the  general  aspect 
of  Eevealer,  and  suggest  a  relation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  to  God's 
immanent  attributes  of  truth,  love,  and  holiness.  The  prepositions  used  to 
describe  the  internal  relations  of  the  second  person  to  the  first  are  not 
prepositions  of  rest,  but  prepositions  of  direction  and  movement.  The 
Trinity,  as  the  organism  of  Deity,  secures  a  life-movement  of  the  Godhead, 
a  process  in  which  God  evermore  objectifies  himself  and  in  the  Son  gives 
forth  of  his  fulness.  Christ  represents  the  centrifugal  action  of  the  deity. 
But  there  must  be  centripetal  action  also.  In  the  Holy  Spirit  the  move- 
ment is  completed,  and  the  divine  activity  and  thought  returns  into  itself. 
True  religion,  in  reuniting  us  to  God,  reproduces  in  us,  in  our  limited 
measure,  this  eternal  process  of  the  divine  mind.  Christian  experience 
witnesses  that  God  in  himself  is  unknown  ;  Christ  is  the  organ  of  external 
revelation  ;  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  organ  of  internal  revelation — only  he  can 
give  us  an  inward  apprehension  or  realization  of  the  truth.  It  is  "  through 
the  eternal  Spirit "  that  Christ  "offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God," 
and  it  is  only  through  the  Holy  Spirit  that  the  church  has  access  to  the 
Father,  or  fallen  creatures  can  return  to  God. 

Meyer  on  John  1 : 1 — "the  Word  was  with  God"  :  "Trpb?  rbv  9e6v  does  not=  napa.  TW  0ew,  but  ex- 
presses the  existence  of  the  Logos  in  God  in  respect  of  intercourse.  The  moral  essence 
of  this  essential  fellowship  is  love,  which  excludes  any  merely  modalistic  conception." 
Godet:  "  npbg  TOV  6e6v  intimates  not  only  personality  (Gen.  1 :  26 — 'let us  make  man')  but  move- 
ment." Compare  John  1 : 18— "the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  "—where  we 
find,  not  ev  TO)  /COAT™,  but  eis  -rbv  KO\TTOV,  As  f)v  eis  TTJV  7r6A.ii/  means  '  went  into  the  city  and 
was  there,'  so  the  use  of  these  prepositions  indicates  in  the  Godhead  movement  as  well 
as  rest.  Corner,  System  of  Doctrine,  3:193,  translates  ^pos  by  'hingewandt  zu,'  or 
'turned  toward.'  The  preposition  would  then  imply  that  the  Revealer,  who  existed 
in  the  beginning,  was  ever  over  against  God,  in  the  life-process  of  the  Trinity,  as  the 
perfect  objectification  of  himself. 

Dorner  considers  the  internal  relations  of  the  Trinity  ( System,  1 :  412  sq.)  in  three 
aspects :  1.  Physical.  God  is  causa  sui.  But  effect  that  equals  cause  must  itself  be  cau- 
sative. Here  would  be  duality,  were  it  not  for  a  third  principle  of  unity.  Trinitas  duali- 
tatem  ad  unitatem  reducit.  2.  Logical.  Self-consciousness  sets  self  over  against  self. 
Yet  the  thinker  must  not  regard  self  as  one  of  many,  and  call  himself  'he,'  as  children 
do  ;  for  the  thinker  would  then  be,  not  seif-conscious,  but  mente  alienatus.  He  therefore 
'  comes  to  himself '  in  a  third,  as  the  brute  cannot.  3.  Ethical.  God  =  self-willing  right. 
But  right  based  on  arbitrary  will  is  not  right.  Right  based  on  passive  nature  is  not  right 
either.  Right  as  being  =  Father.  Right  as  willing  =  Son.  Without  the  latter  princi- 
ple of  freedom,  we  have  a  dead  ethic,  a  dead  God,  an  enthroned  necessity.  The  unity 
of  necessity  and  freedom  is  found  by  God,  as  by  the  Christian,  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  So 
Dorner. 

Ebrard,  Dogmatic,  1 : 173,  speaks  of  the  Son  as  the  centrifugal,  while  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  centripetal  movement  of  the  Godhead.  God  apart  from  Christ  is  uiirevealed  (John  1 : 
18— "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time") ;  Christ  is  the  organ  of  external  revelation  (18— "the  only 
begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him  ") ;  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  organ  of 
internal  revelation  ( 1  Cor.  2  : 10—"  unto  us  God  revealed  them  through  the  Spirit ").  That  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  principle  of  all  movement  toward  God  appears  from  Eeb.  9  : 14— Christ,  "  through  the 
eternal  Spirit,  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God  "  ;  Eph.  2  : 18— "access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father"  ;  Rom. 
8  :  26— "the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity  ....  the  Spirit  himself  maketh  intercession  for  us  "  ;  John  4  :  24—"  God 


164          MATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

is  a  Spirit ;  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  in  spirit " ;  16  :  8-11—"  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin,  and  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment."  See  Twesten,  Dogmatik,  on  the  Trinity;  also  Thomasius, 
Christ!  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  111. 

(c)  Iri  the  light  of  what  has  been  said,  we  may  understand  somewhat 
more  fully  the  characteristic  differences  between  the  work  of  Christ  and 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  may  sum  them  up  in  the  four  statements  that, 
first,  all  outgoing  seems  to  be  the  work  of  Christ,  all  return  to  God  the 
work  of  the  Spirit ;  secondly,  Christ  is  the  organ  of  external  revelation,  the 
Holy  Spirit  the  organ  of  internal  revelation  ;  thirdly,  Christ  is  our  advocate 
in  heaven,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  our  advocate  in  the  soul ;  fourthly,  in  the  work 
of  Christ  we  are  passive,  in  the  work  of  the  Spirit  we  are  active.  Of  the 
work  of  Christ  we  shall  treat  more  fully  hereafter,  in  speaking  of  his 
Offices  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King.  The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
be  treated  when  we  come  to  speak  of  the  Application  of  Redemption  in 
Regeneration  and  Sanctification.  Here  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  author  of  life — in  creation, 
in  the  conception  of  Christ,  in  regeneration,  in  resurrection ;  and  as  the 
giver  of  light — in  the  inspiration  of  Scripture  writers,  in  the  conviction 
of  sinners,  in  the  illumination  and  sanctincation  of  Christians. 

Gen.  1 : 2—"  the  spirit  of  God  was  brooding  "  ;  Luke  1 :  35— to  Mary  :  "  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee  "  ;  John 
3  .  g—"  born  of  the  Spirit "  ;  Ez.  37  :  9,  14—"  Gome  from  the  four  winds,  0  breath  .  . .  I  will  put  my  spirit  in  you,  and 
ye  shall  live"  ;  Rom.  8  : 11— "quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit."  1  John  2  :  1— "An  Advocate 
(irapa/cATjTov)  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous  "  ;  John  14  : 16,  17—"  another  Comforter  (irapan^rov), 
that  he  may  be  with  you  forever,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  26—"  the  Spirit  himself  maketh  intercession  for 
•  us."  2  Pet.  1 :  21 — "men  spake  from  God,  being  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  John  16  :  8 — "convict  the  world  in 
respect  of  sin  "  ;  13 — "  when  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth  "  ;  Rom.  8 : 14 — "  as 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are  the  sons  of  God." 

McCosh :  The  works  of  the  Spirit  are  Conviction,  Conversion,  Sanctincation,  Comfort. 
Denovan :  The  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  conviction,  enlightenment,  quickening,  in  the  sin- 
ner; and  of  revelation,  remembrance,  witness,  sanctincation,  consolation,  to  the  saint. 
The  Spirit  enlightens  the  sinner,  as  the  flash  of  lightning  lights  the  traveler  stumbling 
on  the  edge  of  a  precipice  at  night;  enlightens  the  Christian,  as  the  rising  sun  reveals  a 
landscape  which  was  all  there  before,  but  which  was  hidden  from  sight  until  the  great 
luminary  made  it  visible.  Christ's  advocacy  before  the  throne  is  like  that  of  legal 
counsel  pleading  in  our  stead ;  the  Holy  Spirit's  advocacy  in  the  heart  is  like  the  moth- 
er's teaching  her  child  to  pray  for  himself.  On  the  relations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
Christ,  see  Owen,  in  Works,  3 : 152-159.  On  the  Holy  Spirit's  nature  and  work,  see  works 
by  Faber,  Smeaton,  and  Tophel ;  also  C.  E.  Smith,  The  Baptism  in  Fire ;  J.  P.  Thomson, 
The  Holy  Comforter;  Bushnell,  Forgiveness  and  Law,  last  chapter;  Bp.  Andrewes, 
Works,  3  :  107-400. 

3.     Generation  and  procession  consistent  with  equality. 

That  the  Sonship  of  Christ  is  eternal,  is  intimated  in  Psalm  2  :  7.  "This 
day  have  I  begotten  thee  "  is  most  naturally  interpreted  as  the  declaration 
of  an  eternal  fact  in  the  divine  nature.  Neither  the  incarnation,  the 
baptism,  the  transfiguration,  nor  the  resurrection  mark  the  beginning  of 
Christ's  Sonship,  or  constitute  him  Son  of  God.  These  are  but  recognitions 
or  manifestations  of  a  preexisting  Sonship,  inseparable  from  his  Godhood. 
He  is  "born  before  every  creature"  (while  yet  no  created  thing  existed — 
see  Meyer  on  Col.  1  :  15)  and  "by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead"  is  not 
made  to  be,  but  only  " declared  to  be,"  "  according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness  " 
(=  according  to  his  divine  nature)  "the  Son  of  God  with  power"  (see 
Philippi  and  Alford  on  Rom.  I  :  3,  4).  This  Sonship  is  unique — not  pred- 


THE   THREE    PERSONS    ARE    EQUAL.  165 

icable  of,  or  shared  with,  any  creature.  The  Scriptures  intimate,  not  only 
an  eternal  generation  of  the  Son,  but  an  eternal  procession  of  the  Spirit. 

Psalm  2  :  7—"  I  will  declare  the  decree  :  The  Lord  hath  said  unto  me,  Thou  art  my  son ;  This  day  have  I  begotten 
thee "  ;  see  Alexander,  Com.  in  loco;  also  Com.  on  Acts  13  :  33—" '  To-day'  refers  to  the  date 
of  the  decree  itself ;  but  this,  as  a  divine  act,  was  eternal, — and  so  must  be  the  Sonship 
which  it  affirms."  This  begetting-  of  which  the  Psalm  speaks  is  not  the  resurrection,  for 
while  Paul  in  Acts  13  :  33,  refers  to  this  Psalm  to  establish  the  fact  of  Jesus'  Sonship,  he 
refers  in  Acts  13  :  34,  35,  to  another  Psalm,  the  sixteenth,  to  establish  the  fact  that  this  Son  of 
God  was  to  rise  from  the  dead.  Christ  is  shown  to  be  Son  of  God  by  his  incarnation 
( Heb.  1  :  5,  6 — "  when  he  again  bringeth  in  the  first-born  into  the  world  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship 
him"),  his  baptism  (Mat.  3  : 17 — "  this  is  my  beloved  Son"),  his  transfiguration  (Mat.  17  : 5 — "this  is  my 

beloved  Son  "),  his  resurrection  (Acts  13  :  34,  35  —"as  concerning  that  he  raised  him  up  from  the  dead he 

saith  also  in  another  psalm,  Thou  wilt  not  give  thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption").  Col.  1  : 15— "the  firstborn  of  all 
creation" — Trpwrdro/cos  Traenjs  KTiVea>s="  begotten  first  before  all  creation  "  (Julius  Miiller, 
Proof-texts,  14 );  or  "  first-born  before  every  creature,  i.  e.  begotten,  and  that  antece- 
dently to  everything  that  was  created"  (Ellicott,  Com.  in  loco;  so  also  Lightfoot). 
"Herein"  (says  Luthardt,  Cornpend.  Dogmatik,  81,  on  Col.  1 : 15)  "is  indicated  an  ante- 
mundane  origin  from  God — a  relation  internal  to  the  divine  nature." 

On  Rom.  1 : 4  (opiufoVTo?  =  " manifested  to  be  the  mighty  Son  of  God")  see  Lange's 
Com.,  notes  by  Schaff  on  pages  56  and  61.  If  Westcott  and  Hort's  reading  6  /xovoyei/rj? 
©e6s.  "the  only  begotten  God,"  in  John  1 : 18,  is  correct,  we  have  a  new  proof  of  Christ's  eternal 
Sonship.  Meyer  explains  eavrov  in  Rom.  8  :  3—"  God,  sending  his  own  Son,"  as  an  allusion  to  the 
metaphysical  Sonship.  That  this  Sonship  is  unique,  is  plain  from  John  1 : 14, 18— "the  only 

begotten  from  the  Father the  only  begotten  Son  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  32—"  his  own  Son  "  ; 

Gal.  4  :  4— "sent  forth  his  Son"  ;  c/.  Prov.  8  :  22,  31— "when  he  marked  out  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  then  I  was 
by  him  as  a  master  workman  "  ;  30  :  4—"  Who  hath  established  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  ?  What  is  his  name,  and  what 
is  his  son's  name,  if  thou  knowest?  "  The  eternal  procession  of  the  Spirit  seems  to  be  implied  in 
John  15  :  26—"  the  Spirit  of  truth  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father  "  ;  Heb.  9  : 14—"  the  eternal  Spirit." 

The  Scripture  terras  'generation'  and  'procession,'  as  applied  to  the  Son 
and  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  but  approximate  expressions  of  the  truth, 
and  we  are  to  correct  by  other  declarations  of  Scripture  any  imperfect 
impressions  which  we  might  derive  solely  from  them.  We  use  these  terms 
in  a  special  sense,  which  we  explicitly  state  and  define  as  excluding  all 
notion  of  inequality  between  the  persons  of  the  Trinity.  The  eternal  gen- 
eration of  the  Son  to  which  we  hold  is 

(a)  Not  creation,  but  the  Father's  communication  of  himself  to  the  Son. 
Since  the  names  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  are  not  applicable  to  the 
divine  essence,  but  are  only  applicable  to  its  hypostatical  distinctions,  they 
imply  no  derivation  of  the  essence  of  the  Son  from  the  essence  of  the 
Father. 

The  error  of  the  Nicene  Fathers  was  that  of  explaining  Sonship  as  derivation  of 
essence.  The  Father  cannot  impart  his  essence  to  the  Son  and  yet  retain  it.  The 
Father  isfons  trinitatis,  aotfons  deitatis.  See  Shedd,  Hist.  Doct.,  1 :  308-311 ;  per  contra, 
see  Bib.  Sac.,  41 :  698-760. 

(6)  Not  a  commencement  of  existence,  but  an  eternal  relation  to  the 
Father, — there  never  having  been  a  time  when  the  Son  began  to  be,  or  when 
the  Son  did  not  exist  as  God  with  the  Father. 

If  there  had  been  an  eternal  sun,  it  is  evident  that  there  must  have  been  an  eternal 
sunlight  also.  Yet  an  eternal  sunlight  must  have  evermore  proceeded  from  the  sun. 
When  Cyril  was  asked  whether  the  Son  existed  before  generation,  he  answered  :  "  The 
generation  of  the  Son  did  not  precede  his  existence,  but  he  always  existed,  and  that  by 
generation." 

(c)  Not  an  act  of  the  Father's  will,  but  an  internal  necessity  of  the 
divine  nature, — so  that  the  Son  is  no  more  dependent  upon  the  Father  than 


166  NTATURE,  DECREES,  A^D    WORKS    OF   GOD. 

the  Father  is  dependent  upon  the  Son,  and  so  that,  if  it  be  consistent  with 
deity  to  be  Father,  it  is  equally  consistent  with  deity  to  be  Son. 

The  sun  is  as  dependent  upon  the  sunlight  as  the  sunlight  is  upon  the  sun ;  for  without 
sunlight  the  sun  is  no  true  sun.  So  God  the  Father  is  as  dependent  upon  God  the  Son, 
as  God  the  Son  is  dependent  upon  God  the  Father ;  for  without  Son  the  Father  would  be 
no  true  Father.  To  say  that  aseity  belongs  only  to  the  Father  is  logically  Arianism  and 
Subordinationism  proper,  for  it  implies  a  subordination  of  the  essence  of  the  Son  to  the 
Father.  Essential  subordination  would  be  inconsistent  with  equality.  See  Thomasius, 
Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 : 115. 

(d)  Not  a  relation  in  any  way  analogous  to  physical  derivation,  but  a  life- 
movement  of  the  divine  nature,  in  virtue  of  which  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  while  equal  in  essence  and  dignity,  stand  to  each  other  in  an  order 
of  personality,  office,  and  operation,  and  in  virtue  of  which  the  Father 
works  through  the  Son,  and  the  Father  and  the  Son  through  the  Spirit. 

The  subordination  of  the  person  of  the  Son  to  the  person  of  the  Father,  or  in  other 
words  an  order  of  personality,  office,  and  operation  which  permits  the  Father  to  be 
officially  first,  the  Son  second,  and  the  Spirit  third,  is  perfectly  consistent  with  equality. 
Priority  is  not  necessarily  superiority.  The  possibility  of  an  order,  which  yet  involves 
no  inequality,  may  be  illustrated  by  the  relation  between  man  and  woman.  In  office 
man  is  first  and  woman  second,  but  woman's  soul  is  worth  as  much  as  man's;  see 
1  Cor.  11 :  3—"  the  head  of  every  man  is  Christ ;  and  the  head  of  the  woman  is  the  man ;  and  the  head  of  Christ  is  God." 
Edwards,  Observations  on  the  Trinity,  22—''  In  the  Son  the  whole  deity  and  glory  of  the 
Father  is  as  it  were  repeated  or  duplicated.  Everything  in  the  Father  is  repeated  or 
.expressed  again,  and  that  fully,  so  that  there  is  properly  no  inferiority."  On  the  Eter- 
nal Sonship,  see  Weiss,  Bib.  Theol.  N.  T.,  424,  note;  Treffrey,  Eternal  Sonship  of  our 
Lord ;  Princeton  Essays,  1 :  30-56 ;  Watson,  Institutes,  1 :  530-577 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  27  :  268.  On 
the  procession  of  the  Spirit,  see  Shedd,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 :  387 ;  Dick,  Lectures  on 
Theology,  1 : 347-350. 

The  same  principles  upon  which  we  interpret  the  declaration  of  Christ's 
eternal  Sonship  apply  to  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the 
Father  through  the  Son,  and  show  this  to  be  not  inconsistent  with  the 
Spirit's  equal  dignity  and  glory. 

We  therefore  only  formulate  truth  which  is  concretely  expressed  in 
Scripture,  and  which  is  recognized  by  all  ages  of  the  church  in  hymns  and 
prayers  addressed  to  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  when  we  assert  that  in 
the  nature  of  the  one  God  there  are  three  eternal  distinctions,  which  are 
best  described  as  persons,  and  each  of  which  is  the  proper  and  equal  object 
of  Christian  worship. 

We  are  alike  warranted  in  declaring  that,  in  virtue  of  these  personal 
distinctions  or  modes  of  subsistence,  God  exists  in  the  relations,  respect- 
ively, first,  of  Source,  Origin,  Authority,  and  in  this  relation  is  the 
Father ;  secondly,  of  Expression,  Medium,  Revelation,  and  in  this  relation 
is  the  Son ;  thirdly,  of  Apprehension,  Accomplishment,  Realization,  and  in 
this  relation  is  the  Holy  Spirit. 

John  Owen,  Works,  3 : 64-92—"  The  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  that  of  concluding, 
completing,  perfecting.  To  the  Father  we  assign  opera  natures;  to  the  Son,  opera 
gratice  procurator;  to  the  Spirit,  opera  gratice  applicatce.  All  God's  revelations  are 
through  the  Son  or  the  Spirit,  and  the  latter  includes  the  former. 

VI.  INSCRUTABLE,  YET  NOT  SELF-CONTRADICTORY,  THIS  DOCTRINE  FUR- 
NISHES THE  KEY  TO  ALL  OTHER  DOCTRINES. 

1.     The  mode  of  this  triune  existence  is  inscrutable. 

It  is  inscrutable  because  there  are  no  analogies  to  it  in  our  finite  experi- 


INSCRUTABLE,    YET    NOT   SELF-CONTRADICTORY.  167 

•ence.  For  this  reason  all  attempts  are  vain  adequately  to  represent  it: 
(a)  From  inanimate  things — as  the  fountain,  the  stream,  and  the  rivulet 
trickling  from  it  (Athanasius)  ;  the  cloud,  the  rain,  and  the  rising  mist 
(Boardman)  ;  color,  shape,  and  size  (F.  W.  Robertson) ;  the  actinic,  lumi- 
niferous,  and  calorific  principles  in  the  ray  of  light  (Solar  Hieroglyphics, 
34). 

Luther :  u  When  logic  objects  to  this  doctrine  that  it  does  not  square  with  her  rules, 
we  must  say :  l  Mulier  taceat  in  ecclesia.'  "  Luther  called  the  Trinity  a  flower,  in  which 
might  be  distinguished  its  form,  its  fragrance,  and  its  medicinal  efficacy  ;  see  Dorner, 
•Gesch.  prot.  Theol.,  189.  In  Bap.  Rev.,  July,  1880 :  434,  Geer  finds  an  illustration  of  the 
Trinity  in  infinite  space  with  its  three  dimensions.  For  analogy  of  the  cloud,  rain,  mist, 
see  Boardman,  Higher  Life.  Solar  Hieroglyphics,  34  (reviewed  in  New  Englander,  Oct., 
1874 :  789)—''  The  Godhead  is  a  tripersonal  unity,  and  the  light  is  a  trinity.  Being  imma- 
terial and  homogeneous,  and  thus  essentially  one  in  its  nature,  the  light  includes  a 
plurality  of  constituents,  or  in  other  words  is  essentially  three  in  its  constitution,  its 
constituent  principles  being  the  actinic,  the  luminiferous,  and  the  calorific ;  and  in  glo- 
rious manifestation  the  light  is  one,  and  is  the  created,  constituted,  and  ordained  emblem 
•of  the  tripersonal  God  "—of  whom  it  is  said  that  "God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all " 
(1  John  1 :  5).  The  actinic  rays  are  in  themselves  invisible  ;  only  as  the  luminiferous  man- 
ifest them,  are  they  seen ;  only  as  the  calorific  accompany  them,  are  they  felt. 

(6)  From  the  constitution  or  processes  of  our  own  minds — as  the  psycho- 
logical unity  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will  (substantially  held  by  Augus- 
tine) ;  the  logical  unity  of  thesis,  antithesis,  and  synthesis  (Hegel) ;  the 
metaphysical  unity  of  subject,  object,  and  subject-object  (Melaucthon, 
Olshausen,  Shedd). 

Augustine :  "  Mens  meminit  sui,  intelligit  se,  diligit  se ;  si  hoc  cernimus,  Trinitateni 
cernimus."  Calvin  speaks  of  Augustine's  view  as  "  a  speculation  far  from  solid."  But 
Augustine  himself  had  said :  "  If  asked  to  define  the  Trinity,  we  can  only  say  that  it  is 
not  this  or  that."  John  of  Damascus :  "  All  we  know  of  the  divine  nature  is  that  it  is 
not  to  be  known."  By  this,  however,  both  Augustine  and  John  of  Damascus  meant 
only  that  the  precise  mode  of  God's  triune  existence  is  unrevealed  and  inscrutable. 
Hegel  calls  God  "  the  absolute  Idea,  the  unity  of  Life  and  Cognition,  the  Universal  that 
thinks  itself  and  thinkingly  realizes  itself  in  an  infinite  Actuality,  from  which,  as  its 
Immediacy,  it  no  less  distinguishes  itself  again  "  ;  see  Schwegler,  History  of  Philosophy, 
321,  331.  Hegel's  doctrine  of  God  as  the  eternally  begotten  Son  is  translated  in  the  Journ. 
of  Spec.  Philos.,  15:  395-404.  The  most  satisfactory  exposition  of  the  analogy  of  sub- 
ject, object,  and  subject-object  is  to  be  found  in  Shedd,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 :  365, 
note  2.  See  also  Olshausen  on  John  1:1;  H.  N.  Day,  Doctrine  of  Trinity  in  Light 
of  Recent  Psychology,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Sept.,  1882:  156-179;  Morris,  Philosophy  and 
Christianity,  122-163. 

Neither  of  these  furnishes  any  proper  analogue  of  the  Trinity,  since  in 
neither  of  them  is  there  found  the  essential  element  of  tripersonality.  Such 
illustrations  may  sometimes  be  used  to  disarm  objection,  but  they  furnish 
no  positive  explanation  of  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  and,  unless  carefully 
guarded,  may  lead  to  grievous  error. 

2.     The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  not  self -contradictory, 

This  it  would  be,  only  if  it  declared  God  to  be  three  in  the  same  numerical 
sense  in  which  he  is  said  to  be  one.  This  we  do  not  assert.  We  assert 
simply  that  the  same  God  who  is  one  with  respect  to  his  essence  is  three 
with  respect  to  the  internal  distinctions  of  that  essence,  or  with  respect  to 
the  modes  of  his  being.  The  possibility  of  this  cannot  be  denied,  except 
by  assuming  that  the  human  mind  is  in  all  respects  the  measure  of  the 
divine. 


168  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

The  fact  that  the  ascending  scale  of  life  is  marked  by  increasing  differen- 
tiation of  faculty  and  function  should  rather  lead  us  to  expect  in  the  highest 
of  all  beings  a  nature  more  complex  than  our  own.  In  man  many  faculties 
are  united  in  one  intelligent  being,  and  the  more  intelligent  man  is,  the 
more  distinct  from  each  other  these  faculties  become ;  until  intellect  and 
affection,  conscience  and  will  assume  a  relative  independence,  and  there 
arises  even  the  possibility  of  conflict  between  them.  There  is  nothing  irra- 
tional or  self -contradictory  in  the  doctrine  that  in  God  the  leading  functions 
are  yet  more  markedly  differentiated,  so  that  they  become  personal,  while 
at  the  same  time  these  personalities  are  united  by  the  fact  that  they  each 
and  equally  manifest  the  one  indivisible  essence. 

Unity  is  as  essential  to  the  Godhead  as  threeness.  The  same  God  who  in  one  respect 
is  three,  in  another  respect  is  one.  We  do  not  say  that  one  God  is  three  Gods,  nor  that 
one  person  is  three  persons,  nor  that  three  Gods  are  one  God,  but  only  that  there  is  one 
God  with  three  distinctions  in  his  being1.  We  do  not  refer  to  the  faculties  of  man  as 
furnishing-  any  proper  analogy  to  the  persons  of  the  Godhead;  we  rather  deny  that 
man's  nature  furnishes  any  such  analogy.  Intellect,  affection,  and  will  in  man  are  not 
distinct  personalities.  If  they  were  personalized,  they  nag-fat  furnish  such  an  analogy. 
F.  W.  Robertson  (Sermons,  3 :  58),  speaks  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  as  best 
conceived  under  the  figure  of  personalized  intellect,  affection,  and  will.  With  this 
agrees  the  saying  of  Socrates,  who  called  thougbt  the  soul's  conversation  with  itself. 

3.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  has  important  relations  to  other  doc- 
trines. 

A.     It  is  essential  to  any  proper  theism. 

Neither  God's  independence  nor  God's  blessedness  can  be  maintained 
upon  grounds  of  absolute  unity.  Anti-trinitarianism  almost  necessarily 
makes  creation  indispensable  to  God's  perfection,  tends  to  a  belief  in  the 
eternity  of  matter,  and  ultimately  leads,  as  in  Mohammedanism,  and  in 
modern  Judaism  and  Unitarianism,  to  pantheism.  "  Love  is  an  impossible 
exercise  to  a  solitary  being."  Without  Trinity  we  cannot  hold  to  a  living 
Unity  in  the  Godhead. 

Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1883 :  aM58— "  The  problem  is  to  find  a  perfect  objective, 
congruous  and  fitting,  for  a  perfect  intelligence,  and  the  answer  is :  a  perfect  intelli- 
gence." The  author  of  this  article  quotes  James  Martineau,  the  Unitarian  philosopher, 
as  follows :  "  There  is  only  one  resource  left  for  completing  the  needful  objectivity  for 
God,  viz.,  to  admit  in  some  form  the  coe'val  existence  of  matter,  as  the  condition  or  me- 
dium of  the  divine  agency  or  manifestation.  Failing  the  proof  [of  the  absolute  origin- 
ation of  matter]  we  are  left  with  the  divine  cause,  and  the  material  condition,  of  all 
nature,  in  eternal  co-presence  and  relation,  as  supreme  object  and  rudimentary  object." 
But  God's  blessedness,  upon  this  principle,  requires  not  merelv  an  eternal  universe  but 
an  infinite  universe,  for  nothing  less  will  afford  fit  object  for  an  infinite  mind.  Yet  a 
God  who  is  necessarily  bound  to  the  universe,  or  by  whose  side  a  universe,  which  is  not 
himself,  eternally  exists,  is  not  infinite,  independent,  or  free.  The  only  exit  from  this 
difficulty  is  in  denying  God's  self-consciousness  and  self-determination,  or  in  other 
words,  exchanging  our  theism  for  pantheism. 

Unitarianism  has  repeatedly  demonstrated  its  logical  inconsistency  by  this  facilis 
descensus  Averni.  In  New  England  the  high  Arianism  of  Channing  degenerated  into 
the  half-fledged  pantheism  of  Theodore  Parker,  and  the  full-fledged  pantheism  of  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson.  Modern  Judaism  is  pantheistic  in  its  philosophy,  and  such  also  was 
the  later  Arabic  philosophy  of  Mohammedanism.  Single  personality  is  felt  to  be  insuffi- 
cient to  the  mind's  conception  of  Absolute  Perfection.  We  shrink  from  the  thought  of 
an  eternally  lonely  God.  "  We  take  refuge  in  the  term  '  Godhead.'  The  literati  find 
relief  in  speaking  of  '  the  gods.' "  Twesten  (translated  in  Bib.  Sac.,  3 :  502)—"  There  may 
be  in  polytheism  an  element  of  truth,  though  disfigured  and  misunderstood.  John  of 
Damascus  boasted  that  the  Christian  Trinity  stood  midway  between  the  abstract  mono- 


INSCRUTABLE,    YET   NOT   SELF-CONTRADICTORY.  169 

theism  of  the  Jews  and  the  idolatrous  polytheism  of  the  Greeks."  See  Thomasius, 
Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  105,  156.  For  the  pantheistic  view,  see  Strauss,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  1 :  462-524. 

B.  It  is  essential  to  any  proper  revelation. 

If  there  be  no  Trinity,  Christ  is  not  God,  and  cannot  perfectly  know  or 
reveal  God.  Christianity  is  no  longer  the  one,  all-inclusive,  and  final  reve- 
lation, but  only  one  of  many  conflicting  and  competing  systems,  each  of 
which  has  its  portion  of  truth,  but  also  its  portion  of  error.  So  too  with 
the  Holy  Spirit.  "As  God  can  be  revealed  only  through  God,  so  also  can 
he  be  appropriated  only  through  God.  If  the  Holy  Spirit  be  not  God, 
then  the  love  and  self-communication  of  God  to  the  human  soul  are  not  a 
reality."  In  other  words,  without  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  we  go  back 
to  mere  natural  religion  and  the  far-off  God  of  deism — and  this  is  ultimately 
exchanged  for  pantheism  in  the  way  already  mentioned. 

Martensen,  Dogmatics,  104 ;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  156.  If  Christ  be 
not  God,  he  cannot  perfectly  know  himself,  and  his  testimony  to  himself  has  no  inde- 
pendent authority.  In  prayer  the  Christian  has  practical  evidence  of  the  Trinity,  and 
can  see  the  value  of  the  doctrine ;  for  he  comes  to  God  the  Father,  pleading  the  name  of 
Christ,  and  taught  how  to  pray  aright  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  impossible  to  identify 
the  Father  with  either  the  Son  or  the  Spirit.  See  Rom.  8  28—"  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts  [i.  e., 
God]  knoweth  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of 
God." 

C.  It  is  essential  to  any  proper  redemption. 

If  God  be  absolutely  and  simply  one,  there  can  be  no  mediation  or  atone- 
ment, since  between  God  and  the  most  exalted  creature  the  gulf  is  infinite. 
Christ  cannot  bring  us  nearer  to  God  than  he  is  himself.  Only  one  who  is 
God  can  reconcile  us  to  God.  So,  too,  only  one  who  is  God  can  purify  our 
souls.  A  God  who  is  only  unity,  but  in  whom  is  no  plurality,  may  be  our 
Judge,  but,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  cannot  be  our  Savior  or  our  Sanctifier. 

"Nothing  human  holds  good  before  God,  and  nothing  but  God  himself  can  satisfy 
God."  The  best  method  of  arguing  with  Unitarians,  therefore,  is  to  rouse  the  sense  of 
sin ;  for  the  soul  that  has  any  proper  conviction  of  its  sins  feels  that  only  an  infinite 
Redeemer  can  ever  save  it.  On  the  other  hand,  a  slight  estimate  of  sin  is  logically  con- 
nected with  a  low  view  of  the  dignity  of  Christ.  Twesten,  translated  in  Bib.  Sac.,  3 :  510 
— "  It  would  seem  to  be  not  a  mere  accident  that  Pelagianism,  when  logically  carried 
out,  as  for  example  among  the  Socinians,  has  also  always  led  to  Unitarianism."  In  the 
reverse  order,  too,  it  is  manifest  that  rejection  of  the  deity  of  Christ  must  tend  to  render 
more  superficial  men's  views  of  the  sin  and  guilt  and  punishment  from  which  Christ 
came  to  save  them,  and  with  this  to  deaden  religious  feeling  and  to  cut  the  sinews  of  all 
evangelistic  and  missionary  effort.  See  Arthur,  on  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  in  relation 
to  his  work  of  Atonement,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  6 :  no.  35. 

D.  It  is  essential  to  any  proper  model  for  human  life. 

If  there  be  no  Trinity  immanent  in  the  divine  nature,  then  Fatherhood 
in  God  has  had  a  beginning  and  it  may  have  an  end  ;  Sonship,  moreover, 
is  no  longer  a  perfection,  but  an  imperfection,  ordained  for  a  temporary 
purpose.  But  if  fatherly  giving  and  filial  receiving  are  eternal  in  God,  then 
the  law  of  love  requires  of  us  conformity  to  God  in  both  these  respects  as 
the  highest  dignity  of  our  being. 

See  Hutton,  Essays,  1 :  232—"  The  Trinity  tells  us  something  of  God's  absolute  and 
essential  nature ;  not  simply  what  he  is  to  us,  but  what  he  is  in  himself.  If  Christ  is  the 
eternal  Son  of  the  Father,  God  is  indeed  and  in  essence  a  Father;  the  social  nature,  the 
spring  of  love  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  eternal  Being  ;  the  communication  of  life, 


170  XATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

the  reciprocation  of  affection  dates  from  beyond  time,  belongs  to  the  very  being  of  God. 
The  Unitarian  idea  of  a  solitary  God  profoundly  affects  our  conception  of  God,  reduces 
it  to  mere  power,  identifies  God  with  abstract  cause  and  thought.  Love  is  grounded  in 
power,  not  power  in  love.  The  Father  is  merged  in  the  omniscient  and  omnipotent 
genius  of  the  universe."  Hence  1  John  2 : 23—"  Whatsoever  denieth  the  Son,  the  same  hath  not  the  Father." 

Hutton,  Essays,  1 :  239—"  We  need  also  the  inspiration  and  help  of  a  perfect  filial  will. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  the  Father  as  sharing  in  that  dependent  attitude  of  spirit  which 
is  our  chief  spiritual  want.  It  is  a  Father's  perfection  to  originate— a  Son's  to  receive. 
We  need  sympathy  and  aid  in  this  receptive  life ;  hence  the  help  of  the  true  Son.  Hu- 
mility, self-sacrifice,  submission,  are  heavenly,  eternal,  divine.  Christ's  filial  life  is  the 
root  of  all  filial  life  in  us."  See  Gal.  2  :  20— "I live,  and  yet  no  longer  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me :  and  that 
life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up 
for  me."  On  the  practical  uses  of  the  doctrine,  see  Sermon  by  Gans,  in  South  Church 
Lectures,  300—310.  On  the  doctrine  in  general,  see  Robie,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  27 ;  262—289 ;  Pease, 
Philosophy  of  Trinitarian  Doctrine ;  N.  W.  Taylor,  Revealed  Theology,  1 : 133 ;  Schultz, 
Lehre  von  der  Gottheit  Christi. 

On  heathen  trinities,  see  Bib.  Repos.,  6:116;  Christlieb,  Mod.  Doubt  and  Christian 
Belief,  266,  267— "  Lao-tse  says,  600  B.  C., '  Tao,  the  intelligent  principle  of  all  being,  is  by 
nature  one ;  the  first  begat  the  second ;  both  together  begat  the  third ;  these  three  made 
all  things.'  "—The  Egyptian  triad  of  Abydos  was  Osiris,  Isis  his  wife,  and  Horus  their 
Son.  But  these  were  no  true  persons ;  for  not  only  did  the  Son  proceed  from  the  Father, 
but  the  Father  proceeded  from  the  Son ;  the  Egyptian  trinity  was  pantheistic  in  its 
meaning.  See  Renouf ,  Hibbert  Lectures,  29 ;  Rawlinson,  Religions  of  the  Ancient  World, 
46, 47.— The  Brahman  Trimurti,  or  trinity,  to  the  members  of  which  are  given  the  names 
Brahma,  Vishnu,  Siva,  is  represented  in  the  three  mystic  letters  of  the  syllable  Om,  or 
Aum,  and  by  the  image  at  Elephanta  of  three  heads  and  one  body ;  see  Hardwick,  Christ 
and  Other  Masters,  1 :  276.  The  places  of  the  three  are  interchangeable.  Williams :  "  In 
the  three  persons  the  one  God  is  shown ;  Each  first  in  place,  each  last,  not  one  alone  ; 
Of  Hva,  Vishnu,  Brahma,  each  may  be.  First,  second,  third,  among  the  blessed  three." 
There  are  ten  incarnations  of  Vishnu  for  men's  salvation  in  various  times  of  need ; 
and  the  one  Spirit  which  temporarily  invests  itself  with  the  qualities  of  matter  is  re- 
duced to  its  original  essence  at  the  end  of  the  aeon  (Kalpa).  This  is  only  a  grosser  form 
of  Sabellianism,  or  of  a  modal  Trinity.  According  to  Renouf  it  is  not  older  than  A.  D. 
1400.  Buddhism  in  later  times  had  its  triad.  Buddha,  or  Intelligence,  the  first  principle, 
associated  with  Dharma,  or  Law,  the  principle  of  matter,  through  the  combining  influ- 
ence of  Sangha,  or  Order,  the  mediating  principle.  See  Kellogg,  The  Light  of  Asia  and 
the  Light  of  the  World,  184,  355.  It  is  probably  from  a  Christian  source.  The  gropings 
of  the  heathen  religions  after  a  trinity  in  God,  together  with  their  inability  to  construct 
a  consistent  scheme  of  it,  are  evidence  of  a  rational  want  in  human  nature  which  only 
the  Christian  doctrine  is  able  to  supply. 


CHAPTER   III. 


THE   DECREES   OF   GOD. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  DECREES. 

By  the  decrees  of  God  we  mean  that  eternal  plan  by  which  God  has 
rendered  certain  all  the  events  of  the  universe,  past,  present,  and  future. 
Notice  in  explanation  that  : 

(a)  The  decrees  are  many  only  to  our  finite  comprehension  ;  in  their  own 
nature  they  are  but  one  plan,  which  embraces  not  only  the  ends  to  be 
secured  but  also  the  means  needful  to  secure  them. 

In  Rom.  8  :  28— "called  according  to  his  purpose"— the  many  decrees  for  the  salvation  of  many 
individuals  are  represented  as  forming-  but  one  purpose  of  God.  Eph.  1 : 11—"  foreordained 
according  to  the  purpose  of  him  who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  will"— notice  again  the  word 
"purpose,"  in  the  singular.  Eph.  3  : 11 — "according  to  the  eternal  purpose  which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord."  This  one  purpose  or  plan  of  God  includes  both  means  and  ends,  prayer  and  its 
answer,  labor  and  its  fruit.  Tyrolese  proverb:  "God  has  his  plan  for  every  man." 
Every  man,  as  well  as  Jean  Paul,  is  "  der  Einzige  "—the  unique.  There  is  a  single  plan 
which  embraces  all  things ;  "  we  use  the  word  '  decrees '  when  we  think  of  it  partitively  " 
•{Pepper) .  See  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  1st  ed.  165 ;  2nd  ed.  200—"  In  fact,  no  event  is 
isolated — to  determine  one  involves  determination  of  the  whole  concatenation  of  causes 
and  effects  which  constitutes  the  universe." 

(6)  The  decrees,  as  the  eternal  act  of  an  infinitely  perfect  will,  though 
they  have  logical  relation  to  each  other,  have  no  chronological  relation. 
They  are  not  therefore  the  result  of  deliberation,  in  any  sense  that  implies 
short-sightedness  or  hesitancy. 

Logically,  in  God's  decree  the  sun  precedes  the  sunlight,  and  the  decree  to  bring  into 
being  a  father  precedes  the  decree  that  there  shall  be  a  son.  God  decrees  man  before 
he  decrees  man's  act ;  he  decrees  the  creation  of  man  before  he  decrees  man's  existence. 
But  there  is  no  chronological  succession.  "Counsel"  in  Eph.  1:11— "the  counsel  of  his  will"— 
means,  not  deliberation,  but  wisdom. 

(c)  Since  the  will  in  which  the  decrees  have  their  origin  is  a  free  will,  the 
decrees  are  not  a  merely  instinctive  or  necessary  exercise  of  the  divine 
intelligence  or  volition,  such  as  pantheism  supposes. 

It  belongs  to  the  perfection  of  God  that  he  have  a  plan,  and  the  best  possible  plan. 
Here  is  no  necessity,  but  only  the  certainty  that  infinite  wisdom  will  act  wisely.  God's 
decrees  are  not  God ;  they  are  not  identical  with  his  essence ;  they  do  not  flow  from 
his  being  in  the  same  necessary  way  in  which  the  eternal  Son  proceeds  from  the  eternal 
Father.  There  is  free  will  in  God,  which  acts  with  infinite  certainty,  yet  without  ne- 
cessity. To  call  even  the  decree  of  salvation  necessary  is  to  deny  grace,  and  to  make 
an  unf  ree  God.  See  Dick,  Lectures  on  Theology,  1 :  355 ;  lect.  34. 

(d)  The  decrees  have  reference  to  things  outside  of  God.     God  does 
not  decree  to  be  holy,  nor  to  exist  as  three  persons  in  one  essence.* 

Decrees  are  the  preparation  for  external  events  — the  embracing  of  certain  things 
and  acts  in  a  plan.  They  do  not  include  those  processes  and  operations  within  the  God- 
head which  have  no  reference  to  the  universe. 

171 


172         NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

(e)  The  decrees  primarily  respect  the  acts  of  God  himself,  in  Creation, 
Providence,  and  Grace ;  secondarily,  the  acts  of  free  creatures,  which  he 
foresees  will  result  therefrom. 

While  we  deny  the  assertion  of  Whedon  that  "the  divine  plan  embraces  only  divine 
actions,"  we  grant  that  God's  plan  has  reference  primarily  to  his  own  actions,  and  that 
the  sinful  acts  of  men,  in  particular,  are  the  objects,  not  of  a  decree  that  God  will 
efficiently  produce  them,  but  of  a  decree  that  God  will  permit  men,  in  the  exercise  of 
their  own  free  will,  to  produce  them. 

(/)  The  decree  to  act  is  not  the  act.  The  decrees  are  an  internal  exer- 
cise and  manifestation  of  the  divine  attributes,  and  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  Creation,  Providence,  and  Eedemption,  which  are  the  execution  of  the 
decrees. 

The  decrees  are  the  first  operation  of  the  attributes,  and  the  first  manifestation  of 
personality  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  within  the  Godhead.  They  presuppose 
those  essential  acts  or  movements  within  the  divine  nature  which  we  call  generation 
and  procession.  They  involve  by  way  of  consequence  that  execution  of  the  decrees 
which  we  call  Creation,  Providence,  and  Redemption,  but  they  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  either  of  these. 

(g)  The  decrees  are  therefore  not  addressed  to  creatures ;  are  not  of  the 
nature  of  statute-law ;  and  lay  neither  compulsion  nor  obligation  upon  the 
wills  of  men. 

So  ordering-  the  universe  that  men  will  pursue  a  given  course  of  action  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  declaring,  ordering,  or  commanding  that  they  shall.  "  Our  acts 
are  in  accordance  with  the  decrees,  but  not  necessarily  so— we  can  do  otherwise  and 
often  should"  (Park). 

(h)  All  human  acts,  whether  evil  or  good,  enter  into  the  divine  plan  and 
so  are  objects  of  God's  decrees,  although  God's  actual  agency  with  regard 
to  the  evil  is  only  a  permissive  agency. 

No  decree  of  God  reads:  "You  shall  sin."  For  (1)  no  decree  is  addressed  to  you: 
(2)  no  decree  with  respect  to  you  says  shatt;  (3)  God  cannot  cause  sin,  or  decree  to 
cause  it.  He  simply  decrees  to  create,  and  himself  to  act,  in  such  a  way  that  you  will, 
of  your  own  free  choice,  commit  sin.  God  determines  upon  his  own  acts,  foreseeing 
what  the  results  will  be  in  the  free  acts  of  his  creatures,  and  so  he  determines  those 
results.  This  permissive  decree  is  the  only  decree  of  God  with  respect  to  sin.  Man  of 
himself  is  capable  of  producing  sin.  Of  himself  he  is  not  capable  of  producing  holiness. 
In  the  production  of  holiness  two  powers  must  concur,  God's  will  and  man's  will,  and 
God's  will  must  act  first.  The  decree  of  good,  therefore,  is  not  simply  a  permissive 
decree,  as  in  the  case  of  evil.  God's  decree,  in  the  former  case,  is  a  decree  to  bring  to 
bear  positive  agencies  for  its  production,  such  as  circumstances,  motives,  influences  of 
his  Spirit.  But,  in  the  case  of  evil,  God's  decrees  are  simply  his  arrangement  that  man 
may  do  as  he  pleases,  God  all  the  while  foreseeing  the  result. 

(z)  While  God's  total  plan  with  regard  to  creatures  is  called  predestina- 
tion, or  foreordination,  his  purpose  so  to  act  that  certain  will  believe  and 
be  saved  is  called  election,  and  his  purpose  so  to  act  that  certain  will 
refuse  to  believe  and  be  lost  is  called  reprobation.  We  discuss  election  and 
reprobation,  in  a  later  chapter,  as  a  part  of  the  Application  of  Bedemption. 

God's  decrees  may  be  divided  into  decrees  with  respect  to  nature,  and  decrees  with 
respect  to  moral  beings.  These  last  we  call  foreordination,  or  predestination ;  and  of 
these  decrees  with  respect  to  moral  beings  there  are  two  kinds,  the  decree  of  election,, 
and  the  decree  of  reprobation. 

II.       PROOF   OF   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   DECREES. 

1.     from  Scripture. 

A.  The  Scriptures  declare  that  all  things  are  included  in  the  divine 
decrees.  B.  They  declare  that  special  things  and  events  are  decreed ;  asr 


PROOF  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DECREES.  173 

for  example,  (a)  the  stability  of  the  physical  universe  ;  (6)  the  outward 
circumstances  of  nations  ;  (c)  the  saving  work  of  Christ ;  (d)  the  length 
of  human  life  ;  (e)  the  mode  of  our  death  ;  (/)  the  free  acts  of  men,  both 
good  acts  and  evil  acts. 

A.  Is.  14  :  26 — "  This  is  the  purpose  that  is  purposed  upon  the  whole  earth,  and  this  is  the  hand  that  is  stretched  out 
upon  all  the  nations ;  for  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  purposed  and  his  hand  is  stretched  out,  and  who  shall  turn  it  back  ?  " 
46  : 10,  11 — "Declaring  the  end  from  the  beginning,  and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done,  saying, 
my  counsel  shall  stand  and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure  ....  yea,  I  have  spoken,  I  will  also  bring  it  to  pass ;  I  have  pur- 
posed, I  will  also  do  it."    Dan.  4  :  35 — "doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  :  and  none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  thou  ?  "     Eph.  1  : 11 — "  the  purpose  of  him  who 
worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  will." 

B.  (a)  Ps.  119  :  91 — "For  ever,  0  Lord,  Thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven.    Thy  faithfulness  is  unto  all  generations: 
Thou  hast  established  the  earth  and  it  abideth.    They  abide  this  day  according  to  thine  ordinances ;  For  all  things  are  thy 
servants."    (b)  Acts  17  :  26 — "  he  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  having  deter- 
mined their  appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation ;  c/.  Zech.  6  : 1 — "  came  four  chariots  out  from 
"between  two  mountains ;  and  the  mountains  were  mountains  of  brass  "  =  the  fixed  decrees  from  which  pro- 
ceed God's  providential  dealings?    (c)  1  Cor.  2  :  7 — "  the  wisdom  which  hath  been  hidden,  which  God  foreor- 
dained before  the  worlds  unto  our  glory  "  ;  Eph.  3  : 10,  11 — "  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  purpose 
which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."     (d)  Job  14  :  5 — "  Seeing  his  days  are  determined,  the  number  of  his 
months  is  with  thee,  and  thou  hast  determined  his  bounds  that  he  cannot  pass."     (e)  John  21 : 19 — "  this  he  spake, 
signifying  by  what  manner  of  death  he  should  glorify  God." 

( f )  Good  acts  :  Is.  44  :  28—"  that  saith  of  Cyrus,  He  is  my  shepherd  and  shall  perform  all  my  pleasure :  even 
saying  of  Jerusalem,  She  shalt  be  built;  and  to  the  temple,  Thy  foundation  shall  be  laid" ;  Eph.  2  :  10— "for  we  are 
his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them." 
Evil  acts :  Gen.  50  :  20—"  As  for  you,  ye  meant  evil  against  me ;  but  God  meant  it  for  good,  to  bring  it  to  pass,  as 
it  is  this  day,  to  save  much  people  alive  "  ;  1  K.  12  : 15 — "  Wherefore  the  King  hearkened  not  unto  the  people,  for  the 
cause  was  from  the  Lord"  ;  24 — "for  this  thing  is  from  me"  ;  Luke  22  :  22 — "  for  the  Son  of  man  indeed  goeth,  as  it 
hath  been  determined :  but  woe  unto  that  man  through  whom  he  is  betrayed  "  ;  Acts  2  :  23 — "  him,  being  delivered  up 
by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  by  the  hand  of  lawless  men  did  crucify  and  slay  "  ;  4  :  27,  28 — 
"  of  a  truth  in  this  city  against  thy  holy  Servant  Jesus,  whom  thou  didst  anoint,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the 
Gentiles  and  the  peoples  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together,  to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  foreordained  to  come 
to  pass  "  ;  Rom.  9  : 17 — "  for  the  Scripture  saith  unto  Pharaoh,  For  this  very  purpose  did  I  raise  thoe  up,  that  I  might 
show  in  thee  my  power":  1  Pet.  2  :  8 — "they  stumble  at  the  word,  being  disobedient:  whereunto  also  they  were 
appointed  "  ;  Rev.  17  : 17 — "for  God  did  put  in  their  hearts  to  do  his  mind,  and  to  come  to  one  mind,  and  to  give  their 
kingdom  unto  the  beast,  until  the  words  of  God  should  be  accomplished." 

2.     From  Reason. 

(a)     From  the  divine  foreknowledge. 

From  eternity  God  foresaw  all  the  events  of  the  universe  as  fixed  and 
certain.  This  fixity  and  certainty  could  not  have  had  its  ground  either  in 
blind  fate  or  in  the  variable  wills  of  men,  since  neither  of  these  had  an 
existence.  It  could  have  had  its  ground  in  nothing  outside  of  the  divine 
mind,  for  in  eternity  nothing  existed  besides  the  divine  mind.  But  for 
this  fixity  there  must  have  been  a  cause ;  if  anything  in  the  future  was 
fixed,  something  must  have  fixed  it.  This  fixity  could  have  had  its  ground 
only  in  the  plan  and  purpose  of  God.  In  fine,  if  God  foresaw  the  future 
as  certain,  it  must  have  been  because  there  was  something  in  himself  which 
made  it  certain  ;  or,  in  other  words,  because  he  had  decreed  it. 

To  meet  the  objection  that  God  might  have  foreseen  the  events  of  the 
universe,  not  because  he  had  decreed  each  one,  but  only  because  he  had 
decreed  to  create  the  universe  and  institute  its  laws,  we  may  put  the 
argument  in  another  form.  In  eternity  there  could  have  been  no  cause  of 
the  future  existence  of  the  universe,  outside  of  God  himself,  since  no  being 
existed  but  God  himself.  In  eternity  God  foresaw  that  the  creation  of  the 


174         NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

world  and  the  institution  of  its  laws  would  make  certain  its  actual  history 
even  to  the  most  insignificant  details.  But  God  decreed  to  create  and  to- 
institute  these  laws.  In  so  decreeing,  he  necessarily  decreed  all  that  was 
to  come.  In  fine,  God  foresaw  the  future  events  of  the  universe  as  certain, 
because  he  had  decreed  to  create  ;  but  this  determination  to  create  involved 
also  a  determination  of  all  the  actual  results  of  that  creation  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  God  decreed  those  results. 

We  grant  that  God  decrees  primarily  and  directly  his  own  acts  of  crea- 
tion, providence,  and  grace  ;  but  we  claim  that  this  involves  also  a  secondary 
and  indirect  decreeing  of  the  acts  of  free  creatures  which  he  forsees  will 
result  therefrom.  There  is  therefore  no  such  thing  in  God  as  scientia  media, 
or  knowledge  of  an  event  that  is  to  be,  though  it  does  not  enter  into  the 
divine  plan  ;  for  to  say  that  God  foresees  an  undecreed  event,  is  to  say  that 
he  views  as  future  an  event  that  is  merely  possible  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
he  views  an  event  not  as  it  is. 

Knowledge  of  a  plan  .  as  ideal  or  possible  may  precede  decree ;  but 
knowledge  of  a  plan  as  actual  or  fixed  must  follow  decree.  Only  the  latter 
knowledge  is  properly  /oreknowledge.  God  therefore  foresees  creation, 
causes,  laws,  events,  consequences,  because  he  has  decreed  creation,  causes, 
laws,  events,  consequences  ;  that  is,  because  he  has  embraced  all  these  in 
his  plan.  The  denial  of  decrees  logically  involves  the  denial  of  God's 
foreknowledge  of  free  human  actions ;  and  to  this  Socinians,  and  some 
Arminians,  are  actually  led. 

An  Arminian  example  of  this  denial  is  found  in  McCabe,  Foreknowledge  of  God,  and 
Divine  Nescience  of  Future  Contingencies  a  Necessity.  Per  contra,  see  notes  on  God's 
foreknowledge,  in  this  Compendium,  pages  134,135.  Pepper:  "Divine  volition  stands 
logically  between  two  divisions  and  kinds  of  divine  knowledge."  God  knew  free  human 
actions  as  possible,  before  he  decreed  them ;  he  knew  them  as  future,  because  he  decreed 
them.  Logically,  though  not  chronologically,  decree  comes  before  foreknowledge. 
When  I  say,  "  I  know  what  I  will  do,"  it  is  evident  that  I  have  determined  already, 
and  that  my  knowledge  does  not  precede  determination,  but  follows  it  and  is  based 
upon  it.  It  is  therefore  not  correct  to  say  that  God  foreknows  his  decrees.  It  is  more 
true  to  say  that  he  decrees  his  foreknowledge.  He  foreknows  the  future  which  he  has 
decreed,  and  he  foreknows  it  because  he  has  decreed  it.  His  decrees  are  eternal,  and 
nothing  that  is  eternal  can  be  the  object  of  foreknowledge.  Finney,  quoted  in  Bib. 
Sac.,  1877  :  723—"  The  knowledge  of  God  comprehended  the  details  and  incidents  of  every 
possible  plan.  The  choice  of  a  plan  made  his  knowledge  determinate  as /oreknowledge." 

There  are  therefore  two  kinds  of  divine  knowledge :  (1 )  knowledge  of  what  may  be — 
of  the  possible  (scientia  simpUcis  inteUigtntice) ;  and  (2)  knowledge  of  what  is,  and  is  to 
be,  because  God  has  decreed  it  (scientia  visionis).  Between  these  two  Molina,  the  Spanish 
Jesuit,  wrongly  conceived  that  there  was  (3)  a  middle  knowledge  of  things  which  were 
to  be,  although  God  had  not  decreed  them  (scientia  media).  This  would  of  course  be  a 
knowledge  which  God  derived,  not  from  himself,  but  from  his  creatures !  See  Dick, 
Theology,  1 : 351.  A.  S.  Carman :  "  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  God's  knowledge  can  be 
caused  from  eternity  by  something  that  has  no  existence  until  a  definite  point  of  time." 
If  it  be  said  that  what  is  to  be  will  be  "in  the  nature  of  things,"  we  reply  that  there  is 
no  "nature  of  things  "  apart  from  God,  and  that  the  ground  of  the  objective  certainty, 
as  well  as  of  the  subjective  certitude  corresponding  to  it,  is  to  be  found  only  in  God 
himself. 

But  God's  decreeing  to  create,  when  he  foresees  that  certain  free  acts  of  men  will 
follow,  is  a  decreeing  of  those  free  acts,  in  the  only  sense  in  which  we  use  the  word 
decreeing,  viz.,  a  rendering  certain,  or  embracing  in  his  plan.  No  Arminian  who  be- 
lieves in  God's  foreknowledge  of  free  human  acts  has  good  reason  for  denying  God's 
decrees  as  thus  explained.  Surely  God  did  not  foreknow  that  Adam  would  exist  and  sin, 
whether  God  determined  to  create  him  or  not.  Omniscience,,  then,  becomes  /oreknowl- 


PROOF    OF   THE    DOCTRIKE   OF    DECREES.  175 

edge  only  on  condition  of  God's  decree.  That  God's  foreknowledge  of  free  acts  is 
intuitive  does  not  affect  this  conclusion.  We  grant  that,  while  man  can  predict  free 
action  only  so  far  as  it  is  rational  (i.  e.,  in  the  line  of  previously  dominant  motive),  God 
can  predict  free  action  whether  it  is  rational  or  not.  But  even  God  cannot  predict 
what  is  not  certain  to  be.  God  can  have  intuitive  foreknowledge  of  free  human  acts 
only  upon  condition  of  his  own  decree  to  create ;  and  this  decree  to  create,  in  foresight 
of  all  that  will  follow,  is  a  decree  of  what  follows.  For  Arminian  view,  see  Watson,. 
Institutes,  2  :  375-398,  422-448.  Per  contra,  see  Hill,  Divinity,  512-532;  Fiske,  in  Bib. 
Sac.,  April,  1862 ;  Bennett  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  214-254 ;  Edwards  the  younger,. 
1  : 398-420. 

(b)  From  the  divine  wisdom. 

It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  proceed  in  every  undertaking  according  to  a 
plan.  The  greater  the  undertaking,  the  more  needful  a  plan.  Wisdom, 
moreover,  shows  itself  in  a  careful  provision  for  all  possible  circumstances 
and  emergencies  that  can  arise  in  the  execution  of  its  plan.  That  many 
such  circumstances  and  emergencies  are  uncontemplated  and  unprovided 
for  in  the  plans  of  men,  is  due  only  to  the  limitations  of  human  wisdom.  It 
belongs  to  infinite  wisdom,  therefore,  not  only  to  have  a  plan,  but  to  em- 
brace all,  even  the  minutest  details,  in  the  plan  of  the  universe. 

No  architect  would  attempt  to  build  a  Cologne  cathedral  without  a  plan ;  he  would 
rather,  if  possible,  have  a  design  for  every  stone.  The  great  painter  does  not  study  out 
his  picture  as  he  goes  along ;  the  plan  is  in  his  mind  from  the  start ;  preparations  for 
the  last  effects  have  to  be  made  from  the  beginning.  So  in  God's  work  every  detail  is 
foreseen  and  provided  for ;  sin  and  Christ  entered  into  the  original  plan  of  the  universe. 
Raymond,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 : 156,  says  this  implies  that  God  cannot  govern  the  world,  un- 
less all  things  be  reduced  to  the  condition  of  machinery ;  and  that  it  cannot  be  true,  for 
the  reason  that  God's  government  is  a  government  of  persons  and  not  of  things.  But 
we  reply  that  the  wise  statesman  governs  persons  and  not  things,  yet  just  in  proportion 
to  his  wisdom  he  conducts  his  administration  according  to  a  preconceived  plan.  God's 
power  might,  but  God's  wisdom  would  not,  govern  the  universe  without  embracing  all 
things,  even  the  least  human  action,  in  his  plan. 

(c)  From  the  divine  immutability. 

What  God  does,  he  always  purposed  to  do.  Since  with  him  there  is  no 
increase  of  knowledge  or  power,  such  as  characterizes  finite  beings,  it  fol- 
lows that  what  under  any  given  circumstances  he  permits  or  does,  he  must 
have  eternally  decreed  to  permit  or  do.  To  suppose  that  God  has  a  multi- 
tude of  plans,  and  that  he  changes  his  plan  with  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation,  is  to  make  him  infinitely  dependent  upon  the  varying  wills  of  his 
creatures,  and  to  deny  to  him  one  necessary  element  of  perfection,  namely, 
immutability. 

Napoleon  is  said  to  have  had  a  number  of  plans  before  each  battle,  and  to  have  betaken 
himself  from  one  to  another  as  fortune  demanded.  Not  so  with  God.  Job  23  : 13 — "  he  is  in 
one  mind  and  who  can  turn  him?"  James  1  : 17 — "the  Father  of  lights,  with  whom  can  be  no  variation,  neither 
shadow  that  is  cast  by  turning."  Contrast  with  this  Scripture  McCabe's  statement  in  his  Fore- 
knowledge of  God,  62— "This  new  factor,  the  godlike  liberty  of  the  human  will,  is  cap- 
able of  thwarting,  and  in  uncounted  instances  does  thwart,  the  divine  will,  and  compel 
the  great  I  AM  to  modify  his  actions,  his  purposes,  and  his  plans,  in  the  treatment  of 
individuals  and  of  communities." 

(d)  From  the  divine  benevolence. 

The  events  of  the  universe,  if  not  determined  by  the  divine  decrees,  must 
be  determined  either  by  chance  or  by  the  wills  of  creatures.  It  is  contrary 
to  any  proper  conception  of  the  divine  benevolence  to  suppose  that  God 
permits  the  course  of  nature  and  of  history,  and  the  ends  to  which  both 
these  are  moving,  to  be  determined  for  myriads  of  sentient  beings  by  any 


176  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF    GOD. 

other  force  or  will  than  his  own.  Both  reason  and  revelation,  therefore, 
compel  us  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  that  "  God 
did  from  all  eternity,  by  the  most  just  and  holy  counsel  of  his  own  will, 
freely  and  unchangeably  ordain  whatsoever  comes  to  pass." 

It  would  not  be  benevolent  for  God  to  put  out  of  his  own  power  that  which  was  so 
essential  to  the  happiness  of  the  universe.  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  231-243—"  The 
denial  of  decrees  involves  denial  of  the  essential  attributes  of  God,  such  as  omnipo- 
tence, omniscience,  benevolence ;  exhibits  him  as  a  disappointed  and  unhappy  being- ; 
implies  denial  of  his  universal  providence ;  leads  to  a  denial  of  the  greater  part  of  our 
own  duty  of  submission ;  weakens  the  obligation  to  gratitude."  We  give  thanks  to  God 
for  blessing's  which  come  to  us  through  the  free  acts  of  others ;  but  unless  God  has 
purposed  these  blessings,  we  owe  our  thanks  to  these  others  and  not  to  God.  See  Em- 
mons,  Works,  4  :  273-401 ;  Princeton  Essays,  1 :  57-73. 

III.     OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  DECREES. 

1.     That  they  are  inconsistent  with  the  free  agency  of  man. 

To  this  we  reply  that : 

A.  The  objection  confounds  the  decrees  with  the  execution  of  the  de- 
crees.    The  decrees  are,  like  foreknowledge,  an  act  internal  to  the  divine 
nature,  and  are  no  more  inconsistent  with  free  agency  than  foreknowledge 
is.     Even  foreknowledge  of  events  implies  that  those  events  are  fixed.     If 
this  absolute  fixity  and  foreknowledge  is  not  inconsistent  with  free  agency, 
much  less  can  that  which  is  more  remote  from  man's  action,  namely,  the 
hidden  cause  of  this  fixity  and  foreknowledge — God's  decrees — be  incon- 
sistent with  free   agency.     If  anything  be   inconsistent  with  man's  free 
agency,  it  must  be,  not  the  decrees  themselves,  but  the  execution  of  the 
decrees  in  creation  and  providence. 

On  this  objection,  see  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  244-249 ;  Forbes,  Predestination  and 
Free  Will,  3 — "  All  things  are  predestinated  by  God,  both  good  and  evil,  but  not  preneces- 
sitated,  that  is,  causally  preordained  by  him— unless  we  would  make  God  the  author  of 
sin.  Predestination  is  thus  an  indifferent  word,  in  so  far  as  the  originating  author  of 
anything  is  concerned ;  God  being  the  originator  of  good,  but  the  creature,  of  evil. 
Predestination  therefore  means  that  God  included  in  his  plan  of  the  world  every  act  of 
every  creature,  good  or  bad.  Some  acts  he  predestined  causally,  others  permissively. 
The  certainty  of  the  fulfilment  of  all  God's  purposes  ought  to  be  distinguished  from 
their  necessity."  This  means  simply  that  God's  decree  is  not  the  cause  of  any  act  or 
event.  God's  decrees  may  be  executed  by  the  causal  efficiency  of  his  creatures,  or  they 
may  be  executed  by  his  own  efficiency.  In  either  case  it  is,  if  anything,  the  execution, 
and  not  the  decree,  that  is  inconsistent  with  human  freedom. 

B.  The  objection  rests  upon  a  false  theory  of  free  agency— namely,  that 
free  agency  implies  indeterminateness  or  uncertainty  ;  in  other  words,  that 
free  agency  cannot  coexist  with  certainty  as  to  the  results  of  its  exercise. 
But  it  is  necessity,  not  certainty,  with  which  free  agency  is  inconsistent. 
Free  agency  is  the  power  of  self-determination  in  view  of  motives,  or  man's 
power   (a)  to  choose  between  motives,    and   (b)  to  direct  his  subsequent 
activity  according  to  the  motive  thus  chosen.     Motives  are  never  a  cause, 
but  only  an  occasion ;  they  influence,  but  never  compel ;  the  man  is  the 
cause,  and  herein  is  his  freedom.     But  it  is  also  true  that  man  is  never  in  a 
state  of  indeterminateuess ;  never  acts  without  motive,  or  contrary  to  all 
motives  ;  there  is  always  a  reason  why  he  acts,  and  herein  is  his  rationality. 
Now,  so  far  as  man  acts  according  to  previously  dominant  motive— see  (b) 
above — we  may  by  knowing  his  motive  predict  his  action,  and  our  certainty 


OBJECTIONS   TO    THE    DOCTRINE    OF   DECREES.  177 

what  that  action  will  be  in  no  way  affects  his  freedom.  We  may  even  bring 
motives  to  bear  upon  others,  the  influence  of  which  we  foresee,  yet  those 
who  act  upon  them  may  act  in  perfect  freedom.  But  if  man,  influenced  by 
man,  may  still  be  free,  then  man,  influenced  by  divinely  foreseen  motives, 
may  still  be  free,  and  the  divine  decrees,  which  simply  render  certain  man's 
actions,  may  also  be  perfectly  consistent  with  man's  freedom. 

There  is,  however,  a  smaller  class  of  human  actions  by  which  character  is 
changed,  rather  than  expressed,  and  in  which  the  man  acts  according  to  a 
motive  different  from  that  which  has  previously  been  dominant — see  (a] 
above.  These  actions  also  are  foreknown  by  God,  although  they  cannot  be 
predicted  by  man.  Man's  freedom  in  them  would  be  inconsistent  with 
God's  decrees,  if  the  previous  certainty  of  their  occurrence  were,  not  certainty, 
but  necessity  ;  or,  in  other  words,  if  God's  decrees  were  in  all  cases  decrees 
efficiently  to  produce  the  acts  of  his  creatures.  But  this  is  not  the  case. 
God's  decrees  may  be  executed  by  man's  free  causation,  as  easily  as  by  God's  ; 
and  God's  decreeing  this  free  causation,  in  decreeing  to  create  a  universe  of 
which  he  foresees  that  this  causation  will  be  a  part,  in  no  way  interferes 
with  the  freedom  of  such  causation,  but  rather  secures  and  establishes  it. 
Both  consciousness  and  conscience  witness  that  God's  decrees  are  not  exe- 
cuted by  laying  compulsion  upon  the  free  wills  of  men. 

It  may  aid  us,  in  estimating  the  force  of  this  objection,  to  note  the  four 
senses  in  which  the  term  '  freedom '  may  be  used.  It  may  be  used  as  equiv- 
alent to  ( 1 )  physical  freedom,  or  absence  of  outward  constraint ;  (2)  for- 
mal freedom,  or  a  state  of  moral  indeterminateness  ;  ( 3 )  moral  freedom, 
or  self-determinateness  in  view  of  motives  ;  (4)  real  freedom,  or  ability  to 
conform  to  the  divine  standard.  With  the  first  of  these  we  are  not  now 
concerned,  since  all  agree  that  the  decrees  lay  no  outward  constraint  upon 
men.  Freedom  in  the  second  sense  has  no  existence,  since  all  men  have 
character.  Free  agency,  or  freedom  in  the  third  sense,  has  just  been  shown 
to  be  consistent  with  the  decrees.  Freedom  in  the  fourth  sense,  or  real 
freedom,  is  the  special  gift  of  God,  and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  free 
agency.  The  objection  mentioned  above  rests  wholly  upon  the  second  of 
these  definitions  of  free  agency.  This  we  have  shown  to  be  false,  and  with 
this  the  objection  itself  falls  to  the  ground. 

A  more  full  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Will  is  given  under  the  head  of  Anthro- 
pology. It  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that  the  Arminian  objections  to  the  decrees  arise 
almost  wholly  from  erroneously  conceiving-  of  freedom  as  the  will's  power  to  decide,  in 
any  given  case,  against  its  own  character  and  all  the  motives  brought  to  bear  upon  it. 
As  we  shall  hereafter  see,  this  is  practically  to  deny  that  man  has  character,  or  that  the 
will  by  its  right  or  wrong-  moral  action  gives  to  itself,  as  well  as  to  the  intellect  and 
affections,  a  permanent  bent  or  predisposition  to  g-ood  or  evil.  It  is  to  extend  the  power 
of  contrary  choice,  a  power  which  belongs  to  the  sphere  of  transient  volition,  over 
all  those  permanent  states  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will  which  we  call  the  moral  char- 
acter, and  to  say  that  we  can  chang-e  directly  by  a  singie  volition  that  which,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  we  can  chang-e  only  indirectly  through  processes  and  means.  Yet  even  this 
exaggerated  view  of  freedom  would  seem  not  to  exclude  God's  decrees,  or  prevent  a 
practical  reconciliation  of  the  Arminian  and  Calvinistic  views,  so  long-  as  the  Arminian 
grants  God's  foreknowledge  of  free  human  acts,  and  the  Calvinist  grants  that  God's 
decree  of  these  acts  is  not  necessarily  a  decree  that  God  will  efficiently  produce  them. 
For  a  close  approximation  of  the  two  views,  see  articles  by  Raymond  and  by  A.  A. 
Hodge,  respectively,  on  the  Arminian  and  the  Calvinistic  Doctrines  of  the  Will,  in  Mc- 
Clintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia,  10  :  989,  992. 

We  therefore  hold  to  the  certainty  of  human  action,  and  so  part  company  with  the 
12 


178  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS    OF    GOD. 

Arminian.  We  cannot,  with  Whedon  (On  the  Will),  Tappan  ( On  the  Will),  and  Hazartf 
( Man  a  Creative  First  Cause ),  attribute  to  the  will  the  freedom  of  indifference,  or  the 
power  to  act  without  motive.  We  hold  with  Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  183,  that 
action  without  motive,  or  an  act  of  pure  will,  is  unknown  in  consciousness  (see,  how- 
ever, an  inconsistent  statement  of  Calderwood,  on  page  188  of  the  same  work).  Every 
future  human  act  will  not  only  be  performed  with  a  motive,  but  will  certainly  be  one 
thing  rather  than  another;  and  God  knows  what  it  will  be.  Whatever  may  be  the 
method  of  God's  foreknowledge,  and  whether  it  be  derived  from  motives  or  be  intuitive, 
that  foreknowledge  presupposes  God's  decree  to  create,  and  so  presupposes  the  making 
certain  of  the  free  acts  that  follow  creation. 

But  this  certainty  is  not  necessity.  In  reconciling  God's  decrees  with  human  free- 
dom, we  must  not  go  to  the  other  extreme,  and  reduce  human  freedom  to  mere  deter- 
minism, or  the  power  of  the  agent  to  act  out  his  character  in  the  circumstances  which 
environ  him.  Human  action  is  not  simply  the  expression  of  previously  dominant  affec- 
tions; else  neither  Satan  nor  Adam  could  have  fallen,  nor  could  the  Christian  ever  sin. 
We  therefore  part  company  with  Jonathan  Edwards  and  his  Treatise  on  the  Freedom 
of  the  Will,  as  well  as  with  the  younger  Edwards  (Works,  1 :  420),  Alexander  (Moral 
Science,  107),  and  Charles  Hodge  (Syst.  Theology,  2  :  278),  all  of  whom  follow  Jonathan 
Edwards  in  identifying  sensibility  with  the  will,  in  regarding  affections  as  the  causes  of 
volitions,  and  in  speaking  of  the  connection  between  motive  and  action  as  a  necessary 
one.  We  hold,  on  the  contrary,  that  sensibility  and  will  are  two  distinct  powers,  that 
affections  are  occasions  but  never  causes'of  volitions,  and  that,  while  motives  may  in- 
fallibly persuade,  they  never  compel  the  will.  The  power  to  make  the  decision  other 
than  it  is  resides  in  the  will,  though  it  may  never  be  exercised.  With  Charnock,  the 
Puritan  (Attributes,  1 :  448-450),  we  say  that  "  man  hath  a  power  to  do  otherwise  than 
that  which  God  foreknows  he  will  do."  Since,  then,  God's  decrees  are  not  executed  by 
laying  compulsion  upon  human  wills,  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  man's  freedom. 
See  article  by  A.  H  Strong,  on  Modified  Calvinism,  or  Remainders  of  Freedom  in  Man, 
in  Baptist  Review,  1883  :  219-243. 

2.     That  they  take  away  all  motive  for  human  exertion. 

To  this  we  reply  that : 

(a)  They  cannot  thus  influence  men,  since  they  are  not  addressed  to 
men,  are  not  the  rule  of  human  action,  and  become  known  only  after  the 
event.  This  objection  is  therefore  the  mere  excuse  of  indolence  and  dis- 
obedience. 

Men  rarely  make  this  excuse  in  any  enterprise  in  which  their  hopes  and  their  interests 
are  enlisted.  It  is  mainly  in  matters  of  religion  that  men  use  the  divine  decrees  as  an 
apology  for  their  sloth  and  inaction. 

(6)  The  objection  confounds  the  decrees  of  God  with  fate.  But  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  fate  is  unintelligent,  while  the  decrees  are  framed  by  a 
personal  God  in  infinite  wisdom  ;  fate  is  indistinguishable  from  material 
causation  and  leaves  no  room  for  human  freedom,  while  the  decrees  exclude 
all  notion  of  physical  necessity ;  fate  embraces  no  moral  ideas  or  ends, 
while  the  decrees  make  these  controlling  in  the  universe. 

North  British  Rev.,  April,  1870—"  Determinism  and  predestination  spring  from  prem- 
ises which  lie  in  quite  separate  regions  of  thought.  The  predestinarian  is  obliged  by 
his  theology  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  free  will  in  God,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he 
does  admit  it  in  the  devil.  But  the  final  consideration  which  puts  a  great  gulf  between 
the  determinist  and  the  predestinarian  is  this,  that  the  latter  asserts  the  reality  of  the 
vulgar  notion  of  moral  desert.  Even  if  he  were  not  obliged  by  his  interpretation  of 
Scripture  to  assert  this,  he  would  be  obliged  to  assert  it  in  order  to  help  out  his  doctrine 
of  eternal  reprobation." 

(c)  The  objection  ignores  the  logical  relation  between  the  decree  of  the 
end  and  the  decree  of  the  means  to  secure  it.  The  decrees  of  God  not  only 
ensure  the  end  to  be  attained,  but  they  ensure  free  human  action  as  logically 


OBJECTIONS    TO    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    DECREES.  179 

prior  thereto.  All  conflict  between  the  decrees  and  human  exertion  must 
therefore  be  apparent  and  not  real.  Since  consciousness  and  Scripture 
assure  us  that  free  agency  exists,  it  must  exist  by  divine  decree ;  and 
though  we  may  be  ignorant  of  the  method  in  which  the  decrees  are 
executed,  we  have  no  right  to  doubt  either  the  decrees  or  the  freedom. 
They  must  be  held  to  be  consistent,  until  one  of  them  is  proved  to  be  a 
delusion. 

The  double  track  of  a  railway  enables  a  formidable  approaching-  train  to  slip  by  with- 
out colliding-  with  our  own.  Our  globe  takes  us  with  it,  as  it  rushes  round  the  sun,  yet 
we  do  our  ordinary  work  without  interruption.  The  two  movements  which  at  first  sight 
seem  inconsistent  with  each  other  are  really  parts  of  one  whole.  God's  plan  and  man's 
effort  are  equally  in  harmony. 

(d]  Since  the  decrees  connect  means  and  ends  together,  and  ends  are 
decreed  only  as  the  result  of  means,  they  encourage  effort  instead  of  dis- 
couraging it.  Belief  in  God's  plan  that  success  shall  reward  toil,  incites  to 
courageous  and  persevering  effort.  Upon  the  very  ground  of  God's  decree, 
the  Scripture  urges  us  to  the  diligent  use  of  means. 

God  has  decreed  the  harvest  only  as  the  result  of  man's  labor  in  sowing-  and  reaping- ; 
God  decrees  wealth  to  the  man  who  works  and  saves ;  so  answers  are  decreed  to  prayer, 
and  salvation  to  faith.  Compare  Paul's  declaration  of  God's  purpose  (Acts  27  :  22,  24—"  there 
shall  be  no  loss  of  life  among  you  ....  God  hath  granted  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee  "  )  with  his  warning 
to  the  centurion  and  sailors  to  use  the  means  of  safety  (verse  31—"  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship, 
ye  cannot  be  saved  ").  See  also  Phil.  2  : 12, 13—"  work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is 
God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure  "  ;  Eph.  2  : 10 — "we  are  his  workmanship, 
created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them  "  ;  Deut.  29  :  29— "the 
secret  things  belong  unto  the  Lord  our  God :  bnt  the  things  that  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to  our  children  for  ever, 
that  we  may  do  all  the  words  of  this  law."  See  Bennett  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  252-254. 

3.     That  they  make  God  the  author  of  sin. 

To  this  we  reply  : 

(a)  They  make  God,  not  the  author  of  sin,  but  the  author  of  free  beings 
who  are  themselves  the  authors  of  sin.  God  does  not  decree  efficiently  to 
work  evil  desires  or  choices  in  men.  He  decrees  sin  only  in  the  sense  of 
decreeing  to  create  and  preserve  those  who  will  sin ;  in  other  words,  he 
decrees  to  create  and  preserve  human  wills  which,  in  their  own  self-chosen 
courses,  will  be  and  do  evil.  In  all  this,  man  attributes  sin  to  himself  and 
not  to  God,  and  God  hates,  denounces,  and  punishes  sin. 

Joseph's  brethren  were  none  the  less  wicked  for  the  fact  that  God  meant  their  conduct 
to  result  in  good  (Gen.  50  :  20).  Pope  Leo  X  and  his  indulgences  brought  on  the  Refor- 
mation, but  he  was  none  the  less  guilty.  Slaveholders  would  have  been  no  more  excus- 
able, even  if  they  had  been  able  to  prove  that  the  negro  race  was  cursed  in  the  curse  of 
Canaan  (Gen.  9  : 25— "Cursed  be  Canaan;  a  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren").  Fitch,  in 
Christian  Spectator,  3 :  601—"  There  can  be  and  is  a  purpose  of  God  which  is  not  an 
efficient  purpose.  It  embraces  the  voluntary  acts  of  moral  beings,  without  creating 
those  acts  by  divine  efficiency." 

(6)  The  decree  to  permit  sin  is  therefore  not  an  efficient  but  a  permis- 
sive decree,  or  a  decree  to  permit,  in  distinction  from  a  decree  to  produce 
by  his  own  efficiency.  No  difficulty  attaches  to  such  a  decree  to  permit  sin, 
which  does  not  attach  to  the  actual  permission  of  it.  But  God  does  actually 
permit  sin,  and  it  must  be  right  for  him  to  permit  it.  It  must  therefore  be 
be  right  for  him  to  decree  to  permit  it.  If  God's  holiness  and  wisdom  and 
power  are  not  impugned  by  the  actual  existence  of  moral  evil,  they  are  not 
impugned  by  the  original  decree  that  it  should  exist. 


180         NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  Freedom  of  Will,  in  Works,  2 :  254—"  If  by  the  author  of  sin  be 
meant  the  sinner,  the  agent,  or  the  actor  of  sin,  or  the  doer  of  a  wicked  thing — so  it 

would  be  a  reproach  and  blasphemy  to  suppose  God  to  be  the  author  of  sin But  if 

by  author  of  sin  is  meant  the  permitter  or  not-hinderer  of  sin,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
disposer  of  the  state  of  events  in  such  a  manner,  for  wise,  holy,  and  most  excellent  ends 
and  purposes,  that  sin,  if  it  be  permitted  and  not  hindered,  will  most  certainly  follow,  I 
do  not  deny  that  God  is  the  author  of  sin ;  it  is  no  reproach  to  the  Most  High  to  be  thus 
the  author  of  sin."  On  the  objection  that  the  doctrine  of  decrees  imputes  to  God  two 
wills,  and  that  he  has  foreordained  what  he  has  forbidden,  see  Bennett  Tyler,  Memoir 
and  Lectures,  250-252— "A  ruler  may  forbid  treason ;  but  his  command  does  not  oblige 
him  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  disobedience  to  it.  It  may  promote  the  good  of  his 
kingdom  to  suffer  the  treason  to  be  committed,  and  the  traitor  to  be  punished  according 
to  law.  That  in  view  of  this  resulting  good  he  chooses  not  to  prevent  the  treason,  does 
not  imply  any  contradiction  or  opposition  of  will  in  the  monarch." 

(c)  The  difficulty  is  therefore  one  which  in  substance  clings  to  all  theistic 
systems  alike — the  question  why  moral  evil  is  permitted  under  the  govern- 
ment of  a  God  infinitely  holy,  wise,  powerful,  and  good.  This  problem  is, 
to  our  finite  powers,  incapable  of  full  solution,  and  must  remain  to  a  great 
degree  shrouded  in  mystery.  With  regard  to  it  we  can  only  say  : 

Negatively, —  that  God  does  not  permit  moral  evil  because  he  is  not 
unalterably  opposed  to  sin  ;  nof  because  moral  evil  was  unforeseen  and  inde- 
pendent of  his  will ;  nor  because  he  could  not  have  prevented  it  in  a  moral 
system.  Both  observation  and  experience,  which  testify  to  multiplied  in- 
stances of  deliverance  from  sin  without  violation  of  the  laws  of  man's  being, 
forbid  us  so  to  limit  the  power  of  God. 

Positively, — we  seem  constrained  to  say  that  God  permits  moral  evil  be- 
cause moral  evil,  though  in  itself  abhorrent  to  his  nature,  is  yet  the  incident 
of  a  system  adapted  to  his  purpose  of  self -revelation  ;  and  further,  because 
it  is  his  wise  and  sovereign  will  to  institute  and  maintain  this  system  of 
which  moral  evil  is  an  incident,  rather  than  to  withhold  his  self-revelation 
or  to  reveal  himself  through  another  system  in  which  moral  evil  should  be 
continually  prevented  by  the  exercise  of  divine  power. 

For  advocacy  of  the  view  that  God  cannot  prevent  evil  in  a  moral  system,  see  Birks, 
Difficulties  of  Belief,  17 ;  Young,  The  Mystery,  or  Evil  not  from  God ;  Bledsoe,  Theodicy ; 
N.  W.  Taylor,  Moral  Government,  1 ;  288-349 ;  2 :  327-366.  According  to  Dr.  Taylor's  view, 
God  has  not  a  complete  control  over  the  moral  universe ;  moral  agents  can  do  wrong 
under  every  possible  influence  to  prevent  it ;  God  prefers,  all  things  considered,  that  all 
his  creatures  should  be  holy  and  happy,  and  does  all  in  his  power  to  make  them  so ;  the 
existence  of  sin  is  not  on  the  whole  for  the  best ;  sin  exists  because  God  cannot  prevent 
it  in  a  moral  system ;  the  blessedness  of  God  is  actually  impaired  by  the  disobedience  of 
his  creatures.  For  criticism  of  these  views,  see  Tyler,  Letters  on  the  New  Haven  The- 
ology, 120,  219.  Tyler  argues  that  election  and  non-election  imply  power  in  God  to 
prevent  sin ;  that  permitting  is  not  mere  submitting  to  something  which  he  could  not 
possibly  prevent.  We  would  add  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  God  has  preserved  holy  angels, 
and  that  there  are  "just  men"  who  have  been  "made  perfect"  (Heb.  12  :  23)  without  violating  the 
laws  of  moral  agency.  We  infer  that  God  could  have  so  preserved  Adam.  The  history 
of  the  church  leads  us  to  believe  that  there  is  no  sinner  so  stubborn  that  God  cannot 
renew  his  heart— even  a  Saul  can  be  turned  into  a  Paul.  We  hesitate  therefore  to  ascribe 
limits  to  God's  power.  While  Dr.  Taylor  held  that  God  could  not  prevent  sin  in  a  moral 
system,  that  is,  in  any  moral  system,  Dr.  Park  is  understood  to  hold  the  greatly  prefer- 
able view  that  God  cannot  prevent  sin  in  the  best  moral  system.  Flint,  Christ's  Kingdom 
upon  Earth,  59— "  The  alternative  is,  not  evil  or  no  evil,  but  evil  or  the  miraculous  pre- 
vention of  evil." 

But  even  granting  that  the  present  is  the  best  moral  system,  and  that  in  such  a  system 
«vil  cannot  be  prevented  consistently  with  God's  wisdom  and  goodness,  the  question 
still  remains  how  the  decree  to  initiate  such  a  system  can  consist  with  God's  funda- 
mental attribute  of  holiness.  Of  this  insoluble  mystery  we  must  say  as  Dr.  John  Brown, 


CONCLUDING    REMARKS    ON   DECREES.  181 

in  Spare  Hours,  273,  says  of  Arthur  H.  Hallam's  Theodiceea  Novissima :  "  As  was  to  be 
expected,  the  tremendous  subject  remains  where  he  found  it.  His  glowing  love  and 
genius  cast  a  gleam  here  and  there  across  its  gloom,  but  it  is  as  brief  as  the  lightning 
in  the  collied  night— the  jaws  of  darkness  do  devour  it  up— this  secret  belongs  to  God. 
Across  its  deep  and  dazzling  darkness,  and  from  out  its  abyss  of  thick  cloud,  'all  dark, 
dark,  irrecoverably  dark,'  no  steady  ray  has  ever  or  will  ever  come ;  over  its  face  its 
own  darkness  must  brood,  till  he  to  whom  alone  the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both 
alike,  to  whom  the  night  shineth  as  the  day,  says  '  Let  there  be  light ! '  " 

"We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  decree  of  redemption  is  as  old  as  the  decree  of 
the  apostasy.  The  provision  of  salvation  in  Christ  shows  at  how  great  a  cost  to  God  was 
permitted  the  fall  of  the  race  in  Adam.  He  who  ordained  sin  ordained  also  an  atone- 
ment for  sin  and  a  way  of  escape  from  it.  On  the  permission  of  moral  evil,  see  Butler, 
Analogy,  Bohn's  ed.,  177,  232—"  The  Government  of  God,  and  Christianity,  as  Schemes 
imperfectly  comprehended";  Hill,  System  of  Divinity,  528-559;  Ulrici,  art.  Theodicee, 
in  Herzog's  EncyclopSdie ;  Cunningham,  Historical  Theology,  2 :  416-489 ;  Patton,  on 
Retribution  and  the  Divine  Purpose,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  1878 :  16-23 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  20 :  471-488. 

IV.     CONCLUDING  EEMAEKS. 

1.  Practical  uses  of  the  doctrine  of  decrees. 

(a]  It  inspires  humility  by  its  representation  of  God's  unsearchable 
counsels  and  absolute  sovereignty.  (6)  It  teaches  confidence  in  him  who 
has  wisely  ordered  our  birth,  our  death,  and  our  surroundings,  even  to 
the  minutest  particulars,  and  has  made  all  things  work  together  for  the 
triumph  of  his  kingdom  and  the  good  of  those  who  love  him.  (c)  It  shows 
the  enemies  of  God  that,  as  their  sins  have  been  foreseen  and  provided  for 
in  God's  plan,  so  they  can  never,  while  remaining  in  their  sins,  hope  to 
escape  their  decreed  and  threatened  penalty,  (d)  It  urges  the  sinner  to 
avail  himself  of  the  appointed  means  of  grace,  if  he  would  be  counted 
among  the  number  of  those  for  whom  God  has  decreed  salvation. 

This  doctrine  is  one  of  those  advanced  teachings  of  Scripture  which  requires  for  its 
understanding  a  matured  mind  and  a  deep  experience.  The  beginner  in  the  Christian 
life  may  not  see  its  value  or  even  its  truth,  but  with  increasing  years  it  will  become  a 
staff  to  lean  upon.  In  times  of  affliction,  obloquy  and  persecution,  the  church  has  found 
in  the  decrees  of  God,  and  in  the  prophecies  in  which  those  decrees  are  published,  her 
strong  consolation.  It  is  only  upon  the  basis  of  the  decrees  that  we  can  believe  that 
"  all  things  work  together  for  good  "  (Rom.  8  :  28)  or  pray  "  thy  will  be  done  "  (Mat.  6  : 10). 

It  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  that  even  Arminians  pray  and 
sing  like  Calvinists.  Charles  Wesley,  the  Arminian,  can  write :  "  He  wills  that  I  should 
holy  be— What  can  withstand  his  will  ?  The  counsel  of  his  grace  in  me  He  surely  will 
fulfil."  On  the  Arminian  theory,  prayer  that  God  will  soften  hard  hearts  is  out  of  place 
—the  prayer  should  be  offered  to  the  sinner ;  for  it  is  his  will,  not  God's,  that  is  in  the 
way  of  his  salvation.  And  yet  this  doctrine  of  decrees,  which  at  first  sight  might  seem 
to  discourage  effort,  is  tbe  greatest,  in  fact  is  the  only  effectual,  incentive  to  effort.  For 
this  reason  Calvinists  have  been  the  most  strenuous  advocates  of  civil  liberty.  Those 
who  submit  themselves  most  unreservedly  to  the  sovereignty  of  God  are  most  delivered 
from  the  fear  of  man.  Whitefield  the  Calvinist,  and  not  Wesley  the  Arminian,  origin- 
ated the  great  religious  movement  in  which  the  Methodist  Church  was  born  (see  McFet- 
ridge,  Calvinism  in  History,  153),  and  Spurgeon's  ministry  has  been  as  fruitful  in  conver- 
sions as  Finney's.  See  Froude,  Essay  on  Calvinism  ;  Andrew,  Calvinism  and  Socinianism 
compared  in  their  Practical  Effects ;  Atwater,  Calvinism  in  Doctrine  and  Life,  in  Prince- 
ton Review,  1875 :  73. 

2.  True  method  of  preaching  the  doctrine. 

(a]  We  should  most  carefully  avoid  exaggeration  or  unnecessarily  obnox- 
ious statement.  (6)  We  should  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  decrees  are  not 
grounded  in  arbitrary  will,  but  in  infinite  wisdom,  (c]  We  should  make  it 


182         NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

plain  that  whatever  God  does  or  will  do,  he  must  from  eternity  have  pur- 
posed to  do.  (d]  We  should  illustrate  the  doctrine  so  far  as  possible  by 
instances  of  completeness  and  far-sightedness  in  human  plans  of  great 
enterprises,  (e)  We  may  then  make  extended  application  of  the  truth  to 
the  encouragement  of  the  Christian  and  the  admonition  of  the  unbeliever. 

For  illustrations  of  foresight,  instance  Louis  Napoleon's  planning  the  Suez  Canal,  and 
declaring  his  policy  as  Emperor,  long  before  he  ascended  the  throne  of  France.  For 
instances  of  practical  treatment  of  the  theme  in  preaching,  see  Bushnell,  Sermon  on 
Every  Man's  Life  a  Plan  of  God,  in  Sermons  for  the  New  Life  ;  also  Nehemiah  Adams, 
Evenings  with  the  Doctrines,  243;  Spurgeon's  Sermon  on  Ps.  44  :  3— "Because  thou  hadst  a  favor 
unto  them." 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  WORKS  OF  GOD ;  OR  THE  EXECUTION  OF  THE  DECREES. 


SECTION    I. — CREATION. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  CREATION. 

By  creation  we  mean  that  free  act  of  the  triune  God  by  which  in  the 
beginning  for  his  own  glory  he  made,  without  the  use  of  preexisting  mate- 
rials, the  whole  visible  and  invisible  universe. 

Quenstedt  divides  the  works  of  God  into  three  classes :  ( 1 )  works  of  power,  as  crea- 
tion, and  preservation ;  (2)  works  of  compassion,  as  redemption,  calling,  regeneration ; 
(3)  works  of  justice,  as  resurrection  and  final  judgment. 

In  explanation  we  notice  : 

(a)  Creation  is  not  " production  out  of  nothing,"  as  if  "nothing "  were 
a  substance  out  of  which  "  something  "  could  be  formed. 

We  do  not  regard  the  doctrine  of  creation  as  bound  to  the  use  of  the  phrase  "  creation 
out  of  nothing,"  and  as  standing  or  falling  with  it.  The  phrase  is  a  philosophical  one, 
for  which  we  have  no  Scriptural  warrant,  and  it  is  objectionable  as  intimating  that 
"  nothing  "  can  itself  be  an  object  of  thought  and  a  source  of  being.  The  germ  of  truth 
intended  to  be  conveyed  in  it  can  better  be  expressed  in  the  phrase  "without  use  of 
preexisting  materials." 

(6)  Creation  is  not  a  fashioning  of  preexisting  materials,  nor  an  emana- 
tion from  the  substance  of  Deity,  but  is  a  making  of  that  to  exist  which 
once  did  not  exist,  either  in  form  or  substance. 

There  is  nothing  divine  in  creation  but  the  origination  of  substance.  Fashioning  is 
competent  to  the  creature  also.  Gassendi  said  to  Descartes  that  God's  creation,  if  he 
is  the  author  of  forms  but  not  of  substances,  is  only  that  of  the  tailor  who  clothes  a  man 
with  his  apparel. 

(c)  Creation  is  not  an  instinctive  or  necessary  process  of  the  divine  nature, 
but  is  the  free  act  of  a  rational  will,  put  forth  for  a  definite  and  sufficient  end. 

Creation  is  different  in  kind  from  that  eternal  process  of  the  divine  nature  in  virtue  of 
which  we  speak  of  generation  and  procession.  The  Son  is  begotten  of  the  Father,  and 
is  of  the  same  essence ;  the  world  is  created  without  preexisting  material,  is  different 
from  God,  and  is  made  by  God.  Begetting  is  a  necessary  act ;  creation  is  the  act  of 
God's  free  grace.  Begetting  is  eternal,  out  of  time ;  creation  is  in  time,  or  with  time. 

(d)  Creation  is  the  act  of  the  triune  God,  in  the  sense  that  all  the  persons 
of  the  Trinity,  themselves  uncreated,  have  a  part  in  it — the  Father  as  the 
originating,  the  Son  as  the  mediating,  the  Spirit  as  the  realizing  cause. 

The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  seems  to  be  that  of  completing,  bringing  to  perfection. 
On  the  definition  of  Creation,  see  Shedd,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 :  11. 

183 


184  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF    GOD. 

II.       PKOOF    OF    THE    DOCTKINE    OF    CREATION. 

Creation  is  a  truth  of  which  mere  science  or  reason  cannot  fully  assure 
us.  Physical  science  can  observe  and  record  changes,  but  it  knows  nothing 
of  origins.  Reason  cannot  absolutely  disprove  the  eternity  of  matter.  For 
proof  of  the  doctrine  of  creation,  therefore,  we  rely  wholly  upon  Scripture. 
Scripture  supplements  science,  and  renders  its  explanation  of  the  universe 
complete. 

Drummond,  in  his  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  claims  that  atoms,  as  "  manu- 
factured articles,"  and  the  dissipation  of  energy,  prove  the  creation  of  the  visible  from 
the  invisible.  See  the  same  doctrine  propounded  in  "The  Unseen  Universe."  But  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  tells  us :  "  Geology  is  the  autobiography  of  the  earth  —  but  like  all  auto- 
biographies, it  does  not  go  back  to  the  beginning."  Hopkins,  Yale  Lectures  on  the 
Scriptural  View  of  Man :  "  There  is  nothing  a  priori  against  the  eternity  of  matter." 
Wardlaw,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 :  65—"  We  cannot  form  any  distinct  conception  of  creation  out 
of  nothing.  The  very  idea  of  it  might  never  have  occurred  to  the  mind  of  man,  had  it 
not  been  traditionally  handed  down  as  part  of  the  original  revelation  to  the  parents  of 
the  race." 

Hartmann,  the  German  philosopher,  goes  back  to  the  original  elements  of  the  universe, 
and  then  says  that  science  stands  petrified  before  the  question  of  their  origin,  as  before 
a  Medusa's  head.  But  in  the  presence  of  problems,  says  Dorner,  the  duty  of  science  is 
not  petrifaction,  but  solution.  This  is  peculiarly  true,  if  science  is,  as  Hartmann  thinks, 
a  complete  explanation  of  the  universe.  Since  science,  by  her  own  acknowledgment, 
furnishes  no  such  explanation  of  the  origin  of  things,  the  Scripture  revelation  with 
regard  to  creation  meets  a  demand  of  human  reason,  by  adding  the  one  fact  without 
which  science  must  forever  be  devoid  o'f  the  highest  unity  and  rationality.  For  advo- 
cacy of  the  eternity  of  matter,  see  Martineau,  Essays,  1 :  157-169. 

1.     Direct  /Scripture  statements. 

A.  Genesis  1  :  1 — "In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth."  To  this  it  has  been  objected  that  the  verb  JO  3  does  not  necessarily 
denote  production  without  the  use  of  preexisting  materials  (see  Gen.  1  :  27 
— "  God  created  man  in  his  own  image  "  ;  of.  2  :  7 — "the  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground"  ;  also  Ps.  51 :  10 — "create  in  me  a  clean 
heart"). 

"In  the  first  two  chapters  of  Genesis  JO3  is  used  (1)  of  the  creation  of  the  universe 
(1:1);  (2)  of  the  creation  of  the  great  sea  monsters  (1 :  21 ) ;  (3)  of  the  creation  of  man 
(1 :27).  Everywhere  else  we  read  of  God's  -making,  as  from  an  already  created  sub- 
stance, the  firmament  (1:7),  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  ( 1 : 16 ),  the  brute  creation  ( 1 :  25 ) ; 
or  of  his  forming  the  beasts  of  the  field  out  of  the  ground  ( 2 : 19 ) ;  or,  lastly,  of  his 
building  up  into  a  woman  the  rib  he  had  taken  from  man  (2  :  22,  margin )  "—quoted  from 
Bible  Com.,  1:  31.  Guyot,  Creation,  30 — "Bam  is  thus  reserved  for  marking  the  first 
introduction  of  each  of  the  three  great  spheres  of  existence  -the  world  of  matter,  the 
world  of  life,  and  the  spiritual  world  represented  by  man." 

But  we  reply  : 

(a)  While  we  acknowledge  that  the  verb  &H3  "does  not  necessarily  or 
invariably  denote  production  without  the  use  of  preexisting  materials,  we 
still  maintain  that  it  signifies  the  production  of  an  effect  for  which  no  nat- 
ural antecedent  existed  before,  and  which  can  be  only  the  result  of  divine 
agency. "  For  this  reason,  in  the  Kal  species  it  is  used  only  of  God,  and  is 
never  accompanied  by  an  accusative  denoting  material. 

No  accusative  denoting  material  follows  bara,  in  the  passages  indicated,  for  the  reason 
that  all  thought  of  material  was  absent.  See  Dillmann,  Genesis,  18;  Oehler,  Theol. 
O.  T.,  1 :  177.  The  quotation  in  the  text  above  is  from  Green,  Hebrew  Chrestomathy,  67. 


PROOF    OF   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    CREATION".  185 

(6)  In  the  account  of  the  creation,  &O3  is  accurately  distinguished  from, 
to  make  "  either  with  or  without  the  use  of  already  existing  material 
SO3,  "created  in  making"  or  "made  by  creation,"  in  2:3;  and 
l\,  of  the  firmament,  in  1  :  7),  and  from  ")^,  "to  form"  out  of  such  ma- 
rial.  (See  fcOTI,  of  man  regarded  as  a  spiritual  being,  in  1 :  27  ;  but  "TO^  of 
man  regarded  as  a  physical  being,  in  2  :  7). 

See  Conant,  Genesis,  1 ;  Bible  Com.,  1 :  37—"  '  created  to  make '  ( in  Gen.  2:3)  =  created 
out  of  nothing-,  in  order  that  he  might  make  out  of  it  all  the  works  recorded  in  the  six 
days." 

(c)  The  context  shows  that  the  meaning  here  is  a  making  without  the  use 
of  preexisting  materials.     Since  the  earth  in  its  rude,  unformed,  chaotic 
condition  is  still  called  "the  earth  "  in  verse  2,  the  word  frO3  in  verse  1  can- 
not refer  to  any  shaping  or  fashioning  of  the  elements,  but  must  signify  the 
calling  of  them  into  being. 

(d)  The  fact  that  JO  3  may  have  had  an  original  signification  of  "cutting," 
"  forming,"  and  that  it  retains  this  meaning  in  the  Piel  conjugation,  need  not 
prejudice  the  conclusion  thus  reached,  since  terms  expressive  of  the  most 
spiritual  processes  are  derived  from  sensuous  roots.    If  &O3  does  not  signify 
absolute  creation,  no  word  exists  in  the  Hebrew  language  that  can  express 
this  idea. 

(e)  But  this  idea  of  production  without  the  use  of  preexisting  materials 
unquestionably  existed  among  the  Hebrews.     The  later  Scriptures  show 
that  it  had  become  natural  to  the  Hebrew  mind.     The  possession  of  this 
idea  can  be  best  explained  by  supposing  that  it  was  derived  from  this  early 
revelation. 

Bib.  Com.,  1:  31— "Perhaps  no  other  ancient  language,  however  refined  and  philo- 
sophical, could  have  so  clearly  distinguished  the  different  acts  of  the  Maker  of  all  things 
[as  the  Hebrew  did  with  its  four  different  words],  and  that  because  all  heathen  philoso- 
phy esteemed  matter  to  be  eternal  and  uncreated."  Prof.  E.  D.  Burton :  "  Brahmanism^ 
and  the  original  religion  of  which  Zoroastrianism  was  a  reformation,  were  eastern  and. 
western  divisions  of  a  primitive  Aryan,  and  probably  monotheistic,  religion.  The 
Vedas,  which  represent  the  Brahmanism,  leave  it  a  question  whence  the  world  came, 
whether  from  God  by  emanation,  or  by  the  shaping  of  material  eternally  existent. 
Later  Brahmanism  is  pantheistic,  and  Buddhism,  the  reformation  of  Brahmanism,  is 
atheistic." 

We  are  inclined  still  to  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  absolute  creation  was  known  to  no 
other  ancient  nation  besides  the  Hebrews.  Recent  investigations,  however,  render  this 
somewhat  more  doubtful  than  it  once  seemed  to  be.  It  is  now  claimed  by  some  that 
Zoroastrianism,  the  Vedas,  and  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  had  the  idea  of 
absolute  creation.  On  Creation  in  the  Zoroastrian  system,  see  our  treatment  of  Dual- 
ism, page  188.  Vedic  hymn  in  Rig  Veda,  10  :  9,  quoted  by  J.  F.  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Re- 
ligions, 2  :  205 — "Originally  this  universe  was  soul  only;  nothing  else  whatsoever 
existed,  active  or  inactive.  He  thought :  '  I  will  create  worlds ' ;  thus  he  created  these 
various  worlds :  earth,  light,  mortal  being,  and  the  waters."  Renouf,  Hibbert  Lectures, 
216-222,  speaks  of  a  papyrus  on  the  staircase  of  the  British  Museum,  which  reads:  "  The 

great  God,  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  made  all  things  which  are the  almighty 

God,  self -existent,  who  made  heaven  and  earth the  heaven  was  yet  uncreated,  un- 
created was  the  earth ;  thou  hast  put  together  the  earth who  made  all  things,  but 

was  not  made." 

But  the  Egyptian  religion  in  its  later  development,  as  well  as  Brahmanism,  was  pan- 
theistic, and  it  is  possible  that  all  the  expressions  we  have  quoted  are  to  be  interpreted,, 
not  as  indicating  a  belief  in  creation  out  of  nothing,  but  as  asserting  emanation,  or  the 
taking  on  by  deity  of  new  forms  and  modes  of  existence.  On  creation  in  heathen  sys- 
tems, see  Pierret,  Mythologie,  and  answer  to  it  by  Maspero ;  Hymn  to  Amen-Rha,  in 
"Records  of  the  Past"  ;  G.  C.  Muller,  Literature  of  Greece,  87,  88. 


186  MATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 

B.  Hebrews  11  :  3 — '*  By  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds  have  been 
framed  by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath  not  been  made  out  of 
things  which  do  appear  "  ( Bible  Union  version )  =  the  world  was  not  made 
out  of  sensible  and  preexisting  material,  but  by  the  direct  fiat  of  omnipo- 
tence (see  Alford,  and  Lunemann,  Meyer's  Com.  in  loco). 

Compare  Maccabees  7  : 28—  e£  ov<  ovrtav  fno^ev  ai>ra  6  ©e6s.  This  the  Vulgate  translated 
by  "  quia  ex  nihilo  fecit  ilia  Deus,"  and  from  the  Vulgate  the  phrase  "  creation  out  of 
nothing"  is  derived.  Hedge,  Ways  of  the  Spirit,  points  out  that  Wisdom  11 : 17  has  eg 
a/a6p</>ov  VAT,?,  interprets  by  this  the  ef  ow  "OVTM  in  Maccabees,  and  denies  that  this  last 
refers  to  creation  out  of  nothing.  But  we  must  remember  that  the  later  Apocryphal 
writings  were  composed  under  the  influence  of  the  Platonic  philosophy ;  that  the  pas- 
sage in  Wisdom  may  be  a  rationalistic  interpretation  of  that  in  Maccabees;  and  that 
even  if  it  were  independent,  we  are  not  to  assume  a  harmony  of  view  in  the  Apocrypha. 
Maccabees  7  :  28  must  stand  by  itself  as  a  testimony  to  Jewish  belief  in  creation  without 
use  of  preexisting  material,— a  belief  which  can  be  traced  to  no  other  source  than  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Compare  Ex.  34:10— "I  will  do  marvels  such  as  have  not  been  wrought 
[marg.  ' created ']  in  all  the  earth  "  ;  Num.  16  :  30 — "if  the  Lord  make  a  new  thing,"  [  marg.  "  create  a  creation "  ] ; 
Is.  4  :  5— "the  Lord  will  create  ....  a  cloud  and  smoke  "  ;  41  :  20— "the  Holy  One  of  Israel  hath  created  it"  ;  45  :  7,  8 
— "I  form  the  light,  and  create  darkness"  ;  57  : 19 — "I  create  the  fruit  of  the  lips"  ;  65  : 17 — "I create  new  heavens 
and  a  new  earth  "  ;  Jer.  31  :  22—"  The  Lord  hath  created  a  new  thing  "  ;  Rom.  4  : 17—"  God  who  quickeneth  the  dead, 
and  calleth  the  things  that  are  not  as  though  they  were "  ;  1  Cor.  1 :  28 — "things  that  are  not"  [did  God  choose] 
"  that  he  might  bring  to  naught  the  things  that  are." 

2.     Indirect  evidence  from  Scripture. 

(a)  The  past  duration  of  the  world  is  limited ;  (6)  before  the  world 
began  to  be,  each  of  the  persons  of  the  Godhead  already  existed ;  (c)  the 
origin  of  the  universe  is  ascribed  to  God,  and  to  each  of  the  persons  of  the 
Godhead.  These  representations  of  Scripture  are  not  only  most  consistent 
with  the  view  that  the  universe  was  created  by  God  without  use  of  preex- 
isting material,  but  they  are  inexplicable  upon  any  other  hypothesis. 

(a)  Mark  13  : 19 — "from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  which  God  created  until  now"  ;  John  17  :  5 — "before  the 
world  was"  ;  Eph.  1  :  4 — "before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  (b)  Ps.  90  :  2 — "Before  the  mountains  were  brought 
forth  or  ever  thou  hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  thou  art  God" ;  Prov. 
8  :  23 — "  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth  was  "  ;  John  1  : 1 — "  In  the  beginning  was 
the  Word "  ;  Col.  1 : 17—" he  is  bsfore  all  things "  ;  Hab.  9  : 14—" the  eternal  Spirit "  (see  Tholuck,  Com.  in 
Joco).  (c)  Eph.  3  : 9—"  God  who  created  all  things"  ;  Rom.  11 :  36— "of  him  ....  are  all  things"  ;  1  Cor.  8 :  6— 
•"  one  God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things  ....  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  are  all  things  "  ;  John  1 :  3 — 
"all  things  were  made  through  him  " ;  Col.  1 : 16 — "in  him  were  all  things  created  ....  all  things  have  been  created 
through  him,  and  unto  him"  ;  Heb.  1 :  2— "through  whom  also  he  made  the  worlds"  ;  Gen.  1  :  2— "and  the  spirit  of 
God  moved  [marg.  '  was  brooding ']  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  See,  on  this  indirect  proof  of  creation, 
Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  232.  Since  other  views,  however,  have  been  held  to  be  more 
rational  than  that  of  creation  out  of  nothing,  we  proceed  to  the  examination  of 

III.     THEORIES  WHICH  OPPOSE  CREATION. 

1.     Dualism. 

Of  dualism  there  are  two  forms  : 

A.  That  which  holds  to  two  self-existent  principles,  God  and  matter. 
These  are  distinct  from  and  coeternal  with  each  other.  Matter,  however, 
is  an  unconscious,  negative,  and  imperfect  substance,  which  is  subordinate 
to  God,  and  is  made  the  instrument  of  his  will.  This  was  the  view  of  the 
Alexandrian  Gnostics.  It  was  essentially  an  attempt  to  combine  with  Chris- 
tianity the  Platonic  conception  of  the  vty.  In  this  way  it  thought  to  account 
for  the  existence  of  evil,  and  to  escape  the  difficulty  of  imagining  a  produc- 
tion without  use  of  preexisting  material.  A  similar  view  has"  been  held 


THEORIES    WHICH    OPPOSE    CREATION.  187 

in  modern  times  by  John  Stuart  Mill,  and  apparently  by  Frederick  W. 
Robertson. 

Basilides  (flourished  125)  and  Valentinus  (died  160)  best  represent  the  Alexandrian 
Gnostics.  Lightfoot,  Com.  on  Colossians,  76-113,  esp.  82,  has  traced  a  connection  between 
the  Gnostic  doctrine,  the  earlier  Colossian  heresy,  and  the  still  earlier  teaching1  of  the 
Essenes  of  Palestine.  All  these  were  characterized  by  ( 1 )  the  spirit  of  caste  or  intel- 
lectual ex  clusiveness;  (2)  peculiar  tenets  as  to  creation  and  as  to  evil ;  (3)  practical 
asceticism.  Matter  is  evil  and  separates  man  from  God ;  hence  intermediate  beings  be- 
tween man  and  God  as  objects  of  worship ;  hence  also  mortification  of  the  body  as  a 
means  of  purifying  man  from  sin.  Paul's  antidote  for  both  errors  was  simply  the 
person  of  Christ,  the  true  and  only  Mediator  and  Sanctifler.  See  Guericke,  Church 
History,  1 : 161. 

The  author  of  "The  Unseen  Universe"  (page  17)  wrongly  calls  John  Stuart  Mill 
a  Manichaean.  But  Mill  disclaims  belief  in  the  personality  of  this  principle  that  resists 
and  limits  God  — see  his  posthumous  Essays  on  Religion,  176-195.  F.  W.  Robertson, 
Lectures  on  Genesis,  4-16 :  "  Before  the  creation  of  the  world  all  was  chaos  ....  but 
with  the  creation,  order  beg-an  ....  God  did  not  cease  from  creation,  for  creation  is 
going-  on  every  day.  Nature  is  God  at  work.  Only  after  surprising-  changes,  as  in 
spring-time,  do  we  say  figuratively,  '  God  rests.'  " 

With  regard  to  this  view  we  remark  : 

(a)  The  maxim  ex  nihilo  nihil  Jit,  upon  which  it  rests,  is  true  only  in 
so  far  as  it  asserts  that  no  event  takes  place  without  a  cause.     It  is  false,  if 
it  mean  that  nothing  can  ever  be  made  except  out  of  material  previously 
existing.     The  maxim  is  therefore  applicable  only  to  the  realm  of  second 
causes,  and  does  not  bar  the  creative  power  of  the  great  first  Cause.     The 
doctrine  of  creation  does  not  dispense  with  a  cause ;  on  the  other  hand,  it 
assigns  to  the  universe  a  sufficient  cause  in  God. 

Lucretius:  "Nihil  posse  creari  De  nihilo,  neque  quod  genitum  est  ad  nihil  revocari." 
Persius:  "Gigni  De  nihilo  nihil,  in  nihilum  nil  posse  reverti."  Martensen,  Dogmatics, 
116— "The  nothing,  out  of  which  God  creates  the  world,  is  the  eternal  possibilities  of  his 
will,  which  are  the  sources  of  all  the  actualities  of  the  world1."  Lewes,  Problems  of 
Life  and  Mind,  2 :  292—"  When  therefore  it  is  argued  that  the  creation  of  something 
from  nothing  is  unthinkable  and  is  therefore  peremptorily  to  be  rejected,  the  ai'gument 
seems  to  me  to  be  defective.  The  process  is  thinkable  but  not  imaginable,  conceivable 
but  not  provable."  See  Cudworth,  Intellectual  System,  3 :  81,  sq. 

(b)  Although  creation  without  the  use  of  preexisting  material  is  incon- 
ceivable, in  the  sense  of  being  unpicturable  to  the  imagination,  yet  the 
eternity  of  matter  is  equally  inconceivable.     For  creation  without  pre- 
existing material,  moreover,  we  find  remote  analogies  in  our  own  creation 
of  ideas  and  volitions,  a  fact  as  inexplicable  as  God's  bringing  of  new  sub- 
stances into  being. 

Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature,  371,  372—"  We  have  to  a  certain  extent  an  aid  to  the 
thoug-ht  of  absolute  creation  in  our  own  free  volition,  which,  as  absolutely  originating 
and  determining,  may  be  taken  as  the  type  to  us  of  the  creative  act."  We  speak  of  *  the 
creative  faculty '  of  the  artist  or  poet.  We  cannot  give  reality  to  the  products  of  our 
imaginations,  as  God  can  to  his.  But  if  thought  were  only  substance,  the  analogy  would 
be  complete. 

(c)  It  is  unphilosophical  to  postulate  two  eternal  substances,  when  one 
self-existent  Cause  of  all  things  will  account  for  the  facts. 

(d)  It  contradicts  our  fundamental  notion  of  God  as  absolute  sovereign 
to  suppose  the  existence  of  any  other  substance  to  be  independent  of  his 
will. 

(e)  This  second  substance  with  which  God  must  of  necessity  work,  since 


188  NATURE,    DECREES,,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

it  is,  according  to  the  theory,  inherently  evil  and  the  source  of  evil,  not  only 
limits  God's  power,  but  destroys  his  blessedness. 

(/)  This  theory  does  not  answer  its  purpose  of  accounting  for  moral 
evil,  unless  it  be  also  assumed  that  spirit  is  material, — in  which  case  dual- 
ism gives  place  to  materialism. 

Martensen,  Dogmatics,  121 :  "  God  becomes  a  mere  demiurge,  if  nature  existed  be- 
fore spirit.  That  spirit  only  who  in  a  perfect  sense  is  able  to  commence  his  work  of 
creation  can  have  power  to  complete  it."  If  God  does  not  create,  he  must  use  what 
material  he  finds,  and  this  working  with  intractable  material  must  be  his  perpetua. 
sorrow.  Such  limitation  in  the  power  of  the  deity  seemed  to  John  Stuart  Mill  the  best 
explanation  of  the  existing  imperfections  of  the  universe. 

The  other  form  of  dualism  is  : 

B.  That  which  holds  to  the  eternal  existence  of  two  antagonistic  spirits, 
one  evil  and  the  other  good.  In  this  view,  matter  is  not  a  negative  and 
imperfect  substance  which  nevertheless  has  self-existence,  but  is  either  the 
work  or  the  instrument  of  a  personal  and  positively  malignant  intelligence, 
who  wages  war  against  all  good.  This  was  the  view  of  the  Manichaeans. 
Manichaeanism  is  a  compound  of  Christianity  and  the  Persian  doctrine  of 
two  eternal  and  opposite  intelligences.  Zoroaster,  however,  held  matter  ta 
be  pure,  and  to  be  the  creation  of  the  good  Being.  Mani  apparently 
regarded  matter  as  captive  to  the  evil  spirit,  if  not  absolutely  his  creation. 

The  old  story  of  Mani's  travels  in  Greece  is  wholly  a  mistake.  Guericke,  Church 
History,  1  : 185-187,  maintains  that  Manichseanism  contains  no  mixture  of  Platonic 
philosophy,  has  no  connection  with  Judaism,  and  as  a  sect  came  into  no  direct  relations 
with  the  Catholic  church.  Harnoch,  Wegweiser,  22,  calls  Manichaeanism  a  compound 
of  Gnosticism  and  Parseeism.  Herzog,  Encyclopaedic,  art. :  Mani  und  die  ManichSer, 
regards  Manichseanism  as  the  fruit,  acme,  and  completion  of  Gnosticism.  Gnosticism 
was  a  heresy  in  the  church ;  Manicheeanism,  like  New  Platonism,  was  an  anti-church . 
J.  P.  Lange :  "  These  opposing  theories  represent  various  pagan  conceptions  of  the  world,, 
which,  after  the  manner  of  palimpsests,  show  through  Christianity." 

On  the  Religion  of  Zoroaster,  see  Haug,  Essays  on  Parsees,  139-161,  302-309;  also  quota- 
tions on  pp.  167, 169 ;  Monier  Williams,  in  19th  Century,  Jan.,  1881 :  155-177 ;  Ahura  Mazda 
was  the  creator  of  the  universe.  Matter  was  created  by  him,  and  was  neither  identified 
with  him  nor  an  emanation  from  him.  In  the  divine  nature  there  were  two  opposite, 
but  not  opposing,  principles  or  forces,  called  "twins  " — the  one  constructive,  the  other 
destructive  ;  the  one  beneficent,  the  other  maleficent.  Zoroaster  called  these  "  twins  " 
also  by  the  name  of  "spirits,"  and  declared  that  "these  two  spirits  created,  the  one  the 
reality,  the  other  the  non-reality."  Williams  says  that  these  two  principles  were  con- 
flicting only  in  name.  The  only  antagonism  was  between  the  resulting  good  and  evil 
brought  about  by  the  free  agent,  man. 

We  may  add  that  in  later  times  this  personification  of  principles  in  the  deity  seems  to 
have  become  a  definite  -belief  in  two  opposing  personal  spirits,  and  that  Mani,  Manes, 
or  Manichaeus  adopted  this  feature  of  Parseeism,  with  the  addition  of  certain  Christian 
elements.  Hagenbach,  History  of  Doctrine,  1 :  470— "The  doctrine  of  the  Manichyeaus 
was  that  creation  was  the  work  of  Satan."  See  also  Gieseler,  Church  History,  1 :  203; 
Neander,  Church  History,  1 :  478-505  ;  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theology,  art. :  Dual- 
ism ;  and  especially  Baur,  Das  Manichhische  Religionssystem. 

Of  this  view  we  need  only  say  that  it  is  refuted  (a)  by  all  the  arguments 
for  the  unity,  omnipotence,  sovereignty,  and  blessedness  of  God  ;  (6)  by  the 
Scripture  representations  of  the  prince  of  evil  as  the  creature  of  God  and 
as  subject  to  God's  control. 

Scripture  passages  showing  that  Satan  is  God's  creature  or  subject  are  the  following : 

Col.  1  : 16 — "  for  in  him  were  all  things  created,  in  the  heavens  and  upon  the  earth,  things  visible  and  things  invisible, 
whether  thrones  or  dominions  or  principalities  or  powers  "  ;  c/.  Eph.  6  :  12 — "  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and 
blood,  but  against  the  principalities,  against  the  powers,  against  the  world-rulers  of  this  darkness,  against  the  spiritual 


THEORIES    WHICH    OPPOSE    CREATION.  189 

hosts  of  wickedness  in  the  heavenly  places  "  ;  2  Pet.  2  :  4—"  God  spared  not  the  angels  when  they  sinned,  but  cast  them 
down  to  hell,  and  committed  them  to  pits  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment "  ;  Rev.  20  :  2—"  laid  hold  on  the 
dragon,  the  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan  "  ;  10—"  and  the  devil  which  deceived  them  was  cast  into  tho  lake 
of  fire  and  brimstone." 

2.     Emanation. 

This  theory  holds  that  the  universe  is  of  the  same  substance  with  God, 
and  is  the  product  of  successive  evolutions  from  his  being.  This  was  the 
view  of  the  Syrian  Gnostics.  Their  system  was  an  attempt  to  interpret 
Christianity  in  the  forms  of  oriental  theosophy.  A  similar  doctrine  was 
taught,  in  the  last  century,  by  Swedenborg. 

We  object  to  it  upon  the  following  grounds  :  (a)  It  virtually  denies  the 
infinity  and  transcendence  of  God, — by  applying  to  him  a  principle  of  evo- 
lution, growth,  and  progress  which  belongs  only  to  the  finite  and  imperfect. 
{&)  It  contradicts  the  divine  holiness, — since  man,  who  by  the  theory  is 
of  the  substance  of  God,  is  nevertheless  morally  evil,  (c)  It  leads  logically 
to  pantheism, — since  the  claim  that  human  personality  is  illusory  cannot 
Tae  maintained  without  also  surrendering  belief  in  the  personality  of  God. 

Saturninus  of  Antioch,  Bardesanes  of  Edessa,  Tatian  of  Assyria,  Marcion  of  Sinope, 
all  of  the  second  century,  were  representatives  of  this  view.  Blunt,  Diet,  of  Doct.  and 
Hist.  Theology,  art. :  Emanation :  "  The  divine  operation  was  symbolized  by  the  image  of 
the  rays  of  light  proceeding-  from  the  sun,  which  were  most  intense  when  nearest  to  the 
luminous  substance  of  the  body  of  which  they  formed  a  part,  but  which  decreased  in 
intensity  as  they  receded  from  their  source,  until  at  last  they  disappeared  altogether  in 
darkness.  So  the  spiritual  effulgence  of  the  Supreme  Mind  formed  a  world  of  spirit,  the 
intensity  of  which  varied  inversely  with  its  distance  from  its  source,  until  at  length  it 
vanished  in  matter.  Hence  there  is  a  chain  of  ever  expanding  ^Eons  which  are  increas- 
ing attenuations  of  his  substance  and  the  sum  of  which  constitutes  his  fulness,  L  e.  the 
complete  revelation  of  his  hidden  being."  Emanation,  from  e,  and  manare,  to  flow  forth. 
Guericke,  Church  History,  1 : 160—"  many  flames  from  one  light ....  the  direct  contrary 
to  the  doctrine  of  creation  from  nothing."  Neander,  Church  History,  1 :  373-374. 

On  the  difference  between  oriental  emanation  and  eternal  generation,  see  Shedd, 
History  Doctrine,  1 : 11-13,  and  318,  note—"  1.  That  which  is  eternally  generated  is  infinite, 
not  finite ;  it  is  a  divine  and  eternal  person  who  is  not  the  world  or  any  portion  of  it. 
In  the  oriental  schemes,  emanation  is  a  mode  of  accounting  for  the  origin  of  the  finite. 
But  eternal  generation  still  leaves  the  finite  to  be  originated.  The  begetting  of  the  Son 
is  the  generation  of  an  infinite  person  who  afterwards  creates  the  finite  universe  de 
niMlo.  2.  Eternal  generation  has  for  its  result  a  subsistence  or  personal  hypostasis 
totally  distinct  from  the  world ;  but  emanation  in  relation  to  the  deity  yields  only  an 
impersonal  or  at  most  a  personified  energy  or  effluence  which  is  one  of  the  powers  or 
principles  of  nature— a  mere  anima  mundi." 

Swedenborg  held  to  emanation— see  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom,  283,303,  305:  "Every 
one  who  thinks  from  clear  reason  sees  that  the  universe  is  not  created  from  nothing 
....  All  things  were  created  out  of  a  substance  ....  As  God  alone  is  substance  in 
itself  and  therefore  the  real  esse,  it  is  evidence  that  the  existence  of  things  is  from  no 
other  source  ....  Yet  the  created  universe  is  not  God,  because  God  is  not  in  time  and 
space  ....  There  is  a  creation  of  the  universe,  and  of  all  things  therein,  by  continual 
mediations  from  the  First ....  In  the  substances  and  matters  of  which  the  earths  con- 
sist, there  is  nothing  of  the  Divine  in  itself,  but  they  are  deprived  of  all  that  is  divine 
in  itself  ....  Still  they  have  brought  with  them  by  continuation  from  the  substance  of 
the  spiritual  sun  that  which  was  there  from  the  Divine." 

Napoleon  asked  Goethe  what  matter  was.  "  Esprit  gele — frozen  spirit  "  was  the  answer 
Schelling  wished  Goethe  had  given  him.  But  neither  is  matter  spirit,  nor  are  matter 
and  spirit  together  mere  natural  effluxes  from  God's  substance.  A  divine  institution  of 
them  is  requisite  (quoted  substantially  from  Dorner,  System  of  Doctrine,  2  :  40.  Still 
another  theory  which  seeks  to  avoid  this  pantheistic  conclusion  is  that  of 


190  NATURE,   DECREES,  AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

3.     Creation  from  eternity. 

This  theory  regards  creation  as  an  act  of  God  in  eternity  past.  It  was 
propounded  by  Origen,  and  has  been  held  in  recent  times  by  Martensen. 
The  necessity  of  supposing  such  creation  from  eternity  has  been  argued 
upon  the  grounds  : 

(a)  That  it  is  a  necessary  result  of  God's  omnipotence.  But  we  reply 
that  omnipotence  does  not  necessarily  imply  actual  creation  ;  it  implies  only 
power  to  create.  Creation,  moreover,  is  in  the  nature  of  the  case  a  thing 
begun.  Creation  from  eternity  is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  and  that  which 
is  self -contradictory  is  not  an  object  of  power. 

(6)  That  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  time  as  having  had  a  beginning, 
and  since  the  universe  and  time  are  coexistent,  creation  must  have  been 
from  eternity.  But  we  reply  that  the  argument  confounds  time  with  dura- 
tion. Time  is  duration  measured  by  successions,  and  in  this  sense  time  can 
be  conceived  of  as  having  had  a  beginning, — indeed  it  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive of  its  not  having  had  a  beginning. 

(c)  That  the  immutability  of  God  requires  creation  from  eternity.     But 
we  reply  that  God's  immutability  requires  not  an  eternal  creation  but  only 
an  eternal  plan  of  creation.     The  opposite  principle  would  compel  us  to 
deny  the  possibility  of  miracles,  incarnation,  and  regeneration.     Like  crea- 
tion, these  too  must  be  eternal. 

(d)  That  God's  love  renders  necessary  a  creation  from  eternity.     But  we 
reply,  on  the  one  hand,  that  a  finite  creation  cannot  furnish  satisfaction  to 
the  infinite  love  of  God  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  that  God  has  from  eternity 
an  object  of  love  infinitely  superior  to  any  possible  creation,  in  the  person 
of  his  Son. 

Although  this  theory  claims  that  creation  is  an  act,  in  eternity  past,  of 
God's  free  will,  yet  its  conceptions  of  God's  omnipotence  and  love,  as  neces- 
sitating creation,  are  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  divine  independence  or 
personality.  Since  God's  power  and  love  are  infinite,  their  demands  can- 
not be  satisfied  without  a  creation  infinite  in  extent  as  well  as  eternal  in 
past  duration, — in  other  words,  a  creation  equal  to  God.  But  a  God  thus 
dependent  upon  external  creation  is  neither  free  nor  sovereign.  A  God 
existing  in  necessary  relations  to  the  universe,  if  different  in  substance  from 
the  universe,  must  be  the  God  of  dualism ;  if  of  the  same  substance  with 
the  universe,  must  be  the  God  of  pantheism. 

Grig-en  held  that  God  was  from  eternity  the  creator  of  the  world  of  spirits.  Martensen, 
in  his  Dogmatics,  114,  shows  favor  to  the  maxims :  "  Without  the  world  God  is  not  God 

God  created  the  world  to  satisfy  a  want  in  himself He  cannot  but  constitute 

himself  the  Father  of  spirits."  A  modern  German  poet  gives  the  following  popular  ex- 
pression to  this  view :— "  Freundlos  war  der  grosse  Weltenmeister ;  Ftihlte  Mangel,  darum 
schuf  er  Geister ;  Sel'ge  Spiegel  seiner  Seligkeit.  Fand  das  hochste  Wesen  schon  kein 
Gleiches ;  Aus  dem  Kelch  des  ganzen  Geisterreiches,  SchSumt  ihm  die  Unendlichkeit." 

We  must  distinguish  creation  in  eternity  past  ( =  God  and  the  world  cofe'ternal,  yet  God 
the  cause  of  the  world,  as  he  is  the  begetter  of  the  Son )  from  continuous  creation  (which 
is  an  explanation  of  preservation,  but  not  of  creation  at  all).  It  is  this  latter,  not  the 
former,  to  which  Rothe  holds  (see  under  the  doctrine  of  Preservation).  Birks,  Diffi- 
culties of  Belief,  81,  83—*'  Creation  is  not  from  eternity,  since  past  eternity  cannot  be 
actually  traversed,  any  more  than  we  can  reach  the  bound  of  an  eternity  to  come.  There 
was  no  time  before  creation,  because  there  was  no  succession." 


THE    MOSAIC    ACCOUNT    OF    CREATION.  191 

Is  creation  infinite  ?  No,  says  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  459,  because  to  a  perfect  crea- 
tion unity  is  as  necessary  as  multiplicity.  The  universe  is  an  organism,  and  there  can 
be  no  organism  without  a  definite  number  of  finite  parts.  For  a  similar  reason,  Dorner 
denies  that  the  universe  can  be  eternal.  So  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  220-225 
— "  What  has  a  goal  or  end  must  have  a  beginning- ;  history,  as  teleological,  implies 
creation." 

4.     Spontaneous  generation. 

This  theory  holds  that  creation  is  but  the  name  for  a  natural  process  still 
going  on, — matter  itself  having  in  it  the  power,  under  proper  conditions,  of 
taking  on  new  functions,  and  of  developing  into  organic  forms.  This  view 
is  held  by  Owen  and  Bastian.  We  object  that 

(a)  It  is  a  pure  hypothesis,  not  only  unverified,  but  contrary  to  all  known 
facts.     No  credible  instance  of  the  production  of  living  forms  from  inor- 
ganic material  has  yet  been  adduced.     So  far  as  science  can  at  present  teach 
us,  the  law  of  nature  is  '  omne  vivum  e  vivo,  'or  *  ex  ovo. ' 

(b)  If  such  instances  could  be  authenticated,  they  would  prove  nothing 
as  against  a  proper  doctrine  of   creation, — for  there  would  still  exist  an 
impossibility  of  accounting  for  these  vivific  properties  of  matter,  except 
upon  the  Scriptural  view  of  an  intelligent  Contriver  and  Originator  of  mat- 
ter and  its  laws.     In  short,  evolution  implies  previous  involution, — if  any- 
thing comes  out  of  matter,  it  must  first  have  been  put  in. 

(c)  This  theory,  therefore,  if  true,  only  supplements  the  doctrine  of  orig- 
inal, absolute,  immediate  creation,  with  another  doctrine  of  mediate  and 
derivative  creation,  or  the  development  of  the  materials  and  forces  origin- 
ated at  the  beginning.     This  development,  however,  cannot  proceed  to  any 
valuable  end  without  the  guidance  of  the  same  intelligence  which  initiated 
it.     The  Scriptures,  although  they  do  not  sanction  the  doctrine  of  sponta- 
neous generation,  do  recognize  processes  of  development  as  supplementing 
the  divine  fiat  which  first  called  the  elements  into  being. 

Owen,  Comparative  Anatomy  of  the  Vertebrates,  3:  814-818— on  Monogeny  or  Thau- 
matogeny ;  quoted  in  Argyll,  Reign  of  Law,  281—"  We  discern  no  evidence  of  a  pause 
or  intromission  in  the  creation  or  coming-to-be  of  new  plants  and  animals."  So  Bastian, 
Modes  of  Origin  of  Lowest  Organisms.  Beginnings  of  Life,  and  articles  on  Heteroge- 
neous Evolution  of  Living  Things,  in  "  Nature,"  2 :  170, 193,  219,  410,  431.  See  Huxley's 
Address  before  the  British  Association,  and  Reply  to  Bastian,  in  "Nature,"  2:  400,  473; 
also  Origin  of  Species,  69-79,  and  Physical  Basis  of  Life,  in  Lay  Sermons,  132.  Answers 
to  this  last  by  Stirling,  in  Half -hours  with  Modern  Scientists,  and  by  Beale,  Protoplasm, 
or  Life,  Matter,  and  Mind,  73-75. 

In  favor  of  Redi's  maxim,  Omne  vivum  e  vivo,  see  Huxley,  in  Encyc.  Britannica,  art. : 
Biology,  689—"  At  the  present  moment  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  trustworthy  direct  evi- 
dence that  abiogenesis  does  take  place  or  has  taken  place  within  the  period  during  which 
the  existence  of  the  earth  is  recorded"  ;  Flint,  Physiology  of  Man,  1 :  263-265— "As  the 
only  true  philosophic  view  to  take  of  the  question,  we  shall  assume  in  common  with 
nearly  all  the  modern  writers  on  physiology  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  spontaneous 
generation— admitting  that  the  exact  mode  of  production  of  the  infusoria  lowest  in  the 
scale  of  life  is  not  understood." 

IV.     THE  MOSAIC  ACCOUNT  OF  CREATION. 

1.  Its  twofold  nature, — as  uniting  the  ideas  of  creation  and  of  develop- 
ment. 

(a)  Creation  is  asserted. — The  Mosaic  narrative  avoids  the  error  of  mak- 
ing the  universe  eternal  or  the  result  of  an  eternal  process.  The  cosmogony 


192          NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

of  Genesis,  unlike  the  cosmogonies  of  the  heathen,  is  prefaced  by  the 
originating  act  of  God,  and  is  supplemented  by  successive  manifestations 
of  creative  power  in  the  introduction  of  brute  and  of  human  life. 

All  nature-worship,  whether  it  take  the  form  of  ancient  polytheism  or  modern 
materialism,  looks  upon  the  universe  only  as  a  birth  or  a  growth.  This  view  has  a  basis 
of  truth,  inasmuch  as  it  regards  natural  forces  as  having-  a  real  existence.  It  is  false  in 
regarding  these  forces  as  needing  no  originator  or  upholder.  Hesiod  taught  that  in  the 
beginning  was  formless  matter.  Genesis  does  not  begin  thus.  God  is  not  a  demiurge, 
working  on  eternal  matter.  God  antedates  matter.  He  is  the  creator  of  matter  at  the 
first  ( Gen.  1 : 1 — bara )  and  he  subsequently  creates  animal  life  ( Gen.  1 :  21 — "  and  God  created  "— 
bara)  and  the  life  of  man  ( Gen.  1 :  27— "and  God  created  man"— bara  again). 

(6)  Development  is  recognized. — The  Mosaic  account  represents  the 
present  order  of  things  as  the  result,  not  simply  of  original  creation,  but 
also  of  subsequent  arrangement  and  development.  A  fashioning  of  inor- 
ganic materials  is  described,  and  also  a  use  of  these  materials  in  providing 
the  conditions  of  organized  existence.  Life  is  described  as  reproducing 
itself,  after  its  first  introduction,  according  to  its  own  laws  and  by  virtue  of 
its  own  inner  energy. 

Martensen  wrongly  asserts  that  "  Judaism  represented  the  world  exclusively  as  crea- 
tura,  not  natura;  as  KTIO-IS,  not  <£v<ris."  This  is  not  true.  Creation  is  represented  as  the 
bringing  forth,  not  of  something  dead,  but  of  something  living  and  capable  of  self-de- 
velopment. Creation  lays  the  foundation  for  cosmogony.  Not  only  is  there  a  fashion- 
ing and  arrangement  of  the  material  which  the  original  creative  act  has  brought  into 
being  ( see  Gen.  1 :  2, 4,  6,  7,  9, 16, 17;  2  :  6,  7,  8— Spirit  brooding ;  dividing  light  from  darkness, 
and  waters  from  waters ;  dry  land  appearing ;  setting  apart  of  sun,  moon,  and  stars ; 
mist  watering ;  forming  man's  body;  planting  garden),  but  there  is  also  an  imparting 
and  using  of  the  reproductive  powers  of  the  things  and  beings  created  ( Gen.  1 : 12, 22, 24, 28— 
earth  brought  forth  grass ;  trees  yielding  fruit  whose  seed  was  in  itself ;  earth  brought 
forth  the  living  creatures ;  man  commanded  to  be  fruitful  and  multiply). 

The  tendency  at  present  among  men  of  science  is  to  regard  the  whole  history  of  life 
upon  the  planet  as  the  result  of  evolution,  thus  excluding  creation,  both  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  history  and  along  its  course.  On  the  progress  from  the  Orohippus,  the 
lowest  member  of  the  equine  series,  an  animal  with  four  toes,  to  Anchitherium  with 
three,  then  to  Hipparion,  and  finally  to  our  common  horse,  see  Huxley  in  "  Nature  "  for 
May  11, 1876  :  33,  34.  He  argues  that,  if  a  complicated  animal  like  the  horse  has  arisen  by 
gradual  modification  of  a  lower  and  less  specialized  form,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  other  animals  have  arisen  in  a  different  way.  Clarence  King,  Address  at  Yale  Col- 
lege, 1877,  regards  American  geology  as  teaching  the  doctrine  of  sudden  yet  natural 
modification  of  species.  "  When  catastrophic  change  burst  in  upon  the  ages  of  uni- 
formity and  sounded  in  the  ear  of  every  living  thing  the  words:  'Change  or  die!' 
plasticity  became  the  sole  principle  of  action."  Nature  proceeded  then  by  leaps,  and 
corresponding  to  the  leaps  of  geology  we  find  leaps  of  biology. 

We  grant  the  probability  that  the  great  majority  of  what  we  call  species  were  pro- 
duced in  some  such  ways.  If  science  should  render  it  certain  that  all  the  present  species 
of  living  creatures  were  derived  by  natural  descent  from  a  few  original  germs,  and  that 
these  germs  were  themselves  an  evolution  of  inorganic  forces  and  materials,  we  should 
not  therefore  regard  the  Mosaic  account  as  proved  untrue.  We  should  only  be  required 
to  revise  our  interpretation  of  the  word  bara  in  Gen.  1 :  21,  27,  and  to  give  it  there  the 
meaning  of  mediate  creation,  or  creation  by  law.  Such  a  meaning  might  almost  seem 
to  be  favored  by  Gen.  1  : 11— "let  the  earth  put  forth  grass"  ;  20—"  let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the 
moving  creature  that  hath  life  "  ;  2  :  7—"  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust "  ;  9—"  out  of  the  ground  made  the 
Lord  God  to  grow  every  tree." 

This  derivation,  however,  of  all  living  creatures  by  successive  modifications  from 
a  few  original  germs,  and  much  more  the  theory  of  spontaneous  generation  already 
alluded  to,  are  yet  so  far  from  being  demonstrated,  that  we  see  no  sufficient  reason  for 
departing  from  the  conclusions  previously  reached,— that  the  Mosaic  narrative  describes 
the  introduction  of  brute  and  of  human  life,  as  well  as  the  calling  into  being  of  the 
elements  at  the  beginning,  as  acts  of  absolute  origination.  In  the  creation  of  the  brute 
and  of  man,  while  the  physical  material  was  already  at  hand,  as  in  the  dust  of  which 


THE    MOSAIC    ACCOUNT   OF    CREATION.  193 

man's  body  was  formed,  the  principle  of  life  was  apparently  a  new  creation  of  God. 
See  Herzog,  EncyclopSdie,  art.  Schopf  ung,  20 :  718 ;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  117.  For 
further  discussion  of  man's  origin,  see  section  on  Man  a  Creation  of  God,  in  our  treat- 
ment of  Anthropology. 

2.     Its  proper  interpretation. 

We  adopt  neither  (a)  the  allegorical,  or  mythical,  (6)  the  hyperliteral, 
nor  (c)  the  hyperscientific  interpretations  of  the  Mosaic  narrative ;  but 
rather  (d]  the  pictorial-summary  interpretation, — which  holds  that  the 
account  is  a  rough  sketch  of  the  history  of  creation,  true  in  all  its  essential 
features,  but  presented  in  a  graphic  form  suited  to  the  common  mind  and 
to  earlier  as  well  as  to  later  ages.  While  conveying  to  primitive  man  as 
accurate  an  idea  of  God's  work  as  man  was  able  to  comprehend,  the  revela- 
tion was  yet  given  in  pregnant  language,  so  that  it  could  expand  to  all  the 
ascertained  results  of  subsequent  physical  research.  This  general  corres- 
pondence of  the  narrative  with  the  teachings  of  science,  and  its  power  to 
adapt  itself  to  every  advance  in  human  knowledge,  differences  it  from 
every  other  cosmogony  current  among  men. 

(a)  The  allegorical,  or  mythical,  interpretation  represents  the  Mosaic  account  as  era- 
bodying,  like  the  Indian  and  Greek  cosmogonies,  the  poetic  speculations  of  an  early 
race  as  to  the  origin  of  the  present  system.    We  object  to  this  interpretation  upon  the 
ground  that  the  narrative  of  creation  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  succeeding 
history,  and  is  therefore  most  naturally  regarded  as  itself  historical.    This  connection 
of  the  narrative  of  creation  with  the  subsequent  history,  moreover,  prevents  us  from 
believing  it  to  be  the  description  of  a  vision  granted  to  Moses.    It  is  more  probably  the 
record  of  an  original  revelation  to  the  first  man,  handed  down  to  Moses'  time,  and  used 
by  Moses  as  a  proper  introduction  to  his  history.    For  comparison  of  the  Biblical  with 
heathen  cosmogonies,  see  Blackie  in  Theol.  Eclectic,  1  :  77-87 ;  Guyot,  Creation,  58-63 ; 
Pope,  Theology,  1 :  401,  402 ;  Bible  Commentary,  1 :  36,  48  ;  Mcllvaine,  Wisdom  of  Holy 
Scripture,  1-54 ;  J.  F.  Clarke,  Ten  Great  Religions,  2  : 193-221.    For  the  theory  of  'pro- 
phetic vision,'  see  Kurtz,  Hist,  of  Old  Covenant,  Introd.,  i-xxxvii,  civ-cxxx ;  and  Hugh 
Miller,  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,  179-210. 

(b)  The  hyperliteral  interpretation  would  withdraw  the  narrative  from  all  compar- 
ison with  the  conclusions  of  science,  by  putting  the  ages  of  geological  history  between 
the  first  and  second  verses  of  Gen.  1,  and  by  making  the  remainder  of  the  chapter  an 
account  of  the  fitting  up  of  the  earth,  or  of  some  limited  portion  of  it,  in  six  days  of 
twenty-four  hours  each.    Among  the  advocates  of  this  view,  now  generally  discarded, 
are  Chalmers,  Natural  Theology,  Works,  1 : 228-258,  and  John  Pye  Smith,  Mosaic  Account 
of  Creation,  and  Scripture  and  Geology.    To  this  view  we  object  that  there  is  no  indica- 
tion, in  the  Mosaic  narrative,  of  so  vast  an  interval  between  the  first  and  the  second 
verses ;  that  there  is  no  indication,  in  the  geological  history,  of  any  such  break  between 
the  ages  of  preparation  and  the  present  time  (see  Hugh  Miller,  Testimony  of  the  Rocks, 
141-178) ;  and  that  there  are  indications  in  the  Mosaic  record  itself  that  the  word  "day" 
is  not  used  in  its  literal  sense ;  while  the  other  Scriptures  unquestionably  employ  it  to 
designate  a  period  of  indefinite  duration  (Gen.  1 :  5 — "God  called  the  light  Day" — a  day  before 
there  was  a  sun ;  8 — "there  was  evening  and  there  was  morning,  a  second  day  "  ;  2  :  2 — God  "rested  on  the 
seventh  day  "  ;  c/.  leb.  4  :  3-10— where  God's  day  of  rest  seems  still  to  continue,  and  his  people 
are  exhorted  to  enter  into  it ;  Gen.  2  :  4 — "  the  day  that  the  Lord  God  made  earth  and  heaven  " — "  day  "  here 
covers  all  the  seven  days  ;  c/.  Is.  2  : 12— "a  day  of  the  Lord  of  hosts"  ;  Zech.  14  :  7— "it  shall  be  one  day 
which  is  known  unto  the  Lord ;  not  day,  and  not  night "  ;  2  Pet.  3  :  8—"  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years, 
and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day  ").    Guyot,  Creation,  34,  objects  also  to  this  interpretation,  that 
the  narrative  purports  to  give  a  history  of  the  making  of  the  heaven  as  well  as  of  the 
earth  ( Gen.  2  :  4—"  these  are  the  generations  of  the  heaven  and  of  the  earth  "),  whereas  this  interpretation 
confines  the  history  to  the  earth.    On  the  meaning  of  the  word  "day,"  as  a  period  of 
indefinite  duration,  see  Dana,  Manual  of  Geology,  744 ;  Le  Conte,  Religion  and  Science, 
262. 

(c)  The  hyperscientific  interpretation  would  find  in  the  narrative  a  minute  and  precise 
-correspondence  with  the  geological  record.    This  is  not  to  be  expected,  since  it  is  for- 

13 


194  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

eign  to  the  purpose  of  revelation  to  teach  science.  Although  a  general  concord  between- 
the  Mosaic  and  the  geological  histories  may  be  pointed  out,  it  is  a  needless  embarass- 
ment  to  compel  ourselves  to  find  in  every  detail  of  the  former  an  accurate  statement 
of  some  scientific  fact.  Far  more  probable  we  hold  to  be 

(d)  The  pictorial-summary  interpretation.  Before  explaining  this  in  detail,  we  would 
premise  that  we  do  not  hold  this  or  any  future  scheme  of  reconciling  Genesis  and  geol- 
ogy to  be  a  finality.  Such  a  settlement  of  all  the  questions  involved  would  presuppose 
not  only  a  perfected  science  of  the  physical  universe,  but  also  a  perfected  science  of  her- 
meneutics.  It  is  enough  if  we  can  offer  tentative  solutions  which  represent  the  present 
state  of  thought  upon  the  subject.  Remembering,  then,  that  any  such  scheme  of  recon- 
ciliation may  speedily  be  outgrown  without  prejudice  to  the  truth  of  the  Scripture 
narrative,  we  present  the  following  as  an  approximate  account  of  the  coincidences- 
between  the  Mosaic  and  the  geological  records.  The  scheme  here  given  is  a  combina- 
tion of  the  conclusions  of  Dana  and  of  Guyot,  and  assumes  the  substantial  truth  of  the 
nebular  hypothesis.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  Augustine,  who  knew  nothing  of 
modern  science,  should  have  reached,  by  simple  study  of  the  text,  some  of  the  same 
results.  See  his  Confessions,  12  : 8—"  First  God  created  a  chaotic  matter,  which  was 
next  to  nothing.  This  chaotic  matter  was  made  from  nothing,  before  all  days.  Then 
this  chaotic,  amorphous  matter  was  subsequently  arranged,  in  the  succeeding  six 
days  "  ;  De  Genes,  ad  Lit.,  4  :  27—"  The  length  of  these  days  is  not  to  be  determined  by 
the  length  of  our  week-days.  There  is  a  series  in  both  cases,  and  that  is  all."  We  pro- 
ceed now  to  the  scheme  : 

1.  The  earth,  if  originally  in  the  condition  of  a  gaseous  fluid,  must  have  been  void  and 
formless,  as  described  in  Genesis  1 :  2.    Here  the  earth  is  not  yet  separated  from  the  con- 
densing nebula,  and  its  fluid  condition  is  indicated  by  the  term  "  waters." 

2.  The  beginning  of  activity  in  matter  would  manifest  itself  by  the  production  of 
light,  since  light  is  a  resultant  of  molecular  activity.    This  corresponds  to  the  state- 
ment in  verse  3.    As  the  result  of  condensation,  the  nebula  becomes  luminous,  and  this 
process  from  darkness  to  light  is  described  as  follows :  "  there  was  evening  and  there  was  morning, 
one  day."    Here  we  have  a  day  without  a  sun— a  feature  in  the  narrative  quite  consistent 
with  two  facts  of  science :  first,  that  the  nebula  would  naturally  be  self-luminous,  and,, 
secondly,  that  the  earth  proper,  which  reached  its  present  form  before  the  sun,  would, 
when  it  was  thrown  off,  be  itself  a  self-luminous  and  molten  mass.    The  day  was  there- 
fore continuous — day  without  a  night. 

3.  The  development  of  the  earth  into  an  independent  sphere  and  its  separation  from 
the  fluid  around  it  answers  to  the  dividing  of  "  the  waters  under  the  firmament  from  the  waters  above ' ', 
in  verse  7.    Here  the  word  "waters"  is  used  to  designate  the  "primordial  cosmic  material " 
(Guyot,  Creation,  35-37).  or  the  molten  mass  of  earth  and  sun  united,  from  which  the 
earth  is  thrown  off.    The  term  "  waters "  is  the  best  which  the  Hebrew  language  affords  to- 
express  this  idea  of  a  fluid  mass.    Ps.  148  seems  to  have  this  meaning,  where  it  speaks  of 
the  "waters  that  be  above  the  heavens"  (verse  4)— waters  which  are  distinguished  from  the  "deeps" 
below  (verse  7),  and  the  "vapor"  above  (verse  8). 

4.  The  production  of  the  earth's  physical  features  by  the  partial  condensation  of  the 
vapors  which  enveloped  the  igneous  sphere,  and  by  the  consequent  outlining  of  the 
continents  and  oceans,  is  next  described  in  verse  9  as  the  gathering  of  the  waters  into  one 
place  and  the  appearing  of  the  dry  land. 

5.  The  expression  of  the  idea  of  life  in  the  lowest  plants,  since  it  was  in  type  and  effect 
the  creation  of  the  vegetable  kingdom,  is  next  described  in  verse  11  as  a  bringing  into- 
existence  of  the  characteristic  forms  of  that  kingdom.    This  precedes  all  mention  of 
animal  life,  since  the  vegetable  kingdom  is  the  natural  basis  of  the  animal.    If  it  be  said 
that  our  earliest  fossils  are  animal,  we  reply  that  the  earliest  vegetable  forms,  the  algce, 
were  easily  dissolved,  and  might  as  easily  disappear ;  that  graphite,  appearing  lower 
down  than  any  animal  remains,  is  the  result  of  preceding  vegetation ;  that  animal  forms, 
whenever  and  wherever  existing,  must  subsist  upon  and  presuppose  the  vegetable.   The 
Eozoon  is  of  necessity  preceded  by  the  Eophyte.    If  it  be  said  that  fruit-trees  could 
not  have  been  created  on  the  third  day,  we  reply  that  since  the  creation  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom  was  to  be  described  at  one  stroke  and  no  mention  of  it  was  to  be  made  subse- 
quently, this  is  the  proper  place  to  introduce  it  and  to  mention  its  main  characteristic 
forms.    See  Bible  Commentary.  1  :  36. 

6.  The  vapors  which  have  hitherto  shrouded  the  planet  are  now  cleared  away  as  pre- 
liminary to  the  introduction  of  life  in  its  higher  animal  forms.   The  consequent  appear- 
ance of  solar  light  is  described  in  verses  16  and  17  as  a  making  of  the  sun,  moon  and  stars, 
and  a  giving  of  them  as  luminaries  to  the  earth.    Compare  Gen.  9  : 13— "I  do  set  my  bow  in  the 


GOD'S   END   IN    CREATION.  195 

cloud."  As  the  rainbow  had  existed  in  nature  before,  but  was  now  appointed  to  serve  a 
peculiar  purpose,  so  in  the  record  of  creation  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  which  existed  before, 
were  appointed  as  visible  lights  for  the  earth,— and  that  for  the  reason  that  the  earth  was 
no  longer  self-luminous,  and  the  light  of  the  sun  struggling  through  the  earth's  encom- 
passing clouds  was  not  sufficient  for  the  higher  forms  of  life  which  were  to  come. 

7.  The  exhibition  of  the  four  grand  types  of  the  animal  kingdom  (radiate,  molluscan, 
articulate,  vertebrate),  which  characterizes  the  next  stage  of  geological  progress,  is 
represented  in  verses  20  and  21  as  a  creation  of  the  lower  animals— those  that  swarm  in 
the  waters,  and  the  creeping  and  flying  species  of  the  land.    Huxley,  in  his  American 
Addresses,  objects  to  this  assigning  of  the  origin  of  birds  to  the  fifth  day,  and  declares 
that  terrestrial  animals  exist  in  lower  strata  than  any  form  of  bird— birds  appearing 
only  in  the  Oolitic,  or  New  Red  Sandstone.    But  we  reply  that  the  fifth  day  is  devoted 
to  sea-productions,  while  land-productions  belong  to  the  sixth.    Birds,  according  to  the 
latest  science,  are  sea-productions,  not  land-productions.    They  originated  from  Sauri- 
ans,  and  were,  at  the  first,  flying  lizards.    There  being  but  one  mention  of  sea-produc- 
tions, all  these,  birds  included,  are  crowded  into  the  fifth  day.    Thus  Genesis  anticipates 
the  latest  science.    On  the  ancestry  of  birds,  see  Pop.  Science  Monthly,  Mar.,  1884 :  606 ; 
Baptist  Magazine,  1877  :  505. 

8.  The  introduction  of  mammals — viviparous  species,  which  are  eminent  above  all 
other  vertebrates  for  a  quality  prophetic  of  a  high  moral  purpose,  that  of  suckling  their 
young— is  indicated  in  verses  24  and  25  by  the  creation,  on  the  sixth  day,  of  cattle  and 
beasts  of  prey. 

9.  Man,  the  first  being  of  moral  and  intelectual  qualities,  and  the  first  in  whom  the 
unity  of  the  great  design  has  full  expression,  forms  in  both  the  Mosaic  and  the  geologic 
record  the  last  step  of  progress  in  creation  (see  verses  26-31).    With  Prof.  Dana,  we  may 
say  that  "  in  this  succession  we  observe  not  merely  an  order  of  events  like  that  deduced 
from  science ;  there  is  a  system  in  the  arrangement,  and  a  far-reaching  prophecy,  to 
which  philosophy  could  not  have  attained,  however  instructed."    See  Dana,  Manual  of 
Geology,  741-746,  and  in  Bib.  Sac.,  April,  1885  :  201-224.    Richard  Owen :  "  Man  from  the 
the  beginning  of  organisms  was  ideally  present  upon  the  earth"  ;  see  Owen,  Anatomy 
of  Vertebrates,  3  :  796 ;  Louis  Agassiz :  "  Man  is  the  purpose  toward  which  the  whole 
animal  creation  tends  from  the  first  appearance  of  the  first  palaeozoic  fish."    On  the 
whole  subject,  see  Guyot,  Creation ;  Review  of  Guyot,  in  N.  Eng.,  July,  1884  :  591-594 ; 
Tayler  Lewis,  Six  Days  of  Creation  ;  Thompson,  Man  in  Genesis  and  in  Geology ;  Agas- 
siz, in  Atlantic  Monthly,  Jan.,  1874 ;  Dawson,  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man,  32 ;  Le  Conte, 
Science  and  Religion,  264 ;  Hill,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  April,  1875 ;  Peirce,  Ideality  in  the  Physical 
Sciences,  38-72 ;   Boardman,  The  Creative  Week ;   Godet,  Bib.  Studies  of  O.  T.,  65-138 ; 
Zockler,  Theologie  und  Naturwissenschaft ;  Bell,  in  "Nature,"  Nov.  24  and  Dec.  1, 1882 ; 
W.  E.  Gladstone,  on  Dawn  of  Creation  and  of  Worship,  in  Nineteenth  Century,  Nov., 
1885  :  685-707,  and  reply  by  Huxley,  in  Nineteenth  Century,  Dec.,  1885 ;  Schmid,  Theories 
of  Darwin ;  Bartlett,  Sources  of  History  in  the  Pentateuch,  1-35 ;  Cotterill,  Does  Science 
Aid  Faith  in  Regard  to  Creation?  Cox,  Miracles,  1-39— chapter  i,  on  the  Original  Miracle 
—that  of  Creation.    On  difficulties  of  the  nebular  hypothesis,  see  Stallo,  Modern  Physics, 
277-293. 

V.     GOD'S  END  IN  CREATION. 

Infinite  wisdom  must,  in  creating,  propose  to  itself  the  most  comprehen- 
sive and  the  most  valuable  of  ends, — the  end  most  worthy  of  God,  and  the 
end  most  fruitful  in  good.  Only  in  the  light  of  the  end  proposed  can  we 
properly  judge  of  God's  work,  or  of  God's  character  as  revealed  therein. 

It  would  seem  that  Scripture  should  give  us  an  answer  to  the  question :  Why  did 
God  create?  The  great  Architect  can  best  tell  his  own  design.  Ambrose:  "To  whom 
shall  I  give  greater  credit  concerning  God  than  to  God  himself?  " 

In  determining  this  end,  we  turn  first  to  : 
1.     The  testimony  of  Scripture. 

This  may  be  summed  up  in  four  statements.  God  finds  his  end  (a)  in 
himself  ;  (6)  in  his  own  will  and  pleasure  ;  (c)  in  his  own  glory :  (d)  in  the 
making  known  of  his  power,  his  wisdom,  his  holy  name.  All  these  state- 


196  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

ments  may  be  combined  in  the  following,  namely,  that  God's  supreme 
end  in  creation  is  nothing  outside  of  himself,  but  is  his  own  glory — in  the 
revelation,  in  and  through  creatures,  of  the  infinite  perfection  of  his  own 
being. 

(a)  Rom.  11:36— "unto  him  are  all  things";  Col.  1:16— "all  things  have  been  created  ....  unto  him" 
(Christ) ;  compare  Is.  48  :  11—"  for  mine  own  sake,  for  mine  own  sake,  will  I  do  it ....  and  my  glory  will  I 
not  give  to  another"  ;  and  1  Cor.  15 :  28 — "subject  all  things  unto  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all."     Proverbs  16  :  4 
=,  not  "  the  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself  "  (A.  V.),  but  "The  Lord  hath  made  every- 
thing for  its  own  end  "  (Rev.  Vers.). 

(b)  Eph.  1  :  5,  6,  9 — "  having  foreordained  us ....  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the 
glory  of  his  grace  .  .  .  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to  his  good  pleasure  which  he  purposed  in  him"  ;  Rev.  4  : 11 — 
"thou  didst  create  all  things,  and  because  of  thy  will  they  were,  and  were  created." 

(c)  Is.  43  :  7—"  whom  I  have  created  for  my  glory  "  ;  60  :  21  and  61 :  3— the  righteousness  and  blessed- 
ness of  the  redeemed  are  secured,  that  "  he  might  be  glorified  "  ;  Luke  2  : 14— the  angels'  song 
at  the  birth  of  Christ  expressed  the  design  of  the  work  of  salvation :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,"  and  only  through,  and  for  its  sake,  "on  earth  peace  among  men  in  whom  he  is  well  pleased." 

(d)  Ps.  143  :  11 — "In  thy  righteousness  bring  my  soul  out  of  trouble"  ;  Ez.  36  :  21,  22 — "I  do  not  this  for  your 
sake  ....  but  for  mine  holy  name"  ;  39  :  7 — "my  holy  name  will  I  make  known"  ;  Rom.  9  : 17 — to  Pharaoh  : 
"For  this  very  purpose  did  I  raise  thee  up,  that  I  might  shew  in  thee  my  power,  and  that  my  name  might  be  published 
abroad  in  all  the  earth  "  ;  22,  23— "riches  of  his  glory  "  made  known  in  vessels  of  wrath,  and  in  ves- 
sels of  mercy ;  Eph.  3  :  9,  10 — "  created  all  things  ;  to  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  the  powers 
in  the  heavenly  places  might  be  made  known  through  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God."    See  Godet,  on 
Ultimate  Design  of  Man :  "  God  in  man  and  man  in  God,"  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1880 ; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1  :  436,  535,  565,  568.    Per  contra,  see  Miller,  Fetich  in  Theology,  19, 
39-45,  88-98,  143-146. 

Since  holiness  is  the  fundamental  attribute  in  God,  to  make  himself,  his 
own  pleasure,  his  own  glory,  his  own  manifestation,  to  be  his  end  in  crea- 
tion, is  to  find  his  chief  end  in  his  own  holiness,  its  maintainance,  expres- 
sion, and  communication.  To  make  this  his  chief  end,  however,  is  not  to 
exclude  certain  subordinate  ends,  such  as  the  revelation  of  his  wisdom, 
power,  and  love,  and  the  consequent  happiness  of  innumerable  creatures  to 
whom  this  revelation  is  made. 

2.     The  testimony  of  reason. 

That  his  own  glory,  in  the  sense  just  mentioned,  is  God's  supreme  end 
in  creation,  is  evident  from  the  following  considerations  : 

(a)  God's  own  glory  is  the  only  end  actually  and  perfectly  attained  in 
the  universe.     Wisdom  and  omnipotence  cannot  choose  an  end  which  is 
destined  to  be  forever  unattained ;  for  "  what  his  soul  desireth,  even  that  he 
doeth  "  (Job  23  : 13).     God's  supreme  end  cannot  be  the  happiness  of  crea- 
tures, since  many  are  miserable  here  and  will  be  miserable  forever.     God's 
supreme  end  cannot  be  the  holiness  of  creatures,  for  many  are  unholy  here 
and  will  be  unholy  forever.    But  while  neither  the  holiness  nor  fhe  happiness 
of  creatures  is  actually  and  perfectly  attained,  God's  glory  is  made  known 
and  will  be  made  known  in  both  the  saved  and  the  lost.     This  then  must  be 
God's  supreme  end  in  creation. 

This  doctrine  teaches  us  that  none  can  frustrate  God's  plan.  God  will  get  glory  out 
of  every  human  life.  Man  may  glorify  God  voluntarily  by  love  and  obedience,  but  if  he 
will  not  do  this  he  will  be  compelled  to  glorify  God  by  his  rejection  and  punishment. 
Better  be  the  molten  iron  that  runs  freely  into  the  mould  prepared  by  the  great 
Designer,  than  be  the  hard  and  cold  iron  that  must  be  hammered  into  shape. 

(b)  God's  glory  is  the  end  intrinsically  most  valuable.     The  good  of 
creatures  is  of  insignificant  importance  compared  with  this.     Wisdom  die- 


N    CREATION.  197 

tates  that  the  greater  interest  should  have  precedence  of  the  less.  Because 
God  can  choose  no  greater  end,  he  must  choose  for  his  end  himself.  But 
this  is  to  choose  his  holiness,  and  his  glory  in  the  manifestation  of  that 
holiness. 

Is.  40  : 15, 16— "Behold,  the  nations  are  as  a  drop  of  a  bucket,  and  are  counted  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance  " 
—like  the  drop  that  falls  unobserved  from  the  bucket,  like  the  fine  dust  of  the  scales 
which  the  tradesman  takes  no  notice  of  in  weighing1,  so  are  all  the  combined  millions  of 
earth  and  heaven  before  God.  He  created,  and  he  can  in  an  instant  destroy.  The  uni- 
verse is  but  a  drop  of  dew  upon  the  fringe  of  his  garment.  It  is  more  important  that 
God  should  be  glorified  than  that  the  universe  should  be  happy.  As  we  read  in  Heb.  6  : 13 
—"since  he  could  swear  by  none  greater,  he  sware  by  himself  "—so  here  we  may  say :  Because  he  could 
choose  no  greater  end  in  creating,  he  chose  himself.  But  to  swear  by  himself  is  to  swear 
by  his  holiness  ( Ps.  89  :  35 ).  We  infer  that  to  find  his  end  in  himself  is  to  find  that  end  in 
his  holiness. 

(c)  His  own  glory  is  the  only  end  which  consists  with  God's  indepen- 
dence and  sovereignty.     Every  being  is  dependent  upon  whomsoever  or 
whatsoever  he  makes  his  ultimate  end.     If  anything  in  the  creature  is  the 
last  end  of  God,  God  is  dependent  upon  the  creature.     But  since  God  is 
dependent  only  on  himself,  he  must  find  in  himself  his  end. 

To  create  is  not  to  increase  his  blessedness,  but  only  to  reveal  it.  There  is  no  need  or 
deficiency  which  creation  supplies.  The  creatures  who  derive  all  from  him  can  add 
nothing  to  him.  All  our  worship  is  only  the  rendering  back  to  him  of  that  which  is  his 
own.  He  notices  us  only  for  his  own  sake  and  not  because  our  little  rivulets  of  praise 
add  anything  to  the  ocean-like  fulness  of  his  joy.  For  his  own  sake,  and  not  because  of 
our  misery  or  our  prayers,  he  redeems  and  exalts  us.  To  make  our  pleasure  and  welfare 
his  ultimate  end  would  be  to  abdicate  his  throne.  He  creates,  therefore,  only  for  his 
own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  his  glory.  To  this  reasoning  the  London  Spectator  replies : 
"  The  glory  of  God  is  the  splendor  of  a  manifestation,  not  the  intrinsic  splendor  mani- 
fested. The  splendor  of  a  manifestation,  however,  consists  in  the  effect  of  the  manifes- 
tation on  those  to  whom  it  is  given.  Precisely  because  the  manifestation  of  God's 
goodness  can  be  useful  to  us  and  cannot  be  useful  to  him,  must  its  manifestation  be 
intended  for  our  sake  and  not  for  his  sake.  We  gain  everything  by  it— he  nothing, 
except  so  far  as  it  is  his  own  will  that  we  should  gain  what  he  desires  to  bestow  upon 
us."  In  this  last  clause  we  find  the  acknowledgment  of  weakness  in  the  theory  that 
God's  supreme  end  is  the  good  of  his  creatures.  God  does  gain  the  fulfilment  of  his 
plan,  the  doing  of  his  will,  the  manifestation  of  himself.  The  great  painter  loves  his 
picture  less  than  he  loves  his  ideal.  He  paints  in  order  to  express  himself.  God  loves 
each  soul  which  he  creates,  but  he  loves  yet  more  the  expression  of  his  own  perfections 
in  it.  And  this  self-expression  is  his  end.  Robert  Browning,  Paracelsus,  54—"  God  is 
the  perfect  Poet,  Who  in  creation  acts  his  own  conceptions." 

(d)  His  own  glory  is  an  end  which  comprehends  and  secures,  as  a  sub- 
ordinate end,  every  interest  of  the  universe.     The  interests  of  the  universe 
are  bound  up  in  the  interests  of  God.     There  is  no  holiness  or  happiness  for 
creatures  except  as  God  is  absolute  sovereign,  and  is  recognized  as  such. 
It  is  therefore  not  selfishness,  but  benevolence,  for  God  to  make  his  own 
glory  the  supreme   object  of'  creation.     Glory  is  not  vain-glory,  and  in 
expressing  his  ideal,  that  is,  in  expressing  himself,  in  his  creation,  he  com- 
municates to  his  creatures  the  utmost  possible  good. 

This  self-expression  is  not  selfishness  but  benevolence.  No  true  poet  writes  for  money 
or  for  fame.  God  does  not  manifest  himself  for  the  sake  of  what  he  can  make  by  it. 
Self -manifestation  is  an  end  in  itself.  But  God's  self -manifestation  comprises  all  good 
to  his  creatures.  We  are  bound  to  love  ourselves  and  our  own  interests  just  in  propor- 
tion to  the  value  of  those  interests.  The  monarch  of  a  realm  or  the  general  of  an  army 
must  be  careful  of  his  life,  because  the  sacrifice  of  it  may  involve  the  loss  of  thousands 
of  lives  of  soldiers  or  subjects.  So  God  is  the  heart  of  the  great  system.  Only  by  being 
tributary  to  the  heart  can  the  members  be  supplied  with  streams  of  holiness  and  happi- 


198  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS    OF   GOD. 

ness.  And  so  for  only  one  Being  in  the  universe  is  it  safe  to  live  for  himself.  Man 
should  not  live  for  himself,  because  there  is  a  higher  end.  But  there  is  no  higher  end 
for  God.  "  Only  one  being  in  the  universe  is  excepted  from  the  duty  of  subordination. 
Man  must  be  subject  to  the  '  higher  powers '  ( Rom.  13  : 1 ).  But  there  are  no  higher  powers  to 
God."  See  Park,  Discourses,  181-209. 

(e)  God's  glory  is  the  end  which  in  a  right  moral  system  is  proposed  to 
creatures.  This  must  therefore  be  the  end  which  he  in  whose  image  they 
are  made  proposes  to  himself.  He  who  constitutes  the  centre  and  end  of 
all  his  creatures  must  find  his  centre  and  end  in  himself.  This  principle  of 
moral  philosophy,  and  the  conclusion  drawn  from  it,  are  both  explicitly 
and  implicitly  taught  in  Scripture. 

The  beginning  of  all  religion  is  the  choosing  of  God's  end  as  our  end— the  giving  up 
of  our  preference  of  happiness,  and  the  entrance  upon  a  life  devoted  to  God.  That 
happiness  is  not  the  ground  of  moral  obligation,  is  plain  from  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
happiness  in  seeking  happiness.  That  the  holiness  of  God  is  the  ground  of  moral  obli- 
gation, is  plain  from  the  fact  that  the  search  after  holiness  is  not  only  successful  in  itself, 
but  brings  happiness  also  in  its  train.  Archbishop  Leighton,  Works,  695—"  It  is  a  won- 
derful instance  of  wisdom  and  goodness  that  God  has  so  connected  his  own  glory  with 
our  happiness,  that  we  cannot  properly  intend  the  one,  but  that  the  other  must  follow  as 
a  matter  of  course,  and  our  own  felicity  is  at  last  resolved  into  his  eternal  glory."  That 
God  will  certainly  secure  the  end  for  which  he  created,  his  own  glory,  and  that  his  end 
is  our  end,  is  the  true  source  of  comfort  in  affliction,  of  strength  in  labor,  of  encourage- 
ment in  prayer.  See  Psalm  25  : 11— "For  thy  name's  sake Pardon  my  iniquity  for  it  is  great " ;  115  : 1— 

"Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  But  unto  thy  name  give  glory  "  ;  Mat.  6  :  33— "Seek  ye  first  his  kingdom,  and  his 
rightaousness ;  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you";  1  Cor.  10  :  31— "Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink, 
or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God ; "  1  Pet.  2  :  9—"  Ye  are  an  elect  race,  ....  that  ye  may  shew  forth  the 
excellencies  of  him  who  called  you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvelous  light"  ;  4  : 11— speaking,  ministering, 
"that  in  all  things  God  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus  Christ,  whose  is  the  glory  and  the  dominion  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen."  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Edwards,  Works,  2;  193-257;  Janet,  Final  Causes,  443- 
455;  Princeton  Theol.  Essays,  2  :  15-32;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  358-362. 
% 

VI.     RELATION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF   CREATION  TO  OTHER  DOCTRINES. 
1.     To  the  holiness  and  benevolence  of  God. 

Creation,  as  the  work  of  God,  manifests  of  necessity  God's  moral 
attributes.  But  the  existence  of  physical  and  moral  evil  in  the  universe 
appears,  at  first  sight,  to  impugn  these  attributes,  and  to  contradict  the 
Scripture  declaration  that  the  work  of  God's  hand  was  "very  good"  (Gen. 
1  :  31).  This  difficulty  may  be  in  great  part  removed  by  considering  that : 

(a)  At  its  first  creation,  the  world  was  good  in  two  senses  :  first,  as  free 
from  moral  evil, — sin  being  a  later  addition,  the  work,  not  of  God,  but  of 
created  spirits  ;  secondly,  as  adapted  to  beneficent  ends, — for  example,  the 
revelation  of  God's  perfection,  and  the  probation  and  happiness  of  intelli- 
gent and  obedient  creatures. 

(b)  Physical  pain  and  imperfection,  so  far  a$  they  existed  before  the 
introduction  of  moral  evil,  are  to  be  regarded  :  first,  as  congruous  parts  of 
a  system  of  which  sin  was  foreseen  to  be  an  incident ;  and  secondly,  as 
constituting,  in  part,  the  means  of  future  discipline  and  redemption  for  the 
fallen. 

Rom.  8  :  20-22—"  For  the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity,  not  of  its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected 
it,  in  hope  that  the  creation  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the 
children  of  God.  For  we  know  that  the  whole  creation  [  the  irrational  creation  ]  groaneth  and  travaileth  in 
pain  together  until  now  "  ;  23— our  mortal  body,  as  a  part  of  nature,  participates  in  the  same 
groaning.  2  Cor.  4  : 17—"  our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the  moment,  worketh  for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly 
an  eternal  weight  of  glory." 


RELATIONS   OF   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    CREATION.  199 

This  is  not  a  perfect  world.  It  was  not  perfect  even  when  originally  constituted.  Its 
imperfection  is  due  to  sin.  God  made  it  with  reference  to  the  fall— the  stage  was 
arranged  for  the  great  drama  of  sin  and  redemption  which  was  to  be  enacted  thereon. 
We  accept  Bushnell's  idea  of  "anticipative  consequences,"  and  would  illustrate  it  by 
the  building  of  a  hospital-room  while  yet  no  member  of  the  family  is  sick,  and  by  the 
salvation  of  the  patriarchs  through  a  Christ  yet  to  come.  If  the  earliest  vertebrates  of 
geological  history  were  types  of  man  and  preparations  for  his  coming,  then  pain  and 
Kleath  among  those  same  vertebrates  may  equally  have  been  a  type  of  man's  sin  and  its 
results  of  misery.  If  sin  had  not  been  an  incident,  foreseen  and  provided  for,  the  world 
might  have  been  a  Paradise.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  will  become  a  Paradise  only  at  the 
completion  of  the  redemptive  work  of  Christ.  Kreibig,  Versohnung,  369— "  The  death 
of  Christ  was  accompanied  by  startling  occurrences  in  the  outward  world,  to  show  that 
the  effects  of  his  sacrifice  reached  even  into  nature."  Perowne  refers  Ps.  96  : 10—"  The  world 
-also  is  stablished  that  it  cannot  be  moved  "—to  the  restoration  of  the  inanimate  creation  ;  c/.  Heb. 
12  :  27 — "  And  this  word,  Yet  once  more,  signifieth  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that  have 
been  made,  that  those  things  which  are  not  shaken  may  remain  "  ;  Rev.  21 : 1,  5—"  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  .... 
Behold,  I  make  all  things  new;' 

Hicks,  Critique  of  Design  Arguments,  386—"  The  very  badness  of  the  world  convinces 
us  that  God  is  good."  And  Sir  Henry  Taylor's  words :  "  Pain  in  man  Bears  the  high 
mission  of  the  flail  and  fan  ;  In  brutes  'tis  surely  piteous  "—receive  their  answer :  The 
brute  is  but  an  appendage  to  man,  and  like  inanimate  nature  it  suffers  from  man's  fall 
— suffers  not  wholly  in  vain,  for  even  pain  in  brutes  serves  to  illustrate  the  malign 
influence  of  sin  and  to  suggest  motives  for  resisting  it.  Pascal :  "  Whatever  virtue  can 
be  bought  with  pain  is  cheaply  bought."  The  pain  and  imperfection  of  the  world  are 
God's  frown  upon  sin  and  his  warning  against  it.  See  Bushnell,  chapter  on  Anticipative 
Consequences,  in  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  194-219.  Also  McCosh,  Divine  Govern- 
ment, 26-35,  249-261 ;  Farrar,  Science  and  Theology,  82-105 :  Johnson,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  6  : 
141-154. 

2.     To  the  wisdom  and  free-will  of  God. 

No  plan  whatever  of  a  finite  creation  can  fully  express  the  infinite  perfec- 
tion of  God.  Since  God,  however,  is  immutable,  he  must  always  have  had  a 
plan  of  the  universe  ;  since  he  is  perfect,  he  must  have  had  the  best  possible 
plan.  As  wise,  God  cannot  choose  a  plan  less  good,  instead  of  one  more 
good.  As  rational,  he  cannot  between  plans  equally  good  make  a  merely 
.arbitrary  choice.  Here  is  no  necessity,  but  only  the  certainty  that  infinite 
wisdom  will  act  wisely.  As  no  compulsion  from  without,  so  no  necessity 
from  within,  moves  God  to  create  the  actual  universe.  Creation  is  both 
wise  and  free. 

As  God  is  both  rational  and  wise,  his  having  a  plan  of  the  universe  must  be  better  than 
his  not  having  a  plan  would  be.  But  the  universe  once  was  not ;  yet  without  a  uni- 
verse God  was  blessed  and  sufficient  to  himself.  God's  perfection  therefore  requires, 
not  that  he  have  a  universe,  but  that  he  have  a  plan  of  the  universe.  Again,  since  God 
is  both  rational  and  wise,  his  actual  creation  cannot  be  the  worst  possible,  nor  one 
-arbitrarily  chosen  from  two  or  more  equally  good.  It  must  be,  all  things  considered, 
the  best  possible.  We  are  optimists  rather  than  pessimists. 

But  we  reject  that  form  of  optimism  which  regards  evil  as  the  indispensable  condition 
-of  the  good,  and  sin  as  the  direct  product  of  God's  will.  We  hold  that  other  form  of 
optimism  which  regards  sin  as  naturally  destructive,  but  as  made,  in  spite  of  itself,  by  an 
overruling  providence,  to  contribute  to  the  highest  good.  For  the  optimism  which 
makes  evil  the  necessary  condition  of  finite  being,  see  Leibnitz,  Opera  Philosophica, 
468,  624 ;  Hedge,  Ways  of  the  Spirit,  241 ;  and  Pope's  Essay  on  Man.  For  the  better  form 
of  optimism,  see  Herzog,  Encyclopaedic,  art. :  Schopf ung,  13 : 651-653 ;  Chalmers,  Works, 
.2:286;  Mark  Hopkins,  in  Andover  Rev.,  March,  1885:197-210;  Luthardt,  Lehre  des 
freien  Willens,  9, 10—"  Calvin's  Quid  voluit  is  not  the  last  answer.  We  could  have  no 
heart  for  such  a  God,  for  he  would  himself  have  no  heart.  Formal  will  alone  has  no 
heart.  In  God  real  freedom  controls  formal,  as  in  fallen  man,  formal  controls  real." 

Janet,  in  his  Final  Causes,  429  sq.  and  490-503,  claims  that  optimism  subjects  God  to 
fate.  We  have  shown  that  this  objection  mistakes  the  certainty  which  is  consistent 


200  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF   GOD. 

with  freedom  for  the  necessity  which  is  inconsistent  with  freedom.  The  opposite 
doctrine  attributes  an  irrational  arbitrariness  to  God.  We  are  warranted  in  saying  that 
the  universe  at  present  existing-,  considered  as  a  partial  realization  of  God's  developing 
plan,  is  the  best  possible  for  this  particular  point  of  time— in  short,  that  all  is  for  the 
best— see  Rom.  8  :  28— "to  them  that  love  God  all  things  work  together  for  good"  ;  1  Cor.  3  :  21— "all  things  are 
yours." 

For  denial  of  optimism  in  any  form,  see  Watson,  Theol.  Institutes,  1  :  419 ;  Hovey,  God 
with  Us,  206-208;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1  :  419,  432,  566,  and  2  :  145;  Lipsius,  Dogmatik,  234- 
255;  Flint,  Theism,  227-256;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  397-409,  and  esp.  405— "A  wisdom 
the  resources  of  which  have  been  so  expended  that  it  cannot  equal  its  past  achieve- 
ments is  a  finite  capacity,  and  not  the  boundless  depth  of  the  infinite  God."  But  we 
reply  that  a  wisdom  which  does  not  do  that  which  is  best  is  not  wisdom.  The  limit  is 
not  in  God's  abstract  power,  but  in  his  other  attributes  of  truth,  love,  and  holiness. 
Hence  God  can  say  in  Is.  5  :  4—"  what  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard  that  I  have  not  done  in  it?  " 

The  perfect  antithesis  to  an  ethical  and  theistic  optimism  is  found  in  the  non-moral 
and  atheistic  pessimism  of  Schopenhauer  (Die  Welt  als  Wille  und  Vorstellung)  and  Hart- 
mann  (Philosophic  des  Unbewussten).  "All  life  is  summed  up  in  effort,  and  effort  is 
painful ;  therefore  life  is  pain.  But  we  might  retort :  Life  is  active,  and  action  is  always 
accompanied  with  pleasure ;  therefore  life  is  pleasure."  See  Frances  Power  Cobbe» 
Peak  of  Darien,  95-134,  for  a  graphic  account  of  Schopenhauer's  heartlessness,  coward- 
ice, and  arrogance.  Pessimism  is  natural  to  a  mind  soured  by  disappointment  and  for- 
getful of  God :  Eccl.  2  : 11—"  all  was  vanity  and  a  striving  after  wind."  Homer  :  "  There  is  nothing- 
whatever  more  wretched  than  man."  Seneca  praises  death  as  the  best  invention  of 
nature.  Byron :  "  Count  o'er  the  joys  thine  hours  have  seen,  Count  o'er  thy  days  from 
anguish  free,  And  know,  whatever  thou  hast  been,  'T  is  something  better  not  to  be." 
But  it  has  been  left  to  Schopenhauer  and  Hartmann  to  define  will  as  unsatisfied  yearn- 
ing, to  regard  life  itself  as  a  huge  blunder,  and  to  urge  upon  the  human  race,  as  the  only 
measure  of  permanent  relief,  a  united  and  universal  act  of  suicide. 

On  both  the  optimism  of  Leibnitz  and  the  pessimism  of  Schopenhauer,  see  Bowen,. 
Modern  Philosophy;  Tulloch,  Modern  Theories,  169-221;  Thomson,  on  Modern  Pes- 
simism, in  Present  Day  Tracts,  6  :  no.  34 ;  Wright  on  Ecclesiastes,  141-216 ;  Barlow, 
Ultimatum  of  Pessimism:  Culture  tends  to  misery;  God  is  the  most  miserable  of 
beings ;  creation  is  a  plaster  for  the  sore.  See  also  Mark  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Review,. 
Sept.,  1882 : 197—"  Disorder  and  misery  are  so  mingled  with  order  and  beneficence,  that 
both  optimism  and  pessimism  are  possible."  Yet  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be  more 
construction  than  destruction,  or  the  world  would  not  be  existing.  Buddhism,  with  its 
Nirvana-refuge,  is  essentially  pessimistic.  The  remedy  for  pessimism  is  ( 1 )  the  recog- 
nition of  sin,  as  the  free  act  of  the  creature,  by  which  all  sorrow  and  misery  have  been 
caused;  and  (2)  the  recognition  of  Christ  as  the  personal  God  who  is  manifested,  in 
self-sacrificing  love,  to  deliver  men  from  the  manifold  evils  in  which  their  sins  have  in- 
volved them.  Rom.  8  :  32—"  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how  shall  he  not  also, 
with  him  freely  give  us  all  things  ?  " 

3.     To  providence  and  redemption. 

Christianity  is  essentially  a  scheme  of  supernatural  love  and  power.  It 
conceives  of  God  as  above  the  world,  as  well  as  in  it, — able  to  manifest- 
himself,  and  actually  manifesting  himself,  in  ways  unknown  to  mere  nature. 

But  this  absolute  sovereignty  and  transcendence,  which  are  manifested 
in  providence  and  in  redemption,  are  inseparable  from  creatorship.  If  the 
world  be  eternal,  like  God,  it  must  be  an  efflux  from  the  substance  of  God 
and  must  be  absolutely  equal  with  God.  Only  a  proper  doctrine  of  creation 
can  secure  God's  absolute  distinctness  from  the  world  and  his  sovereignty 
over  it. 

The  logical  alternative  of  creation  is  therefore  a  system  of  pantheism,  in 
which  God  is  an  impersonal  and  necessary  force.  Hence  the  pantheistic 
dicta  of  Fichte  :  "  The  assumption  of  a  creation  is  the  fundamental  error  of 
all  false  metaphysics  and  false  theology";  of  Hegel:  "God  evolves  the 
world  out  of  himself,  in  order  to  take  it  back  into  himself  again  in  the  Spirit "; 


RELATIONS    OF   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    CREATION.  201 

and  of  Strauss:  "Trinity  and  creation,  speculatively  viewed,  are  one  and 
the  same, — only  the  one  is  viewed  absolutely,  the  other  empirically." 

Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  97 — "  Dualism  might  be  called  a  logical  alterna- 
tive of  creation,  but  for  the  fact  that  its  notion  of  two  gods  is  self-contradictory,  and 
leads  to  the  lowering  of  the  idea  of  the  Godhead,  so  that  the  impersonal  god  of  pantheism 
takes  its  place."  Dorner,  System  of  Doctrine,  2 :  11 — "  The  world  cannot  be  necessitated 
in  order  to  satisfy  either  want  or  over- fulness  in  God The  doctrine  of  absolute  crea- 
tion prevents  the  confounding  of  God  with  the  world.  The  declaration  that  the  Spirit 
brooded  over  the  formless  elements,  and  that  life  was  developed  under  the  continuous 
operation  of  God's  laws  and  presence,  prevents  the  separation  of  God-from  the  world. 
Thus  pantheism  and  deism  are  both  avoided."  The  unusually  full  treatment  of  the 
doctrine  of  creation  in  this  chapter  is  due  to  a  conviction  that  the  doctrine  constitutes 
an  antidote  to  most  of  the  false  philosophy  of  our  time. 

We  perceive  from  this  point  of  view,  moreover,  the  importance  and  value 
of  the  Sabbath,  as  commemorating  God's  act  of  creation,  and  thus  God's 
personality,  sovereignty,  and  transcendence. 

The  Sabbath  is  of  perpetual  obligation  as  God's  appointed  memorial  of  his  creating 
activity  (Gen.  2  :  3—"  And  God  blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  hallowed  it :  because  that  in  it  he  rested  from  all  his 
work  which  God  had  created  and  made").  Our  rest  is  to  be  a  miniature  representation  of  God's 
rest.  As  God  worked  six  divine  days  and  rested  one  divine  day,  so  are  we  in  imitation 
of  him  to  work  six  human  days  and  to  rest  one  human  day.  This  requisition  made  at 
the  creation  applies  to  man  as  man,  everywhere  and  always,  and  far  antedates  the 
decalogue. 

The  Sabbath  is  recognized  in  Assyrian  accounts  of  the  Creation  ;  see  Trans.  Soc.  Bib. 
Arch.,  5  :  427,  428 ;  Schrader,  Keilinschriften,  ed.  1883 :  18-22.  There  are  indications  of  an 
observance  of  the  ordinance  long  before  the  Mosaic  legislation.  Gen.  4  :  3— "And  in  process 
of  time  [  lit.  '  at  the  end  of  days'  ]  it  came  to  pass  that  Cain  brought  of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto 
the  Lord" ;  Gen.  8  : 10, 12— Noah  twice  waited  seven  days  before  sending  forth  the  dove  from 
the  ark;  Gen.  29  :  27,  28— "fulfil  the  week"  ;  c/.  Judges  14  : 12— "the  seven  days  of  the  feast"  ;  Ex.  16  :  5— 
double  portion  of  mannaj  promised  on  the  sixth  day,  that  none  be  gathered  on  the  Sab- 
bath (c/.  verses  20,  30).  This  division  of  days  into  weeks  is  best  explained  by  the  original 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  at  man's  creation.  Moses  in  the  fourth  commandment  there- 
fore speaks  of  it  as  already  known  and  observed :  Ex.  20  : 8—"  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy." 

The  Mosaic  prescriptions  with  regard  to  the  method  of  keeping  the  Sabbath  are  abro- 
gated by  Christ,  but  the  Sabbath  itself  is  a  part  of  the  moral  law  and  is  a  necessity  of 
human  nature.  That  law  binds  us  to  set  apart  a  seventh  portion  of  our  time  for  rest 
and  worship— after  every  six  days  of  work,  one  day  of  rest.  The  fourth  commandment 
does  not  enjoin  the  simultaneous  observance  of  a  fixed  portion  of  absolute  time,  nor 
can  any  such  exact  portion  of  absolute  time  be  simultaneously  observed  by  men  in  dif- 
ferent longitudes.  A  seventh-day  Sabbatarian  who  circumnavigated  the  globe  might 
gain  a  day  and  return  to  his  starting  point  observing  the  same  Sabbath  with  common 
Christendom. 

The  change  from  the  seventh  day  to  the  first  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  upon  "the  first  day  of  the  week"  (Mat.  28  : 1),  to  his  meeting  with  the  disciples 
upon  that  day  and  upon  the  succeeding  Sunday  (John  20  :  26),  and  to  the  pouring  out  of 
the  Spirit  upon  the  Pentecostal  Sunday  seven  weeks  after  (Acts  2  : 1— see  Bap.  Quar.  Rev., 
1885:  229-232).  Thus  by  Christ's  own  example  and  by  apostolic  sanction  the  first  day 
became  "the  Lord's  day"  (Rev.  1 : 10),  on  which  believers  met  regularly  each  week  with  their 
Lord  (Acts  20  :  7—"  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread"  )  and  brought 
together  their  benevolent  contributions  (1  Cor.  16  : 12— "  Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints. 
....  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  he  may  prosper,  that  no  collections  be 
made  when  I  come"). 

The  Christian  Sabbath,  then,  is  the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection.  The  Jewish  Sabbath 
commemorated  only  the  original  creation  of  the  world ;  the  Christian  Sabbath  com- 
memorates also  the  new  creation  of  the  world  in  Christ,  in  which  God's  work  in  humanity 
first  becomes  complete.  C.  H.  M.  on  Gen.  2 :  "  If  I  celebrate  the  seventh  day  it  marks  me 
as  an  earthly  man,  inasmuch  as  that  day  is  clearly  the  rest  of  earth— creation-rest ;  if  I 
intelligently  celebrate  the  first  day  of  the  week,  I  am  marked  as  a  heavenly  man,  believ- 
ing in  the  new  creation  in  Christ."  (Gal.  4  : 10, 11— "Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  seasons,  and 


202          NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

years.  I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  by  any  means  I  have  bestowed  labor  upon  you  in  vain  "  ;  Col.  2  : 16,  17—"  Let  no  man 
therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  a  feast  day  or  a  new  moon  or  a  Sabbath  day  :  which  are  a 
shadow  of  the  things  to  come  ;  but  the  body  is  Christ's  " ).  See  Eight  Studies  on  the  Lord's  Day ;  Hessey, 
Bampton  Lectures  on  the  Sunday;  Gilflllan,  The  Sabbath;  Wood,  Sabbath  Essays; 
Bacon,  Sabbath  Observance ;  Hadley,  Essays  Philological  and  Critical,  325-345 ;  Hodge, 
Syst.  Theol.,  3:  331-348;  Lotz,  Quaestiones  de  Historia  Sabbati;  Maurice,  Sermons  on  the 
Sabbath ;  Prize  Essays  on  the  Sabbath ;  Crafts,  The  Sabbath  for  Man.  For  the  seventh- 
day  view,  see  T.  B.  Brown,  The  Sabbath ;  J.  N.  Andrews,  History  of  the  Sabbath.  Per 
contra,  see  Prof.  A.  Rauschenbusch,  Sollen  wir  Samstag  oder  Sonntag  feiern? 


SECTION    II. — PRESERVATION. 

I.  DEFINITION  OF  PKESERVATION. 

Preservation  is  that  continuous  agency  of  God  by  which  he  maintains  in 
existence  the  things  he  has  created,  together  with  the  properties  and  powers 
with  which  he  has  endowed  them. 

In  explanation  we  remark  : 

(a)  Preservation  is  not  creation,  for  preservation  presupposes  creation. 
That  which  is  preserved  must  already  exist,  and  must  have  come  into  exist- 
ence by  the  creative  act  of  God. 

(6)  Preservation  is  not  a  mere  negation  of  action,  or  a  refraining  to 
destroy,  on  the  part  of  God.  It  is  a  positive  agency  by  which,  at  every 
moment,  he  sustains  the  substances  and  forces  of  the  universe. 

(c)  Preservation  is  not  the  maintenance  of  merely  latent  powers  and 
properties  in  matter  and  mind.     It  is  the  upholding  of  these  properties  and 
powers  in  their  actual  exercise  as  well. 

(d)  Preservation  recognizes  the  properties  and  powers  of  nature  as  hav- 
ing objective  reality.     Although  matter  and  mind  retain  their  existence  and 
endowments  only  by  the  constant  energy  of  God,  second  causes  are  not 
mere  names  for  the  great  first  Cause. 

(e)  Preservation,  however,  implies  a  natural  concurrence  of  God  in  all 
operations  of  matter  and  mind.     Though  God's  will  is  not  the  sole  force, 
it  is  still  true  that,  without  his  concurrence,  no  being  or  substance  in  the 
universe  can  continue  to  exist  or  act. 

Dorner,  System  of  Doctrine,  2  :  40-42 — "  Creation  and  preservation  cannot  be  the  same 
thing,  for  then  man  would  be  only  the  product  of  natural  forces  supervised  by  God— 
whereas,  man  is  above  nature  and  is  inexplicable  from  nature.  Nature  is  not  the  whole 
of  the  universe,  but  only  the  preliminary  basis  of  it.  ...  The  rest  of  God  is  not  cessation 
of  activity,  but  is  a  new  exercise  of  power."  Nor  is  God  "the  soul  of  the  universe." 
This  phrase  is  pantheistic,  and  implies  that  God  is  the  only  agent. 

II.  PROOF  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PRESERVATION. 

1.     From  /Scripture. 

In  a  number  of  Scripture  passages,  preservation  is  expressly  distinguish- 
ed from  creation.  Though  God  rested  from  his  work  of  creation  and  estab- 


PROOF    OF   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    PRESERVATION.  203 

lished  an  order  of  natural  forces,  a  special  and  continuous  divine  activity  is 
declared  to  be  put  forth  in  the  upholding  of  the  universe  and  its  powers. 

Nehemiah  9  :  6—"  Thou  art  the  Lord,  even  thou,  alone.  Thou  hast  made  heaven,  the  heaven  of  heavens,  with  all  their 
host,  the  earth  and  all  things  that  are  thereon,  the  seas  and  all  that  is  in  them,  and  thou  preservest  them  all"  ;  Job 

7  :  20 "0  thou  watcher  [marg.  'preserver'  ]  of  men !  "  Ps.  36  :  6 — "Thou  preservest  man  and  beast"  ;  104  :  29,  30 

— "  Thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they  die,  And  return  to  their  dust.  Thou  sendest  forth  thy  spirit,  they  are  created, 
and  thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  ground."  See  Perowne  on  Ps.  104—"  A  psalm  to  the  God  who  is  in 
and  with  nature  for  good."  Humboldt,  Cosmos,  2:  413— "Psalm  104  presents  an  image 
of  the  whole  Cosmos." 

Acts  17  :  28 — "in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being"  ;  Col.  1 : 17 — "in  him  all  things  consist"  ;  Heb. 
1  ;  2,  3 — "upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power."  John  5  : 17 — "  My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I 
work"— refers  most  naturally  to  preservation,  since  creation  is  a  work  completed;  com- 
pare Gen.  2  :  2 — "  on  the  seventh  day  God  finished  his  work  which  he  had  made,  and  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day 
from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made." 

2.     From  Reason. 

We  may  argue  the  preserving  agency  of  God  from  the  following  consid- 
erations : 

(a)  Matter  and  mind  are  not  self-existent.  Since  they  have  not  the 
cause  of  their  being  in  themselves,  their  continuance  as  well  as  their  origin 
must  be  due  to  a  superior  power. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre :  "  Were  the  world  self-existent,  it  would  be  God,  not  world, 

and  no  religion  would  be  possible The  world  has  receptivity  for  new  creations ;  but 

these,  once  introduced,  are  subject,  like  the  rest,  to  the  law  of  preservation  " — i.  e,  are 
dependent  for  their  continued  existence  upon  God. 

(6)  Force  implies  a  will  of  which  it  is  the  direct  or  indirect  expression. 
While  we  cannot  identify  the  forces  of  the  universe  with  the  will  of  God,  or 
regard  God  as  the  sole  agent  in  the  universe,  what  we  know  of  force  as 
exerted  by  our  own  wills  leads  us  to  believe  that  force  and  will  are  correla- 
tive terms  :  in  other  words,  that  force  has  a  continuous  existence  only  by 
virtue  of  the  continuous  sustaining  agency  of  the  divine  will. 

For  modern  theories  identifying  force  with  divine  will,  see  Herschel,  Popular  Lectures 
on  Scientific  Subjects,  460 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  13-15,  39-36,  42-52 ;  Duke  of  Argyll, 
Reign  of  Law,  121-127 ;  Wallace,  Natural  Selection,  363-371 ;  Martineau,  Essays,  1 :  63, 
265;  Bowen,  Metaphysics  and  Ethics,  146-162.  We  cannot  thus  identify  force  with  will, 
because  in  many  cases  the  effort  of  our  will  is  fruitless  for  the  reason  that  nervous  and 
muscular  force  is  lacking.  We  are  thus  compelled  to  distinguish  between  the  two,  even 
while  we  grant  that  all  force  is  ultimately  due  to  will,  and  that  we  learn  of  will  only 
upon  occasion  of  our  using  force. 

See  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  582-588,  on  Maine  de  Biran's  theory  that  causation  per- 
tains only  to  spirit :  "  This  implies,  first,  that  the  conception  of  a  material  cause  is  self- 
contradictory.  But  the  mind  recognizes  in  itself  spiritual  energies  that  are  not  volun- 
tary ;  because  we  derive  our  notiqn  of  cause  from  will,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  causal 
relation  always  involves  will ;  it  would  follow  that  the  universe,  so  far  as  it  is  not  intelli- 
gent, is  impossible.  It  implies,  secondly,  that  there  is  but  one  agent  in  the  universe, 
and  that  the  phenomena  of  matter  and  mind  are  but  manifestations  of  one  single  force 
—the  Creator's." 

Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1 : 596—"  Because  we  get  our  own  idea  of  force  from  mind,  it  does 
not  follow  that  mind  is  the  only  force.  That  mind  is  a  cause  is  no  proof  that  electricity 
may  not  be  a  cause.  If  matter  is  force  and  nothing  but  force,  then  matter  is  nothing, 
and  the  external  world  is  simply  God.  In  spite  of  such  argument,  men  will  believe 
that  the  external  world  is  a  reality— that  matter  is,  and  that  it  is  the  cause  of  the  effects 
we  attribute  to  its  agency."  New  Englander,  Sept.,  1883  :  582— "  Man  in  early  times  used 
second  causes,  i.  e.  machines,  very  little  to  accomplish  his  purposes.  His  usual  mode  of 
action  was  by  the  direct  use  of  his  hands,  or  his  voice,  and  he  naturally  ascribed  to  the 
gods  the  same  method  as  his  own.  His  own  use  of  second  causes  has  led  man  to  higher 
conceptions  of  the  divine  action."  Dorner:  "If  the  world  had  no  independence,  it 


204  MATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS    OF    GOD. 

would  not  reflect  God,  nor  would  creation  mean  anything."    But  this  independence  is 
not  absolute. 

(c)  God's  sovereignty  requires  a  belief  in  his  special  preserving  agency  ; 
since  this  sovereignty  would  not  be  absolute,  if  anything  occurred  or 
existed  independent  of  his  will. 

The  doctrine  of  preservation  holds  a  middle  ground  between  two  extremes.  On  the 
one  hand,  as  we  have  seen,  it  holds  that  the  substances  of  the  universe  have  a  real 
existence  and  a  relative  independence.  On  the  other  hand,  it  holds  that  these  substances 
retain  their  being-  and  their  powers  only  as  they  are  upheld  by  God.  As  the  human  will 
has  a  certain  independence,  while  yet  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being  in  God,  so 
the  forces  of  nature  are  at  the  same  time  independent  and  dependent.  If  God  can  dis- 
join from  himself  a  certain  portion  of  force  which  we  call  man's  will,  while  yet  that 
will  is  dependent  upon  God  for  its  continued  existence,  then  God  can  also  disjoin  from 
himself  a  certain  inferior  portion  of  force  which  we  call  magnetism,  while  yet  that 
magnetism  is  dependent  upon  him  for  its  continued  existence.  The  same  principle 
which  leads  to  the  confounding  of  natural  forces  with  divine  will  would  logically 
require  the  confounding  of  human  will  with  divine  will. 

And  yet  there  is  no  force  which  does  not  in  its  very  nature  testify  to  the  will  of  God 
which  originated  it  and  which  continually  sustains  it.  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  367— 
"  The  dynamical  theory  of  nature  as  a  plastic  organism,  pervaded  by  a  system  of  corre- 
lated forces  uniting  at  last  in  one  supreme  force,  is  altogether  more  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  and  teaching  of  the  gospel  than  the  mechanical  conceptions  which  prevailed  a 
century  ago,  which  insisted  on  viewing  nature  as  an  intricate  machine,  fashioned  by  a 
great  artificer  who  stood  wholly  apart  from  it."  On  the  persistency  of  force,  swper 
cuncta,  mbter  cuncta,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1881 : 1-24;  Cocker,  Theistic  Conception  of  the 
World,  173-243,  esp.  236.  The  doctrine  of  preservation  therefore  holds  to  a  God  both  in 
nature  and  beyond  nature.  According  as  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  elements  is  ex- 
clusively regarded,  we  have  the  error  of  Deism,  or  the  error  of  Continuous  Creation- 
theories  which  we  now  proceed  to  consider. 

III.     THEORIES  WHICH  VIRTUALLY  DENT  THE  DOCTRINE  or  PRESERVATION. 
1.     Deism. 

This  view  represents  the  universe  as  a  self -sustained  mechanism,  from 
which  God  withdrew  as  soon  as  he  had  created  it,  and  which  he  left  to  a 
process  of  self-development.  It  was  held  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  by  the  English  Herbert,  Collins,  Tindal,  and  Bolingbroke. 

Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  was  one  of  the  first  who  formed  deism  into  a  system.  His 
book  De  Veritate  was  published  in  1624.  He  argues  against  the  probability  of  God'a 
revealing  his  will  to  only  a  portion  of  the  earth.  This  he  calls  "particular  religion." 
Yet  he  sought,  and  according  to  his  own  account  he  received,  a  revelation  from  heaven 
to  encourage  the  publication  of  his  work  in  disproof  of  revelation.  He  "  asked  for  a 
sign,"  and  was  answered  by  a  "  loud  though  gentle  noise  from  the  heavens."  He  had  the 
vanity  to  think  his  book  of  such  importance  to  the  cause  of  truth  as  to  extort  a  decla- 
ration of  the  divine  will,  when  the  interests  of  half  mankind  could  not  secure  any 
revelation  at  all ;  what  God  would  not  do  for  a  nation,  he  would  do  for  an  individual. 
See  Leslie  and  Leland,  Method  with  the  Deists.  Deism  is  the  exaggeration  of  the  truth 
of  God's  transcendence.  See  Christlieb,  Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,  190-209. 
Melancthon  illustrates  by  the  shipbuilder :  "  Tit  faber  discedit  a  navi  exstructa  et  re- 
linquit  earn  nautis."  God  is  the  maker,  not  the  keeper,  of  the  watch.  Carlyle  :  "  An 
absentee  God,  sitting  idle  ever  since  the  first  Sabbath  at  the  outside  of  the  universe,  and 
seeing  it  go."  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theology,  art. :  Deism. 

We  object  to  this  view  that : 

(a)  It  rests  upon  a  false  analogy. — Man  is  able  to  construct  a  self-moving 
watch  only  because  he  employs  preexisting  forces,  such  as  gravity,  elasticity, 
cohesion.  But  in  a  theory  which  likens  the  universe  to  a  machine,  these 
forces  are  the  very  things  to  be  accounted  for. 


THEORIES    WHICH    DENY    PRESERVATION.  205 

This  theory  regards  the  universe  as  a  "  perpetual  motion."  Modern  views  of  the  dis- 
sipation of  energy  have  served  to  discredit  it.  See  Woods,  Works,  2  :  40. 

(6)  It  is  a  system  of  anthropomorphism,  while  it  professes  to  exclude 
anthropomorphism. — Because  the  upholding  of  all  things  would  involve  a 
multiplicity  of  minute  cares  if  man  were  the  agent,  it  conceives  of  the 
upholding  of  the  universe  as  involving  such  burdens  in  the  case  of  God. 
Thus  it  saves  the  dignity  of  God  by  virtually  denying  his  omnipresence, 
omniscience,  and  omnipotence. 

The  infinity  of  God  turns  into  sources  of  delight  all  that  would  seem  care  to  man.  To 
God's  inexhaustible  fulness  of  life  there  are  no  burdens  involved  in  the  upholding  of 
the  universe  he  has  created.  Since  God,  moreover,  is  a  perpetual  observer,  we  may 
alter  the  poet's  verse  and  say :  "  There's  not  a  flower  that's  born  to  blush  unseen  And 
waste  its  sweetness  on  the  desert  air."  See  Chalmers,  Astronomical  Discourses,  in 
Works,  7  :  68;  Kurtz,  The  Bible  and  Astronomy,  in  Introd.  to  Hist,  of  Old  Covenant, 
Ixxxii-xcviii. 

(c)  It  cannot  be  maintained  without  denying  all  providential  interfer- 
ence, in  the  history  of  creation  and  the  subsequent  history  of  the  world. — 
But  the  introduction  of  life,  the  creation  of  man,  incarnation,  regeneration, 
the  communion  of  intelligent  creatures  with  a  present  God,  and  interposi- 
tions of  God  in  secular  history,  are  matters  of  fact. 

Deism  therefore  continually  tends  to  atheism.  See  Pearson,  Infidelity,  97 ;  Hanne, 
Idee  der  absoluten  Personlichkeit,  76. 

2.     Continuous  creation. 

This  view  regards  the  universe  as  from  moment  to  moment  the  result  of 
a  new  creation.  It  was  held  by  the  New  England  theologians  Edwards, 
Hopkins,  and  Emmons,  and  more  recently  in  Germany  by  Rothe. 

Edwards,  Works,  2 :  486-490,  quotes  and  defends  Dr.  Taylor's  utterance  :  "  God  is  the 
original  of  all  being,  and  the  only  cause  of  all  natural  effects."  Edwards  himself  says : 
"  God's  upholding  created  substance,  or  causing  its  existence  in  each  successive  moment, 
is  altogether  equivalent  to  an  immediate  production  out  of  nothing  at  each  moment." 
He  argues  that  the  past  existence  of  a  thing  cannot  be  the  cause  of  its  present  existence, 
because  a  thing  cannot  act  at  a  time  and  place  where  it  is  not.  "  This  is  equivalent  to 
saying  that  God  cannot  produce  an  effect  which  shall  last  for  one  moment  beyond  the 
direct  exercise  of  his  creative  power.  What  man  can  do,  God,  it  seems,  cannot"  (A.  S. 

Carman).    Hopkins,  Works,  1 :  164-167— Preservation  "  is  really  continued  creation 

The  law  or  course  of  nature  is  nothing  but  divine  power  and  wisdom.  All  power  is 
in  God.  This  is  the  proper  efficient  cause  of  every  event.  All  creatures  which  act  or 
move,  exist  and  move,  or  are  moved,  by  and  in  him."  Emmons,  Works,  4  :  363-389,  esp. 
381—"  We  cannot  conceive  that  even  omnipotence  is  able  to  form  independent  agents, 
because  this  would  be  to  endow  them  with  divinity.  And  since  all  men  are  dependent 
agents,  all  these  motions,  exercises,  or  actions  must  originate  in  a  divine  efficiency." 
God  therefore  creates  all  the  volitions  of  the  soul,  and  effects  by  his  almighty  power  all 
changes  in  the  material  world.  See  Rothe,  Dogmatik,  1 :  126-160,  esp.  150,  and  Theol. 
Ethik,  1 :  186-190.  For  statement  of  Rothe's  view,  see  also  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1875 :  144. 

To  this  view  we  object,  upon  the  following  grounds  : 

(a)  It  contradicts  our  intuitive  beliefs  in  substance  and  causality, — by 
denying  the  existence  and  efficiency  of  second  causes  and  declaring  these 
to  be  merely  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  divine  energy.  It  removes  all 
basis  for  our  knowledge  of  an  external  world,  and  involves  all  the  difficulties 
of  idealism. 

According  to  this  view,  the  contact  of  fire  with  the  finger,  the  stroke  of  the  axe  on 
the  tree,  are  only  the  occasions— divine  omnipotence  is  the  cause— of  the  tree's  falling 


206  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF   GOD. 

and  the  finger's  burning.  All  causal  connections  between  the  different  objects  of  the 
universe  are  at  an  end.  No  such  things  as  physical  forces  exist.  Nature  becomes  a 
mere  phantom,  and  God  is  the  only  cause  in  the  universe. 

(6)  It  exaggerates  God's  power  only  by  sacrificing  his  truth,  love,  and 
holiness  ; — for  if  the  substances  and  powers  of  nature  are  not  what  they 
seem — namely,  objective  existences — God's  veracity  is  impugned  ;  if  the 
human  soul  have  no  real  freedom  and  life,  God's  love  has  made  no  self- 
communication  to  creatures  ;  if  God's  will  is  the  only  force  in  the  universe, 
God's  holiness  can  no  longer  be  asserted,  for  the  divine  will  must  in  that 
case  be  regarded  as  the  author  of  human  sin. 

Upon  this  view  personal  identity  is  inexplicable.  Edwards  bases  identity  upon  the 
arbitrary  decree  of  God.  God  can  therefore,  by  so  decreeing,  make  Adam's  posterity 
one  with  their  first  father  and  responsible  for  his  sin.  Edwards's  theory  of  continuous 
creation,  indeed,  was  devised  as  an  explanation  of  the  problem  of  original  sin.  The 
divinely  appointed  union  of  acts  and  exercises  with  Adam  was  held  sufficient,  without 
union  of  substance,  or  natural  generation  from  him,  to  explain  our  being  born  corrupt 
and  guilty.  This  view  would  have  been  impossible,  if  Edwards  had  not  been  an  idealist, 
making  far  too  much  of  acts  and  exercises  and  far  too  little  of  substance. 

See  Noah  Porter's  Discourse  on  "Bishop  George  Berkeley,"  71,  and  quotations  from 
Edwards,  in  Journ.  Spec.  Philos.,  Oct.,  1883 : 401-420—"  Nothing  else  has  a  proper  being  but 
spirits,  and  bodies  are  but  the  shadow  of  being.  . . .  Seeing  the  brain  exists  only  mentally, 
I  therefore  acknowledge  that  I  speak  improperly  when  I  say  that  the  soul  is  in  the  brain 
only,  as  to  its  operations.  For,  to  speak  yet  more  strictly  and  abstractedly,  'tis  nothing 
but  the  connection  of  the  soul  with  these  and  those  modes  of  its  own  ideas,  or  those 
mental  acts  of  the  Deity,  seeing  the  brain  exists  only  in  idea.  . . .  That  which  truly  is 
the  substance  of  all  bodies  is  the  infinitely  exact  and  precise  and  perfectly  stable  idea  in 
God's  mind,  together  with  his  stable  will  that  the  same  shall  be  gradually  communicated 
to  us  and  to  other  minds  according  to  certain  fixed  and  established  methods  and  laws ; 
or,  in  somewhat  different  language,  the  infinitely  exact  and  precise  divine  idea,  together 
with  an  answerable,  perfectly  exact,  precise,  and  stable  will,  with  respect  to  correspond- 
ent communications  to  created  minds  and  effects  on  those  minds."  It  is  easy  to  see  how* 
from  this  view  of  Edwards,  the  "  Exercise-system  "  of  Hopkins  and  Emmons  naturally 
developed  itself.  On  personal  identity,  see  Bp.  Butler,  Works  ( Bohn's  ed.),  327-334. 

(c)  As  deism  tends  to  atheism,  so  the  doctrine  of  continuous  creation 
tends*  to  pantheism. — Arguing  that,  because  we  get  our  notion  of  force  from 
the  action  of  our  own  wills,  therefore  all  force  must  be  will,  and  divine  will, 
it  is  compelled  to  merge  the  human  will  in  this  all-comprehending  will  of 
God.  Mind  and  matter  alike  become  phenomena  of  one  force,  which  has 
the  attributes  of  both  ;  and,  with  the  distinct  existence  and  personality  of  the 
human  soul,  we  lose  the  distinct  existence  and  personality  of  God,  as  well 
as  the  freedom  and  accountability  of  man. 

Such  a  scheme  makes  supernatural  religion  impossible,  for  the  reason  that  nature  is 
denied,  and  everything— that  is  to  say,  nothing-  becomes  supernatural.  Dorner  well 
remarks  that  "Preservation  is  empowering  of  the  creature  and  maintenance  of  its 
activity,  not  new  bringing  it  into  being."  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Julius  MUller,  Doc- 
trine of  Sin,  1 :  220-225 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  258-272 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  50 ; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1 :  577-581,  and  595 ;  Dabney,  Theology,  338,  339. 

IV.     REMARKS  UPON  THE  DIVINE  CONCURRENCE. 

(a)  The  divine  efficiency  interpenetrates  that  of  nature  and  that  of  man 
without  destroying  or  absorbing  them.  The  influx  of  God's  sustaining 
energy  is  such  that  all  things  retain  their  natural  properties  and  powers. 
God  does  not  work  all,  but  all  in  all. 

Preservation,  then,  is  midway  between  the  two  errors  of  denying  the  first  cause 
( deism  or  atheism)  and  denying  the  second  causes  ( continuous  creation  or  pantheism). 


DEFINITION    OF    PROVIDENCE.  207 

1  Cor.  12  :  6— "there  are  diversities  of  workings,  but  the  same  God,  who  worketh  all  things  in  all"  ;  cf.  Eph.  1  :  23— 
the  church,  "which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  fllleth  all  in  all."  God's  action  is  no  actio  in 
distans,  or  action  where  he  is  not.  It  is  rather  action  in  and  through  second  causes.  Yet 
his  action  in  second  causes  does  not  supersede  these  second  causes.  We  cannot  see  the 
line  between  the  two  — the  action  of  the  first  cause  and  the  action  of  second  causes; 
yet  both  are  real,  and  each  is  distinct  from  the  other,  though  the  method  of  God's  con- 
currence is  inscrutable.  As  the  pen  and  the  hand  tog-ether  produce  the  writing-,  so  God's 
working  causes  natural  powers  to  work  with  him.  The  natural  growth  indicated  by  the 
words  "wherein  is  the  seed  thereof"  (Gen.  1  : 11)  has  its  counterpart  in  the  spiritual  growth  de- 
scribed in  the  words  "his  seed  abideth  in  him"  (1  John  3:9).  Paul  considers  himself  a  repro- 
ductive agency  in  the  hands  of  God :  he  begets  children  in  the  gospel  ( 1  Cor.  4  : 15 ) ;  yet 
the  New  Testament  speaks  of  this  begetting  as  the  work  of  God  (1  Pet.  1:3). 

(6)  Though  God  preserves  mind  and  body  in  their  working,  we  are  ever 
to  remember  that  God  concurs  with  the  evil  acts  of  his  creatures  only  as. 
they  are  natural  acts,  and  not  as  they  are  evil. 

In  holy  action  God  gives  the  natural  powers,  and  by  his  word  and  Spirit  influences  the 
soul  to  use  these  powers  aright.  But  in  evil  action  God  gives  only  the  natural  powers ; 
the  evil  direction  of  these  powers  is  caused  only  by  man.  Jer.  44  :  4—"  Oh  do  not  this  abominable 
thing  that  I  hate  " ;  Hab.  1  : 13 — "  Thou  that  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil,  and  that  canst  not  look  on  perverse- 
ness,  wherefore  lookest  thou  upon  them  that  deal  treacherously,  and  holdest  thy  peace  when  the  wicked  swalloweth  up 
the  man  that  is  more  righteous  than  he?"  James  1 : 13, 14 — "Let  no  man  say  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of 
God ;  for  God  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil,  and  he  himself  tempteth  no  man :  but  each  man  is  tempted,  when  he  is  drawn 
away  by  his  own  lust,  and  enticed."  On  the  importance  of  the  idea  of  preservation  in  Christian 
doctrine,  see  Calvin,  Institutes,  1 :  182  (chapter  16). 


SECTION    III. — PROVIDENCE. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  PROVIDENCE. 

Providence  is  that  continuous  agency  of  God  by  which  he  makes  all  the 
events  of  the  physical  and  moral  universe  fulfil  the  original  design  with 
which  he  created  it. 

In  explanation  notice  : 

(a)  Providence  is  not  to  be  taken  merely  in  its  etymological  sense  of 
fore  seeing.  It  is  /orseeing  also,  or  a  positive  agency  in  connection  with 
all  the  events  of  history. 

(6)  Providence  is  to  be  distinguished  from  preservation.  While  preser- 
vation is  a  maintenance  of  the  existence  and  powers  of  created  things, 
providence  is  an  actual  care  and  control  of  them. 

(c)  Since  the  original  plan  of  God  is  all  comprehending,  the  providence 
which  executes  the  plan  is  all-comprehending  also,  embracing  within  its 
scope  things  small  and  great,  and  exercising  care  over  individuals  as  well  as 
over  classes. 

(d)  In  respect  to  the  good  acts  of  men,  providence  embraces  all  those 
natural  influences  of  birth  and  surroundings  which  prepare  men  for  the 
operation  of  God's  word  and  Spirit,  and  which  constitute  motives  to  obe- 
dience. 


208  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

(e)  In  respect  to  the  evil  acts  of  men,  providence  is  never  the  efficient 
cause  of  sin,  but  is  by  turns  preventive,  permissive,  directive,  and  deter- 
minative. 

The  Germans  have  the  word  Fttrsehung,  forseeing,  looking  out  for,  as  well  as  the 
word  Vorsehung,  foreseeing,  seeing  beforehand.  Our  word  '  providence '  embraces  the 
meanings  of  both  these  words.  On  the  general  subject  of  providence,  see  Philippi, 
Glaubenslehre,  2  :  272-284 ;  Calvin,  Institutes,  1 :  182-219 ;  Dick,  Theology,  1 :  416-446 ; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theology,  1 :  581-616 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  12 :  179 ;  21 :  584 ;  26  :  315 ;  30  :  593 ;  N.  W. 
Taylor,  Moral  Government,  2 :  294-326. 

II.       PROOF    OF   THE   DOCTRINE    OF    PROVIDENCE. 

1.     Scriptural  proof. 

The  Scripture  witnesses  to 

A.  A  general  providential  government  and  control  (a)  over  the  uni- 
verse at  large  ;  (6)  over  the  physical  world  ;  (c)  over  the  brute  creation  ; 
(d)  over  the  affairs  of  nations ;  (e}  over  man's  birth  and  lot  in  life ; 
(/)  over  the  outward  successes  and  failures  of  men's  lives ;  (g)  over 
things  seemingly  accidental  or  insignificant ;  (h]  in  the  protection  of  the 
righteous ;  (i)  in  the  supply  of  the  wants  of  God's  people ;  (^' )  in  the 
arrangement  of  answers  to  prayer  ;  (k)  in  the  exposure  and  punishment  of 
the  wicked. 

(a)  Ps.  103  : 19 — "  his  kingdom  ruleth  over  all "  ;  Dan.  4  :  35 — "  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  heaven, 
and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  "  ;  Eph.  1  : 11—"  worketh  aU  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  will." 

(7>)  Job  37  :  5,  10— "God  thundereth By  the  breath  of  God  ice  is  given"  ;  Ps.  104  : 14— "causeth  the  grass  to 

grow  for  the  cattle"  ;  135  :  6,  7—"  Whatsoever  the  Lord  pleased,  that  hath  he  done,  In  heaven  and  in  earth,  in  the  seas 
and  in  all  deeps  .  .  .  vapors  .  .  .  lightnings  . .  .  wind"  ;  Mat.  5  :  45— "maketh  his  sun  to  rise sendeth  rain." 

(c)  Ps.  104  :  21,  28—"  young  lions  roar  .  . .  seek  their  meat  from  God  ...  That  thou  givest  them  they  gather  "  ;  Mat. 
6  :  26 — "birds  of  the  heaven  .  . .  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them  "  ;  10  :  29 — "two  sparrows  ...  not  one  of  them 
shall  fall  on  the  ground  without  your  Father." 

(d)  Job  12  :  23—"  He  increaseth  the  nations  and  destroyeth  them ;  He  spreadeth  the  nations  abroad  and  bringeth 
them  in  "  ;  Ps.  22 :  28—"  the  kingdom  is  the  Lord's :  And  he  is  the  ruler  over  the  nations  " ;  66  :  7—"  He  ruleth  by  his 
might  for  ever;  His  eyes  observe  the  nations"  ;  Acts  17  :  26— "made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the 
face  of  the  earth,  having  determined  their  appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation"  (instance  Pales- 
tine, Greece,  England). 

(e)  1  Sam.  16  : 1—"  Fill  thine  horn  with  oil,  and  go,  I  will  send  thee  to  Jesse  the  Bethlehemite :  for  I  have  provided 
me  a  king  among  his  sons"  ;  Ps.  139  : 16 — "Thine  eyes  did  see  mine  unperfect  substance,  And  in  thy  book  were  all 
my  members  written  " ;  Is.  45  :  5—"  I  will  gird  thee,  though  thou  hast  not  known  me  "  ;  Jer.  1 :  5—"  Before  I  formed 
thee  in  the  belly  I  knew  thee  .  .  .  sanctified  thee .  .  .  appointed  thee  "  ;  Gal.  1 : 15—"  God,  who  separated  me,  even  from 
my  mother's  womb,  and  called  me  through  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach  him  among  the 
Gentiles." 

(/)  Ps.  75  :  6,  7 — "neither  from  the  east,  nor  from  the  west,  Nor  yet  from  the  south  cometh  lifting  up.  But  God  is 
the  judge :  He  putteth  down  one,  and  lifteth  up  another  "  ;  Luke  1  :  52— "He  hath  put  down  princes  from  their  thrones, 
And  hath  exalted  them  of  low  degree." 

(g)  Prov.  16  :  33—"  The  lot  is  cast  into  the  lap ;  But  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  the  Lord  "  ;  Mat.  10  :  30—"  the 
very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered." 

(h)  Ps.  4  :  8 — "In  peace  will  I  both  lay  me  down  and  sleep ;  For  thou,  Lord,  alone  makest  me  dwell  in  safety"  ; 
5  : 12— "thou  wilt  compass  him  with  favor  as  with  a  shield" ;  63 :  8— "Thy  right  hand  upholdeth  me" ;  121 :  3— 
"He  that  keepeth  thee  will  not  slumber"  ;  Rom.  8  :  28— "to  them  that  love  God  all  things  work  together  for  good." 

(i)  Gen.  22  :  8,  14 — "God  will  provide  himself  the  lamb  ....  Jehovah-jireh "  (marg.  that  is,  'The  Lord  will 
see,'  or,  '  provide ' ) ;  Deut.  8  :  3—"  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  thing  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man  live  "  ;  Phil.  4  :  19—"  my  God  shall  fulfil  every  need  of  yours." 

(j)  Ps.  68  : 10 — "Thou,  0  God,  didst  prepare  of  thy  goodness  for  the  poor"  ;  Is.  64  :  4 — "neither  hath  the  eye  seen 
a  God  beside  thee,  which  worketh  for  him  that  waiteth  for  him"  ;  Mat.  6  :  8— "your  Father  knoweth  what  things  ye 
have  need  of,  before  ye  ask  him  "  ;  32,  33— "all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

(fc)  Ps.  7  : 12, 13— "If  a  man  turn  not,  he  will  whet  his  sword  ;  He  hath  bent  his  bow  and  made  it  ready ;  He  hath 
also  prepared  for  him  the  instruments  of  death ;  He  maketh  his  arrows  fiery  shafts  "  ;  11  :  6—"  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall 
rain  snares ;  Fire  and  brimstone,  and  burning  wind  shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup." 


PROOF  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROVIDENCE.         209 

B.  A  government  and  control  extending  to  the  free  actions  of  men — 
((a)  to  men's  free  acts  in  general ;  (6)  to  the  sinful  acts  of  men  also. 

(a)  Ex.  12  :  36 — "  the  Lord  gave  the  people  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  they  let  them  have  what  they 
asked.    And  they  spoiled  the  Egyptians  "  ;  1  Sam.  24  : 18—"  the  Lord  had  delivered  me  up  into  thy  hand  "  (Saul  to 
David) ;  Ps.  33  : 14,  15— "he  looketh  forth  Upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth ;  He  that  fashioneth  the  hearts  of  them 
all "  (i.  e.  equally,  one  as  well  as  another) ;  Prov.  16  : 1—"  The  preparations  of  the  heart  belong  to  man  : 
But  the  answer  of  the  tongue  is  from  the  Lord"  ;  19  :  21 — "There  are  many  devices  in  a  man's  heart;  But  the  counsel 
of  the  Lord,  that  shall  stand  "  ;  20  :  24 — "  A  man's  goings  are  of  the  Lord ;  How  then  can  man  understand  his  way  ?  " 
21 ;  1 — "The  king's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  as  the  watercourses:  He  turneth  it  whithersoever  he  will"  (i.  e. 
as  easily  as  the  rivulets  of  the  eastern  fields  are  turned  by  the  slightest  motion  of  the 
hand  or  the  foot  of  the  husbandman) ;  Jer.  10  : 23—"  0  Lord,  I  know  that  the  way  of  man  is  not  in 
himself:  it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps  "  ;  Phil.  2  : 13—"  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will 
and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure  "  ;  Eph.  2  : 10 — "  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works, 
which  God  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them  "  ;  James  4  : 13-15 — "If  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  both  live,  and 
do  this  or  that." 

(b)  2  Sam.  16  : 10— "because  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  him  [Shimei]:  Curse  David"  ;  24  :  1— "the  anger  of  the 
Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and  he  moved  David  against  them,  saying,  Go,  number  Israel  andJudah"  ;  Rom.  11 :  32 
--"God  hath  shut  up  all  unto  disobedience,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all  "  ;  2  Thes,  2  : 11— "God  sendeth  them  a 
working  of  error,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie  :  that  they  all  might  be  judged  who  believed  not  the  truth,  but  had 
pleasure  in  unrighteousness." 

God's  providence  with  respect  to  men's  evil  acts  is  described  in  Scri 
.as  of  four  sorts  : 

(a)  Preventive, — God  by  his  providence  prevents  sin  which  Would 
otherwise  be  committed.  That  he  thus  prevents  sin  is  to  be  regarded  as 
matter,  not  of  obligation,  but  of  grace. 

Gen.  20  :  6— Of  Abimelech  :  "  I  also  withheld  thee  from  sinning  against  me  "  ;  31 :  24— "And  God  came  to 
Laban  the  Syrian  in  a  dream  of  the  night,  and  said  unto  him,  Take  heed  to  thyself  that  thou  speak  not  to  Jacob  either 
good  or  bad  "  ;  Psalm  19  : 13—"  Keep  back  thy  servant  also  from  presumptuous  sins ;  let  them  not  have  dominion  over 
me" ;  Hosea  2  :  6 — "Behold,  I  will  hedge  up  thy  way  with  thorns,  and  I  will  make  a  fence  against  her  that  she  shall 
not  find  her  paths"— here  the  "thorns"  and  the  "fence"  may  represent  the  restraints  and  suffer- 
ings by  which  God  mercifully  checks  the  fatal  pursuit  of  sin  (see  Annotated  Par.  Bible 
in  loco). 

Man  sometimes  finds  himself  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice  of  sin,  and  strong-  temptatioti 
hurries  him  on  to  make  the  fatal  leap.  Suddenly  every  nerve  relaxes,  all  desire  for  the 
evil  thing  is  gone,  and  he  recoils  from  the  fearful  brink  over  which  he  was  just  now 
going  to  plunge.  God  has  interfered  by  the  voice  of  conscience  and  the  Spirit.  This  is 
.a  part  of  his  preventive  providence. 

(6)  Permissive, — God  permits  men  to  cherish  and  to  manifest  the  evil 
dispositions  of  their  hearts.  God's  permissive  providence  is  simply  the 
negative  act  of  withholding  impediments  from  the  path  of  the  sinner, 
instead  of  preventing  his  sin  by  the  exercise  of  divine  power.  It  implies  no 
ignorance,  passivity,  or  indulgence,  but  consists  with  hatred  of  the  sin  and 
determination  to  punish  it. 

Ps.  81 : 12,  13—"  So  I  let  them  go  after  the  stubbornness  of  their  heart,  That  they  might  walk  in  their  own  counsels. 
Oh  that  my  people  would  hearken  unto  me  !  "  Hosea  4  : 17—"  Ephraim  is  joined  to  idols ;  let  him  alone  "  ;  Acts  14  : 16 — 
"who  in  the  generations  gone  by  suffered  all  the  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways"  ;  Rom.  1 :  24,  28— "God  gave 
them  up  in  the  lusts  of  their  hearts  unto  uncleanness  ....  God  gave  them  up  unto  a  reprobate  mind,  to  do  those  things 
which  are  not  fitting"  ;  3  :  25— "to  show  his  righteousness,  because  of  the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime,  in 
the  forbearance  of  God." 

To  this  head  of  permissive  providence  is  possibly  to  be  referred  1  Sam.  18  : 10— "an  evil 
spirit  from  God  came  mightily  upon  Saul."  As  the  Hebrew  writers  saw  in  second  causes  the  opera- 
tion of  the  great  first  Cause,  and  said :  "  The  God  of  glory  thundereth  "  ( Ps.  29 : 3 ),  so,  because  even 
the  acts  of  the  wicked  entered  into  God's  plan,  the  Hebrew  writers  sometimes  repre- 
sented God  as  doing  what  he  merely  permitted  finite  spirits  to  do.  In  2  Sam.  24  : 1  God 
moves  David  to  number  Israel,  but  in  1  Chron.  21 : 1  the  same  thing  is  referred  to  Satan. 
-God's  providence  in  these  cases,  however,  may  be  directive  as  well  as  permissive. 
14 


210  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS    OF    GOD. 

(c)  Directive, — God  directs  the  evil  acts  of  men  to  ends  unforeseen  and 
unintended  by  the  agents.     When  evil  is  in  the  heart  and  will  certainly 
come  out,  God  orders  its  flow  in  one  direction  rather  than  in  another,  so 
that  its  course  can  be  best  controlled  and  least  harm  may  result.     This  is 
sometimes  called  overruling  providence. 

Gen.  50  :  20—"  As  for  you,  ye  meant  evil  against  me ;  but  God  meant  it  for  good,  to  bring  to  pass,  as  it  is  this  day,, 
to  save  much  people  alive  "  ;  Ps.  76  :  10—"  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee :  The  residue  of  wrath  shalt  thou  gird  upon 
thee"  =  put  on  as  an  ornament— clothe  thyself  with  it  for  thine  own  g-lory ;  Is.  10  :  5— "Ho 
Assyrian,  the  rod  of  mine  anger,  and  the  staff  in  whose  hand  is  mine  indignation  "  ;  Acts  4  :  27,  28 — "  Against  thy  holy 
Servant  Jesus,  whom  thou  didst  anoint,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and  the  peoples  of  Israel,  were 
gathered  together,  to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  foreordained  to  come  to  pass." 

To  this  head  of  directive  providence  should  probably  be  referred  the  passages  with 
regard  to  Pharaoh  in  Ex.  4  :  21—"  I  will  harden  his  heart,  and  he  will  not  let  the  people  go"  ;  7  : 13— "and 
Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened"  ;  8  : 15— "he  hardened  his  heart"—!  e.  Pharaoh  hardened  his  own  heart. 
Here  the  controlling1  agency  of  God  did  not  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  Pharaoh  or 
oblige  him  to  sin ;  but  in  judgment  for  his  previous  cruelty  and  impiety  God  withdrew 
the  external  restraints  which  had  hitherto  kept  his  sin  within  bounds,  and  placed  him  in 
circumstances  which  would  have  influenced  to  right  action  a  well-disposed  mind,  but 
which  God  foresaw  would  lead  a  disposition  like  Pharaoh's  to  the  peculiar  course  of 
wickedness  which  he  actually  pursued. 

God  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart  then,  first,  by  judicially  forsaking  him,  and,  secondly, 
by  so  directing  his  surroundings  that  his  sin  manifested  itself  in  one  way  rather  than  in 
another.  Sin  is  like  the  lava  of  the  volcano,  which  will  certainly  come  out,  but  which 
God  directs  in  its  course  down  the  mountain-side  so  that  it  will  do  least  harm.  The 
gravitation  downward  is  due  to  man's  evil  will ;  the  direction  to  this  side  or  to  that  is  due 
to  God's  providence.  See  Rom.  9  : 17— "For  this  very  purpose  did  I  raise  thee  up,  that  I  might  show  in  thee 
my  power,  and  that  my  name  might  be  published  abroad  in  all  the  earth.  So  then  he  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will,  and 
whom  he  will  he  hardeneth." 

(d]  Determinative, — God  determines  the   bounds  reached   by  the  evil 
passions  of  his  creatures,  and  the  measure  of  their  effects.     Since  moral 
evil  is  a   germ   capable  of   indefinite   expansion,  God's   determining   the 
measure  of  its  growth  does  not  alter  its  character  or  involve  God's  com- 
plicity with  the  perverse  wills  which  cherish  it. 

Job  1 :  12—"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  Behold  all  that  he  hath  is  in  thy  power ;  only  upon  himself  put  not  forth 
thy  hand  "  ;  2  :  6— "Behold  he  is  in  thy  hand ;  only  spare  his  life  "  ;  Ps.  124  :  2-"  If  it  had  not  been  the  Lord  who 
was  on  our  side,  When  men  rose  up  against  us :  Then  had  they  swallowed  us  up  alive  "  ;  1  Cor.  10  : 13—"  will  not  suffer 
you  to  >be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able ;  but  will  with  the  temptation  make  also  the  way  of  escape,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  endure  it "  ;  2  Thess.  2  :  7 — "  For  the  mystery  of  lawlessness  doth  already  work :  only  there  is  one  that  restrain- 
eth  now,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way  "  ;  Rev.  20  :  2,  3—"  And  he  laid  hold  of  the  dragon,  and  the  old  serpent, 
which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan,  and  bound  him  for  a  thousand  years." 

Pepper,  Outlines  of  Syst.  Theol.,  76 :  The  union  of  God's  will  and  man's  will  is  "  such 
that,  while  in  one  view  all  can  be  ascribed  to  God,  in  another  all  can  be  ascribed  to  the 
creature.  But  how  God  and  the  creature  are  united  in  operation  is  doubtless  known 
and  knowable  only  to  God.  A  very  dim  analogy  is  furnished  in  the  union  of  the  soul 
and  body  in  men.  The  hand  retains  its  own  physical  laws,  yet  is  obedient  to  the  human 
will.  This  theory  recognizes  the  veracity  of  consciousness  in  its  witness  to  personal 
freedom,  and  yet  the  completeness  of  God's  control  of  both  the  bad  and  the  good.  Free 
beings  are  ruled,  but  are  ruled  as  free  and  in  their  freedom.  The  freedom  is  not  sacri- 
ficed to  the  control.  The  two  coe'xist,  each  in  its  integrity.  Any  doctrine  which  does 
not  allow  this  is  false  to  Scripture  and  destructive  of  religion." 

2.     Rational  proof. 

A.  Arguments  a  priori  from  the  divine  attributes,  (a)  From  the  im- 
mutability of  God.  This  makes  it  certain  that  he  will  execute  his  eternal 
plan  of  the  universe  and  its  history.  But  the  execution  of  this  plan  in- 
volves not  only  creation  and  preservation,  but  also  providence.  (6)  From 
the  benevolence  of  God.  This  renders  it  certain  that  he  will  care  for  the 


THEORIES    OPPOSING   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    PROVIDENCE.  211 

intelligent  universe  lie  has  created.  What  it  was  worth  his  while  to  create, 
it  is  worth  his  while  to  care  for.  But  this  care  is  providence,  (c)  From 
the  justice  of  God.  As  the  source  of  moral  law,  God  must  assure  the  vin- 
dication of  law  by  administering  justice  in  the  universe  and  punishing  the 
rebellious.  But  this  administration  of  justice  is  providence. 

For  heathen  ideas  of  providence,  see  Cicero,  De  Natura  Deorum,  11 :  30,  where  Balbus 
speaks  of  the  existence  of  the  gods  as  that,  "quo  concesso,  confltendum  est  eorum 
consilio  mundum  administrari."  Epictetus,  sec.  41—"  The  principal  and  most  important 
duty  in  religion  is  to  possess  your  mind  with  just  and  becoming  notions  of  the  gods— to 
believe  that  there  are  such  supreme  beings,  and  that  they  govern  and  dispose  all  the 
affairs  of  the  world  with  a  just  and  good  providence."  Marcus  Antoninus :  "If  there 
are  no  gods,  or  if  they  have  no  regard  to  human  affairs,  why  should  I  desire  to  live  in  a 
world  without  gods  and  without  a  providence  ?  But  gods  undoubtedly  there  are,  and 
they  regard  human  affairs."  See  also  Bib.  Sac.,  16 :  374.  As  we  shall  see,  however,  many 
of  the  heathen  writers  believed  in  a  general,  rather  than  in  a  particular,  providence. 

On  the  argument  for  providence  derived  from  God's  benevolence,  see  Appleton, 
Works,  1 :  146— "Is  indolence  more  consistent  with  God's  majesty  than  action  would  be? 
The  happiness  of  creatures  is  a  good.  Does  it  honor  God  to  say  that  he  is  indifferent  to 
that  which  he  knows  to  be  good  and  valuable?  Even  if  the  world  had  come  into  exist- 
ence without  his  agency,  it  would  become  God's  moral  character  to  pay  some  attention 
to  creatures  so  numerous  and  so  susceptible  to  pleasure  and  pain,  especially  when  he 
might  have  so  great  and  favorable  an  influence  on  their  moral  condition."  John  5  : 17— 
"My  Father  worketh  even  until  now,  and  I  work  "—is  as  applicable  to  providence  as  to  preservation. 

B.  Arguments  a,  posteriori  from  the  facts  of  nature  and  of  history. 
(a)  The  outward  lot  of  individuals  and  nations  is  not  wholly  in  their  own 
hands,  but  is  in  many  acknowledged  respects  subject  to  the  disposal  of  a 
higher  power.  (6)  The  observed  moral  order  of  the  world,  although  im- 
perfect, cannot  be  accounted  for  without  recognition  of  a  divine  providence. 
Vice  is  discouraged  and  virtue  rewarded,  in  ways  which  are  beyond  the 
power  of  mere  nature.  There  must  be  a  governing  mind  and  will,  and  this 
mind  and  will  must  be  the  mind  and  will  of  God. 

The  birthplace  of  individuals  and  of  nations,  the  natural  powers  with  which  they  are 
endowed,  the  opportunities  and  immunities  they  enjoy,  are  beyond  their  own  control. 
A  man's  destiny  for  time  and  for  eternity  may  practically  be  decided  for  him  by  his 
birth  in  a  Christian  home,  rather  than  in  a  tenement-house  at  the  Five  Points,  or  in  a 
kraal  of  the  Hottentots.  Progress  largely  depends  upon  "variety  of  environment" 
( H.  Spencer).  But  this  variety  of  environment  is  in  great  part  independent  of  our  own 
efforts. 

"  There's  a  Divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  Rough  hew  them  how  we  will."  Shakespeare 
here  expounds  human  consciousness.  "  Man  proposes  and  God  disposes  "  has  become  a 
proverb.  Experience  teaches  that  success  and  failure  are  not  wholly  due  to  us.  Men 
often  labor  and  lose ;  they  consult  and  nothing  ensues ;  they  "  embattle  and  are  broken.'* 
Providence  is  not  always  on  the  side  of  the  heaviest  battalions.  Not  arms  but  ideas 
have  decided  the  fate  of  the  world— as  Xerxes  found  at  Thermopylae,  and  Napoleon  at 
Waterloo.  See  sermon  on  Providence  in  Political  Revolutions,  in  Farrar's  Science  and 
Theology,  228.  On  the  moral  order  of  the  world,  notwithstanding:  its  imperfections,  see 
Butler,  Analogy,  Bohn's  ed.,  98  ;  King,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1884 :  202-222. 

III.     THEORIES  OPPOSING  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROVIDENCE. 
1.     Fatalism. 

Fatalism  maintains  the  certainty,  but  denies  the  freedom,  of  human  self- 
determination, — thus  substituting  fate  for  providence. 

To  this  view  we  object  that  (a)  it  contradicts  consciousness,  which  tes- 
tifies that  we  are  free ;  (6)  it  exalts  the  divine  power  at  the  expense  of 


NATURE,  DECREES,  AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

God's  truth,  wisdom,  holiness,  love ;  (c)  it  destroys  all  evidence  of  the 
personality  and  freedom  of  God ;  (d)  it  practically  makes  necessity  the 
only  God,  and  leaves  the  imperatives  of  our  moral  nature  without  present 
validity  or  future  vindication. 

The  Mohammedans  have  frequently  been  called  fatalists,  and  the  practical  effect  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Koran  upon  the  masses  is  to  make  them  so.  The  ordinary  Moham- 
medan will  have  no  physician  or  medicine,  because  everything  happens  as  God  has 
before  appointed.  Smith,  however,  in  his  Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,  denies  that 
fatalism  is  essential  to  the  system.  Islam  =  "submission,"  and  the  participle  Moslem  = 
"submitted,"  t.  e.  to  God. 

Calvinists  can  assert  freedom,  since  man's  will  finds  its  highest  freedom  only  in  sub- 
mission to  God.  Islam  also  cultivates  submission,  but  it  is  the  submission  not  of  love 
but  of  fear.  The  essential  difference  between  Mohammedanism  and  Christianity  is 
found  in  the  revelation  which  the  latter  gives  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ— a  revelation 
which  secures  from  free  moral  agents  the  submission  of  love.  On  fatalism,  see  McCosh, 
Intuitions,  266;  Kant,  Metaphysic  of  Ethics,  52-74,  93-108;  Mill,  Autobiography,  168-170, 
and  System  of  Logic,  521-526 ;  Hamilton,  Metaphysics,  692 ;  Stewart,  Active  and  Moral 
Powers  of  Man,  ed.  Walker,  268-324. 

2.     Caaualism. 

Casualism  transfers  the  freedom  of  mind  to  nature,  as  fatalism  transfers 
the  fixity  of  nature  to  mind.  It  thus  exchanges  providence  for  chance. 

Upon  this  view  we  remark  : 

(a)  If  chance  be  only  another  name  for  human  ignorance,  a  name  for 
the  fact  that  there  are  trivial  occurrences  in  life  which  have  no  meaning  or 
relation  to  us, — we  may  acknowledge  this,  and  still  hold  that  providence 
arranges  every  so-called  chance,  for  purposes  beyond  our  knowledge. 
Chance,  in  this  sense,  is  providential  coincidence  which  we  cannot  under- 
stand, and  do  not  need  to  trouble  ourselves  about. 

Not  all  chances  are  of  equal  importance.  The  casual  meeting  of  a  stranger  in  the 
street  need  not  bring  God's  providence  before  me,  although  I  know  that  God  arranges 
it.  Yet  I  can  conceive  of  that  meeting  as  leading  to  religious  conversation  and  to  the 
stranger's  conversion.  When  we  are  prepared  for  them,  we  shall  see  many  opportuni- 
ties which  are  now  as  unmeaning  to  us  as  the  gold  in  the  river-beds  was  to  the  early 
Indians  of  California.  I  should  be  an  ingrate,  if  I  escaped  a  lightning-stroke,  and  did  not 
thank  God ;  yet  Dr.  Arnold's  saying  that  every  school-boy  should  put  on  his  hat  for 
God's  glory,  and  with  a  high  moral  purpose,  seems  morbid.  There  is  a  certain  room  for 
the  play  of  arbitrariness.  We  must  not  afflict  ourselves  or  the  church  of  God  by 
requiring  a  Pharisaic  punctiliousness  in  minutiae.  Life  is  too  short  to  debate  the  ques- 
tion which  shoe  we  shall  put  on  first.  "  Love  God  and  do  what  you  will  "  said  Augus- 
tine ;  that  is,  Love  God,  and  act  out  that  love  in  a  simple  and  natural  way.  Be  free  in 
your  service,  yet  be  always  on  the  watch  for  indications  of  God's  will. 

(6)  If  chance  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  utter  absence  of  all  causal  con- 
nections in  the  phenomena  of  matter  and  mind, — we  oppose  to  this  notion 
the  fact  that  the  causal  judgment  is  formed  in  accordance  with  a  funda- 
mental and  necessary  law  of  human  thought,  and  that  no  science  or  knowl- 
edge is  possible  without  the  assumption  of  its  validity. 

Janet :  "  Chance  is  not  a  cause,  but  a  coincidence  of  causes." 

(c)  If  chance  be  used  in  the  sense  of  un designing  cause, — it  is  evidently 
insufficient  to  explain  the  regular  and  uniform  sequences  of  nature,  or  the 
moral  progress  of  the  human  race.  These  things  argue  a  superintending 
and  designing  mind — in  other  words,  a  providence.  Since  reason  demands 


THEORIES   OPPOSING   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    PROVIDENCE.  213 

not  only  a  cause,  but  a  sufficient  cause,  for  the  order  of  the  physical  and 
moral  world,  casualism  must  be  ruled  out. 

Our  intuition  of  design  compels  us  to  see  mind  and  purpose  in  individual  and  national 
history,  as  truly  as  in  the  physical  universe.  The  same  argument  which  proves  the 
existence  of  God  proves  also  the  existence  of  a  Providence.  See  Farrar,  Life  of  Christ, 
1 : 155,  note. 

3.     Theory  of  a  merely  general  providence. 

Many  who  acknowledge  God's  control  over  the  movements  of  planets 
and  the  destinies  of  nations  deny  any  divine  arrangement  of  particular 
events.  Most  of  the  arguments  against  deism  are  equally  valid  against  the 
theory  of  a  merely  general  providence.  This  view  is  indeed  only  a  form  of 
deism,  which  holds  that  God  has  not  wholly  withdrawn  himself  from  the 
universe,  but  that  his  activity  within  it  is  limited  to  the  maintenance  of 
general  laws. 

This  appears  to  have  been  the  view  of  most  of  the  heathen  philosophers.  Cicero  : 
"  Magna  dii  curant ;  parva  negligent."  "  Even  in  kingdoms  among  men,"  Cicero  says, 
"kings  do  not  trouble  themselves  with  insignificant  affairs."  So  Jerome,  the  church 
Father,  thought  it  absurd  that  God  should  know  just  how  many  gnats  and  cockroaches 
there  were  in  the  world.  See  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theol.,  art. :  Deism ;  Baden 
Powell,  Order  of  Nature  ;  Cicero,  De  Natura  Deorum,  2  :  7,  66. 

In  addition  to  the  arguments  above  alluded  to,  we  may  urge  against  this 
theory  that  : 

(a)  General  control  over  the  course  of  nature  and  of  history  is  impossi- 
ble without  control  over  the  smallest  particulars  which  affect  the  course  of 
nature  and  of  history.  Incidents  so  slight  as  well-nigh  to  escape  observa- 
tion at  the  time  of  their  occurrence  are  frequently  found  to  determine  the 
whole  future  of  a  human  life,  and  through  that  life  the  fortunes  of  a  whole 
empire  and  of  a  whole  age. 

"  Nothing  great  has  great  beginnings."  "  Take  care  of  the  pence,  and  the  pounds  will 
take  care  of  themselves."  "Care  for  the  chain  is  care  for  the  links  of  the  chain.'' 
Instances  in  point  are  the  sleeplessness  of  King  Ahasuerus  (Esther  6  : 1),  and  the  seeming 
chance  that  led  to  the  reading  of  the  record  of  Mordecai's  service  and  to  the  salvation 
of  the  Jews  in  Persia ;  the  spider's  web  spun  across  the  entrance  to  the  cave  in  which 
Mohammed  had  taken  refuge,  and  which  so  deceived  his  pursuers  that  they  passed  on  in 
a  bootless  chase,  leaving  to  the  world  the  religion  and  the  empire  of  the  Moslems ;  the 
preaching  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  which  occasioned  the  first  crusade ;  the  chance  shot  of 
an  archer,  which  pierced  the  right  eye  of  Harqld,  the  last  of  the  purely  English  kings, 
gained  the  battle  of  Hastings  for  William  the  Conqueror,  and  secured  the  throne  of 
England  for  the  Normans ;  the  flight  of  pigeons  to  the  south-west,  which  changed  the 
course  of  Columbus,  hitherto  directed  towards  Virginia,  to  the  West  Indies,  and  so 
prevented  the  dominion  of  Spain  over  North  America ;  the  storm  that  dispersed  the 
Spanish  Armada  and  saved  England  from  the  Papacy,  and  the  storm  that  dispersed  the 
French  fleet  gathered  1'or  the  conquest  of  New  England— the  latter  on  a  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer  appointed  by  the  Puritans  to  avert  the  calamity ;  the  settling  of  New 
England  by  the  Puritans,  rather  than  by  French  Jesuits ;  the  order  of  Council  restrain- 
ing Cromwell  and  his  friends  from  sailing  to  America ;  Major  Andre's  lack  of  self-pos- 
session in  presence  of  his  captors,  which  led  him  to  ask  an  improper  question  instead  of 
showing  his  passport,  and  which  saved  the  American  cause ;  the  unusually  early  com- 
mencement of  cold  weather,  which  frustrated  the  plans  of  Napoleon  and  destroyed  his 
army  in  Russia;  the  fatal  shot  at  Fort  Sumter,  which  precipitated  the  war  of  secession 
and  resulted  in  the  abolition  of  American  slavery.  Nature  is  linked  to  history ;  the 
breeze  warps  the  course  of  the  bullet ;  the  insect  perforates  the  plank  of  the  ship.  God 
must  care  for  the  least,  or  he  cannot  care  for  the  greatest.  See  Appleton,  Works,  149  sq. 


214          NATURE,  DECREES,  AND  WORKS  OF  GOD. 

(6)  The  love  of  God  which  prompts  a  general  care  for  the  universe  must 
also  prompt  a  particular  care  for  the  smallest  events  which  affect  the  happi- 
ness of  his  creatures.  It  belongs  to  love  to  regard  nothing  as  trifling  or 
beneath  its  notice  which  has  to  do  with  the  interests  of  the  object  of  its 
affection.  Infinite  love  may  therefore  be  expected  to  provide  for  all,  even 
the  minutest  things  in  the  creation.  Without  belief  in  this  particular  care, 
men  cannot  long  believe  in  God's  general  care.  Faith  in  a  particular  prov- 
idence is  indispensable  to  the  very  existence  of  practical  religion  ;  for  men 
will  not  worship  or  recognize  a  God  who  has  no  direct  relation  to  them. 

Man's  care  for  his  own  body  involves  care  for  the  least  important  members  of  it.  A 
lover's  devotion  is  known  by  his  interest  in  the  minutest  concerns  of  his  beloved.  So 
all  our  affairs  are  matters  of  interest  to  God.  Pope's  Essay  on  Man :  "  All  nature  is  but 
art  unknown  to  thee ;  All  chance,  direction  which  thou  canst  not  see  ;  All  discord,  har- 
mony not  understood;  All  partial  evil,  universal  good."  If  harvests  may  be  labored 
for  and  lost  without  any  agency  of  God ;  if  rain  or  sun  may  act  like  fate,  sweeping  away 
the  results  of  years,  and  God  have  no  hand  in  it  all;  if  wind  and  storm  may  wreck 
the  ship  and  drown  our  dearest  friends,  and  God  not  care  for  us  or  for  our  loss,  then  all 
possibility  of  general  trust  in  God  would  disappear  also. 

(c)  In  times  of  personal  danger,  and  in  remarkable  conjunctures  of  pub- 
lic affairs,  men  instinctively  attribute  to  God  a  control  of  the  events  which 
take  place  around  them.     The  prayers  which  such  startling  emergencies 
force  from  men's  lips  are  proof  that  God  is  present  and  active  in  human 
affairs.     This  testimony  of   our  mental  constitution  must  be  regarded  as 
virtually  the  testimony  of  him  who  framed  this  constitution. 

No  advance  of  science  can  rid  us  of  this  conviction,  since  it  comes  from  a  deeper 
source  than  mere  reasoning.  The  intuition  of  design  is  awakened  by  the  connection  of 
events  in  our  daily  life,  as  much  as  by  the  useful  adaptations  which  we  see  in  nature. 
Ps.  107  :  23-28 — "  They  that  go  down  to  ths  sea  in  ships  .  .  .  mount  up  to  the  heaven  ...  go  down  again  to  the  depths 
.  . .  And  are  at  their  wits'  end  ...  Then  they  cry  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble."  A  narrow  escape  from 
death  shows  us  a  present  God  and  Deliverer.  Instance  the  general  feeling  throughout 
the  land,  expressed  by  the  press  as  well  as  by  the  pulpit,  at  the  breaking  out  of  our 
rebellion  and  at  the  President's  subsequent  proclamation  of  emancipation. 

(d)  Christian  experience  confirms  the  declarations  of  Scripture  that  par- 
ticular events  are  brought  about  by  God  with  special  reference  to  the  good 
or  ill  of  the  individual.     Such  events  occur  at  times  in  such  direct  connec- 
tion with  the  Christian's  prayers  that  no  doubt  remains  with  regard  to  the 
providential  arrangement  of  them.     The  possibility  of  such  divine  agency 
in  natural  events  cannot  be  questioned  by  one  who,  like  the  Christian,  has 
had  experience  of  the  greater  wonders  of  regeneration  and  daily  intercourse 
with  God,  and  who  believes  in  the  reality  of   creation,   incarnation,  and 
miracles. 

Providence  prepares  the  way  for  men's  conversion,  sometimes  by  their  own  partial 
reformation,  sometimes  by  the  sudden  death  of  others  near  them.  Instance  Luther 
and  Judson.  The  Christian  learns  that  the  same  Providence  that  led  him  before  his 
conversion  is  busy  after  his  conversion  in  directing  his  steps  and  in  supplying  his 
wants.  Daniel  Defoe  :  "I  have  been  fed  more  by  miracle  than  Elijah  when  the  angels 
were  his  purveyors."  In  Psalm  32,  David  celebrates  not  only  God's  pardoning  mercy  but 
his  subsequent  providential  leading :  "  I  will  counsel  thee  with  mine  eye  upon  thee  "  (verse  8).  It  may 
be  objected  that  we  often  mistake  the  meaning  of  events.  We  answer  that,  as  in 
nature,  so  in  providence,  we  are  compelled  to  believe,  not  that  we  know  the  design,  but 
that  there  is  a  design.  Instance  Shelley's  drowning,  and  Jacob  Knapp's  prayer  that 
his  opponent  might  be  stricken  dumb. 


RELATIONS    OF   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    PROVIDENCE.  215 

TV.     RELATIONS  OF  THE  DOCTKINE  OF  PBOVIDENOE. 

1.  To  miracles  and  works  of  grace. 

Particular  providence  is  the  agency  of  God  in  what  seeni  to  us  the  minor 
.affairs  of  nature  and  of  human  life.  Special  providence  is  only  an  instance 
of  God's  particular  providence  which  has  special  relation  to  us  or  makes 
peculiar  impression  upon  us.  It  is  special,  not  as  respects  the  means  which 
<3k)d  makes  use  of,  but  as  respects  the  effect  produced  upon  us.  In  both 
particular  and  special  providence,  God  apparently  makes  use  of  ordinary 
laws  of  nature  to  accomplish  his  purposes.  In  special  providences  we  have 
only  more  impressive  manifestations  of  the  control  which  God  always  exer- 
cises over  nature's  laws. 

But  while  providence,  both  general  and  special,  works  in  the  realm  of 
nature  and  through  the  natural  laws  of  matter  and  of  mind,  miracles  and 
works  of  grace  like  regeneration  are  supernatural  acts,  not  to  be  explained 
from  antecedent  natural  causes.  While  God  can  use  natural  forces  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  will,  he  is  not,  as  man  is,  confined  to  these,  but  by 
his  simple  volition  he  can  accomplish  results  far  beyond  the  power  of  mere 
nature.  Miracles  and  special  providences  are  therefore  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  each  other,  since  the  latter  belong  to  nature,  the  former 
to  the  realm  above  nature.  Certain  of  the  wonders  of  Scripture,  however, 
such  as  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib's  army  and  the  dividing  of  the  Bed 
Sea,  may  possibly  belong  to  the  class  of  special  providences,  rather  than  to 
the  class  of  miracles. 

The  falling-  of  snow  from  a  roof  is  an  example  of  ordinary  (or  particular)  providence. 
But  if  a  man  is  killed  by  it,  it  becomes  a  special  providence  to  him  and  to  others  who 
Are  thereby  taught  the  insecurity  of  life.  So  the  providing-  of  coal  for  fuel  in  the 
geologic  ages  may  be  regarded  by  different  persons  in  the  light  either  of  a  general  or 
•of  a  special  providence.  Trench  gives  the  name  of  "  providential  miracles  "  to  those 
Scripture  wonders  which  may  be  explained  as  wrought  through  the  agency  of  natural 
laws  (see  Trench,  Miracles,  19).  Mozley  also  (Miracles,  117-120)  calls  these  wonders  mir- 
acles, because  of  the  predictive  word  of  God  which  accompanied  them.  He  says  that 
the  difference  in  effect  between  miracles  and  special  providences  is  that  the  latter  give 
-some  warrant,  while  the  former  give  full  warrant,  for  believing  that  they  are  wrought 
by  God.  For  the  naturalistic  view,  see  Tyndall  on  Miracles  and  Special  Providences,  in 
Fragments  of  Science,  45,  418.  Per  contra,  see  Farrar,  on  Divine  Providence  and  Gen- 
eral Laws,  in  Science  and  Theology,  54-80 ;  Row,  Bampton  Lect.  on  Christian  Evidences, 
109-115 ;  Godet,  Defence  of  Christian  Faith,  chap.  2. 

2.  To  prayer  and  its  answer. 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  God's  connection  with  nature  suggests 
the  question,  how  God  can  answer  prayer  consistently  with  the  fixity  of 
natural  law. 

Tyndall  (see  reference  above),  while  repelling  the  charge  of  denying  that  God  can 
answer  prayer  at  all,  yet  does  deny  that  he  can  answer  it  without  a  miracle.  He 
says  expressly  "that  without  a  disturbance  of  natural  law  quite  as  serious  as  the  stop- 
page of  an  eclipse,  or  the  rolling  of  the  St.  Lawrence  up  the  falls  of  Niagara,  no  act  of 
humiliation,  individual  or  national,  could  call  one  shower  from  heaven  or  deflect  toward 
us  a  single  beam  of  the  sun."  In  reply  we  would  remark  : 

A.     Negatively,  that  the  true  solution  is  not  to  be  reached  : 

(a)     By  making  the  sole  effect  of  prayer  to  be  its  reflex  influence  upon 


216  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

the  petitioner. —  Prayer  presupposes  a  God  who  hears  and  answers.  It  will 
not  be  offered,  unless  it  is  believed  to  accomplish  objective  as  well  as 
subjective  results. 

According  to  the  first  view  mentioned  above,  prayer  is  a  mere  spiritual  gymnastics— 
an  effort  to  lift  ourselves  from  the  ground  by  tugging  at  our  own  boot-straps.  David 
Hume  said  well,  after  hearing  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Leechman :  "  We  can  make  use  of  no 
expression  or  even  thought  in  prayers  and  entreaties  which  does  not  imply  that  these 
prayers  have  an  influence."  See  Tyndall  on  Prayer  and  Natural  Law,  in  Fragments  of 
Science,  35. 

(b)  Nor  by  holding  that  God  answers  prayer  simply  by  spiritual  means, 
such  as  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  spirit  of  man. — The  realm  of 
spirit  is  no  less  subject  to  law  than  the  realm  of  matter.     Scripture  and 
experience,  moreover,  alike  testify  that  in  answer  to  prayer  events  take 
place  in  the  outward  world  which  would  not  have  taken  place  if   prayer 
had  not  gone  before. 

According  to  this  second  theory,  God  feeds  the  starving  widow  by  moving  some  of 
her  rich  neighbors  to  help  her.  But  the  pouring  rain  that  followed  Elijah's  prayer  ( 1  L. 
18  :  42-45)  cannot  be  thus  explained  as  a  subjective  spiritual  phenomenon.  Diman,  The- 
istic  Argument,  268—"  Our  charts  map  out  not  only  the  solid  shore  but  the  windings  of 
the  ocean  currents,  and  we  look  into  the  morning  papers  to  ascertain  the  gathering  of 
storms  on  the  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains."  But  law  rules  in  the  realm  of  spirit  as 
well  as  in  the  realm  of  nature.  See  Baden  Powell,  in  Essays  and  Reviews,  106-162. 

(c)  Nor  by  maintaining  that  God  suspends  or  breaks  in  upon  the  order 
of  nature,  in  answering  every  prayer  that  is  offered. — This  view  does  not. 
take  account  of  natural  laws  as  having  objective  existence,  and  as  revealing 
the  order  of  God's  being.     Omnipotence  might  thus  suspend  natural  law,, 
but  wisdom,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  would  not. 

This  third  theory  might  well  be  held  by  those  who  see  in  nature  no  force  but  the  all- 
working  will  of  God.  But  there  are  properties  and  powers  of  matter,  and  the  human, 
will  has  a  relative  independence  in  the  universe. 

(d)  Nor  by  considering  prayer  as  a  physical  force,  linked  in  each  case  to 
its  answer,  as  physical  cause  is  linked  to  physical  effect. — Prayer  is  not  a 
force  acting  directly  upon  nature  ;  else  there  would  be  no  discretion  as  to 
its  answer.     It  can  accomplish  results  in  nature,  only  as  it  influences  God. 

We  educate  our  children  in  two  ways :  first,  by  training  them  to  do  for  themselves 
what  they  can  do ;  and,  secondly,  by  encouraging  them  to  seek  our  help  in  matters 
beyond  their  power.  So  God  educates  us,  first,  by  impersonal  law,  and,  secondly,  by 
personal  dependence.  He  teaches  us  both  to  work  and  to  ask.  Notice  the  "  perfect  un- 
wisdom of  modern  scientists  who  place  themselves  under  the  training  of  impersonal 
law,  to  the  exclusion  of  that  higher  and  better  training  which  is  under  personality  " 
(Hopkins,  Sermon  on  Prayer-gauge,  16). 

It  seems  more  in  accordance  with  both  Scripture  and  reason  to  say  that : 
B.     God  may  answer  prayer,  even  when  that  answer  involves  changes  in 
the  sequences  of  nature, 

(a)  By  new  combinations  of  natural  forces,  in  regions  withdrawn  from 
our  observation,  so  that  effects  are  produced  which  these  same  forces  left  to 
themselves  would  never  have  accomplished.  As  man  combines  the  laws  of 
chemical  attraction  and  of  combustion,  to  fire  the  gunpowder  and  split  the 
rock  asunder,  so  God  may  combine  the  laws  of  nature  to  bring  about  answers 
to  prayer.  In  all  this  there  may  be  no  suspension  or  violation  of  law,  but 
a  use  of  law  unknown  to  us. 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROVIDENCE.       217 

Since  prayer  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  appeal  to  a  personal  and  present 
God,  whose  granting  or  withholding  of  the  requested  blessing  is  believed 
to  be  determined  by  the  prayer  itself,  we  must  conclude  that  prayer  moves 
God,  or,  in  other  words,  induces  the  putting  forth  on  his  part  of  an  imper- 
ative volition. 

The  view  that  in  answering1  prayer  God  combines  natural  forces  is  elaborated  by 
Chalmers,  Works,  2 : 314,  and  7  : 234.  See  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  111—"  When  laws  are 
conceived  of,  not  as  single,  but  as  combined,  instead  of  being  immutable  in  their  opera- 
tion, they  are  the  agencies  of  ceaseless  change.  Phenomena  are  governed,  not  by  inva- 
riable forces,  but  by  endlessly  varying  combinations  of  invariable  forces."  Diman  seems 
to  have  followed  Argyll,  Reign  of  Law,  100. 

Janet,  Final  Causes,  219—"  I  kindle  a  fire  in  my  grate.  I  only  intervene  to  produce 
and  combine  together  the  different  agents  whose  natural  action  behooves  to  produce  the 
effect  I  have  need  of ;  but  the  first  step  once  taken,  all  the  phenomena  constituting 
combustion  engender  each  other,  conformably  to  their  laws,  without  anew  intervention 
of  the  agent ;  so  that  an  observer  who  should  study  the  series  of  these  phenomena,  with- 
out perceiving  the  first  hand  that  had  prepared  all,  could  not  seize  that  hand  in  any 
especial  act,  and  yet  there  is  a  preconceived  plan  and  combination." 

Hopkins,  Sermon  on  Prayer-gauge:  Man,  by  sprinkling  plaster  on  his  field,  may 
cause  the  corn  to  grow  more  luxuriantly ;  by  kindling  great  fires  and  by  firing  cannon, 
he  may  cause  rain  ;  and  God  can  surely,  in  answer  to  prayer,  do  as  much  as  man  can. 
Lewes  says  that  the  fundamental  character  of  all  theological  philosophy  is  conceiving 
of  phenomena  as  subject  to  supernatural  volition,  and  consequently  as  eminently  and 
irregularly  variable.  This  notion,  he  says,  is  refuted,  first,  by  exact  and  rational  pre- 
vision of  phenomena,  and,  secondly,  by  the  possibility  of  our  modifying  these  phenom- 
ena so  as  to  promote  our  own  advantage.  But  we  ask  in  reply :  If  we  can  modify  them, 
cannot  God  ?  But  lest  this  should  seem  to  imply  mutability  in  God  or  inconsistency  in 
nature,  we  remark,  in  addition,  that : 

(6)  God  may  have  so  prearranged  the  laws  of  the  material  universe  and 
the  events  of  history  that,  while  the  answer  to  prayer  is  an  expression  of  his 
will,  it  is  granted  through  the  working  of  natural  agencies,  and  in  perfect 
accordance  with  the  general  principle  that  results,  both  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual, are  to  be  attained  by  intelligent  creatures  through  the  use  of  the  appro- 
priate and  appointed  means. 

Since  God  is  immanent  in  nature,  an  answer  to  prayer,  coming  about 
through  the  intervention  of  natural  law,  may  be  as  real  a  revelation  of  God's 
personal  care  as  if  the  laws  of  nature  were  suspended,  and  God  interposed 
by  an  exercise  of  his  creative  power.  Prayer  and  its  answer,  though  having 
God's  immediate  volition  as  their  connecting  bond,  may  yet  be  provided  for 
in  the  original  plan  of  the  universe. 

The  universe  does  not  exist  for  itself,  but  for  moral  ends  and  moral  beings,  to  reveal 
God  and  to  furnish  facilities  of  intercourse  between  God  and  intelligent  creatures. 
Bishop  Berkeley:  "The  universe  is  God's  ceaseless  conversation  with  his  creatures." 
The  universe  certainly  subserves  moral  ends— the  discouragement  of  vice  and  the 
reward  of  virtue ;  why  not  spiritual  ends  also  ?  When  we  remember  that  there  is  no 
true  prayer  which  God  does  not  inspire ;  that  every  true  prayer  is  part  of  the  plan  of 
the  universe,  linked  in  with  all  the  rest  and  provided  for  at  the  beginning ;  that  God  is 
in  nature  and  in  mind,  supervising  all  their  movements  and  making  all  fulfil  his  will 
and  reveal  his  personal  care ;  that  God  can  adjust  the  forces  of  nature  to  each  other  far 
more  skilfully  than  can  man  when  man  produces  effects  which  nature  of  herself  could 
never  accomplish ;  that  God  is  not  confined  to  nature  or  her  forces,  but  can  work  by  his 
creative  and  omnipotent  will  where  other  means  are  not  sufficient — we  need  have  no  f  earr 
either  that  natural  law  will  bar  God's  answers  to  prayer,  or  that  these  answers  will  cause 
a  shock  or  jar  in  the  system  of  the  universe. 

See  Calderwood,  Science  and  Religion,  299-309;  McCosh,  Divine  Government,  215;  Lid- 
don,  Elements  of  Religion,  178-203;  Hamilton,.  Autology,  690-694.  See  also  Jellett, 
Donnellan  Lectures  on  the  Efficacy  of  Prayer ;  Butterworth,  Story  of  Notable  Prayers ; 


218  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

Patton,  Prayer  and  its  Answers ;  Monad,  World  of  Prayer ;  Prime,  Power  of  Prayer : 
Phelps,  The  Still  Hour :  Haven,  and  Bickersteth,  on  Prayer ;  Prayer  for  Colleges ;  Cox,  in 
Expositor,  1877  :  chap.  3. 

C.  If  asked  whether  this  relation  between  prayer  and  its  providential 
answer  can  be  scientifically  tested,  we  reply  that  it  may  be  tested  just  as  a 
father's  love  may  be  tested  by  a  dutiful  son. 

(a)  There  is  a  general  proof  of  it  in  the  past  experience  of  the  Christian 
and  in  the  past  history  of  the  church. 

Ps.  116  : 1-8 — "  I  love  the  Lord,  because  he  hath  heard  my  voice  and  my  supplications."  Luther  prays  for  the 
dying-  Melancthon,  and  he  recovers.  George  Mtiller  trusts  to  prayer,  and  builds  his 
great  orphan-houses.  For  a  multitude  of  instances,  see  Prime,  Answers  to  Prayer. 

(6)  In  condescension  to  human  blindness,  God  may  sometimes  submit 
to  a  formal  test  of  his  faithfulness  and  power, — as  in  the  case  of  Elijah  and 
the  priests  of.  Baal. 

Is.  7  : 10-13— Ahaz  is  rebuked  for  not  asking  a  sign— in  him  it  indicated  unbelief.  1  K. 
18  :  36-38— Elijah  said,  "  Let  it  be  known  this  day  that  thou  art  God  in  Israel ....  Then  the  fire  of  the  Lord 
fell,  and  consumed  the  burnt  offering."  Romaine  speaks  of  "  a  year  famous  for  believing." 

(c)  When  proof   sufficient  to  convince  the  candid  inquirer  has  been 
already  given,  it  may  not  consist  with  the  divine  majesty  to  abide  a  test 
imposed  by  mere  curiosity  or  scepticism, — as  in  the  case  of  the  Jews  who 
sought  a  sign  from  heaven. 

Mat.  12  :  39 — "  An  evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign  ;  and  there  shall  no  sign  be  given  it  but  the 
sign  of  Jonah  the  prophet."  Tyndall's  prayer-gauge  would  ensure  a  conflict  of  prayers. 

(d)  Since  God's  will  is  the  link  between  prayer  and  its  answer,  there  can 
be  no  such  thing  as  a  physical  demonstration  of  its  efficacy  in  any  proposed 
case.    Physical  tests  have  no  application  to  things  into  which  free  will  enters 
as  a  constitutive  element.     But  there  are  moral  tests,  and  moral  tests  are  as 
scientific  as  physical  tests  can  be. 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  276,  alludes  to  Goldwin  Smith's  denial  that  any  scientific 
method  can  be  applied  to  history  because  it  would  make  man  a  necessary  link  in  a  chain 
of  cause  and  effect  and  so  would  deny  his  free  will.  But  Diman  says  this  is  no  more 
impossible  than  the  development  of  the  individual  according  to  a  fixed  law  of  growth, 
while  yet  free  will  is  sedulously  respected.  Froude  says  history  is  not  a  science,  because 
no  science  could  foretell  Mohammedanism  or  Buddhism ;  and  Goldwin  Smith  says  that 
"  prediction  is  the  crown  of  all  science."  But,  as  Diman  remarks :  "  geometry,  geology, 
physiology,  are  sciences,  yet  they  do  not  predict."  Buckle  brought  history  into  con- 
tempt by  asserting  that  it  could  be  analyzed  and  referred  solely  to  intellectual  laws  and 
forces.  To  all  this  we  reply  that  there  may  be  scientific  tests  which  are  not  physical,  or 
even  intellectual,  but  only  moral.  Such  a  test  God  urges  his  people  to  use,  in  Mai.  3  : 10 — 

"  Bring  ye  the  whole  tithe  into  the  storehouse  ...  and  prove  me  now  herewith if  I  will  not  open  you  the  windows 

of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it." 

But  the  test  of  prayer  proposed  by  Tyndall  is  not  applicable  to  the  thing  to  be  tested 
by  it.  Hopkins,  Prayer  and  the  Prayer-gauge,  22  sq.— "  We  cannot  measure  wheat  by 
the  yard,  or  the  weight  of  a  discourse  with  a  pair  of  scales .  .  .  God's  wisdom  might 
see  that  it  was  not  best  for  the  petitioners,  nor  for  the  objects  of  their  petition,  to  grant 
their  request.  Christians  therefore  could  not,  without  special  divine  authorization,  rest 
their  faith  upon  the  results  of  such  a  test . . .  Why  may  we  not  ask  for  great  changes 
in  nature  ?  For  the  same  reason  that  a  well-informed  child  does  not  ask  for  the  moon 
as  a  plaything  .  .  .  There  are  two  limitations  upon  prayer.  First,  except  by  special 
direction  of  God,  we  cannot  ask  for  a  miracle,  for  the  same  reason  that  a  child  could 
not  ask  his  father  to  burn  the  house  down.  Nature  is  the  house  we  live  in.  Secondly, 
we  cannot  ask  for  anything  under  the  laws  of  nature  which  would  contravene  the 
object  of  those  laws.  Whatever  we  can  do  for  ourselves  under  these  laws,  God  expects 
us  to  do.  If  the  child  is  cold,  let  him  go  near  the  fire— not  beg  his  father  to  carry  him." 


RELATIONS    OF   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    PROVIDENCE.  219 

See  Upham,  Interior  Life,  356 ;  Thornton,  Old-fashioned  Ethics,  286-297.    Per  contra,  see 
Oalton,  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  277-294. 

3.     To  Christian  activity. 

Here  the  truth  lies  between  the  two  extremes  of  quietism  and  naturalism. 

(a)  In  opposition  to  the  false  abnegation  of  human  reason  and  will  which 
quietism  demands,  we  hold  that  God  guides  us,  not  by  continual  miracle, 
but  by  his  natural  providence  and  the  energizing  of  our  faculties  by  his 
Spirit,  so  that  we  rationally  and  freely  do  our  own  work,  and  work  out  our 
own  salvation. 

Upham,  Interior  Life,  356,  defines  quietism  as  "  cessation  of  wandering-  thoughts  and 
discursive  imaginations,  rest  from  irregular  desires  and  affections,  and  perfect  submis- 
sion of  the  will."  Its  advocates,  however,  have  often  spoken  of  it  as  a  giving  up  of  our 
will  and  reason,  and  a  swallowing  up  of  these  in  the  wisdom  and  will  of  God.  This 
phraseology  is  misleading,  and  savors  of  a  pantheistic  merging  of  man  in  God.  Dorner : 
"Quietism  makes  God  a  monarch  without  living  subjects."  Certain  English  quietists, 
like  the  Mohammedans,  will  not  employ  physicians  in  sickness.  They  quote  2  Chron.  16 : 12— 
Asa  "sought  not  to  the  Lord,  but  to  the  physicians.  And  Asa  slept  with  his  fathers."  They  forget  that  the 
"physicians"  alluded  to  in  Chronicles  were  probably  heathen  necromancers. 

We  must  not  confound  rational  piety  with  false  enthusiasm.  See  Isaac  Taylor, 
Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm.  "  Not  quiescence,  but  acquiescence,  is  demanded  of 
us."  As  God  feeds  "the  birds  of  the  heaven"  (Mat.  6  :  26),  not  by  dropping  food  from  heaven 
into  their  mouths,  but  by  stimulating  them  to  seek  food  for  themselves,  so  God  provides 
for  his  rational  creatures  by  giving  them  a  sanctified  common  sense  and  by  leading  them 
to  use  it.  In  a  true  sense  Christianity  gives  us  more  will  than  ever.  The  Holy  Spirit 
emancipates  the  will,  sets  it  upon  proper  objects,  and  fills  it  with  new  energy.  We  are 
therefore  not  to  surrender  ourselves  passively  to  whatever  professes  to  be  a  divine  sug- 
gestion :  1  John  4  : 1 — "  Believe  not  every  spirit,  but  prove  the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God."  The  test  is  the 
revealed  word  of  God  :  Is.  8  :  20 — •"  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony !  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this 
word,  surely  there  is  no  morning  for  them." 

(6)  In  opposition  to  naturalism,  we  hold  that  God  is  continually  near 
the  human  spirit  by  his  providential  working,  and  that  this  providential 
working  is  so  adjusted  to  the  Christian's  nature  and  necessities  as  to  fur- 
nish instruction  with  regard  to  duty,  discipline  of  religious  character,  and 
needed  help  and  comfort  in  trial. 

In  interpreting  God's  providences,  as  in  interpreting  Scripture,  we  are 
-dependent  upon  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  work  of  the  Spirit  is,  indeed,  in  great 
part  an  application  of  Scripture  truth  to  present  circumstances.  While  we 
never  allow  ourselves  to  act  blindly  and  irrationally,  but  accustom  ourselves 
to  weigh  evidence  with  regard  to  duty,  we  are  to  expect,  as  the  gift  of  the 
Spirit,  an  understanding  of  circumstances — a  fine  sense  of  God's  providen- 
tial purposes  with  regard  to  us,  which  shall  make  our  true  course  plain  to 
ourselves,  although  we  may  not  always  be  able  to  explain  it  to  others. 

The  Christian  may  have  a  continual  divine  guidance.  Unlike  the  unfaithful  and  un- 
believing, of  whom  it  is  said,  in  Ps.  106  : 13,  "they  waited  not  for  his  counsel,"  the  true  believer  has 
wisdom  given  him  from  above.  Ps.  32  :  8—"  I  will  instruct  thee  and  teach  thee  in  the  way  which  thou 
shalt  go  "  ;  Prov.  3  :  6—"  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him,  And  he  shall  direct  thy  paths"  ;  Phil.  1 :  9— "and  this  I 
pray,  that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  in  knowledge  and  all  discernment "  (aicn^o-ei.  =  spiritual 
discernment) :  James  1 :  5— "if  any  of  you  lacketh  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  (TOV  6iS6i>Tos 
0eoG)  to  all  liberally  and  upbraideth  not"  ;  John  15  : 15— "No  longer  do  I  call  you  servants;  for  the  servant  knoweth 
not  what  his  lord  doeth :  but  I  have  called  you  friends  "  ;  Col.  1:9—"  that  ye  may  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  Ms 
will  in  all  spiritual  wisdom  and  understanding,  to  walk  worthily  of  the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing." 

God's  Spirit  makes  Providence  as  well  as  the  Bible  personal  to  us.  From  every  page 
of  nature,  as  well  as  of  the  Bible,  the  living  God  speaks  to  us.  Tholuck :  "  The  more  we 


220  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

recognize  in  every  daily  occurrence  God's  secret  inspiration,  grinding-  and  controlling 
us,  the  more  will  alliwhich  to  others  wears  a  common  and  every-day  aspect  prove  to  us  a 
sign  and  a  wondrous  work."  Hutton,  Essays :  "  Animals  that  are  blind  slaves  of  im- 
pulse, driven  about  by  forces  from  within,  have  so  to  say  fewer  valves  in  their  moral 
constitution  for  the  entrance  of  divine  guidance.  But  minds  alive  to  every  word  of 
God  give  constant  opportunity  for  his  interference  with  suggestions  that  may  alter  the 
course  of  their  lives.  The  higher  the  mind,  the  more  it  glides  into  the  region  of  provi- 
dential control.  God  turns  the  good  by  the  slightest  breath  of  thought."  So  the 
Christian  hymn,  "Guide  me,  O  thou  great  Jehovah!"  likens  God's  leading  of  the 
believer  to  that  of  Israel  by  the  pillar  of  fire  and  cloud ;  and  Paul  in  his  dungeon  calls 
himself  "  the  prisoner  of  Christ  Jesus "  (Eph.  3  : 1).  Affliction  is  the  discipline  of  God's  providence. 
Greek  proverb  :  "  He  who  does  not  get  thrashed,  does  not  get  educated." 

4.     To  the  evil  acts  of  free  agents. 

(a)  Here  we  must  distinguish  between  the  natural  agency  and  the  moral 
agency  of  God,  or  between  acts  of  permissive  providence  and  acts  of  effi- 
cient causation.  We  are  ever  to  remember  that  God  neither  works  evil,  nor 
causes  his  creatures  to  work  evil.  All  sin  is  chargeable  to  the  self-will  and 
perversity  of  the  creature  ;  to  declare  God  the  author  of  it  is  the  greatest 
of  blasphemies. 

Bp.  Wordsworth :  "  God  foresees  evil  deeds,  but  never  farces  them."  "  God  does  not 
cause  sin,  any  more  than  the  rider  of  a  limping  horse  causes  the  limping." 

(6)  But  while  man  makes  up  his  evil  decision  independently  of  God,. 
God  does,  by  his  natural  agency,  order  the  method  in  which  this  inward  evil 
shall  express  itself,  by  limiting  it  in  time,  place,  and  measure,  or  by  guiding 
it  to  the  end  which  his  wisdom  and  love,  and  not  man's  intent,  has  set.  In 
all  this,  however,  God  only  allows  sin  to  develop  itself  after  its  own  nature, 
so  that  it  may  be  known,  abhorred,  and  if  possible  overcome  and  forsaken, 

Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2  : 272-284—"  Judas's  treachery  works  the  reconciliation  of 

the  world,  and  Israel's  apostasy  the  salvation  of  the  Gentiles God  smooths  the  path 

of  the  sinner,  and  gives  him  chance  for  the  outbreak  of  the  evil,  like  a  wise  physician 
who  draws  to  the  surface  of  the  body  the  disease  that  has  been  raging  within,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  cured,  if  possible,  by  mild  means,  or,  if  not,  may  be  removed  by  the 
knife." 

(c)  In  cases  of  persistent  iniquity,  God's  providence  still  compels  the 
sinner  to  accomplish  the  design  with  which  he  and  all  things  have  been 
created,  namely,  the  manifestation  of  God's  holiness.  Even  though  he 
struggle  against  God's  plan,  yet  he  must  by  his  very  resistance  serve  it. 
His  sin  is  made  its  own  detector,  judge,  and  tormentor.  His  character  and 
doom  are  made  a  warning  to  others.  Refusing  to  glorify  God  in  his  salva- 
tion, he  is  made  to  glorify  God  in  his  destruction. 

Is.  10  :  5,  7—"  Ho  Assyrian,  the  rod  of  mine  anger,  the  staff  in  whose  hand  is  mine  indignation !  . .  .  .  Howbeit,. 
he  meaneth  not  so."  Pharaoh's  ordering  the  destruction  of  the  Israelitish  children  (Ex. 
1 : 16 )  was  made  the  means  of  putting  Moses  under  royal  protection,  of  training  him 
for  his  future  work,  and  finally  of  rescuing  the  whole  nation  whose  sons  Pharaoh 
sought  to  destroy.  Emerson :  "  My  will  fulfilled  shall  be,  For  in  daylight  as  in  dark 
My  thunderbolt  has  eyes  to  see  His  way  home  to  the  mark."  See  also  Edwards,  Works, 
4  : 300-312. 


SCRIPTURE    STATEMENTS    AND    INTIMATIONS.  221 

SECTION     IV. — GOOD    AND    EVIL   ANGELS. 

As  ministers  of  divine  providence  there  is  a  class  of  finite  beings,  greater 
in  intelligence  and  power  than  man  in  his  present  state,  some  of  whom  pos- 
itively serve  God's  purpose  by  holiness  and  voluntary  exeution  of  his  will, 
some  negatively,  by  giving  examples  to  the  universe  of  defeated  and  pun- 
ished rebellion,  and  by  illustrating  God's  distinguishing  grace  in  man's 
salvation. 

The  scholastic  subtleties  which  encumbered  this  doctrine  in  the  middle 
ages,  and  the  exaggerated  representations  of  the  power  of  evil  spirits  which 
then  prevailed,  have  led,  by  a  natural  reaction,  to  an  undue  depreciation  of 
it  in  more  recent  times. 

For  scholastic  discussions,  see  Thomas  Aquinas,  Summa  (ed.  Migne),  1 :  833-993.  The 
scholastics  debated  the  questions,  how  many  angels  could  stand  at  once  on  the  point  of 
a  needle  (relation  of  angels  to  space) ;  whether  an  angel  could  be  in  two  places  at  the 
same  time ;  how  great  was  the  interval  between  the  creation  of  angels  and  their  fall ; 
whether  the  sin  of  the  first  angel  caused  the  sin  of  the  rest ;  whether  as  many  re- 
tained their  integrity  as  fell ;  whether  our  atmosphere  is  the  place  of  punishment  for 
fallen  angels ;  whether  guardian-angels  have  charge  of  children  from  baptism,  from 
birth,  or  while  the  infant  is  yet  in  the  womb  of  its  mother. 

Dante  makes  the  creation  of  angels  simultaneous  with  that  of  the  universe  at  large. 
"  The  fall  of  the  rebel  angels  he  considers  to  have  taken  place  within  twenty  seconds  of 
their  creation,  and  to  have  originated  in  the  pride  which  made  Lucifer  unwilling  to 
await  the  time  prefixed  by  his  Maker  for  enlightening  him  with  perfect  knowledge  "— 
see  Rossetti,  Shadow  of  Dante,  14, 15. 

But  there  is  certainly  a  possibility  that  the  ascending  scale  of  created 
intelligences  does  not  reach  its  topmost  point  in  man.  As  the  distance 
between  man  and  the  lowest  forms  of  life  is  filled  in  with  numberless  gra- 
dations of  being,  so  it  is  possible  that  between  man  and  God  there  exist 
creatures  of  higher  than  human  intelligence.  This  possibility  is  turned  to 
certainty  by  the  express  declarations  of  Scripture.  The  doctrine  is  inter- 
woven with  the  later  as  well  as  with  the  earlier  books  of  revelation. 

Quenstedt  (Theol.,  1 :  629)  regards  the  existence  of  angels  as  antecedently  probable, 
because  there  are  no  gaps  in  creation ;  nature  does  not  proceed  per  saltum.  As  we  have 
( 1 )  beings  purely  corporeal,  as  stones ;  ( 2 )  beings  partly  corporeal  and  partly  spiritual, 
as  men  :  so  we  should  expect  in  creation  (3)  beings  wholly  spiritual,  as  angels.  Godet» 
in  his  Biblical  Studies  of  the  O.  T.,  1-29,  suggests  another  series  of  gradations.  As  we 
have  (1)  vegetables  =  species  without  individuality:  (2)  animals  =  individuality  in 
bondage  to  species ;  and  ( 3 )  men  =  species  overpowered  by  individuality :  so  we  may 
expect  ( 4 )  angels  =  individuality  without  species. 

The  doctrine  of  angels  affords  a  barrier  against  the  false  conception  of  this  world  as 
including  the  whole  spiritual  universe.  Earth  is  only  part  of  a  larger  organism.  As 
Christianity  has  united  Jew  and  Gentile,  so  hereafter  will  it  blend  our  own  and  other 
orders  of  creation  :  Col.  2  : 10— "who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power  "  =  Christ  is  the  head  of 
angels  as  well  as  of  men  ;  Eph.  1 : 10—"  to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ,  the  things  in  the  heavens,  and  the 
things  upon  the  earth."  On  the  general  subject  of  angels,  see  also  Whately,  Good  and  Evil 
Angels ;  Twesten,  transl.  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1 :  768,  and  2  : 108;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  287- 
337,  and  3  :  251-354 ;  Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  78  sq. ;  Scott,  Existence  of  Evil  Spirits ; 
Herzog,  EncyclopHdie,  arts. :  Engel,  Teufel. 

I.     SCRIPTURE  STATEMENTS  AND  INTIMATIONS. 
1.     As  to  the  nature  and  attributes  of  angels. 
(a)     They  are  created  beings. 

Ps.  148  :  2-5— "Praise  ye  him,  all  his  angels For  he  commanded,  and  they  were  created"  ;  Col.  1 : 16— "for  in 


222  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

him  were  all  things  created  ....  whether  thrones  or  dominions  or  principalities  or  powers "  ;  cf.i  Pet.  3  :  22— "angels 
and  authorities  and  powers." 

(b)  They  are  incorporeal  beings. 

In  Heb.  1 : 14,  where  a  single  word  is  used  to  designate  angels,  they  are  described  as 
"  spirits  "— "  are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits  ?  "  Men,  with  their  twofold  nature,  material  as  well 
as  immaterial,  could  not  well  be  designated  as  "  spirits."  That  this  being  characteristically 
"spirits"  forbids  us  to  regard  angels  as  having  a  bodily  organism,  seems  implied  in  Eph. 
6  : 12—"  for  our  wrestling  is  not  against  flesh  and  blood,  but  against the  spiritual  hosts  [or  '  things '  ]  of  wicked- 
ness in  the  heavenly  places."  In  Gen.  6  :  2,  "sons  of  God  "  =,  not  angels,  but  descendants  of  Seth  and 
worshipers  of  the  true  God  (see  Murphy,  Com.  in  loco).  In  Ps.  78  :  25  (A.  V.)  "angels'  food" 
=  manna  coming  from  heaven  where  angels  dwell ;  better,  however,  read  with  Rev. 
Vers. :  "bread  of  the  mighty"— probably  meaning  angels,  though  the  word  "mighty"  is  no- 
where else  applied  to  them  ;  possibly  =  "bread  of  princes  or  nobles,"  L  e.  the  finest, 
most  delicate  bread.  Mat.  22  :  30 — "neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  angels  in  heaven  "— 
and  Luke  20  : 36 — "  neither  can  they  die  any  more :  for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels" — imply  only  that  angels 
are  without  distinctions  of  sex.  Saints  are  to  be  like  angels,  not  as  being  incorporeal* 
but  as  not  having  the  same  sexual  relations  which  they  have  here.  Angels,  therefore, 
since  they  have  no  bodies,  know  nothing  of  growth,  age,  or  death. 

(c)  They  are  personal — that  is,  intelligent  and  voluntary — agents. 

2  Sam.  14  :  20—"  wise  according  to  the  wisdom  of  an  angel  of  God  "  ;  Luke  4  :  34—"  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  God  " ;  2  Tim.  2  :  26— "snare  of  the  devil .  .  .  taken  captive  by  him  unto  his  will  "  (Am.  Revisers) ; 
Rev.  22  :  9—"  See  thou  do  it  not"  =  exercise  of  will. 

(d)  They  are  possessed  of  superhuman  intelligence  and  power,  yet  an 
intelligence  and  power  that  has  its  fixed  limits. 

Mat.  24  :  36 — "of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  of  heaven"  =  their  knowledge,, 
though  superhuman,  is  yet  finite.  1  Pet.  1 : 12— "which  things  angels  desire  to  look  into  "  ;  Ps.  103  : 20— 

"angels mighty  in  strength  " ;  2  Thess.  1 :  7—"  the  angels  of  his  power  "  ;  2  Pet.  2  : 11— "angels,  though  greater 

[than  men]  in  might  and  power  "  ;  Rev.  20  :  2,  10 — "  laid  hold  of  the  dragon  .  .  .  and  bound  him  .  .  .  cast  into  the 

ake  of  fire."  Compare  Ps.  72  : 18—" God who  only  doeth  wondrous  things"  =  only  God  can  per- 
form miracles. 

(e)  They  are  an  order  of  intelligences  distinct  from  man  and  older  than 
man. 

Angels  are  distinct  from  man.  1  Cor.  6  :  3— "we  shall  judge  angels "  ;  Heb.  1 : 14— "Are  they  not  all 
ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  service  for  the  sake  of  them  that  shall  inherit  salvation?"  They  are  not 
glorified  human  spirits ;  see  Heb.  2  : 16—"  for  verily  not  to  angels  doth  he  give  help,  but  he  giveth  help  to  the 
seed  of  Abraham"  (Am.  Revisers) ;  also  12  :  22,  23,  where  "the  innumerable  hosts  of  angels"  are  dis- 
tinguished from  "  the  church  of  the  first-born  "  and  "  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  In  Rev.  22  :  9— 
"  I  am  a  fellow-servant  with  thee  "— "  fellow-servant "  intimates  likeness  to  men,  not  in  nature,  but  in 
service  and  subordination  to  God,  the  proper  object  of  worship. 

Angels  are  an  order  of  intelligences  older  than  man.  The  Fathers  made  the  creation 
of  angels  simultaneous  with  the  original  calling  into  being  of  the  elements,  perhaps 
basing  their  opinion  on  the  apocryphal  Ecclesiasticus  18  : 1— "he  that  liveth  eternally 
created  all  things  together."  In  Job.  38  : 8,  the  Hebrew  parallelism  makes  "  morning  stars  "  = 
"  sons  of  God,"  so  that  angels  are  spoken  of  as  present  at  certain  stages  of  God's  creative 
work.  The  mention  of  "the  serpent "  in  Gen.  3  : 1  implies  the  fall  of  Satan  before  the  fall  of 
man.  We  may  infer  that  the  creation  of  angels  took  place  before  the  creation  of  man— 
the  lower  before  the  higher.  In  Gen.  2  : 1,  "all  the  host  of  them,"  which  God  had  created,  may 
be  intended  to  include  angels. 

The  constant  representation  of  angels  as  personal  beings  in  Scripture, 
cannot  be  explained  as  a  personification  of  abstract  good  and  evil,  in  accom- 
modation to  Jewish  superstitions,  without  wresting  many  narrative  passages 
from  their  obvious  sense  ;  implying  on  the  part  of  Christ  either  dissimula- 
tion or  ignorance  as  to  an  important  point  of  doctrine ;  and  surrendering 
belief  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament  from  which  these  Jewish 
views  of  angelic  beings  were  derived. 


SCRIPTUKE    STATEMENTS    AND    INTIMATIONS. 

Bph.  3  : 10 — "  to  the  intent  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  might  be  made  known 
through  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God  "—excludes  the  hypothesis  that  angels  are  simply 
abstract  conceptions  of  good  or  evil.  We  speak  of  "  moon-struck  "  people  (lunatics) 
only  when  we  know  that  nobody  supposes  us  to  believe  in  the  power  of  the  moon  to 
cause  madness.  But  Christ's  contemporaries  did  suppose  him  to  believe  in  angelic 
spirits,  good  and  evil.  If  this  belief  was  an  error,  it  was  by  no  means  a  harmless  one, 
and  the  benevolence  as  well  as  the  veracity  of  Christ  would  have  led  him  to  correct  it. 
So  too,  if  Paul  had  known  that  there  were  no  such  beings  as  angels,  he  could  not  hon- 
estly have  contented  himself  with  forbidding  the  Colossians  to  worship  them  (Col.  2  : 18),. 
but  would  have  denied  their  existence,  as  he  denied  the  existence  of  heathen  gods 
(1  Cor.  8:4). 

We  cannot  deny  the  personality  of  Satan  except  upon  principles  which  would  com- 
pel us  to  deny  the  existence  of  good  angels,  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
personality  of  God  the  Father.  Says  Nigel  Penruddock  in  Lord  Beaconsfleld's  "  Endy- 
mion":  "Give  me  a  single  argument  against  his  [Satan's]  personality,  which  is  not 
applicable  to  the  personality  of  the  Deity."  One  of  the  most  ingenious  devices  of  Satan 
is  that  of  persuading  men  that  he  has  no  existence. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  the  view  which  regards  Satan  as  but  a  col- 
lective term  for  all  evil  beings,  human  or  superhuman.  The  Scripture 
representations  of  the  progressive  rage  of  the  great  adversary,  from  his  first 
assault  on  human  virtue  in  Genesis  to  his  final  overthrow  in  Eevelation, 
join  with  the  testimony  of  Christ  just  mentioned,  to  forbid  any  other  con- 
clusion than  this,  that  there  is  a  personal  being  of  great  power,  who  carries 
on  organized  opposition  to  the  divine  government. 

For  the  view  that  Satan  is  merely  a  collective  term  for  all  evil  beings,  see  Bushnell, 
Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  134-137.  Per  contra,  see  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  arts. : 
Angels,  Demons,  Demoniacs,  Satan ;  Trench,  Studies  in  the  Gospels,  16-26.  For  a  com- 
parison of  Satan  in  tbe  Book  of  Job,  with  Milton's  Satan  in  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and  Goethe's 
Mephistopheles  in  "Faust,"  see  Masson,  The  Three  Devils.  We  may  add  to  this  list 
Byron's  Lucifer  in  "  Cain,"  and  Mrs.  Browning's  Lucifer  in  her  "  Drama  of  Exile"  ;  see 
Gregory,  Christian  Ethics,  219. 

2.     As  to  their  number  and  organization, 
(a)     They  are  of  great  multitude. 

Deut.  33  :  2— "The  Lord  ....  came  from  the  ten  thousands  of  holy  ones  "  ;  Ps.  68  : 17— "The  chariots  of  God  are 
twenty  thousand,  even  thousands  upon  thousands"  ;  Dan.  7  : 10— "thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and  ten 

thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him  "  ;    Rev.  5  : 11—"  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels and  the  number 

of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands."    Anselm  thought  that  the  num- 
ber of  lost  angels  was  filled  up  by  the  number  of  elect  men. 

(6)     They  constitute  a  company,  as  distinguished  from  a  race. 

Mat.  22  :  30 — "they  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  angels  in  heaven"  ;  Luke  20  :  36 — 
"  neither  can  they  die  any  more :  for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels ;  and  are  sons  of  God."  We  are  called  "sons, 
of  men,"  but  angels  are  never  called  "sons  of  angels,"  but  only  "sons  of  God."  They  are  not 
developed  from  one  original  stock,  and  no  such  common  nature  binds  them  together  as 
binds  together  the  race  of  man.  Each  was  created  separately,  and  each  apostate  angel 
fell  by  himself.  Humanity  fell  all  at  once  in  its  first  father.  Cut  down  a  tree,  and  you 
cut  down  its  branches.  But  angels  were  so  many  separate  trees.  See  Godet,  Bib.  Studies 
O.  T.,  1-29.  This  may  be  one  reason  why  salvation  was  provided  for  fallen  man,  but  not 
for  fallen  angels.  Christ  could  join  himself  to  humanity  by  taking  the  common  nature 
of  us  all.  There  was  no  common  nature  of  angels  which  he  could  take. 

(c)     They  are  of  various  ranks  and  endowments. 

Col.  1  : 16 — "thrones  or  dominions  or  principalities  or  powers"  ;  1  Thess.  4  : 16 — "the  voice  of  the  archangel" ; 
Jude  9— "Michael  the  archangel."  Michael  (  =  who  is  like  God  ? )  is  the  only  one  expressly  called 
an  archangel  in  Scripture,  although  Gabriel  ( =  God's  hero)  has  been  called  an  archangel 
by  Milton.  In  Scripture,  Michael  seems  the  messenger  of  law  and  judgment;  Gabriel* 


224  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF    GOD. 

the  messenger  of  mercy  and  promise.  The  fact  that  Scripture  has  but  one  archangel  is 
proof  that  its  doctrine  of  angels  was  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  charged,  derived  from 
Babylonian  and  Persian  sources :  for  there  we  find  seven  archangels  instead  of  one. 
There,  moreover,  we  find  the  evil  spirit  enthroned  as  a  God,  while  in  Scripture  he  is 
represented  as  a  trembling  slave. 

(d)     They  have  an  organization. 

1  Sam.  1  : 11—"  Jehovah  of  hosts  "  ;  1  K.  22  : 19—"  the  Lord  sitting  on  his  throne,  and  all  the  host  of  heaven  stand- 
ing by  him  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his  left "  ;  Mat.  26  :  53— "twelve  legions  of  angels  "—suggests  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Roman  army :  25  :  41 — "the  devil  and  his  angels"  ;  Eph.  2  :  2 — "  the  prince  of  the  powers  of 
the  air"  (Am.  Revisers) ;  Rev.  2  : 13— "Satan's  throne"  (not  "seat"  );  16  : 10— "throne  of  the  beast"— 
"a  hellish  parody  of  the  heavenly  kingdom"  (Trench).  The  phrase  "host  of  heaven,"  in 
Deut.  4  : 19 ;  17  :  3 ;  Acts  7  :  42,  probably  =  the  stars ;  but  in  Gen.  32  :  2,  "  God's  host "  =  angels,  for 
when  Jacob  saw  the  angels  he  said  "This  is  God's  host."  In  general  the  phrases  "God  of  hosts,'1 
<'  Lord  of  hosts"  seem  to  mean  "  God  of  angels  ",  "  Lord  of  angels  "  :  compare  2  Chron.  18  : 16  • 
Luke  2  : 13 ;  Rev.  19  : 14— "the  armies  which  are  in  heaven."  Yet  in  Neh.  9  :  6  and  Ps.  33  :  6  the  word 
"host"  seems  to  include  both  angels  and  stars. 

With  regard  to  the  'cherubim'  of  Genesis,  Exodus,  and  Ezekiel, — with 
which  the  '  seraphim '  of  Isaiah  and  the  '  living  creatures '  of  the  book  of 
Revelation  are  to  be  identified, — the  most  probable  interpretation  is  that 
which  regards  them  not  as  actual  beings  of  higher  rank  than  man,  but  as 
symbolic  appearances,  intended  to  illustrate  truths  pertaining  to  the  divine 
government  either  in  nature  or  in  the  church.  The  view  that  the  cherubim 
are  symbols  of  nature,  as  prevaded  by  the  divine  energy  and  subordinated 
to  the  divine  purposes,  is  not  so  satisfactory  as  the  view  that  they  represent 
redeemed  humanity,  endowed  with  all  the  creature  perfections  lost  by  the 
fall,  and  made  to  be  the  dwelling  place  of  God. 

The  doctrine  of  the  cherubim  embraces  the  following  points :  1.  The  cherubim  are 
not  personal  beings,  but  are  artificial,  temporary,  symbolic  figures.  2.  While  they  are 
not  themselves  personal  existences,  they  are  symbols  of  personal  existence— symbols 
not  of  divine  or  angelic  perfections  but  of  human  nature  ( Ez.  1 :  5 — "  they  had  the  likeness  of  a 
man"  ;  Rev.  5:9  (A.  V. )— "thou  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood"— so  read  N,  B,  and  Tregelles ; 
the  Eng.  Rev.  Vers.,  however,  follows  A  and  Tischendorf,  and  omits  the  word  "us"). 
3.  They  are  emblems  of  human  nature,  not  in  its  present  stage  of  development,  but 
possessed  of  all  its  original  perfections ;  for  this  reason  the  most  perfect  animal  forms 
—the  kinglike  courage  of  the  lion,  the  patient  service  of  the  ox,  the  soaring  insight  of 
the  eagle— are  combined  with  that  of  man  (Ez.  1  and  10;  Rev.  4:6-8).  4.  These  cherubic 
forms  represent,  not  merely  material  or  earthly  perfections,  but  human  nature  spirit- 
ualized and  sanctified.  They  are  "living  creatures"  and  their  life  is  a  holy  life  of  obedi- 
ence to  the  divine  will  ( Ez.  1 : 12—"  whither  the  spirit  was  to  go,  they  went "  ).  5.  They  symbolize  a 
human  nature  exalted  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  God.  Hence  the  inner  curtains  of 
the  tabernacle  were  inwoven  with  cherubic  figures,  and  God's  glory  was  manifested  on 
the  mercy-seat  between  the  cherubim  (Ex.  37  :  6-9).  While  the  flaming  sword  at  the  gates 
of  Eden  was  the  symbol  of  justice,  the  cherubim  were  symbols  of  mercy— keeping  the 
•"  way  of  the  tree  of  life"  for  man,  until  by  sacrifice  and  renewal  paradise  should  be  regained 
( Gen.  3  :  24 ). 

In  corroboration  of  this  general  view,  note  that  angels  and  cherubim  never  go 
together ;  and  that  in  the  closing  visions  of  the  book  of  Revelation  these  symbolic  forms 
are  seen  no  longer.  When  redeemed  humanity  has  entered  heaven,  the  figures  which 
typified  that  humanity,  having  served  their  purpose,  finally  disappear.  For  fuller  elab- 
oration, see  Fairbairn,  Typology,  1 : 185-208 ;  Elliott,  Horae  Apocalypticae,  1 :  87 ;  Bib. 
Sac.,  1876  : 32-51 ;  Bib.  Com.,  1  :  49-52—"  The  winged  lions,  eagles,  and  bulls,  that  guard 
the  entrances  of  the  palaces  of  Nineveh,  are  worshippers  rather  than  divinities."  On 
animal  characteristics  in  man,  see  Hopkins,  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man,  105.  For  the  view 
that  the  cherubim  are  symbols  of  the  divine  attributes,  or  of  God's  government  over 
nature,  see  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  art :  Cherub  ;  Alford,  Com.  on  Rev.  4  :  6-8,  and 
Hulsean  Lectures  for  1841,  vol.  1,  lect.  2 ;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  278. 


SCKIPTUEE   STATEMENTS   AND   INTIMATIONS.  225 

3.  As  to  their  moral  character, 
(a)     They  were  all  created  holy. 

Gen.  t  :  31 — "God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good." 

(6)     They  had  a  probation. 

This  we  infer  from  1  Tim.  5  :  21 — "the  elect  angels  "  ;  cf.  1  Pet.  1 : 1,  2 — "elect ....  unto  obedience."    If 

oertain  angels,  like  certain  men,  are  "elect unto  obedience,"  it  would  seem  to  follow 

that  there  was  a  period  of  probation,  during:  which  their  obedience  or  disobedience 
determined  their  future  destiny. 

(c)  Some  preserved  their  integrity. 

Ps.  89  :  7—"  the  council  of  the  holy  ones  "—a  designation  of  angels ;  Mark  8  :  38—"  the  holy  angels." 

(d)  Some  fell  from  their  estate  of  innocence. 

John  8  :  44 — "  He  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  stood  not  in  the  truth,  because  there  is  no  truth  in 
lim"  ;  2  Pet.  2  :  4 — "angels  when  they  sinned"  ;  Jude  6 — "angels  which  kept  not  their  own  principality,  but  left 
their  proper  habitation." 

(e)  The  good  are  confirmed  in  good. 

Mat.  6  : 19—"  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so  on  earth "  ;  18  : 10— "in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the 
face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven"  ;  2  Cor.  11 : 14— "an  angel  of  light." 

(/)     The  evil  are  confirmed  in  evil. 

Mat.  13  : 19—"  the  evil  one  "  ;  1  John  5  : 18, 19—"  the  evil  one  toucheth  him  not ....  the  whole  world  lieth  in  the  evil 
one  "  ;  cf.  John  8  :  44—"  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil ....  When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own :  for  he 
is  a  liar,  and  the  father  thereof"  ;  Mat.  6  : 13— "deliver  us  from  the  evil  one." 

From  these  Scriptural  statements  we  infer  that  all  free  creatures  pass  through  a 
period  of  probation ;  that  probation  does  not  necessarily  involve  a  fall ;  that  there  is 
possible  a  sinless  development  of  moral  beings.  Other  Scriptures  seem  to  intimate  that 
~the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ  is  an  object  of  interest  and  wonder  to  other  orders  of 
Intelligence  than  our  own ;  that  they  are  drawn  in  Christ  more  closely  to  God  and  to  us ; 
in  short,  that  they  are  confirmed  in  their  integrity  by  the  cross.  See  1  Pet.  1 : 12—"  which 
things  angels  desire  to  look  into  " ;  Eph.  3  : 10 — "  that  now  unto  the  principalities  and  the  powers  in  the  heavenly  places 
might  be  made  known  through  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God  "  ;  Col.  1 :  20— "through  him  to  reconcile  all 
things  unto  himself  ....  whether  things  upon  the  earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens "  ;  Eph.  1  : 10—"  to  sum  up  all  things 
in  Christ,  the  things  in  the  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the  earth"  =  "  the  unification  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse in  Christ  as  the  divine  centre The  great  system  is  a  harp  all  whose  strings 

are  in  tune  but  one,  and  that  one  jarring  string  makes  discord  throughout  the  whole. 
The  whole  universe  shall  feel  the  influence,  and  shall  be  reduced  to  harmony,  when  that 
one  string,  the  world  in  which  we  live,  shall  be  put  in  tune  by  the  hand  of  love  and 
mercy  "—freely  quoted  from  Leitch,  God's  Glory  in  the  Heavens,  327-330. 

4.  As  to  their  employments. 

A.     The  employments  of  good  angels. 

(a)     They  stand  in  the  presence  of  God  and  worship  him. 

Ps.  29  : 1,  2—"  Give  to  Jehovah,  0  ye  sons  of  the  mighty,  Give  to  Jehovah  glory  and  strength.  Give  to  Jehovah  the 
glory  due  unto  his  name.  Worship  Jehovah  in  holy  vestments  "— Perowne :  "  Heaven  being  thought  of  as 
one  great  temple,  and  all  the  worshipers  therein  as  clothed  in  priestly  vestments."  Ps. 
89  :  7— "a  God  very  terrible  in  the  council  of  the  holy  ones,"  i.  e.  angels— Perowne :  "Angels  are  called 
an  assembly  or  congregation,  as  the  church  above,  which,  like  the  church  below,  wor- 
ships and  praises  God."  Mat.  18  : 10— "in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven." 

(6)     They  rejoice  in  God's  works. 

Job  38  :  7— "all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy"  ;  Luke  15  : 10— "there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth  "  ;  c/.  2  Tim.  2  :  25—"  if  perad venture  God  may  give  them  repentance." 

15 


226  MATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

(e)     They  execute  God's  will, — by  working  in  nature  ; 

Ps.  103  :  20— "ye  angels  of  his that  fulfil  his  word,  hearkening  unto  the  voice  of  his  word"  ;   104  :  4, 

marg.— " Who  maketh  his  angels  winds;  his  ministers  a  naming  fire,"  i.  e.  lightnings.  See  Alford  on 
Heb.  1 :  7—"  The  order  of  the  Hebrew  words  here  [in  Ps.  104  :  4]  is  not  the  same  as  in  the 
former  verses  (see  especially  v.  3),  where  we  have :  '  Who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot.'  For  this 
transposition,  those  who  insist  that  the  passage  means  '  he  maketh  winds  his  messengers " 
can  give  no  reason." 

(d)     by  guiding  the  affairs  of  nations  ; 

Dan.  10  : 12, 13,  21—"  I  am  come  for  thy  words'  sake.  But  the  prince  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  withstood  me  .... 
Michael,  one  of  the  chief  princes,  came  to  help  me  ....  Michael  your  prince  "  ;  11  : 1—"  And  as  for  me,  in  the  first  year 
of  Darius  the  Mede,  I  stood  up  to  confirm  and  strengthen  him "  ;  12  :  1 — "at  that  time  shall  Michael  stand  up,  the  great 
prince  which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy  people." 

(e}     by  watching  over  the  interests  of  particular  churches  ; 

1  Cor.  11  : 10— "for  this  cause  ought  the  woman  to  have  a  sign  of  authority  [i.  e.  a  veil]  on  her  head,  because 
of  the  angels"— who  watch  over  the  church  and  have  care  for  its  order.    Col.  2  : 18— "let  no  man 
rob  you  of  your  prize  by  a  voluntary  humility  and  worshipping  of  the  angels"— a  false  worship  which 
would  be  very  natural  if  angels  were  present  to  guard  the  meetings  of  the  saints.    1  Tim. 
5  :  21 — "I  charge  thee  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  elect  angels,  that  thou  observe  these  things" — the 
public  duties  of  the  Christian  minister. 

Alford  regards  "the  angels  of  the  seven  churches"  (Rev.  1 :  20)  as  superhuman  beings  appointed 
to  represent  and  guard  the  churches,  and  that  upon  the  grounds :  ( 1 )  that  the  word 
is  used  elsewhere  in  the  book  of  Revelation  only  in  this  sense;  and  (2)  that  nothing- 
in  the  book  is  addressed  to  a  teacher  individually,  but  all  to  some  one  who  reflects- 
the  complexion  and  fortunes  of  the  church  as  no  human  person  could.  We  prefer, 
however,  to  regard  "the  angels  of  the  seven  churches"  as  meaning  simply  the  pastors  of  the 
seven  churches.  The  word  "angel"  means  simply  "messenger,"  and  may  be  used  of 
human  as  well  as  of  superhuman  beings — see  Hag.  1 : 13 — "Haggai,  the  Lord's  messenger" — liter- 
ally, "the  angel  of  Jehovah."  The  use  of  the  word  in  this  figurative  sense  would  not  be  incon- 
gruous with  the  mystical  character  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  (see  Bib.  Sac.,  12  :  339). 

(/)     by  assisting  and  protecting  individual  believers  ; 

II.  19  :  5— "an  angel  touched  him  [Elijah],  and  said  unto  him,  Arise  and  eat"  ;  Ps.  91 : 11— "He  shall  give  his 
angels  charge  over  thee,  To  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways.  They  shall  bear  thee  up  in  their  hands,  Lest  thou  dash  thy  foot 
against  a  stone  "  ;  Dan.  6  :  22  -"My  God  hath  sent  his  angel,  and  hath  shut  the  lions'  mouths,  and  they  have  not  hurt 
me  " ;  Mat.  4  : 11 — "  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  him  " — Jesus  was  the  type  of  all  believers ;  18  :  10 — 
"  Despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones,  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my 
Father  "  ;  compare  verse  6—"  one  of  these  little  ones  which  believe  on  me  "  ;  see  Meyer,  Com.  in  loco,  who 
regards  these  passages  as  proving  the  doctrine  of  guardian-angels.  Luke  16  :  22— "  th» 
beggar  died,  and  ....  was  carried  away  by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom  "  ;  Heb.  1 : 14— "Are  they  not  all  minis- 
tering spirits,  sent  forth  to  do  service  for  the  sake  of  them  that  shall  inherit  salvation?"  Compare  Acts  12  : 15— 
"  And  they  said,  It  is  his  angel  "—of  Peter  standing  knocking;  see  Hackett,  Com.  in  loco:  The 
utterance  "expresses  a  popular  belief  prevalent  among  the  Jews,  which  is  neither 
affirmed  nor  denied." 

(ff)     by  punishing  God's  enemies. 

2  K.  19  :  35—"  it  came  to  pass  that  night,  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  forth,  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyr- 
ians an  hundred  fourscore  and  five  thousand" ;  Acts  12  :  23— "And  immediately  an  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him, 
because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory ;  and  he  was  eaten  of  worms,  and  gave  up  the  ghost." 

A  general  survey  of  this  Scripture  testimony  as  to  the  employments  of 
good  angels  leads  us  to  the  following  conclusions  : 

First, — that  good  angels  are  not  to  be  considered  as  the  mediating  agents 
of  God's  regular  and  common  providence,  but  as  the  ministers  of  his 
special  providence  in  the  affairs  of  his  church.  He  'maketh  his  angels 
winds '  and  'a  flaming  fire,'  not  in  his  ordinary  procedure,  but  in  connection 
with  special  displays  of  his  power  for  moral  ends  (  Deut.  33  :  2  ;  Acts  7  :  53  ; 
Gal.  3  :  19 ;  Heb.  2:2).  Their  intervention  is  apparently  occasional  and 


SCRIPTURE  STATEMENTS    AND    INTIMATIONS.  227 

exceptional — not  at  their  own  option,  but  only  as  it  is  permitted  or  com- 
manded by  God.  Hence  we  are  not  to  conceive  of  angels  as  coming 
between  us  and  God,  nor  are  we,  without  special  revelation  of  the  fact,  to 
attribute  to  them  in  any  particular  case  the  effects  which  the  Scriptures 
generally  ascribe  to  divine  providence.  Like  miracles,  therefore,  angelic 
appearances  generally  mark  God's  entrance  upon  new  epochs  in  the  unfold- 
ing of  his  plans.  Hence  we  read  of  angels  at  the  completion  of  creation 
(Job  38  :  7 )  ;  at  the  giving  of  the  law  (Gal.  3  :  19)  ;  at  the  birth  of  Christ 
(Luke  2  :  13) ;  at  the  two  temptations  in  the  wilderness  and  in  Gethsemane 
(Mat.  4  :  11,  Luke  22  :  43) ;  at  the  resurrection  (Mat.  28  :  2)  ;  at  the  ascen- 
sion (Acts  1 :  10)  ;  at  the  final  judgment  (Mat.  25  :  31). 

The  substance  of  these  remarks  may  be  found  in  Hodge,  Systematic  Theology,  1 :  637- 
645.  Milton  tells  us  that  "Millions  of  spiritual  creatures  walk  the  earth  Unseen,  both 
when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep."  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  it  is  a  question  of 
interest  why  such  angelic  beings  as  have  to  do  with  human  affairs  are  not  at  present 
seen  by  men.  Paul's  admonition  against  the  "worshipping  of  the  angels"  (Col.  2:18)  seems 
to  suggest  the  reason.  If  men  have  not  abstained  from  worshipping  their  fellow-men, 
when  these  latter  have  been  priests  or  media  of  divine  communications,  the  danger  of 
idolatry  would  be  much  greater  if  we  came  into  close  and  constant  contact  with  angels ; 
see  Rev.  22  :  8,  9 — "  I  fell  down  to  worship  before  the  feet  of  the  angel  which  shewed  me  these  things.  And  he  saith 
unto  me,  See  thou  do  it  not." 

Secondly, — that  their  power,  as  being  in  its  nature  dependent  and  derived, 
is  exercised  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  spiritual  and  natural  world. 
They  cannot,  like  God,  create,  perform  miracles,  act  without  means,  search 
the  heart.  Unlike  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  can  influence  the  human  mind 
directly,  they  can  influence  men  only  in  ways  analogous  to  those  by  which 
men  influence  each  other.  As  evil  angels  may  tempt  men  to  sin,  so  it  is 
probable  that  good  angels  may  attract  men  to  holiness. 

As  intimated  above,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  even  the  invisible  presence  of 
angels  is  a  constant  one.  Doddridge's  dream  of  accident  prevented  by  angelic  interpo- 
sition seems  to  embody  the  essential  truth.  We  append  the  passages  referred  to  in  the 
text.  Job  38  :  7—"  When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  And  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  "  ;  Deut.  33  :  2— 
"  The  Lord  came  from  Sinai ...  he  came  from  the  ten  thousands  of  holy  ones :  At  his  right  hand  was  a  fiery  law  unto 
them"  ;  Gal.  3  : 19— "It  [the  law]  was  ordained  through  angels  by  the  hand  of  a  mediator"  ;  Heb.  2  :  2— 
"  the  word  spoken  through  angels  "  ;  Acts  7  :  53—"  who  received  the  law  as  it  was  ordained  by  angels  "  ;  Luke  2  :  13 
— "  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host "  ;  Mat.  4  : 11—"  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him  ; 
and  behold,  angels  came  and  ministered  unto  him";  Luke  22  :  43— "And  there  appeared  unto  him  an  angel  from 
heaven,  strengthening  him"  ;  Mat.  28  :  2— "an  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  away 
the  stone,  and  sat  upon  it "  ;  Acts  1 : 10—"  And  while  they  were  looking  steadfastly  into  heaven  as  he  went,  behold,  two 
men  stood  by  them  in  white  apparel "  ;  Mat.  25  :  31—"  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels 
with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory." 

B.     The  employments  of  evil  angels. 

(a)  They  oppose  God  and  strive  to  defeat  his  will.  This  is  indicated  in 
the  names  applied  to  their  chief.  The  word  " Satan "  means  "adversary  " 
—primarily  to  God,  secondarily  to  men  ;  the  term  "devil"  signifies  "slan- 
derer "—of  God  to  men,  and  of  men  to  God.  It  is  indicated  also  in  the 
description  of  the  "man  of  sin "  as  " he  that  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself 
against  all  that  is  called  God." 

Job  1  :  6— Satan  appears  among  "the  sons  of  God  "  ;  Zech.  3  : 1— "  Joshua  the  high  priest ...  and  Satan 
standing  at  his  right  hand  to  be  his  adversary  "  ;  Mat.  13 : 39—"  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is  the  devil "  ;  1  Pet.  5 : 8— 
" your  adversary  the  devil."  Satan  slanders  God  to  men,  in  Gen.  3  : 1,  4— "Yea,  hath  God  said ?  ...  Ye 
shall  not  surely  die  "  ;  men  to  God,  in  Job  1 :  9, 11—"  Doth  Job  fear  God  for  nought  ?  ...  put  forth  thy  hand  now, 
and  touch  all  that  he  hath,  and  he  will  renounce  thee  to  thy  face" ;  2  :  4,  5— "Skin  for  skin,  yea,  all  that  a  man  hath 


228  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

will  he  give  for  his  life.    But  put  forth  thine  hand  now,  and  touch  his  bone  and  his  flesh,  and  he  will  renounce  thee  to  thy 
face  "  ;  Rev.  12  : 10 — "  the  accuser  of  our  brethren  is  cast  down,  which  accuseth  them  before  our  God  night  and  day." 

Notice  how,  over  against  the  evil  spirit  who  thus  accuses  God  to  man  and  man  to  God, 
stands  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Advocate,  who  pleads  God's  cause  with  man  and  man's  cause 
with  God :  John  16  :  8— "he,  when  he  is  come,  will  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness,  and 
of  judgment"  ;  Rom.  8  :  26 — "  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity :  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought ;  but 
the  Spirit  himself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered."  Hence  Balaam  can  say, 
Num.  23  :  21,  "  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob,  Neither  hath  he  seen  perverseness  in  Israel "  ;  and  the  Lord 
can  say  to  Satan  as  he  resists  Joshua :  "  The  Lord  rebuke  thee,  0  Satan ;  yea,  the  Lord  that  hath  chosen 
Jerusalem  rebuke  thee"  (Zech.  3:2).  "Thus  he  puts  himself  between  his  people  and  every 
tongue  that  would  accuse  them  "  (C.  H.  M. ).  For  the  description  of  the  "man  of  sin,"  see 
2  Thess.  2  :  4—"  he  that  opposeth  "  ;  cf.  verse  9—"  whose  coming  is  according  to  the  working  of  Sataa." 

(6)  They  hinder  man's  temporal  and  eternal  welfare, — sometimes  by  ex- 
ercising a  certain  control  over  natural  phenomena,  but  more  commonly  by 
subjecting  man's  soul  to  temptation.  Possession  of  man's  being,  either 
physical  or  spiritual,  by  demons,  is  also  recognized  in  Scripture. 

Control  of  natural  phenomena  is  ascribed  to  evil  spirits  in  Job  1 : 12, 16, 19  and  2  :  7— "all 
that  he  hath  is  in  thy  power" — and  Satan  uses  lightning,  whirlwind,  disease,  for  his  purposes; 
Luke  13  : 11, 16— "a  woman  which  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  ....  whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  years"  ; 
Acts  10  :  38 — "healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil"  ;  2  Cor.  12  :  7 — "a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  a  messenger  of 
Satan  to  buffet  me  "  ;  1  Thess.  2  : 18 — "  we  would  fain  have  come  unto  you,  I  Paul  once  and  again ;  and  Satan  hindered 
us" ;  Heb.  2  : 14— "him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil."  Temptation  is  ascribed  to  evil 
spirits  in  Gen.  3  : 1  sq.— "Now  the  serpent  was  more  subtle  "  ;  cf.  Rev.  20  :  2—"  the  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil 
and  Satan  "  ;  Mat.  4  :  3—"  the  tempter  came  "  ;  John  13  :  27—"  after  the  sop,  then  entered  Satan  into  him  "  ;  Acts  5  :  3 
— "  why  hath  Satan  filled  thy  heart  to  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  "  Eph.  2  :  2—"  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  sons  of 
disobedience" ;  1  Thess.  3  :  5 — "lest  by  any  means  the  tempter  had  tempted  you"  ;  1  Pet.  5  :  8 — "your  adversary  the 
devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

Satan's  temptations  are  represented  as  both  negative  and  positive, — he 
takes  away  the  seed  sown,  and  he  sows  tares.  He  controls  many  subordin- 
ate evil  spirits  ;  there  is  but  one  devil,  but  there  are  many  angels  or  demons, 
and  through  their  agency  Satan  may  accomplish  his  purposes. 

Satan's  negative  agency  is  shown  in  Mark  4  : 15—"  when  they  have  heard,  straightway  cometh  Satan, 
and  taketh  away  the  word  which  hath  been  sown  in  them  "  ;  his  positive  agency  in  Mat.  13  :  38,  39—"  the  tares 
are  the  sons  of  the  evil  one ;  and  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is  the  devil."  One  devil,  but  many  angels :  see 
Mat.  25  :  41— "the  devil  and  his  angels"  ;  Mark  5  :  9— "My  name  is  Legion,  for  we  are  many"  ;  Eph.  2  :  2— "the 
prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air"  (so  Am.  Revisers) ;  6  : 12— "  principalities  .  .  .  powers  .  . .  world-rulers  of  this 
darkness  . .  .  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness."  The  mode  of  Satan's  access  to  the  human  mind  we  do 
not  know.  It  may  be  that  by  moving  upon  our  physical  organism  he  may  produce 
subtle  signs  of  thought  and  so  reach  the  understanding  and  desires.  He  certainly  has 
the  power  to  present  in  captivating  forms  the  objects  of  appetite  and  selfish  desire,  as 
he  did  to  Christ  in  the  wilderness  ( Mat.  4  :  3,  6,  9 ),  and  to  appeal  to  our  love  for  indepen- 
dence by  saying  to  us,  as  he  did  to  our  first  parents— "ye  shall  be  as  God"  (Gen.  3:5). 

Possession  is  distinguished  from  bodily  or  mental  disease,  though  such 
disease  often  accompanies  possession  or  results  from  it. — The  demons 
speak  in  their  own  persons,  with  supernatural  knowledge,  and  they  are  di- 
rectly addressed  by  Christ.  Jesus  recognizes  Satanic  agency  in  these  cases 
of  possession,  and  he  rejoices  in  the  casting  out  of  demons,  as  a  sign  of 
Satan's  downfall.  These  facts  render  it  impossible  to  interpret  the  narra- 
tives of  demoniac  possession  as  popular  descriptions  of  abnormal  physical 
or  mental  conditions. 

Possession  may  apparently  be  either  physical,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Gerasene  demoniacs 
( Mark  5:2-4),  or  spiritual,  as  in  the  case  of  the  "  maid  having  a  spirit  of  divination  "  ( Acts  16  : 16 ), 
where  the  body  does  not  seem  to  have  been  affected.  It  is  distinguished  from  bodily 

disease :  see  Mat.  17  : 15, 18—"  epileptic the  demon  went  out  from  him :  and  the  boy  was  cured  "  ;  Mark  9  :  25 

— "  Thou  dumb  and  deaf  spirit " ;  3  : 11,  12— "the  unclean  spirits cried,  saying,  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God.  And 


SCRIPTURE   STATEMENTS    AND    INTIMATIONS.  229 

he  charged  them  much  that  they  should  not  make  him  known" ;  Luke  8  :  30— "And  Jesus  asked  him,  What  is  thy 
name  ?  And  he  said,  Legion ;  for  many  demons  were  entered  into  him.  And  they  entreated  him  that  he  would  not 
command  them  to  depart  into  the  abyss " ;  10  : 17,  18—"  And  the  seventy  returned  with  joy,  saying,  Lord,  even  the 
demons  are  subject  unto  us  in  thy  name.  And  he  said  unto  them,  I  beheld  Satan  fallen  as  lightning  from  heaven." 

These  descriptions  of  personal  intercourse  between  Christ  and  the  demons  cannot  be 
interpreted  as  metaphorical.  "  In  the  temptation  of  Christ  and  in  the  possession  of  the 
swine,  imagination  could  have  no  place.  Christ  was  above  its  delusions ;  the  brutes 
were  below  them."  Farrar  (Life  of  Christ,  1:337-341,  and  2:  excursus  vii),  while  he 
admits  the  existence  and  agency  of  good  angels,  very  inconsistently  gives  a  metaphor- 
ical interpretation  to  the  Scriptural  accounts  of  evil  angels.  We  find  corroborative 
evidence  of  the  Scripture  doctrine  in  the  domination  which  one  wicked  man  frequently 
exercises  over  others ;  in  the  opinion  of  some  modern  physicians  in  charge  of  the  in- 
sane, that  certain  phenomena  in  their  patients'  experience  are  best  explained  by  sup- 
posing an  actual  subjection  of  the  will  to  a  foreign  power :  and,  finally,  in  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  human  heart.  See  Trench,  Miracles,  125-136 ;  Smith's  Bible 
Dictionary,  1 :  586—"  Possession  is  distinguished  from  mere  temptation  by  the  complete 
or  incomplete  loss  of  the  sufferer's  reason  or  power  of  will;  his  actions,  words,  and 
almost  his  thoughts,  are  mastered  by  the  evil  spirit,  till  his  personality  seems  to  be 
destroyed,  or  at  least  so  overborne  as  to  produce  the  consciousness  of  a  twofold  will 
within  him  like  that  in  a  dream.  In  the  ordinary  assaults  and  temptations  of  Satan,  the 
will  itself  yields  consciously,  and  by  yielding  gradually  assumes,  without  losing  its 
apparent  freedom  of  action,  the  characteristics  of  the  Satanic  nature.  It  is  solicited, 
urged,  and  persuaded  against  the  strivings  of  grace,  but  it  is  not  overborne." 

(c)  Yet,  in  spite  of  themselves,  they  execute  God's  plans  of  punishing 
the  ungodly,  of  chastening  the  good,  and  of  illustrating  the  nature  and 
fate  of  moral  evil. 

Punishing  the  ungodly :  Ps.  78  :  49 — "  He  cast  upon  them  the  fierceness  of  his  anger,  Wrath,  and  indignation, 
and  trouble,  A  band  of  angels  of  evil "  ;  1  K.  22  :  23— "the  Lord  hath  put  a  lying  spirit  in  the  mouth  of  all  these  thy 
prophets ;  and  the  Lord  hath  spoken  evil  concerning  thee." 

Chastening  the  good :  see  Job,  chapters  1  and  2 ;  1  Cor.  5  :  5—"  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan  for  the 
destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus"  ;  c/.  1  Tim.  1  :  20— " Hymenaeus 
and  Alexander;  whom  I  delivered  unto  Satan,  that  they  might  be  taught  not  to  blaspheme."  This  delivering  to 
Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh  seems  to  have  involved  four  things  :  (1)  excom- 
munication from  the  church;  (2)  authoritative  infliction  of  bodily  disease  or  death; 
(3)  loss  of  all  protection  from  g'ood  angels,  who  minister  only  to  saints ;  (4)  subjection 
to  the  buffetings  and  tormentings  of  the  great  accuser. 

Evil  spirits  illustrate  the  nature  and  fate  of  moral  evil :  see  Mat.  8  : 29—"  art  thou  come 
hither  to  torment  us  before  the  time  ?  "  25  :  41—"  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  "  ;  2  Thess. 
2  :  8—"  then  shall  be  revealed  the  lawless  one  "  ;  James  2  : 19—"  the  demons  also  believe,  and  shudder  "  ;  Rev.  12  :  9, 
12 — "  the  devil  and  Satan,  the  deceiver  of  the  whole  world  ...  the  devil  is  gone  down  unto  you,  having  great  wrath, 
knowing  that  he  hath  but  a  short  time  "  ;  20  : 10—"  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  ...  tormented  day  and  night,  for  ever  and 
ever." 

It  is  an  interesting  question  whether  Scripture  recognizes  any  special  connections  of 
evil  spirits  with  the  systems  of  idolatry,  witchcraft,  and  spiritualism  which  burden  the 
world.  1  Cor.  10  :  20—"  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice,  they  sacrifice  to  demons,  and  not  to  God  "  ;  2  Thess. 
2:  9 — "  the  working  of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  lying  wonders" — would  seem  to  favor  an 
affirmative  answer.  But  1  Cor.  8  :  4—"  concerning  therefore  the  eating  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  we  know 
that  no  idol  is  anything  in  the  world"— seems  to  favor  a  negative  answer.  This  last  may,  how- 
ever, mean  that  "the  beings  whom  the  idols  are  designed  to  represent  have  no  exis- 
tence, although  it  is  afterwards  shown  (10  :20)  that  there  are  other  beings  connected 
with  false  worship  "  (Ann.  Par.  Bible,  in  loco).  "  Heathenism  is  the  reign  of  the  devil " 
(Meyer),  and  while  the  heathen  think  themselves  to  be  sacrificing  to  Jupiter  or  Venus, 
they  are  really  "  sacrificing  to  demons,"  and  are  thus  furthering  the  plans  of  a  malignant  spirit 
who  uses  these  forms  of  false  religion  as  a  means  of  enslaving  their  souls.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  network  of  influences  which  support  the  papacy,  spiritualism,  modern  unbe- 
lief, is  difficult  of  explanation,  unless  we  believe  in  a  superhuman  intelligence  which 
organizes  these  forces  against  God.  In  these,  as  well  as  in  heathen  religions,  there  are 
facts  inexplicable  upon  merely  natural  principles  of  disease  and  delusion. 

A  survey  of  the  Scripture  testimony  with  regard  to  the  employments  of 
evil  spirits  leads  to  the  following  general  conclusions  : 


230  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND    WORKS   OF   GOD. 

First, — the  power  of  evil  spirits  over  men  is  not  independent  of  the 
human  will.  This  power  cannot  be  exercised  without  at  least  the  original 
consent  of  the  human  will,  and  may  be  resisted  and  shaken  off  through 
prayer  and  faith  in  God. 

Luke  22  :  31,  40—"  Satan  asked  to  have  you,  that  he  might  sift  you  as  wheat .  .  .  Pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  tempta- 
tion" ;  Eph.  6  :  11— "Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil"  ; 
16— "the  shield  of  faith,  wherewith  ye  shall  be  able  to  quench  all  the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one";  James  4  :  7— 
"resist  the  devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you"  ;  1  Pet.  5  :  9 — "whom  withstand  steadfast  in  your  faith."  The  coals 
are  already  in  the  human  heart,  in  the  shape  of  corrupt  inclinations ;  Satan  only  blows 
them  into  flame. 

Secondly, — their  power  is  limited,  both  in  time  and  in  extent,  by  the  per- 
missive will  of  God.  Evil  spirits  are  neither  omnipotent,  omniscient,  nor 
omnipresent.  We  are  to  attribute  disease  and  natural  calamity  to  their 
agency,  only  when  this  is  matter  of  special  revelation.  Opposed  to  God  as 
evil  spirits  are,  God  compels  them  to  serve  his  purposes.  Their  power  for 
harm  lasts  but  for  a  season,  and  ultimate  judgment  and  punishment  will 
vindicate  God's  permission  of  their  evil  agency. 

1  Cor.  10  : 13—"  God  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  that  ye  are  able ;  but  will  with  the 
temptation  make  also  the  way  of  escape,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  endure  it "  ;  Jude  6 — "  angels  which  kept  not  their  own 
principality,  but  left  their  proper  habitation,  he  hath  kept  in  everlasting  bonds  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day." 

Luther  saw  Satan  nearer  to  man  than  his  coat,  or  his  shirt,  or  even  his  skin.  In  all 
misfortune  he  saw  the  devil's  work.  Was  there  a  conflagration  in  the  town  ?  By  look- 
ing closely  you  might  see  a  demon  blowing  upon  the  flame.  Pestilence  and  storm  he 
attributed  to  Satan.  All  this  was  a  relic  of  the  mediaeval  exaggerations  of  Satan's 
power.  It  was  then  supposed  that  men  might  make  covenants  with  the  evil  one,  in 
which  supernatural  power  was  purchased  at  the  price  of  final  perdition  ( see  Goethe's 
Faust). 

Scripture  furnishes  no  warrant  for  such  representations.  There  seems  to  have  been 
permitted  a  special  activity  of  Satan  in  temptation  and  possession  during  our  Savior's 
ministry,  in  order  that  Christ's  power  might  be  demonstrated.  By  his  death  Jesus 
brought  "  to  nought  him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is,  the  devil  "  ( Heb.  2  : 14 )  and  "  having  despoiled  the 
principalities  and  the  powers,  he  made  a  show  of  them  openly,  triumphing  over  them  in  it,"  i.  e.  in  the  cross 
( Col.  2  : 15— Am.  Revisers ).  1  John  3 :  8—"  To  this  end  was  the  Son  of  God  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil."  Evil  spirits  now  exist  and  act  only  upon  sufferance.  McLeod,  Tempta- 
tion of  our  Lord,  24—"  Satan's  power  is  limited,  (1)  by  the  fact  that  he  is  a  creature ; 
(2)  by  the  fact  of  God's  providence ;  (3)  by  the  fact  of  his  own  wickedness." 

II.     OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  ANGELS. 

1.  To  the  doctrine  of  angels  in  general.  It  is  objected  : 
(a)  That  it  is  opposed  to  the  modern  scientific  view  of  the  world,  as  a 
system  of  definite  forces  and  laws. — We  reply  that  whatever  truth  there 
may  be  in  this  modern  view,  it  does  not  exclude  the  play  of  divine  or 
human  free  agency.  It  does  not  therefore  exclude  the  possibility  of  angelic 
agency. 

(6)  That  it  is  opposed  to  the  modern  doctrine  of  infinite  space  above 
and  beneath  us — a  space  peopled  with  worlds.  With  the  surrender  of  the 
old  conception  of  the  firmament,  as  a  boundary  separating  this  world  from 
the  regions  beyond,  it  is  claimed  that  we  must  give  up  all  belief  in  a  heaven 
of  the  angels. — We  reply  that  the  notions  of  an  infinite  universe,  of  heaven 
as  a  definite  place,  and  of  spirits  as  confined  to  fixed  locality  are  without 
certain  warrant  either  in  reason  or  in  Scripture.  We  know  nothing  of  the 
modes  of  existence  of  pure  spirits. 


OBJECTIONS  TO   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   ANGELS.  231 

What  we  know  of  the  universe  is  certainly  finite.  Angels  are  apparently  incorporeal 
beings,  and  as  such  are  free  from  all  laws  of  matter  and  space.  Heaven  and  hell  are 
essentially  conditions,  corresponding  to  character — conditions  in  which  the  body  and  the 
surroundings  of  the  soul  express  and  reflect  its  inward  state.  The  main  thing  to  be 
insisted  on  is  therefore  the  state;  place  is  merely  incidental.  The  fact  that  Christ 
ascended  to  heaven  with  a  human  body,  and  that  the  saints  are  to  possess  glorified 
bodies,  would  seem  to  imply  that  heaven  is  a  place.  Christ's  declaration  with  regard 
to  him  who  is  "able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell"  (Mat.  10:28)  affords  some  reason  for 
Relieving  that  hell  is  also  a  place. 

Where  heaven  and  hell  are,  is  not  revealed  to  us.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
that  they  are  in  some  remote  part  of  the  universe ;  for  aught  we  know,  they  may  be 
right  about  us,  so  that  if  our  eyes  were  opened,  like  those  of  the  prophet's  servant 
<2  Kings  6  : 17),  we  ourselves  should  behold  them.  Upon  ground  of  Eph.  2  :  2— "prince  of  the 
powers  of  the  air  "—and  3 : 10—"  the  principalities  and  the  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  "—some  have  assigned 
the  atmosphere  of  the  earth  as  the  abode  of  angelic  spirits,  both  good  and  evil.  But 
the  expressions  "air"  and  " heavenly  places "  may  be  merely  metaphorical  designations  of 
their  spiritual  method  of  existence. 

We  prefer  therefore  to  leave  the  question  of  place  undecided,  and  to  accept  the  exist- 
ence and  working  of  angels  both  good  and  evil  as  a  matter  of  faith,  without  professing 
to  understand  their  relations  to  space.  For  the  rationalistic  view,  see  Strauss,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  1 :  670-675.  Per  contra,  see  Van  Oosterzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  1 :  308-317 ;  Mar- 
tensen,  Christian  Dogmatics,  127-136. 

2.  To  the  doctrine  of  evil  angels  in  particular.  It  is  objected  that : 
(a)  The  idea  of  the  fall  of  angels  is  self-contradictory,  since  a  fall  deter- 
mined by  pride  presupposes  pride — that  is,  a  fall  before  the  fall. — We  reply 
that  the  objection  confounds  the  occasion  of  sin  with  the  sin  itself.  The 
•outward  motive  to  disobedience  is  not  disobedience.  The  fall  took  place 
only  when  that  outward  motive  was  chosen  by  free  will.  When  the  motive 
•of  independence  was  selfishly  adopted,  only  then  did  the  innocent  desire 
for  knowledge  and  power  become  pride  and  sin.  How  an  evil  volition  could 
originate  in  spirits  created  pure  is  an  insoluble  problem.  Our  faith  in 
Ood's  holiness,  however,  compels  us  to  attribute  the  origin  of  this  evil 
Tolition,  not  to  the  Creator,  but  to  the  creature. 

There  can  be  no  sinful  propensity  before  there  is  sin.  The  reason  of  the  first  sin  can 
not  be  sin  itself.  This  would  be  to  make  sin  a  necessary  development;  to  deny  the 
holiness  of  God  the  Creator ;  to  leave  the  ground  of  theism  for  pantheism. 

(6)  It  is  irrational  to  suppose  that  Satan  should  have  been  able  to  change 
his  whole  nature  by  a  single  act,  so  that  he  thenceforth  willed  only  evil. 
— But  we  reply  that  the  circumstances  of  that  decision  are  unknown  to  us  ; 
while  the  power  of  single  acts  permanently  to  change  character  is  matter  of 
observation  among  men. 

Instance  the  effect,  upon  character  and  life,  of  a  single  act  of  falsehood  or  embezzle- 
ment. 

(c)  It  is  impossible  that  so  wise  a  being  should  enter  upon  a  hopeless 
rebellion. — We  answer  that  no  amount  of  mere  knowledge  ensures  right 
moral  action.     If  men  gratify  present  passion,  in  spite  of  their  knowledge 
that  the  sin  involves  present  misery  and  future  perdition,  it  is  not  impossi- 
ble that  Satan  may  have  done  the  same. 

Understanding  is  the  servant  of  will,  and  is  darkened  by  will.  Many  clever  men  fall 
to  see  what  belongs  to  their  peace.  It  is  the  very  madness  of  sin,  that  it  persists  in 
iniquity,  even  when  it  sees  and  fears  the  approaching  judgment  of  God. 

(d)  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  benevolence  of  God  to  create  and  uphold 
spirits,  whom  he  knows  will  be  and  do  evil. — We  reply  that  this  is  no  more 


232  NATURE,    DECREES,    AND   WORKS   OF   GOD. 

inconsistent  with  God's  benevolence  than  the  creation  and  preservation  of 
men,  whose  action  God  overrules  for  the  furtherance  of  his  purposes,  and 
whose  iniquity  he  finally  brings  to  light  and  punishes. 

Seduction  of  the  pure  by  the  impure,  piracy,  slavery,  and  war,  have  all  been  permitted 
among  men.  It  is  no  more  inconsistent  with  God's  benevolence  to  permit  them  among" 
angelic  spirits. 

(e)  The  notion  of  organization  among  evil  spirits  is  self-contradictory, 
since  the  nature  of  evil  is  to  sunder  and  divide. — We  reply  that  such 
organization  of  evil  spirits  is  no  more  impossible  than  the  organization  of 
wicked  men,  for  the  purpose  of  furthering  their  selfish  ends.  Common 
hatred  to  God  may  constitute  a  principle  of  union  among  them,  as  among 
men. 

Wicked  men  succeed  in  their  plans  only  by  adhering:  in  some  way  to  the  good.  Even 
a  robber-horde  must  have  laws,  and  there  is  a  sort  of  "  honor  among  thieves."  Else  the 
world  would  be  a  Pandemonium,  and  society  would  be  what  Hobbes  called  it :  "  bellum 
omnium  contra  omnes." 

(/)'  The  doctrine  is  morally  pernicious,  as  transferring  the  blame  of 
human  sin  to  the  being  or  beings  who  tempt  men  thereto. — We  reply  that 
neither  conscience  nor  Scripture  allow  temptation  to  be  an  excuse  for  sin, 
or  regard  Satan  as  having  power  to  compel  the  human  will.  The  objection, 
moreover,  contradicts  our  observation, — for  only  where  the  personal  exist- 
ence of  Satan  is  recognized,  do  we  find  sin  recognized  in  its  true  nature. 

The  diabolic  character  of  sin  makes  it  more  guilty  and  abhorred.  The  immorality  lies,, 
not  in  the  maintenance,  but  in  the  denial,  of  the  doctrine.  Giving  up  the  doctrine  of 
Satan  is  connected  with  laxity  in  the  administration  of  criminal  justice.  Penalty  cornea 
to  be  regarded  as  only  deterrent  or  reformatory. 

(g)  The  doctrine  degrades  man,  by  representing  him  as  the  tool  and 
slave  of  Satan. — We  reply  that  it  does  indeed  show  his  actual  state  to  be 
degraded,  but  only  with  the  result  of  exalting  our  idea  of  his  original 
dignity,  and  of  his  possible  glory  in  Christ.  The  fact  that  man's  sin  wa& 
suggested  from  without,  and  not  from  within,  may  be  the  one  mitigating 
circumstance  which  renders  possible  his  redemption. 

It  is  not  worth  while  to  attribute  to  man  a  dignity  he  does  not  possess,  if  thereby  we 
deprive  him  of  the  dignity  that  may  be  his.  Satan's  sin  was,  in  its  essence,  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  for  which  there  can  be  no  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do  " 
( Luke  23  :  34),  since  it  was  choosing  evil  with  the  mala  gaudfo  mentis,  or  the  clearest  intui- 
tion that  it  was  evil.  If  there  be  no  devil,  then  man  himself  is  devil.  It  has  been  said 
of  Voltaire,  that  without  believing  in  a  devil,  he  saw  him  everywhere — even  where  he- 
was  not.  Christian,  in  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  takes  comfort  when  he  finds  that 
the  blasphemous  suggestions  which  came  to  him  in  the  dark  valley  were  suggestions- 
from  the  fiend  that  pursued  him.  If  all  temptation  is  from  within,  our  case  would 
seem  hopeless.  But  if  "  an  enemy  hath  done  this  "  ( Mat.  13  :  28 ),  then  there  is  hope.  And  so  we 
may  accept  the  maxim :  Nullus  diabolus,  nullus  Redemptor.  See  Trench,  Studies  in  the- 
Gospels,  17;  Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  78-100;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  291-293.  Many  of 
the  objections  and  answers  mentioned  above  have  been  taken  from  Philippi,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  3  :  251-284,  where  a  fuller  statement  of  them  may  be  found. 

m.     PRACTICAL  USES  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  or  ANGELS. 

A.      Uses  of  the  doctrine  of  good  angels. 

(a)  It  gives  us  a  new  sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  divine  resources,  and 
of  God's  grace  in  our  creation,  to  think  of  the  multitude  of  unfallen  intel- 
ligences who  executed  the  divine  purposes  before  man  appeared. 


PRACTICAL   USES   OF   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   ANGELS.  233 

(6)  It  strengthens  our  faith  in  God's  providential  care,  to  know  that 
spirits  of  so  high  rank  are  deputed  to  minister  to  creatures  who  are 
environed  with  temptations  and  are  conscious  of  sin. 

(c)  It  teaches  us  humility,  that  beings  of  so  much  greater  knowledge  and 
power  than  ours  should  gladly  perform  these  unnoticed  services,  in  behalf 
of  those  whose  only  claim  upon  them  is  that  they  are  children  of  the  same 
common  Father. 

(d)  It  helps  us  in  the  struggle  against  sin,  to  learn  that  these  messengers 
of  God  are  near,  to  mark  our  wrong  doing  if  we  fall,  and  to  sustain  us  if  we 
resist  temptation. 

(e)  It  enlarges  our  conceptions  of  the  dignity  of  our  own  being,  and  of 
the  boundless  possibilities  of  our  future  existence,  to  remember  these  forms 
of  typical  innocence  and  love,  that  praise  and  serve  God  unceasingly  in 
heaven. 

Instance  the  appearance  of  angels  in  Jacob's  life  at  Bethel  ( Gen.  28  : 12— Jacob's  conver- 
sion ? )  and  at  Mahanaim  ( Gen.  32  : 1,  2— two  camps,  of  angels,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the 
left ;  c/.  Ps.  34  :  7 — "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  him,  And  delivereth  them  " ) ;  so 
too  the  Angel  at  Penuel  that  struggled  with  Jacob  at  his  entering  the  promised  land 
(Gen.  32  :  24;  c/.  Hos.  12  :  3,  4— "in  his  manhood  he  had  power  with  God :  yea,  he  had  power  over  the  angel,  and 
prevailed  " ),  and  "  the  angel  which  hath  redeemed  me  from  all  evil "  ( Gen.  48  : 16 )  to  whom  Jacob  refers  on 
his  dying  bed.  "  And  is  there  care  in  heaven  ?  and  is  there  love  In  heavenly  spirits  to 
these  creatures  base  That  may  compassion  of  their  evils  move?  There  is  ;  else  much 
more  wretched  were  the  case  Of  men  than  beasts.  But  O,  th'  exceeding  grace  Of 
highest  God  that  loves  his  creatures  so,  And  all  his  works  with  mercy  doth  embrace, 
That  blessed  angels  he  sends  to  and  fro  To  serve  to  wicked  man,  to  serve  his  wicked 
foe ! " 

B.      Uses  of  the  doctrine  of  evil  angels. 

(d)  It  illustrates  the  real  nature  of  sin,  and  the  depth  of  the  ruin  to  which 
it  may  bring  the  soul,  to  reflect  upon  the  present  moral  condition  and  eter- 
nal wretchedness  to  which  these  spirits,  so  highly  endowed,  have  brought 
themselves  by  their  rebellion  against  God. 

(6)  It  inspires  a  salutary  fear  and  hatred  of  the  first  subtle  approaches  of 
evil  from  within  or  from  without,  to  remember  that  these  may  be  the  covert 
advances  of  a  personal  and  malignant  being,  who  seeks  to  overcome  our 
virtue«and  to  involve  us  in  his  own  apostasy  and  destruction. 

(c)  It  shuts  us  up  to  Christ,  as  the  only  Being  who  is  able  to  deliver  us 
or  others  from  the  enemy  of  all  good. 

(d}  It  teaches  us  that  our  salvation  is  wholly  of  grace,  since  for  such 
multitudes  of  rebellious  spirits  no  atonement  and  no  renewal  were  provided 
— simple  justice  having  its  way,  with  no  mercy  to  interpose  or  save. 

Philippi,  in  his  Glaubenslehre,  3  :  251-284,  suggests  the  following  relations  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Satan  to  the  doctrine  of  sin :  1.  Since  Satan  is  a  fallen  angel,  who  once  was  pure, 
evil  is  not  self -existent  or  necessary.  Sin  does  not  belong  to  the  substance  which  God 
created,  but  is  a  later  addition.  2.  Since  Satan  is  a  purely  spiritual  creature,  sin  cannot 
have  its  origin  in  mere  sensuousness,  or  in  the  mere  possession  of  a  physical  nature. 
3.  Since  Satan  is  not  a  weak  and  poorly  endowed  creature,  sin  is  not  a  necessary  result  of 
weakness  and  limitation.  4.  Since  Satan  is  confirmed  in  evil,  sin  is  not  necessarily  a 
transient  or  remediable  act  of  will.  5.  Since  in  Satan  sin  does  not  come  to  an  end,  sin  is 
not  a  step  of  creaturely  development,  or  a  stage  of  progress  to  something  higher  and 
better.  On  the  uses  of  the  doctrine,  see  also  Van  Oosterzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  1 : 
316 ;  Robert  Hall,  Works,  3  :  35-51 ;  Brooks,  Satan  and  his  Devices. 


PART   V. 

ANTHROPOLOGY,   OB  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  MAN. 
CHAPTER   I. 

PRELIMINARY. 

I.     MAN  A  CREATION  or  GOD  AND  A  CHILD  OF  GOD. 

The  fact  of  man's  creation  is  declared  in  Gen.  1  :  27 — "And  God  created 
man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him  " ;  2  :  7 — "  And 
the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into 
his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul. "  A  consider- 
ation of  these  passages,  in  the  light  of  modern  science,  as  well  as  of  other 
Scriptures,  enables  us  to  draw  the  following  conclusions  : 

(a)  The  Scriptures,  on  the  one  hand,  negative  the  idea  that  man  is  the 
mere  product  of  unreasoning  natural  forces.  They  refer  his  existence  to  a 
cause  outside  of  nature,  namely,  to  the  creative  act  of  God. 

(6)  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Scriptures  do  not  disclose  the  method  of 
man's  creation.  Whether  man's  physical  system  is  or  is  not  derived,  by 
natural  descent,  from  the  lower  animals,  the  record  of  creation  does  not  in- 
form us.  As  the  command  "  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature  " 
(Gen.  1  :  24)  does  not  exclude  the  idea  of  mediate  creation,  through  natural 
generation,  so  the  forming  of  man  "of  the  dust  of  the  ground"  (Gen. 
2  :  7)  does  not  in  itself  determine  whether  the  creation  of  man's  body  was 
mediate  or  immediate. 

(c)  Psychology,  however,  comes  in  to  help  our  interpretation  of  Scripture. 
The  radical  differences  between  man's  soul  and  the  principle  of  intelligence 
in  the  lower  animals,  especially  man's  possession  of  self-consciousness,  gen- 
eral ideas,  the  moral  sense,  and  the  power  of  self-determination,  show  that 
that  which  chiefly  constitutes  him  man  could  not  have  been  derived,  by  any 
natural  process  of  development,  from  the  inferior  creatures.  We  are  com- 
pelled, then,  to  believe  that  God's  "breathing  into  man's  nostrils  the  breath 
of  life  "  (Gen.  2  :  7)  was  an  act  of  immediate  creation,  like  the  first  intro- 
duction of  life  upon  the  planet. 

Fichte  called  that  the  birthday  of  his  child,  when  the  child  awoke  to  self -consciousness 
and  said  "  I."  No  brute  ever  yet  said,  or  thought,  "  I."  With  this,  then,  we  may  begin 
a  series  of  simple  distinctions  between  man  and  the  brute,  so  far  as  the  immaterial  prin- 

234 


MAN    A    CREATION    OF    GOD    AND    A    CHILD    OF    GOD.  235 

ciple  in  each  is  concerned.    These  are  mainly  compiled  from  writers  hereafter  men- 
tioned. 

1.  The  brute  is  conscious,  but  man  is  self-conscious.    The  brute  does  not  objectify 
self.    "  If  the  pig-  could  once  say,  '  I  am  a  pig,'  it  would  thereby  cease  to  be  a  pig." 

2.  The  brute  has  only  percepts;  man  has  also  concepts.    The  brute  knows  white 
things,  but  not  whiteness.    Man  alone  has  the  power  of  abstraction  and  of  thought. 

3.  Hence  the  brute  has  no  language.    "  Language  is  the  expression  of  general  notions 
by  symbols"  (Harris).    Words  are  the  symbols  of  concepts.    Where  there  are  no  con- 
cepts there  can  be  no  words.    The  parrot  utters  cries ;  but  "  no  parrot  ever  yet  spoke  a 
true  word."    Since  language  is  a  sign,  it  presupposes  the  existence  of  an  intellect  capa- 
ble of  understanding  the  sign — in  short,  language  is  the  effect  of  mind,  not  the  cause  of 
mind.    See  Mivart,  in  Brit.  Quar.,  Oct.,  1881 : 154-172. 

4.  The  brute  forms  no  judgments— e.  g.  that  this  is  like  that,  accompanied  with  belief. 
Hence  there  is  no  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  and  no  laughter. 

5.  The  brute  has  no  reasoning — no  sense  that  this  follows  from  that,  accompanied  by 
a  feeling  that  the  sequence  is  necessary.    Association  of  ideas  is  the  typical  process  of 
the  brute  mind,  though  not  that  of  the  mind  of  man.    See  Mind,  5  :  402-409 ;  575-581. 

6.  The  brute  has  no  general  ideas  or  intuitions,  as  of  space,  time,  substance,  cause, 
right.    Hence  there  is  no  generalizing,  and  no  proper  experience  or  progress.     No 
hunter's  dog  ever  learned  to  put  wood  on  a  fire,  to  keep  itself  from  freezing. 

7.  The  brute  has  no  conscience  and  no  religious  nature.    No  dog  ever  brought  back 
to  the  butcher  the  meat  it  had  stolen.    "The  aspen  trembles  without  fear,  and  dogs 
skulk  without  guilt." 

8.  The  brute  has  determination,  but  not  self-determination.    There  is  no  conscious 
forming  of  a  purpose,  and  no  self-movement  towards  a  predetermined  end.   The  donkey 
is  determined,  but  not  self-determined.    Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  537-554—"  Man, 
though  implicated  in  nature  through  his  bodily  organization,  is  in  his  personality  super- 
natural ;  the  brute  is  wholly  submerged  in  nature  ....  Man  is  like  a  ship  in  the  sea— in  it, 
yet  above  it— guiding  his  course,  by  observing  the  heavens,  even  against  wind  and  current. 
A  brute  has  no  such  power ;  it  is  in  nature  like  a  balloon,  wholly  immersed  in  air,  and 
driven  about  by  its  currents,  with  no  power  of  steering." 

By  what  Mivart  calls  a  process  of  "  inverse  anthropomorphism,"  we  clothe  the  brute 
with  the  attributes  of  freedom ;  but  it  does  not  really  possess  them.  The  brute  lives  only 
in  the  present— lives  a  sort  of  dream-life,  in  which  the  Avill  acts  only  as  it  is  acted  upon. 
It  has  no  power  to  choose  between  motives ;  it  simply  obeys  motive.  The  necessitarian 
philosophy,  therefore,  is  a  correct  and  excellent  philosophy  for  the  brute.  But  man's 
power  of  initiative— in  short,  man's  free  will— renders  it  impossible  to  explain  his  higher 
nature  as  a  mere  natural  development  from  the  inferior  creatures.  Even  Huxley  has 
said  that,  taking  mind  into  the  account,  there  is  between  man  and  the  highest  beasts  an 
"  enormous  gulf,"  a  "  divergence  immeasurable  "  and  "  practically  infinite." 

Gen.  2  :  7—"  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul  "—appears,  says  Hovey  ( State  of  the  Impen.  Dead,  14 ),  "  to  distin- 
guish the  vital  informing  principle  of  human  nature  from  its  material  part,  pronounc- 
ing the  former  to  be  more  directly  from  God,  and  more  akin  to  him,  than  the  latter."  So 
in  Zech.  12  : 1— "Jehovah,  which  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens,  and  layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  formeth 
the  spirit  of  man  within  him"— the  soul  is  recognized  as  distinct  in  nature  from  the  body,  and 
of  a  dignity  and  value  far  beyond  those  of  any  material  organism. 

A  fuller  statement  of  most  of  the  differences  between  man  and  the  brute  may  be 
found  in  Hopkins,  Outline  Study  of  Man,  8  :  23 ;  Chadbourne,  Instinct,  187-211 ;  Porter, 
Hum.  Intellect,  384,  386,  397  ;  Bascom,  Science  of  Mind,  295-305;  Mansel,  Metaphysics,  49, 
50;  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1881 :  104-128 ;  Henslow,  in  Nature,  May  1, 1879  :  21,  22;  Ferrier, 
Kemains,  2  :  39 ;  Argyll,  Unity  of  Nature,  117-119;  Bib.  Sac.,  29:275-282;  Max  Mtlller, 
Lectures  on  Philos.  of  Language,  no's.  1,  2,  3 ;  F.  W.  Robertson,  Lectures  on  Genesis,  21 ; 
LeConte,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  May,  1884 :  236-261.  Per  contra,  see  Lindsay,  Mind  in  Lower 
Animals ;  Romanes,  Mental  Evolution  in  Animals ;  Fiske,  The  Destiny  of  Man, 

(d]  Comparative  physiology,  moreover,  has,  up  to  the  present  time,  done 
nothing  to  forbid  the  extension  of  this  doctrine  to  man's  body.  No  single 
instance  has  yet  been  adduced  of  the  transformation  of  one  animal  species 
into  another,  either  by  natural  or  by  artificial  selection ;  much  less  has  it 
been  demonstrated  that  the  body  of  the  brute  has  ever  been  developed 


236  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

into  that  of  man.  Until  this  shall  be  done,  the  view  that  man's  physical 
system  is  descended  by  natural  generation  from  some  ancestral  simian  form 
can  be  regarded  only  as  an  unproved  hypothesis.  Since  the  soul,  then,  is 
an  immediate  creation  of  God,  and  the  forming  of  man's  body  is  mentioned 
by  the  Scripture  writer  in  direct  connection  with  this  creation  of  the  spirit, 
we  prefer  to  believe  that  man's  body  was  an  immediate  creation  also. 

Tor  the  theory  of  natural  selection,  see  Darwin,  Origin  of  Species,  398-424,  Descent  of 
Man,  2  :  368-387.  Huxley,  Critiques  and  Addresses,  241-269,  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  71-138, 
Lay  Sermons,  323,  and  art. :  Biology,  in  Encycl.  Britannica,  9th  ed. ;  Romanes,  Scientific 
Evidences  of  Organic  Evolution. 

The  theory  holds  that,  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  the  varieties  best  adapted  to  their 
surroundings  succeed  in  maintaining  and  reproducing  themselves,  while  the  rest  die 
out.  Thus,  by  gradual  change  and  improvement  of  lower  into  higher  forms  of  life,  man 
has  been  evolved.  We  grant  that  Darwin  has  disclosed  one  of  the  important  features 
of  God's  method.  We  deny  that  natural  selection  furnishes  a  sufficient  explanation  of 
the  history  of  life,  and  that  for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  It  gives  no  account  of  the  origin  of  substance,  nor  of  the  origin  of  variations. 
Darwinism  simply  says  that  "  round  stones  will  roll  down  hill  further  than  flat  ones" 
( Gray,  Natural  Science  and  Religion ).   It  accounts  for  the  selection,  not  for  the  creation, 
of  forms.    "  Natural  selection  originates  nothing.    It  is  a  destructive,  not  a  creative, 
principle.    If  we  must  idealize  it  as  a  positive  force,  we  must  think  of  it,  not  as  the  pre- 
server of  the  fittest,  but  as  the  destroyer,  that  follows  ever  in  the  wake  of  creation  and 
devours  the  failures ;  the  scavenger  of  creation,  that  takes  out  of  the  way  forms  which 
are  not  fit  to  live  and  reproduce  themselves"  (Johnson,  on  Theistic  Evolution,  in 
Andover  Review,  April,  1884  :  363-381). 

2.  Some  of  the  most  important  forms  appear  suddenly  in  the  geological  record,  with- 
out connecting  links  to  unite  them  with  the  past.    The  first  fishes  are  the  Ganoid,  large 
in  size  and  advanced  in  type.    There  are  no  intermediate  gradations  between  the  ape 
and  man.    Huxley,  in  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  94,  tells  us  that  the  lowest  gorilla  has  a 
skull-capacity  of  24  cubic  inches,  whereas  the  highest  gorilla  has  34^.   Over  against  this, 
the  lowest  man  has  a  skull-capacity  of  62 ;  though  men  with  less  than  65  are  invariably 
idiotic  ( Wallace ) ;  the  highest  man  has  114.    Huxley  argues  that  the  difference  between 
man  and  the  gorilla  is  smaller  than  that  between  the  gorilla  and  some  apes.    If  the 
gorilla  and  the  apes  constitute  one  family  and  have  a  common  origin,  may  not  man  and 
the  gorilla  have  a  common  ancestry  also  ?    We  reply  that  the  space  between  the  lowest 
ape  and  the  highest  gorilla  is  filled  in  with  numberless  intermediate  gradations.    The 
space  between  the  lowest  man  and  the  highest  man  is  also  filled  in  with  many  types 
which  shade  off  one  into  the  other.    But  the  space  between  the  highest  gorilla  and  the 
lowest  man  is  absolutely  vacant ;  there  are  no  intermediate  types ;  no  connecting  links 
between  the  ape  and  man  have  yet  been  found.    In  an  address  to  the  students  of  Edin- 
burgh University,  on  Darwinism,  Professor  Virchow  recently  expressed  his  belief  that 
no  relics  of  any  predecessor  of  man  had  yet  been  discovered.    He  said :  "  In  my  judg- 
ment, no  skull  hitherto  discovered  can  be  regarded  as  that  of  a  predecessor  of  man.    In 
the  course  of  the  last  fifteen  years  we  have  had  opportunities  of  examining  skulls  of  all 
the  various  races  of  mankind — even  of  the  most  savage  tribes ;  and  among  them  all  no 
group  has  been  observed  differing  in  its  essential  characters  from  the  general  human 
type."  In  addition  to  this  testimony,  It  deserves  to  be  noticed  that  man  does  not  degen- 
erate, as  we  travel  back  in  time.    The  Enghis  skull,  the  contemporary  of  the  mammoth 
and  the  cave-bear,  is  as  large  as  the  average  of  to-day,  and  might  have  belonged  to  a 
philosopher."    The  monkey  nearest  to  man  in  physical  form  is  no  more  intelligent  than 
the  elephant  or  the  bee.    Sir  John  Lubbock,  indeed,  considers  that  though  anthropoid 
apes  rank  next  to  man  in  bodily  structure,  ants  hold  that  place  in  the  scale  of  intelli- 
gence. 

3.  There  are  certain  facts  which  mere  heredity  cannot  explain,  such  for  example  as 
the  origin  of  the  working-bee  from  the  queen  and  the  drone,  neither  of  which  produces 
honey.   The  working-bee,  moreover,  does  not  transmit  the  honey-making  instinct  to  its 
posterity ;  for  it  is  sterile  and  childless.    If  man  had  descended  from  the  conscienceless 
brute,  we  should  expect  him,  when  degraded,  to  revert  to  his  primitive  type.    On  the 
contrary,  he  does  not  revert  to  the  brute,  but  dies  out  instead. 

4.  The  theory  can  give  no  explanation  of  beauty  in  the  lowest  forms  of  life,  such  as 
molluscs  and  diatoms.    Darwin  grants  that  this  beauty  must  be  of  use  to  its  possessor. 


MAN    A    CREATION    OF    GOD    AND   A    CHILD    OF    GOD.  237 

in  order  to  be  consistent  with  its  origination  through  natural  selection.  But  no  such 
use  has  yet  been  shown ;  for  the  creatures  which  possess  the  beauty  often  live  in  the 
dark,  or  have  no  eyes  to  see.  So,  too,  the  large  brain  of  the  savage  is  beyond  his  needs, 
and  is  inconsistent  with  the  principle  of  natural  selection  which  teaches  that  no  organ 
can  permanently  attain  a  size  unrequired  by  its  needs  and  its  environments.  See  Wal- 
lace, Natural  Selection,  338-360. 

5.  No  species  is  yet  known  to  have  been  produced  either  by  artificial  or  by  natural  se- 
lection. Huxley,  Lay  Sermons,  333—"  It  is  not  absolutely  proven  that  a  group  of  animals 
having  all  the  characters  exhibited  by  species  in  nature  has  ever  been  originated  by  se- 
lection, whether  artificial  or  natural " ;  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  107—"  Our  acceptance  of 
the  Darwinian  hypothesis  must  be  provisional,  so  long  as  one  link  in  the  chain  of  evi- 
dence is  wanting ;  and  so  long  as  all  the  animals  and  plants  certainly  produced  by 
selective  breeding  from  a  common  stock  are  fertile  with  one  another,  that  link  will  be 
wanting."  Huxley  has  more  recently  declared  that  the  missing  proof  has  been  found 
in  the  descent  of  the  modern  horse  with  one  toe,  from  Hipparion  with  two  toes,  Anchi- 
therium  with  three,  and  Orohippus  with  four.  Even  if  this  were  demonstrated,  we 
should  still  maintain  that  the  only  proper  analogue  was  to  be  found  in  that  artificial 
selection  by  which  man  produces  new  varieties,  and  that  natural  selection  can  bring 
about  no  useful  results  and  show  no  progress,  unless  it  be  the  method  and  revelation  of 
a  wise  and  designing  mind.  In  other  words,  selection  implies  intelligence  and  will,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  exclusively  natural. 

While  we  grant,  then,  the  partial  truth  of  Darwinism,  and  find  it  supported  by  the  facts 
of  embryonic  development,  of  rudimentary  organs,  of  structure  and  constitution,  of 
reversion  to  former  types,  we  refuse  to  regard  it  as  a  complete  explanation  of  the  prog- 
ress of  life.  As  Darwin  himself  has  acknowledged:  "The  cause  of  each  slight  variation 
and  of  each  monstrosity  lies  much  more  in  the  nature  or  constitution  of  the  organism 
than  in  the  nature  of  the  surrounding  conditions  "—( quoted  by  Mivart,  Lessons  from 
Nature,  280-301 ).  We  must  supplement  natural  selection,  therefore,  with  the  doctrine  of 
an  originating  and  superintending  God. 

Mivart,  Man  and  Apes,  193 — "  If  it  is  inconceivable  and  impossible  for  man's  body  to 
be  developed  or  to  exist  without  his  informing  soul,  we  conclude  that  as  no  natural 
process  accounts  for  the  different  kind  of  soul — one  capable  of  articulately  expressing 
general  conceptions,— so  no  merely  natural  process  can  account  for  the  origin  of  the 
body  informed  by  it— a  body  to  which  such  an  intellectual  faculty  was  so  essentially  and 
intimately  related."  Thus  Mivart,  who  once  considered  that  evolution  could  account 
for  man's  body,  now  holds  with  Wallace  that  it  can  account  neither  for  man's  body  nor 
for  his  soul,  and  calls  natural  selection  "a  puerile  hypothesis"  (Lessons  from  Nature, 
300). 

Wallace,  Natural  Selection,  338—"  The  average  cranial  capacity  of  the  lowest  savage 
is  probably  not  less  than  five-sixths  of  that  of  the  highest  civilized  races,  while  the  brain 
of  the  anthropoid  apes  scarcely  amounts  to  one-third  of  that  of  man,  in  both  cases 
taking  the  average;  or  the  proportions  may  be  represented  by  the  following  figures: 
Anthropoid  apes,  10 ;  savages,  26 ;  civilized  man,  32."  Ibid,  360—"  The  inference  I  would 
draw  from  this  class  of  phenomena  is,  that  a  superior  intelligence  has  guided  the  devel- 
opment of  man  in  a  definite  direction  and  for  a  special  purpose,  just  as  man  guides 

the  development  of  many  animal  and  vegetable  forms The  controlling  action  of  a 

higher  intelligence  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  laws  of  nature,  just  as  the  action  of  all 
surrounding  organisms  is  one  of  the  agencies  in  organic  development— else  the  laws 
which  govern  the  material  universe  are  insufficient  for  the  production  of  man."  Sir 
Wm.  Thompson :  "  That  man  could  be  evolved  out  of  inferior  animals  is  the  wildest 
dream  of  materialism,  a  pure  assumption  which  offends  me  alike  by  its  folly  and  by  its 
arrogance."  Hartmann,  in  his  Anthropoid  Apes,  302-306,  while  not  despairing  of  "the 
possibility  of  discovering  the  true  link  between  the  world  of  man  and  mammals," 
declares  that  "  that  purely  hypothetical  being,  the  common  ancestor  of  man  and  apes,  is 
still  to  be  found,"  and  that  "  man  cannot  have  descended  from  any  of  the  fossil  species 
which  have  hitherto  come  to  our  notice,  nor  yet  from  any  of  the  species  of  apes  now 
extant." 

Darwinism  is  a  reversion  to  the  savage  view  of  animals  as  brethren,  and  to  the  heathen 
idea  of  sphynx-man  growing  out  of  the  brute.  However  the  principle  of  development 
may  apply  to  the  rise  of  one  species  from  another  in  the  ordinary  course  of  geological 
history,  we  must  regard  this  evolution,  so  far  as  it  exists,  as  only  the  method  of  the 
divine  intelligence,  and  must  moreover  consider  it  as  preceded  by  an  original  creative 
act  introducing  vegetable  and  animal  life,  and  as  supplemented  by  other  creative  acts 


238  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

at  the  introduction  of  man  and  at  the  incarnation  of  Christ.  See  Mivart,  Genesis  of 
Species,  202-222,  259-307,  Man  and  Apes,  88,  149-192,  Lessons  from  Nature,  128-242,  280-301, 
The  Cat,  and  Encyclop.  Britannica,  art.:  Apes;  Quatrefages,  Natural  History  of  Man, 
64-87 ;  Bp.  Temple,  Bampton  Lect.,  1884  : 161-189;  Dawson,  Story  of  the  Earth  and  Man, 
321-329;  Duke  of  Argyll,  Primeval  Man,  38-75 ;  Asa  Gray,  Natural  Science  and  Religion ; 
Schmid,  Theories  of  Darwin,  115-140;  Carpenter.  Mental  Physiology,  59;  Mcllvaine, 
Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture,  55-86 ;  Bible  Commentary,  1 :  43;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  136 ; 
LeConte,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1878  :  776-803. 

(/)  The  truth  that  man  is  the  offspring  of  God,  implies  the  correlative 
truth  of  a  common  divine  Fatherhood.  God  is  Father  of  all  men,  in  that 
he  originates  and  sustains  them  as  personal  beings  like  in  nature  to  himself. 
Even  toward  sinners  God  holds  this  natural  relation  of  Father.  It  is  his 
fatherly  love,  indeed,  which  provides  the  atonement.  Thus  the  demands  of 
holiness  are  met  and  the  prodigal  is  restored  to  the  privileges  of  sonship 
which  have  been  forfeited  by  transgression.  This  natural  Fatherhood,  there- 
fore, does  not  exclude,  but  prepares  the  way  for,  God's  special  Fatherhood 
toward  those  who  have  been  regenerated  by  his  Spirit  and  who  have  be- 
lieved on  his  Son. 

Texts  referring  to  God's  natural  and  common  Fatherhood  are :  Mai.  2  :  10— "Have  we  not  all 
one  father  [Abraham] :  hath  not  one  God  created  us  ?  "  Luke  3  :  38—"  Adam,  the  son  of  God  "  ;  15  : 11-32— the 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son,  in  which  the  father  is  father  even  before  the  prodigal 
returns  ;  John  3  : 16— "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  "  ;  Heb.  12  :  9— "the  Father  of 
spirits." 

Texts  referring  to  the  special  Fatherhood  of  grace  are :  John  1 : 12, 13—"  as  many  as  received  him, 
to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name :  which  were  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  14—"  for  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  these  are  the  Sons  of  God" ;  15— "ye  received  the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father" ;  2  Cor.  6  :  17 
— "  Come  ye  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  no  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive 
you,  and  will  be  to  you  a  Father,  and  ye  shall  be  to  me  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty  "  ;  Eph.  1  :  5,  6— 
''having  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons  through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself"  ;  3  : 14— "the  Father,  from  whom 
every  family  [  marg.  '  fatherhood '  ]  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named  "  (=  every  race  among  angels  or  men 
—so  Meyer,  Romans,  158,  159) ;  Gal.  3  :  26— "for  ye  are  all  sons  of  God,  through  faith,  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  4:6 
— "And  because  ye  are  sons,  God  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  our  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father  "  ;  1  John  3  : 1,  2 
—"Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  the  children  of  God:  and 
such  we  are ....  Beloved,  now  are  we  children  of  God.' ' 

On  the  common  Fatherhood  of  God,  see  Crawford,  Fatherhood  of  God,  9-26, 138-159. 
For  denial  that  God  is  Father  to  any  but  the  regenerate,  see  Candlish,  Fatherhood  of 
God ;  Wright,  Fatherhood  of  God. 

[.     UNITY  OF  THE  HUMAN  KACE. 

(a)  The  Scriptures  teach  that  the  whole  human  race  is  descended  from 
a  single  pair. 

Gen.  1  :  27,  28 — "  And  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him ;  male  aid  female 
created  he  them.  And  God  blessed  them :  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth, 
and  subdue  it"  ;  2  :  7 — "And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the 
breath  of  life ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul " ;  22—"  And  the  rib,  which  the  Lord  God  had  taken  from  the  man,  made 
he  a  woman,  and  brought  her  unto  the  man  " ;  3  :  20—"  And  the  man  called  his  wife's  name  Eve ;  because  she  was  the 
mother  of  all  living  " ;  9  : 19 — "  These  three  were  the  sons  of  Noah :  and  of  these  was  the  whole  earth  overspread." 

(6)  This  truth  lies  at  the  foundation  of  Paul's  doctrine  of  the  organic 
unity  of  mankind  in  the  first  transgression,  and  of  the  provision  of  salva- 
tion for  the  race  in  Christ. 

Rom.  5  :  12—"  Therefore,  as  through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin ;  and  so  death  passed 
unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned "  ;  19— "for  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were  made  sinners,  even 
so  through  the  obedience  of  the  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous"  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  21,  22— "For  since  by  man  came 
death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  "  ; 
Heb.  2  : 16— "For  verily  not  of  angels  doth  he  take  hold,  but  he  taketh  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham." 


UNITY    OF   THE    HUMAN    EACE.  239 

(c)  This  descent  of  humanity  from  a  single  pair  also  constitutes  the 
ground  of  man's  obligation  of  natural  brotherhood  to  every  member  of 
the  race. 

Acts  17  :  26—"  He  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth  "—here  the  Rev. 
Vers.  omits  the  word  "blood"  ("made  of  one  blood"— Auth.  Vers.).  The  word  to  be  supplied  is 
possibly  "father,"  but  more  probably  "body";  c/.  Heb.  2  : 11— "for  both  he  that  sanctifieth  and 
they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one  [father,  or  body]  :  for  which  cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren, 
saying,  I  will  declare  thy  name  unto  my  brethren,  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation  will  I  sing  thy  praise." 

Winchell,  in  his  Preadamites,  has  recently  revived  the  theory  broached  in  1655  by 
Peyrerius,  that  there  were  men  before  Adam :  "  Adam  is  descended  from  a  black  race- 
not  the  black  races  from  Adam."  Adam  is  simply  "  the  remotest  ancestor  to  whom  the 

Jews  could  trace  their  lineage The  derivation  of  Adam  from  an  older  human  stock 

is  essentially  the  creation  of  Adam."  Winchell  does  not  deny  the  unity  of  the  race,  nor 
the  retroactive  effect  of  the  atonement  upon  those  who  lived  before  Adam  ;  he  simply 
denies  that  Adam  was  the  first  man.  297 :  He  "  regards  the  Adamic  stock  as  derived 
from  an  older  and  humbler  human  type,"  originally  as  low  in  the  scale  as  the  present 
Australian  savages. 

Although  this  theory  furnishes  a  plausible  explanation  of  certain  Biblical  facts,  such  as 
the  marriage  of  Cain  (Gen.  4  : 17),  Cain's  fear  that  men  would  slay  him  (Gen.  4  : 14),  and  the 
distinction  between  "the  sons  of  God"  and  "daughters  of  men"  (Gen.  6  : 1,  2),  it  treats  the  Mosaic 
narrative  as  legendary  rather  than  historical.  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth,  it  is  intimated, 
may  have  lived  hundreds  of  years  apart  from  one  another  (409).  Upon  this  view,  Eve 
could  not  be  "  the  mother  of  all  living  "  ( Gen.  3  :  20 ),  nor  could  the  transgression  of  Adam  be  the 
cause  and  beginning  of  condemnation  to  the  whole  race  (Rom.  5  : 12, 19 ).  As  to  Cain's  fear 
of  other  families  who  might  take  vengeance  upon  him,  we  must  remember  that  we  do 
not  know  how  many  children  were  born  to  Adam  betwejen  Cain  and  Abel,  nor  what  the 
age  of  Cain  and  Abel  was,  nor  whether  Cain  feared  only  those  that  were  then  living. 
As  to  Cain's  marriage,  we  must  remember  that  even  if  Cain  married  into  another  family, 
his  wife,  upon  any  hypothesis  of  the  unity  of  the  race,  must  have  been  descended  from 
some  other  original  Cain  that  married  his  sister. 

See  Keil  and  Delitzsch,  Com.  on  Pentateuch,  1 : 116— "The  marriage  of  brothers  and 
sisters  was  inevitable  in  the  case  of  children  of  the  first  man,  in  case  the  human  race 
was  actually  to  descend  from  a  single  pair,  and  may  therefore  be  justified,  in  the  face 
of  the  Mosaic  prohibition  of  such  marriages,  on  the  ground  that  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Adam  represented  not  merely  the  family  but  the  genus,  and  that  it  was  not  till  after 
the  rise  of  several  families  that  the  bonds  of  fraternal  and  conjugal  love  became  distinct 
from  one  another  and  assumed  fixed  and  mutually  exclusive  forms,  the  violation  of 
which  is  sin."  See  also  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  275.  For  criticism  of  the  doctrine  that 
there  were  men  before  Adam,  see  Methodist  Quar.  Rev.,  April,  1881 : 205-231 ;  Presb. 
Rev.,  1881  :  440-444. 

The  Scripture  statements  are  coroborated  by  considerations  drawn  from 
history  and  science.  Three  arguments  may  be  briefly  mentioned  : 

1.     The  argument  from  history. 

So  far  as  the  history  of  nations  and  tribes  in  both  hemispheres  can  be 
traced,  the  evidence  points  to  a  common  origin  and  ancestry  in  central  Asia. 

The  European  nations  are  acknowledged  to  have  come,  in  successive  waves  of  migra- 
tion, from  Asia.  Modern  ethnologists  generally  agree  that  the  Indian  races  of  America 
are  derived  from  Mongoloid  sources  in  Eastern  Asia,  either  through  Polynesia  or  by 
way  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  Bunsen,  Philos.  of  Universal  History,  2  : 112— The  Asiatic 
origin  of  all  the  North  American  Indians  "is  as  fully  proved  as  the  unity  of  family 
among  themselves."  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  1:48— "The  semi-civilized  nations  of 
Java  and  Sumatra  are  found  in  possession  of  a  civilization  which  at  first  glance  shows 
itself  to  have  been  borrowed  from  Hindu  and  Moslem  sources." 

See  also  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  quoted  in  Burgess,  Antiquity  and  Unity  of  the  Race, 
156, 157;  Smyth,  Unity  of  Human  Races,  223-236;  Pickering,  Races  of  Man,  Introd.,  syn- 
opsis, and  page  316;  Guyot,  Earth  and  Man,  298-334:  Quatrefages,  Natural  History  of 
Man,  and  Unite  de  1'  Espece  Humaine ;  Godron,  Unite  de  1'  Espece  Humaine,  2  :  412  sq. 
Per  contra,  however,  see  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce :  "  The  evidence  is  now  all  tending  to  show 


240  ANTHROPOLOGY,  OK   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

that  the  districts  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Baltic  were  those  from  which  the  Aryan 
languages  first  radiated,  and  where  the  race  or  races  who  spoke  them  originally  dwelt. 
The  Aryan  invaders  of  Northwestern  India  could  only  have  been  a  late  and  distant  off- 
shoot of  the  primitive  stock,  speedily  absorbed  into  the  earlier  population  of  the 
country  as  they  advanced  southward ;  and  to  speak  of  '  our  Indian  brethren f  is  as  absurd 
and  false  as  to  claim  relationship  with  the  negroes  of  the  United  States  because  they 
now  use  an  Aryan  language."  Scribner,  Where  Did  Life  Begin?  has  lately  adduced 
arguments  to  prove  that  life  on  the  earth  originated  at  the  north  pole,  and  Prof.  Asa 
Gray  favors  this  view ;  so  also  Warren,  Paradise  Found. 

2.  The  argument  from  language. 

Comparative  philology  points  to  a  common  origin  of  all  the  more  im- 
portant languages,  and  furnishes  no  evidence  that  the  less  important  are  not 
also  so  derived. 

On  Sanscrit  as  a  connecting  link  between  the  Indo-Germanic  languages,  see  Max 
Mtiller,  Science  of  Language,  1 : 146-165,  326-342,  who  claims  that  all  languages  pass 
through  the  three  stages :  monosyllabic,  agglutinative,  inflectional ;  and  that  nothing 
necessitates  the  admission  of  different  independent  beginnings  for  either  the  material 
or  the  formal  elements  of  the  Turanian,  Semitic,  and  Aryan  branches  of  speech.  The 
changes  of  language  are  often  rapid.  Latin  becomes  the  Romance  languages,  and 
Saxon  and  Norman  are  united  into  English,  in  three  centuries.  The  Chinese  may  have 
departed  from  their  primitive  abodes  while  their  language  was  yet  monosyllabic. 

Zockler,  however,  in  Jahrbuch  ftir  deutsche  Theologie,  8  :  68  sq.,  denies  the  progress 
from  lower  methods  of  speech  to  higher,  and  declares  the  most  highly  developed  inflec- 
tional languages  to  be  the  oldest  and  most  widespread.  Inferior  languages  are  a  degen- 
eration from  a  higher  state  of  culture.  In  the  development  of  the  Indo-Germauic  lan- 
guages (such  as  the  French  and  the  English),  we  have  instances  of  change  from  more  full 
and  luxuriant  expression  to  that  which  is  monosyllabic  or  agglutinative.  The  theory 
of  Max  Miiller  is  also  opposed  by  Pott,  Die  Verschiedenheiten  der  menschlichen  Rassen, 
202,  242.  Pott  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Australian  languages  show  unmistaka- 
ble similarity  to  the  languages  of  Eastern  and  Southern  Asia,  although  the  physical 
characteristics  of  these  tribes  are  far  different  from  the  Asiatic. 

On  the  Old  Egyptian  language  as  a  connecting  link  between  the  Indo-European  and 
the  Semitic  tongues,  see  Bunsen,  Egypt's  Place,  1 :  preface,  10;  also  see  Farrar,  Origin 
of  Language,  213.  Like  the  Old  Egyptian,  the  Berber  and  the  Touareg  are  Semitic  in 
parts  of  their  vocabulary,  while  yet  they  are  Aryan  in  grammar.  So  the  Thibetan  and 
Burmese  stand  between  the  Indo-European  languages,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  mono- 
syllabic languages,  as  of  China,  on  the  other.  A  French  philologist,  Terrien  de  la 
Couperie  by  name,  claims  now  to  have  interpreted  the  Yh-King,  the  oldest  and  most 
unintelligible  monumental  writing  of  the  Chinese,  by  regarding  it  as  a  corruption  of 
the  old  Assyrian  or  Accadian  cuneiform  characters,  and  as  resembling  the  syllabaries, 
vocabularies,  and  bilingual  tablets  in  the  ruined  libraries  of  Assyria  and  Babylon ;  see 
Sayce,  in  Contemp.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1884  :  934-936. 

On  relations  between  Aryan  and  Semitic  languages,  see  Renouf,  Hibbert  Lectures,  55- 
61 ;  Murray,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Psalms,  7 ;  Bib.  Sac.  1870  : 162 ;  1876  :  352-380 ;  1879  : 
674-706.  See  also  Pezzi,  Aryan  Philology,  125;  Sayce,  Principles  of  Comp.  Philology, 
132-174 ;  Whitney,  art.  on  Comp.  Philology,  in  Encyc.  Britannica,  also  Life  and  Growth  of 
Language,  269,  and  Study  of  Language,  307, 308—"  Language  affords  certain  indications  of 
doubtful  value,  which,  taken  along  with  certain  other  ethnological  considerations,  also 
of  questionable  pertinency,  furnish  ground  for  suspecting  an  ultimate  relationship. .  . . 
. .  .  That  more  thorough  comprehension  of  the  history  of  Semitic  speech  will  enable  us  to 
determine  this  ultimate  relationship,  may  perhaps  be  looked  for  with  hope,  though  it  is 
not  to  be  expected  with  confidence."  See  also  Smyth,  Unity  of  Human  Races,  199-222; 
Smith's  Bib.  Diet.,  art. :  Confusion  of  Tongues. 

3.  The  argument  from  psychology. 

The  existence,  among  all  families  of  mankind,  of  common  mental  and 
moral  characteristics,  as  evinced  in  common  maxims,  tendencies  and  capac- 
ities, in  the  prevalence  of  similar  traditions,  and  in  the  universal  applica- 
bility of  one  philosophy  and  religion,  is  most  easily  explained  upon  the 
theory  of  a  common  origin. 


UNITY    OF   THE    HUMAN    RACE.  241 

Among  the  widely  prevalent  traditions  may  be  mentioned  the  tradition  of  the  fash- 
ioning of  the  world  and  man,  of  a  primeval  garden,  of  an  original  innocence  and  happi- 
ness, of  a  tree  of  knowledge,  of  a  serpent,  of  a  temptation  and  fall,  of  a  division  of 
time  into  weeks,  of  a  flood,  of  sacrifice.  It  is  possible,  if  not  probable,  that  certain 
myths,  common  to  many  nations,  may  have  been  handed  down  from  a  time  when  the 
families  of  the  race  had  not  yet  separated.  See  Zockler,  in  Jahrbuch  flir  deutsche 
Theologie,  8  :  71-90;  Max  Mliller,  Science  of  Language,  2  :  444-455;  Prichard,  Nat.  Hist, 
of  Man,  2  :  657-714 ;  Smyth,  Unity  of  Human  Races,  236-240 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  77- 
$1 ;  Gladstone,  Juventus  Mundi. 

4.     The  argument  from  physiology. 

A.  It  is  the  common  judgment  of  comparative  physiologists  that  man 
ooustitutes  but  a  single  species.     The  differences  which  exist  between  the 
various  families  of  mankind  are  to  be  regarded  as  varieties  of  this  species. 
In  proof  of  these  statements  we  urge  :     (a)  The  numberless  intermediate 
gradations  which  connect  the  so-called   races  with   each  other.      (6)  The 
essential  identity  of  all  races  in  cranial,  osteological,  and  dental  character- 
istics,    (c)  The  fertility  of  unions  between  individuals  of  the  most  diverse 
types,  and  the  continuous  fertility  of  the  offspring  of  such  unions. 

Huxley,  Critiques  and  Addresses,  163—"  It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that,  even  if  the  dif- 
ferences between  men  are  specific,  they  are  so  small  that  the  assumption  of  more  than 
•one  primitive  stock  for  all  is  altogether  superfluous.  We  may  admit  that  Negroes  and 
Australians  are  distinct  species,  yet  be  the  strictest  monogenists,  and  even  believe 
in  Adam  and  Eve  as  the  primeval  parents  of  mankind,  i.  e.,  on  Darwin's  hypothesis" ; 
Origin  of  Species,  113— "I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  at  present  there  is  no 
evidence  whatever  for  saying  that  mankind  sprang  originally  from  more  than  a  single 
pair ;  I  must  say  that  I  cannot  see  any  good  ground  whatever,  or  any  tenable  evidence, 
for  believing  that  there  is  more  than  one  species  of  man."  Owen,  quoted  by  Burgess, 
Ant.  and  Unity  of  Race,  185—"  Man  forms  but  one  species,  and  differences  are  but  indi- 
cations of  varieties.  These  variations  merge  into  each  other  by  easy  gradations."  Alex, 
von  Humboldt :  "  The  different  races  of  men  are  forms  of  one  sole  species— they  are 
not  different  species  of  a  genus." 

Quatrefages,  in  Revue  d.  deux  Mondes,  Dec.,  1860  :  814— "If  one  places  himself  exclu- 
sively upon  the  plane  of  the  natural  sciences,  it  is  impossible  not  to  conclude  in  favor 
of  the  monogenist  doctrine."  Wagner,  quoted  in  Bib.  Sac.,  19  :  607—"  Species  =  the  col- 
lective total  of  individuals  which  are  capable  of  producing  one  with  another  an  unin- 
terruptedly fertile  progeny."  Pickering,  Races  of  Man,  316— "There  is  no  middle 
.ground  between  the  admission  of  eleven  distinct  species  in  the  human  family  and  their 
reduction  to  one.  The  latter  opinion  implies  a  central  point  of  origin." 

There  is  an  impossibility  of  deciding  how  many  races  there  are,  if  we  once  allow  that 
there  are  more  than  one.  While  Pickering  would  say  eleven,  Agassiz  says  eight, 
Morton  twenty-two,  and  Burke  sixty-five.  Modern  science  all  tends  to  the  derivation 
of  each  family  from  a  single  germ.  Other  common  characteristics  of  all  races  of  men, 
in  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  the  text,  are  the  duration  of  pregnancy,  the  normal 
temperature  of  the  body,  the  mean  frequency  of  the  pulse,  the  liability  to  the  same 
diseases.  Meehan,  State  Botanist  of  Pennsylvania,  maintains  that  hybrid  vegetable 
products  are  no  more  sterile  than  ordinary  plants  (Independent,  Aug.  21, 1884). 

B.  Unity  of  species  is  presumptive  evidence  of  unity  of  origin.     One- 
ness of  origin  furnishes  the  simplest  explanation  of  specific  uniformity,  if 
indeed  the  very  conception  of  species  does  not  imply  the  repetition  and 
reproduction  of  a  primordial  type-idea  impressed  at  its  creation  upon  an 
individual  empowered  to  transmit  this  type-idea  to  its  successors. 

Dana,  quoted  in  Burgess,  Antiq.  and  Unity  of  Race,  185, 186— "In  the  ascending  scale 
of  animals,  the  number  of  species  in  any  genus  diminishes  as  we  rise,  and  should  by 
analogy  be  smallest  at  the  head  of  the  series.  Among  mammals,  the  higher  genera 
have  few  species,  and  the  highest  group  next  to  man,  the  orang-outang,  has  only  eight, 
and  these  constitute  but  two  genera.  Analogy  requires  that  man  should  have  pree'mi- 
16 


242  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

nence  and  should  constitute  only  one."     194 — "A  species  corresponds  to  a  specific 

amount  or  condition  of  concentrated  force  denned  in  the  act  or  law  of  creation 

The  species  in  any  particular  case  began  its  existence  when  the  first  germ-cell  or  indi- 
vidual was  created.    When  individuals  multiply  from  generation  to  generation,  it  is  but 

a  repetition  of  the  primordial  type-idea The  specific  is  based  on  a  numerical 

unity,  the  species  being  nothing  else  than  an  enlargement  of  the  individual."    For  full 
statement  of  Dana's  view,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1857  :  862-866. 

(a)  To  this  view  is  opposed  the  theory  propounded  by  Agassiz,  of  dif- 
ferent centres  of  creation,  and  of  different  types  of  humanity  correspond- 
ing to  the  varying  fauna  and  flora  of  each.    But  this  theory  makes  the  plural 
origin  of  man  an  exception  in  creation.     Science  points  rather  to  a  single 
origin  of   each  species,  whether  vegetable  or  animal.     If  man  be,  as  this 
theory  grants,  a  single  species,  he  should  be,  by  the  same  rule,  restricted  to- 
one  continent  in  his  origin.     This  theory,  moreover,  applies  an  unproved 
hypothesis  with  regard  to  the  distribution  of  organized  beings  in  general 
to  the  very  being  whose  whole  nature  and  history  show  conclusively  that  he 
is  an  exception  to  such  a  general  rule,  if  one  exists.     Since  man  can  adapt 
himself  to  all  climes  and  conditions,  the  theory  of  separate  centres  of  cre- 
ation is,  in  his  case,  gratuitous  and  unnecessary. 

Agassiz's  view  was  first  published  in  an  essay  on  the  Provinces  of  the  Animal  World, 
in  Nott  and  Gliddon's  Types  of  Mankind,  a  book  gotten  up  in  the  interest  of  slavery. 
Agassiz  held  to  eight  distinct  centres  of  creation,  and  to  eight  corresponding  types  of 
humanity— the  Arctic,  the  Mongolian,  the  European,  the  American,  the  Negro,  the  Hot- 
tentot, the  Malay,  the  Australian.  Agassiz  regarded  Adam  as  the  ancestor  only  of  the 
white  race,  yet  like  Peyrerius  and  Winchell  he  held  that  man  in  all  his  various  races 
constitutes  but  one  species. 

The  whole  tendency  of  recent  science,  however,  has  been  adverse  to  the  doctrine  of 
separate  centres  of  creation,  even  in  the  case  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  In  temperate 
North  America  there  are  two  hundred  and  seven  species  of  quadrupeds,  of  which  only 
eight,  and  these  polar  animals,  are  found  in  the  north  of  Europe  or  Asia.  If  North 
America  be  an  instance  of  a  separate  centre  of  creation  for  its  peculiar  species,  why 
should  God  create  the  same  species  of  man  in  eight  different  localities?  This  would 
make  man  an  exception  in  creation.  There  is,  moreover,  no  need  of  creating  man  in 
many  separated  localities ;  for,  unlike  the  polar  bears  and  the  Norwegian  firs,  which  can- 
not live  at  the  equator,  man  can  adapt  himself  to  the  most  varied  climates  and  condi- 
tions. For  replies  to  Agassiz,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  19  :  607-632 ;  Princeton  Rev.,  1862  :  435-464. 

(b)  It  is  objected,  moreover,  that  the  diversities  of  size,  color,  and  physical 
conformation,  among  the  various  families  of  mankind,  are  inconsistent  with 
the  theory  of  a  common  origin.     But  we  reply  that  these  diversities  are  of 
a  superficial  character,  and  can  be  accounted  for  by  corresponding  diver- 
sities of  condition  and  environment.     Changes  which  have  been  observed 
and  recorded  within  historic  times  show  that  the  differences  alluded  to  may 
be  the  result  of   slowly  accumulated  divergences  from  one  and  the  same 
original  and  ancestral  type.     The  difficulty  in  the  case,  moreover,  is  greatly 
relieved  when  we  remember  ( 1 )  that  the  period  during  which  these  diver- 
gences have  arisen  is  by  no  means  limited  to  six  thousand  years  (see  note 
on  the  antiquity  of  the  race,  pages  106,  107)  ;  and  (2)  that,  since  species 
in  general  exhibit  their  greatest  power  of  divergence  into  varieties  immedi- 
ately after  their  first  introduction,  all  the  varieties  of  the  human  species 
may  have  presented  themselves  in  man's  earliest  history. 

Instances  of  physiological  change  as  the  result  of  new  conditions :  The  Irish,  driven 
by  the  English  two  centuries  ago  from  Armagh  and  the  south  of  Down,  have  be- 
come prognathous  like  the  Australians.  The  inhabitants  of  New  England  have  de- 


ESSENTIAL   ELEMENTS    OF    HUMAN    NATURE.  243 

scended  from  the  English,  yet  they  have  already  a  physical  type  of  their  own.  The 
Indians  of  North  America,  or  at  least  certain  tribes  of  them,  have  permanently  altered 
the  shape  of  the  skull  by  bandaging  the  head  in  infancy.  The  Sikhs  of  India,  since  the 
establishment  of  Babel  Nana's  religion  (1500  A.  D.)  and  their  consequent  advance  in 
civilization,  have  changed  to  a  longer  head  and  more  regular  features,  so  that  they  are 
now  distinguished  greatly  from  their  neighbors,  the  Afghans,  Thibetans,  Hindus.  The 
Ostiak  savages  have  become  the  Magyar  nobility  of  Hungary.  The  Turks  in  Europe 
are,  in  cranial  shape,  greatly  in  advance  of  the  Turks  in  Asia  from  whom  they  descended. 
The  Jews  are  confessedly  of  one  ancestry ;  yet  we  have  among  them  the  light-haired 
Jews  of  Poland,  the  dark  Jews  of  Spain,  and  the  Ethiopian  Jews  of  the  Nile  Valley. 
The  Portuguese  who  settled  in  the  East  Indies  in  the  16th  century  are  now  as  dark  in 
complexion  as  the  Hindus  themselves.  Africans  become  lighter  in  complexion  as  they 
go  up  from  the  alluvial  river-banks  to  higher  land,  or  from  the  coast ;  and  on  the  con- 
trary the  coast  tribes  which  drive  out  the  negroes  of  the  interior  and  take  their  territory 
end  by  becoming  negroes  themselves.  See,  for  many  of  the  above  facts,  Burgess,  Anti- 
quity and  Unity  of  the  Race,  195-202. 

The  law  of  originally  greater  plasticity,  mentioned  in  the  text,  was  first  hinted  by 
Hall,  the  palaeontologist  of  New  York.  It  is  accepted  and  defined  by  Dawson,  Story  of 
the  Earth  and  Man,  360—"  A  new  law  is  coming  into  view  :  that  species  when  first  intro- 
duced have  an  innate  power  of  expansion,  which  enables  them  rapidly  to  extend 
themselves  to  the  limit  of  their  geographical  range,  and  also  to  reach  the  limit  of  their 
divergence  into  races.  This  limit  once  reached,  these  races  run  on  in  parallel  lines  until 
they  one  by  one  run  out  and  disappear.  According  to  this  law,  the  most  aberrant  races 
of  men  might  be  developed  in  a  few  centuries,  after  which  divergence  would  cease,  and 
the  several  lines  of  variation  would  remain  permanent,  at  least  so  long  as  the  conditions 
under  which  they  originated  remained."  See  the  similar  view  of  Von  Baer  in  Schmid, 
Theories  of  Darwin,  55,  note.  Joseph  Cook :  Variability  is  a  lessening  quantity ;  the 
tendency  to  change  is  greatest  at  the  first,  but,  like  the  rate  of  motion  of  a  stone  thrown 
upward,  it  lessens  every  moment  after.  Renouf ,  Hibbert  Lectures,  54—"  The  further 
back  we  go  into  antiquity,  the  more  closely  does  the  Egyptian  type  approach  the 
European."  Rawlinson  says  that  negroes  are  not  represented  in  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments before  1500  B.  C.  The  influence  of  climate  is  very  great,  especially  in  the  savage 
state.  See  Zockler,  in  Jahrbuch  f  tir  deutsche  Theologie,  8  :  51-71 ;  Prichard,  Researches, 
5  :  547-552,  Nat.  Hist,  of  Man,  2  :  644-656 ;  Duke  of  Argyll,  Primeval  Man,  96-108 ;  Smyth, 
Unity  of  Human  Races,  255-283 ;  Morris,  Conflict  of  Science  and  Religion,  325-385 ;  Raw- 
linson, in  Journ.  Christ.  Philosophy,  April,  1883  :  359. 

III.     ESSENTIAL  ELEMENTS  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 
1.     The  Dichotomous  Theory. 

Man  has  a  twofold  nature, — on  the  one  hand  material,  on  the  other  hand 
immaterial.  He  consists  of  body,  and  of  spirit,  or  soul.  That  there  are 
two,  and  only  two,  elements  in  man's  being,  is  a  fact  to  which  consciousness 
testifies.  This  testimony  is  confirmed  by  Scripture,  in  which  the  prevailing 
representation  of  man's  constitution  is  that  of  dichotomy. 

Dichotomous,  from  6i'xa,  ' in  two,'  and  re>vw,  'to  cut,'  =  composed  of  two  parts.  Man 
is  as  conscious  that  his  immaterial  part  is  a  unity,  as  that  his  body  is  a  unity.  He  knows 
two,  and  only  two,  parts  of  his  being— body  and  soul.  So  man  is  the  true  Janus  (Mar- 
tensen),  Mr.  Facing-both-ways  (Bunyan).  That  the  Scriptures  favor  dichotomy  will 
appear  by  considering : 

(a)  The  record  of  man's  creation  (Gen.  2  :  7),  in  which,  as  a  result  of  the 
inbreathing  of  the  divine  Spirit,  the  body  becomes  possessed  and  vitalized 
by  a  single  principle — the  living  soul. 

Gen.  2  :  7— "And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
life;  and  man  became  a  living  soul"— here  it  is  not  said  that  man  was  first  a  living  soul,  and 
that  then  God  breathed  into  him  a  spirit;  but  that  God  inbreathed  spirit,  and  man  be- 
came a  living  soul  =  God's  life  took  possession  of  clay,  and  as  a  result,  man  had  a  soul. 
Cf.  Job.  27  :  3— "For  my  life  is  yet  whole  in  me,  And  the  spirit  of  God  is  in  my  nostrils"  ;  32  :  8— "there  is  a  spirit 


244  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

in  man,  And  the  breath  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them  understanding  " ;  33  :  4—"  The  spirit  of  God  hath  made  me,  And 
the  breath  of  the  Almighty  giveth  me  life." 

(6)  Passages  in  which  the  human  soul,  or  spirit,  is  distinguished,  both 
from  the  divine  Spirit  from  whom  it  proceeded,  and  from  the  body  which 
it  inhabits. 

Num.  16  :  22— "0  God,  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh"  ;  Zech.  12  : 1— "the  Lord,  which  .  .  .  formeth  the  spirit  of 

man  within  him"  ;  1  Cor.  2  : 11 — "the  spirit  of  the  man  which  is  in  him the  Spirit  of  God"  ;  Heb.  12  :  9 

"the  Father  of  spirits."  The  passages  just  mentioned  distinguish  the  spirit  of  man  from  the 
Spirit  of  God.  The  following  distinguish  the  soul,  or  spirit,  of  man  from  the  body  which 

it  inhabits  :    Gen.  35  : 18 — "it  came  to  pass,  as  her  soul  was  in  departing  ( for  she  died )  "  ;  1  K.  17  :  21 "0  Lord 

my  God,  I  pray  thee,  let  this  child's  soul  come  into  him  again"  ;  Bed.  12  :  7— "the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was, 
and  the  spirit  return  unto  God  who  gave  it" ;  James  2  :  26— "the  body  apart  from  the  spirit  is  dead."  The  first 
class  of  passages  refutes  pantheism ;  the  second  refutes  materialism. 

(c)  The  interchangable  use  of  the  terms  '  soul '  and  '  spirit.' 

Gen.  41 :  8—"  his  spirit  was  troubled"  ;  cf.  Ps.  42  :  6—"  my  soul  is  cast  down  within  me."  John  12  :  27— "Now 
is  my  soul  troubled"  ;  cf.  13  :  21— "he  was  troubled  in  the  spirit."  Mat.  20  : 28— "to  give  his  life  (^vx^v)  a 
ransom  for  many";  cf.  27  :  50— "yielded  up  his  spirit  (wi/ev^a)."  Heb.  12  :  23— " spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect "  ;  cf.  Rev.  6  :  9—"  I  saw  underneath  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  slain  for  the  word  of  God."  In 
these  passages  "spirit"  and  "soul"  seem  to  be  used  interchangeably. 

(d)  The  mention  of  body  and  soul  (or  spirit)  as  together  constituting 
the  whole  man. 

Mat.  10  :  28— "able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell"  ;  1  Cor.  5  :  3— "absent  in  body  but  present  in  spirit" ; 
3  John  2—"  I  pray  that  thou  mayst  prosper  and  be  in  health,  even  as  thy  soul  prospereth."  These  texts  imply 
that  body  and  soul  (or  spirit)  together  constitute  the  whole  man. 

For  advocacy  of  the  dichotomous  theory,  see  Godet,  Bib.  Studies  of  the  O.  T.,  32 ; 
Oehler,  Theology  of  the  O.  T.,  1:  219;  Hahn,  Bib.  Theol.  N.  T.,  390  sg. ;  Schmid,  Bib. 
Theology  N.  T.,  503;  Weiss,  Bib.  Theology  N.  T.,  214;  Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dog- 
matik,  112,  113;  Hofmann,  Schriftbeweis,  1:  294-298;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  1;  549;  3:249; 
Harless,  Com.  on  Eph.,  4:23,  and  Christian  Ethics,  22;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und 
Werk,  1 : 164-168 ;  Hodge,  in  Princeton  Review,  1865 : 116,  and  Systematic  Theol.,  2 :  47-51 ; 
Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1:  261-263. 

2.     The  Trichotomous  Theory. 

Side  by  side  with  this  common  representation  of  human  nature  as  con- 
sisting of  two  parts,  are  found  passages  which  at  first  sight  appear  to  favor 
trichotomy.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  Trvevjua  (spirit)  and  i-'vxy  (soul),  al- 
though often  used  interchangeably,  and  always  designating  the  same  indi- 
visible substance,  are  sometimes  employed  as  contrasted  terms. 

In  this  more  accurate  use,  iwxy  denotes  man's  immaterial  part  in  its  infe- 
rior powers  and  activities  ; — as  ifoxh  man  is  a  conscious  individual,  and  in 
common  with  the  brute  creation,  has  an  animal  life,  together  with  appetite, 
imagination,  memory,  understanding.  Hvev/ua,  on  the  other  hand,  denotes 
man's  immaterial  part  in  its  higher  capacities  and  faculties  ; — as  Trvev/na,  man 
is  a  being  related  to  God,  and  possessing  powers  of  reason,  conscience,  and 
free  will,  which  difference  him  from  the  brute  creation  and  constitute  him 
responsible  and  immortal. 

In  the  following  texts,  spirit  and  soul  are  distinguished  from  each  other :  1  Thess.  5  :  23— 
"  And  the  God  of  peace  himself  sanctify  you  wholly ;  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  entire,  without 
blame  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ;  Heb.  4  : 12— "For  the  word  of  God  is  living,  and  active,  and  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow,  and  quick 
to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart."  Compare  1  Cor.  2  : 14—"  Now  the  natural  [  Gr.  '  psychical '  ]  man 
reeeiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  " ;  15  :  44—"  It  is  sown  a  natural  [  Gr.  'psychical '  ]  body ;  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body.  If  there  is  a  natural  [  Gr.  'psychical '  ]  body,  there  is  also  a  spiritual  body  "  ;  Eph.  4  :  23—"  that  ye 
be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind  "  ;  Jude  19— "sensual  [Gr.  'psychical '  ],  having  not  the  Spirit." 


ESSENTIAL    ELEMENTS   OF    HUMAN    NATURE.  245 

For  the  proper  interpretation  of  these  texts,  see  note  on  the  next  page.  Among-  those 
who  cite  them  as  proofs  of  the  trichotomous  theory  (trichotomous,  from  rpixa,  '  in  three 
parts,'  and  re/xvw,  'to  cut,'  =  composed  of  three  parts,  i.  e.  spirit,  soul,  and  body)  may 
be  mentioned  Olshausen,  Opuscula,  134,  and  Com.  on  1  Thess.,  5  :  23  ;  Beck,  Biblische 
Seelenlehre,  31  ;  Delitzsch,  Biblical  Psychology,  117,  118  ;  Goschel,  in  Herzog,  Realency- 
clopadie,  art.  :  Seele  ;  also,  art.  by  Auberlen  :  Geist  des  Menschen  ;  Cremer,  N.  T.  Lex- 
icon, on  TTi/eujna  and  ^vxn  ;  Usteri,  Paulin.  Lehrbegriff  ,  384  sq.  ;  Neander,  Planting  and 
Training,  394  ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  365,  366  ;  Boardman,  in  Bap.  Quar- 
terly, 1  :  177,  325,  428;  Heard,  Tripartite  Nature  of  Man,  62-114;  Ellicott,  Destiny  of  the 
Creature,  106-125. 

The  element  of  truth  in  trichotomy  is  simply  this,  that  man  has  a  triplicity 
of  endowment,  in  virtue  of  which  the  single  soul  has  relations  to  matter,  to 
self,  and  to  God.  The  trichotomous  theory,  however,  as  it  is  ordinarily 
denned,  endangers  the  unity  and  immateriality  of  our  higher  nature,  by 
holding  that  man  consists  of  three  substances,  or  three  component  parts  — 
body,  soul,  and  spirit  —  and  that  soul  and  spirit  are  as  distinct  from  each 
other  as  are  soul  and  body. 

The  advocates  of  this  view  differ  among  themselves  as  to  the  nature  of  the  tyv\ri  and  its 
relation  to  the  other  elements  of  our  being  ;  some  (as  Delitzsch)  holding  that  the  tyvxn  is 
an  efflux  of  the  jn/eu/aa,  distinct  in  substance,  but  not  in  essence,  even  as  the  divine  Word 
is  distinct  from  God,  while  yet  he  is  God  ;  others  (as  Goschel)  regarding  the  tyvxn,  not  as 
a  distinct  substance,  but  as  a  resultant  of  the  union  of  the  nvev^a  and  the  crw/u.a.  Still 
others  (as  Cremer)  hold  the  I//VXTJ  to  be  the  subject  of  the  personal  life  whose  principle  is 

the  TTveCfxa. 

We  regard  the  trichotomous  theory  as  untenable,  not  only  for  the  reasons 
already  urged  in  proof  of  the  dichotomous  theory,  but  from  the  following 
additional  considerations  : 


(a)     IIv£i'/za,  as  well  as  ^vxh,  is  used  of  the  brute  creation. 

Eccl.  3  :  21—  "Who  knoweth  the  spirit  of  man  whether  it  goeth  [marg.  'that  goeth  ']  upward,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
beast,  whether  it  goeth  [marg.  'that  goeth  ']  downward  to  the  earth  ?  "  Rev.  16  :  3  —  "  And  the  second  poured  out  his 
bowl  into  the  sea  ;  and  it  became  blood,  as  of  a  dead  man  ;  and  every  living  soul  died,  even  the  things  that  were  in  the 
sea  "  =  the  fish. 


(6)     -^vxv  is  ascribed  to  Jehovah. 

Amos  6  :  8—"  The  Lord  God  hath  sworn  by  himself  "  (lit.  '  by  his  soul  ')  ;  Is.  42  :  1—  "  Mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul 
delighteth  "  ;  Heb.  10  :  38—"  My  righteous  one  shall  live  by  faith  :  and  if  he  shrink  back,  my  soul  hath  no  pleasure  in 
him." 


(c)  The  disembodied  dead  are  called 

Rev.  6  :  9—"  I  saw  underneath  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  slain  for  the  word  of  God  "  ;  c/.  20  :  4— 
"  souls  of  them  that  had  been  beheaded." 

(d)  The  highest  exercises  of  religion  are  attributed  to  the  i>vw. 

Mark  12  :  30—"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  ...  with  all  thy  soul  "  ;  Luke  1  :  46—"  My  soul  doth  magnify  the 
Lord  "  ;  Heb.  6  :  18,  19—"  the  hope  set  before  us  ;  which  we  have  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul  "  ;  James  1  :  21—"  the  im- 
planted word,  which  is  able  to  save  your  souls." 

(e)  To  lose  this  ipvxv  is  to  lose  all. 


Mark  8  :  36,  37—"  For  what  doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain  the  whole  world,  and  forfeit  his  life  [  or  '  soul,'  \fiv\ri  ]  ? 
For  what  should  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  life  [  or  '  soul,'  v|/uxj)  ]  ?  " 

(/)  The  passages  chiefly  relied  upon  as  supporting  trichotomy  may 
be  better  explained  upon  the  view  already  indicated,  that  soul  and  spirit  are 
not  two  distinct  substances  or  parts,  but  that  they  designate  the  immaterial 
principle  from  different  points  of  view. 


246  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

1  Thess.  5  :  23 — "  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  entire "  =  not  a  scientific  enumeration 
of  the  constituent  parts  of  human  nature,  but  a  comprehensive  sketch  of  that  nature  in 
its  chief  relations  ;  compare  Mark  12  :  30—"  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength" — where  none  would  think  of  finding1 
proof  of  a  fourfold  division  of  human  nature.  On  1  Thess.  5 : 23,  see  Riggenbach  (in 
Lange's  Com.),  and  Commentary  of  Prof.  W.  A.  Stevens.  Heb.  4  : 12— "piercing  even  to  the 
dividing  of  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow  "  =  not  the  dividing  of  soul  from  spirit,  or  of 
joints  from  marrow,  but  rather  the  piercing  of  the  soul  and  of  the  spirit,  even  to  their 
very  joints  and  marrow ;  i.  e.  to  the  very  depths  of  the  spiritual  nature.  On  Heb.  4  : 12,  see 
Ebrard  (in  Olshausen's  Com.),  and  LUnemann  (in  Meyer's  Com.) ;  also  Tholuck,  Com.  in 
loco.  Jude  19 — "sensual,  having  not  the  Spirit"  (vjo/xueoi,  irvev^a.  /U.TJ  exovres) — even  though  irvevna.  = 
the  human  spirit,  need  not  mean  that  there  is  no  spirit  existing,  but  only  that  the  spirit 
is  torpid  and  inoperative— as  we  say  of  a  weak  man:  'he  has  no  mind,'  or  of  an  un- 
principled man:  'he  has  no  conscience';  see  Nitzsch,  Christian  Doctrine,  202.  But 
Tn/eu/xa  here  probably  =  the  divine  -nvev^a..  The  Rev.  Vers.  therefore  capitalizes  the  word 
"Spirit." 

We  conclude  that  the  immaterial  part  of  man,  viewed  as  an  individual 
and  conscious  life,  capable  of  possessing  and  animating  a  physical  organism, 
is  called  V^tf ;  viewed  as  a  rational  and  moral  agent,  susceptible  of  divine 
influence  and  indwelling,  this  same  immaterial  part  is  called  ^vevfia.  The 
Trvev/ua,  then,  is  man's  nature  looking  God  ward,  and  capable  of  receiving 
and  manifesting  the  Rvev/na  aytov ;  the  tyvxn  is  man's  nature  looking  earth- 
ward, and  touching  the  world  of  sense.  The  Trvev/nais  man's  higher  part,  as 
related  to  spiritual  realities  or  as  capable  of  such  relation  ;  the  tyuxh  is 
man's  higher  part,  as  related  to  the  body,  or  as  capable  of  such  relation. 
Man's  being  is  therefore  not  trichotomous  but  dichotomous,  and  his  imma- 
terial part,  while  possessing  duality  of  powers,  has  unity  of  substance. 

Man's  nature  is  not  a  three-storied  house,  but  a  two-storied  house,  with  windows  in 
the  upper  story  looking  in  two  directions— toward  earth  and  toward  heaven.  The 
lower  story  is  the  physical  part  of  us— the  body.  But  man's  "upper  story"  has  two 
aspects;  there  is  an  outlook  toward  things  below,  and  a  skylight  through  which  to 
see  the  stars.  "  Soul,"  says  Hovey,  "  is  spirit  as  modified  by  union  with  the  body."  Is 
man  then  the  same  in  kind  with  the  brute,  but  different  in  degree?  No,  man  is  dif- 
ferent in  kind,  though  possessed  of  certain  powers  which  the  brute  has.  The  frog  is  not 
a  magnified  sensitive-plant,  though  his  nerves  automatically  respond  to  irritation.  The 
animal  is  different  in  kind  from  the  vegetable,  though  he  has  some  of  the  same  powers 
which  the  vegetable  has.  God's  powers  include  man's;  but  man  is  not  of  the  same 
substance  with  God,  nor  could  man  be  enlarged  or  developed  into  God.  So  man's 
powers  include  those  of  the  brute,  but  the  brute  is  not  of  the  same  substance  with 
man,  nor  could  he  be  enlarged  or  developed  into  man. 

Porter,  Human  Intellect,  39—"  The  spirit  of  man,  in  addition  to  its  higher  endow- 
ments, may  also  possess  the  lower  powers  which  vitalize  dead  matter  into  a  human 
body."  It  does  not  follow  that  the  soul  of  the  animal  or  plant  is  capable  of  man's  higher 
functions  or  developments,  or  that  the  subjection  of  man's  spirit  to  body,  in  the  present 
life,  disproves  his  immortality.  Porter  continues :  "  That  the  soul  begins  to  exist  as  a 
vital  force,  does  not  require  that  it  should  always  exist  as  such  a  force,  or  in  connection 
with  a  material  body.  Should  it  require  another  such  body,  it  may  have  the  power  to 
create  it  for  itself,  as  it  has  formed  the  one  it  first  inhabited ;  or  it  may  have  already 
formed  it,  and  may  hold  it  ready  for  occupation  and  use  as  soon  as  it  sloughs  off  the  one 
which  connects  it  with  the  earth." 

Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  547—"  Brutes  may  have  organic  life  and  sensitivity, 
and  yet  remain  submerged  in  nature.  It  is  not  life  and  sensitivity  that  lift  man  above 
nature,  but  it  is  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  personality."  Parkhurst,  The  Pattern 
in  the  Mount,  17-30,  on  Prov.  20  :  27 — "The  spirit  of  man  is  the  lamp  of  the  Lord"— not  necessarily 
lighted,  but  capable  of  being  lighted,  and  intended  to  be  lighted,  by  the  touch  of  the 
divine  flame.  Cf.  Mat.  6  :  22,  23—"  The  lamp  of  the  body  ....  if  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness, 
how  great  is  the  darkness." 


ESSENTIAL   ELEMENTS    OF    HUMAN    NATURE.  247 

This  view  of  the  soul  and  spirit  as  different  aspects  of  the  same  spiritual 
principle  furnishes  a  refutation  of  four  important  errors  : 

(a)  That  of  the  Gnostics,  who  held  that  the  KVEV/LKI  is  part  of  the  divine 
•essence,  and  therefore  incapable  of  sin. 

(6)  That  of  the  Apollinarians,  who  taught  that  Christ's  humanity  em- 
braced only  oti/Lta  and  ijjvxvt  while  his  divine  nature  furnished  the  irvevfta. 

(c)  That  of  the  Semi-pelagians,  who  excepted  the  human  KVEVJUO.  from  the 
dominion  of  original  sin. 

(d)  That  of  the  Annihilationists,  who  hold  that  man  at  his  creation  had 
&  divine  element  breathed  into  him,  which  he  lost  by  sin,  and  which  he 
recovers  only  in  regeneration  ;  so  that  only  when  he  has  this  irvevpa  restored 
toy  virtue  of  his  union  with  Christ  does  man  become  immortal,  death  being 
to  the  sinner  a  complete  extinction  of  being. 

Trichotomy  allies  itself  readily  with  materialism.  Many  trichotomists  hold  that  man 
•can  exist  without  a  irvevpa,  but  that  the  aw/ua  and  the  ^u**?  by  themselves  are  mere 
matter,  and  are  incapable  of  eternal  existence.  Trichotomy,  however,  when  it  speaks  of 
the  -revev^.0.  as  the  divine  principle  in  man,  seems  to  savor  of  emanation  or  of  pantheism. 
A  modern  English  poet  describes  the  glad  and  winsome  child  as  "  A  silver  stream, 
Breaking  with  laughter  from  the  lake  divine,  Whence  all  things  flow."  Another  poet, 
Robert  Browning,  in  his  Death  in  the  Desert,  107,  describes  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  as 
•"What  does,  what  knows,  what  is— three  souls,  one  man."  On  account  of  its  connec- 
tion with  other  doctrines,  therefore,  dichotomy  is  a  not  unimportant  part  of  the 
•Christian  scheme. 

The  Eastern  church  generally  held  to  trichotomy,  and  is  best  represented  by  John  of 
Damascus  (ii :  12)  who  speaks  of  the  soul  as  the  sensuous  life-principle  which  takes  up 
the  spirit— the  spirit  being  an  efflux  from  God.  The  Western  church,  on  the  other  hand, 
.generally  held  to  dichotomy,  and  is  best  represented  by  Anselm :  "  Constat  homo  ex 
duabus  naturis,  ex  natura  animae  et  ex  natura  carnis." 

Luther  has  been  quoted  upon  both  sides  of  the  controversy :  by  Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psych., 
460-462,  as  trichotomous,  and  as  making  the  Mosaic  tabernacle  with  its  three  divisions  an 
image  of  the  tripartite  man.  "The  first  division,"  he  says,  "was  called  the  holy  of 
holies,  since  God  dwelt  there,  and  there  was  no  light  therein.  The  next  was  denominated 
the  holy  place,  for  within  it  stood  a  candlestick  with  seven  branches  and  lamps.  The 
third  was  called  the  atrium  or  court ;  this  was  under  the  broad  heaven,  and  was  open  to 
the  light  of  the  sun.  A  regenerate  man  is  depicted  in  this  figure.  His  spirit  is  the  holy 
of  holies,  God's  dwelling-place,  in  the  darkness  of  faith,  without  a  light,  for  he  believes 
what  he  neither  sees,  nor  feels,  nor  comprehends.  The  psyche  of  that  man  is  the  holy 
place,  whose  seven  lights  represent  the  various  powers  of  understanding,  the  perception 
-and  knowledge  of  material  and  visible  things.  His  body  is  the  atrium  or  court,  which 
is  open  to  everybody,  so  that  all  can  see  how  he  acts  and  lives." 

Thomasius,  however,  in  his  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 : 164-168,  quotes  from  Luther 
the  following  statement,  which  is  clearly  dichotomous:  "The  first  part,  the  spirit, 
is  the  highest,  deepest,  noblest  part  of  man.  By  it  he  is  fitted  to  comprehend  eternal 
things,  and  it  is,  in  short,  the  house  in  which  dwell  faith  and  the  word  of  God.  The 
other,  the  soul,  is  this  same  spirit,  according  to  nature,  but  yet  in  another  sort  of  activ- 
ity, namely,  in  this,  that  it  animates  the  body  and  works  through  it ;  and  it  is  its  method 
not  to  grasp  things  incomprehensible,  but  only  what  reason  can  search  out,  know,  and 
measure."  Thomasius  himself  says:  "Trichotomy,  I  hold  with  Meyer,  is  not  Scrip- 
turally  sustained." 

Neander,  sometimes  spoken  of  as  a  trichotomist,  says  that  spirit  is  soul  in  its  elevated 
and  normal  relation  to  God  and  divine  things ;  ^vxrj  is  that  same  soul  in  its  relation  to 
the  sensuous  and  perhaps  sinful  things  of  this  world.  Godet,  Bib.  Studies  of  O.  T.,  32— 
*' Spirit  =  the  breath  of  God,  considered  as  independent  of  the  body;  soul  =  that  same 
breath  in  so  far  as  it  gives  life  to  the  body.  Hence,  notwithstanding  the  essential  duality 
of  man's  nature,  the  soul  is  often  in  Scripture  distinguished  from  the  spirit.  It  is  the 
soul  to  which  the  feeling  of  personal  identity  attaches." 

The  doctrine  we  have  advocated,  moreover,  in  contrast  with  the  heathen  view,  puts 
honor  upon  man's  body,  as  proceeding  from  the  hand  of  God  and  as  therefore  originally 
pure  ( Gen.  1 :  31— "And  God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good " ) ;  as  intended 


248  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    MAN. 

to  be  the  dwelling  place  of  the  divine  Spirit  ( 1  Cor.  6 : 19—"  know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God?");  and  as  containing  the  germ  of  the 
heavenly  body  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  44 — "  it  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body  " ;  Rom.  8  : 11 — "shall 
quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you" — here  many  ancient  authorities- 
read  "because  of  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you" — 6ia  TO  evoucovv  avrov  nvev^a.).  Birks,  in  his  Diffi- 
culties of  Belief,  suggests  that  man,  unlike  angels,  may  have  been  provided  with  a 
fleshly  body,  ( 1 )  to  objectify  sin,  and  ( 2 )  to  enable  Christ  to  unite  himself  to  the  race,, 
in  order  to  save  it. 

IV.     OBIGIN  OF  THE  SOUL. 

Three  theories  with  regard  to  this  subject  have  divided  opinion  : 

1.     The  Theory  of  Preexistence. 

This  view  was  held  by  Plato,  Philo,  and  Origen  ;  by  the  first,  in  order  to- 
explain  the  soul's  possession  of  ideas  not  derived  from  sense  ;  by  the  second, 
to  account  for  its  imprisonment  in  the  body  ;  by  the  third,  to  justify  the  dis- 
parity of  conditions  in  which  men  enter  the  world.  We  concern  ourselves,, 
however,  only  with  the  forms  which  the  view  has  assumed  in  modern  times. 
Kant  and  Julius  Miiller  in  Germany,  and  Edward  Beecher  in  America,  have 
advocated  it,  upon  the  ground  that  the  inborn  depravity  of  the  human  will 
can  be  explained  only  by  supposing  a  personal  act  of  self-determination  in 
a  previous,  or  timeless,  state  of  being. 

The  truth  at  the  basis  of  the  theory  of  pree'xistence  is  simply  the  ideal  existence  of 
the  soul,  before  birth,  in  the  mind  of  God— that  is,  God's  foreknowledge  of  it.  The  intui- 
tive ideas  of  which  the  soul  finds  itself  in  possession,  such  as  space,  time,  cause,  sub- 
stance, right,  God,  are  evolved  from  itself ;  in  other  words,  man  is  so  constituted  that 
he  perceives  these  truths  upon  proper  occasions  or  conditions.  The  apparent  recollec- 
tion that  we  have  seen  at  some  past  time  a  landscape  which  we  know  to  be  now  for  the 
first  time  before  us,  is  an  illusory  putting  together  of  fragmentary  concepts,  or  a  mis- 
taking of  a  part  for  the  whole ;  we  have  seen  something  like  a  part  of  the  landscape— 
we  fancy  that  we  have  seen  this  landscape,  and  the  whole  of  it.  Plato  held,  however, 
that  intuitive  ideas  are  reminiscences  of  things  learned  in  a  previous  state  of  being : 
he  regarded  the  body  as  the  grave  of  the  soul ;  and  urged  the  fact  that  the  soul  had 
knowledge  before  it  entered  the  body,  as  proof  that  the  soul  would  have  knowledge 
after  it  left  the  body,  that  is,  would  be  immortal.  See  Plato,  Meno,  83-85,  Phsedo,  72-75, 
Phasdrus,  245-250,  Republic,  x:  614;  also  Introductions  to  each  of  these  works,  in 
Jowett's  translation. 

Philo  held  that  all  souls  are  emanations  from  God,  and  that  those  who  allowed  them- 
selves, unlike  the  angels,  to  be  attracted  by  matter,  are  punished  for  this  fall  by  impris- 
onment in  the  body,  which  corrupts  them,  and  from  which  they  must  break  loose.  See 
Philo,  De  Gigantibue,  Pfeiffer's  ed.,  2 :  360-364.  Origen  accounted  for  disparity  of  condi- 
tions at  birth  by  the  differences  in  the  conduct  of  these  same  souls  in  a  previous  state. 
God's  justice  at  the  first  made  all  souls  equal ;  condition  here  corresponds  to  the  degree 
of  previous  guilt :  Mat.  20:3 — "others  standing  idle  in  the  market-place  "=  souls  not  yet  brought 
into  the  world.  The  Talmudists  regarded  all  souls  as  created  at  once  in  the  beginning^ 
and  as  kept  like  grains  of  corn  in  God's  granary,  until  the  time  should  come  for  joining 
each  to  its  appointed  body.  See  Origen,  De  Anima,  7 ;  jrepi  apxwr,  ii :  9  :  6  ;  e/.  i :  1 :  2,  *»• 
18 ;  4 :  36.  Origen's  view  was  condemned  at  the  Synod  of  Constantinople,  538. 

For  modern  advocates  of  the  theory,  see  Kant,  Critique  of  Pure  Reason,  sec.  15; 
Religion  in.  d.  Grenzen  d.  bl.  Vernunft,  26,  27  ;  Julius  Miiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2 :  357-401 ; 
Edward  Beecher,  Conflict  of  Ages.  The  idea  of  pree'xistence  has  appeared  to  a  notable 
extent  in  modern  poetry.  See  Vaughan,  The  Retreate  ( 1621) ;  Wordsworth,  Intimations 
of  Immortality  in  Early  Childhood ;  Tennyson,  Two  Voices,  stanzas  105-119.  Many  of 
the  preceding  facts  and  references  are  taken  from  Bruch,  Lehre  der  PrBexistenz,  trans- 
lated in  Bib.  Sac.,  20 :  681-733. 

To  the  theory  of  preexistence  we  urge  the  following  objections  : 

(a]     It  is  not  only  wholly  without  support  from  Scripture,  but  it  directly 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    SOUL.  249 

contradicts  the  Mosaic  account  of  man's  creation  in  the  image  of  God,  and 
Paul's  description  of  all  evil  and  death  in  the  human  race  as  the  result  of 
Adam's  sin. 

Gen.  1  :  27—"  And  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him  "  ;  31— "And  God  saw 
every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good."  Rom.  5  : 12—"  Therefore,  as  through  one  man  sin  entered 
into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin ;  and  so  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned.' '  The  theory  of 
prefe'xistence  would  still  leave  it  doubtful  whether  all  men  are  sinners,  or  whether  God 
assembles  only  sinners  upon  the  earth. 

(6)  If  the  soul  in  this  preexistent  state  was  conscious  and  personal,  it  is- 
inexplicable  that  we  should  have  no  remembrance  of  such  preexistence,  and 
of  so  important  a  decision  in  that  previous  condition  of  being ; — if  the  soul 
was  yet  unconscious  and  impersonal,  the  theory  fails  to  show  how  a  moral 
act  involving  consequences  so  vast  could  have  been  performed  at  all. 

Christ  remembered  his  preSxistent  state ;  why  should  not  we  ?  There  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  in  the  future  state  we  shall  remember  our  present  existence ;  why  should 
we  not  now  remember  the  past  state  from  which  we  came?  It  may  be  objected  that 
Augustinians  hold  to  a  sin  of  the  race  in  Adam— a  sin  which  none  of  Adam's  descend- 
ants can  remember.  But  we  reply  that  no  Augustinian  holds  to  a  personal  existence  of 
each  member  of  the  race  in  Adam,  and  therefore  no  Augustinian  needs  to  account  for 
lack  of  memory  of  Adam's  sin.  The  advocate  of  preexistence,  however,  does  hold  to  a 
personal  existence  of  each  soul  in  a  previous  state,  and  therefore  needs  to  account  for 
our  lack  of  memory  of  it. 

(c)  The  view  sheds  no  light  either  upon  the  origin  of  sin,  or  upon  God'a 
justice  in  dealing  with  it,  since  it  throws  back  the  first  transgression  to  a 
state  of  being  in  which  there  was  no  flesh  to  tempt,  and  then  represents 
God  as  putting  the  fallen  into  sensuous  conditions  in  the  highest  degree 
unfavorable  to  their  restoration. 

This  theory  only  increases  the  difficulty  of  explaining-  the  origin  of  sin,  by  pushing* 
back  its  beginning  to  a  state  of  which  we  know  less  than  we  do  of  the  present.  To  say 
that  the  soul  in  that  previous  state  was  only  potentially  conscious  and  personal,  is  to 
deny  any  real  probation,  and  to  throw  the  blame  of  sin  on  God  the  Creator. 

(d)  While  this  theory  accounts  for  inborn  spiritual  sin,  such  as  pride 
and  enmity  to  God,  it  gives  no  explanation  of  inherited  sensual  sin,  which 
it  holds  to  have  come  from  Adam,  and  the  guilt  of  which  must  logically  be 
denied. 

While  certain  forms  of  the  pregxistence  theory  are  exposed  to  the  last  objection  indi- 
cated in  the  text,  Julius  Mtiller  claims  that  his  own  view  escapes  it ;  see  Doctrine  of  Sin, 
2 :  393.  His  theory,  he  says,  "  would  contradict  holy  Scripture  if  it  derived  inborn  sinful- 
ness  solely  from  this  extra-temporal  act  of  the  individual,  without  recognizing  in  this 
sinf ulness  the  element  of  hereditary  depravity  in  the  sphere  of  the  natural  life,  and  its 
connection  with  the  sin  of  our  first  parents."  Mtiller,  whose  trichotomy  here  determines 
his  whole  subsequent  scheme,  holds  only  the  nvevfia  to  have  thus  fallen  in  a  preexistent 
state.  The  $v\ri  comes,  with  the  body,  from  Adam.  The  tempter  only  brought  man's 
latent  perversity  of  will  into  open  transgression.  Sinfulness,  as  hereditary,  does  not 
involve  guilt,  but  the  hereditary  principle  is  the  "  medium  through  which  the  transcend- 
ent self -perversion  of  the  spiritual  nature  of  man  is  transmitted  to  his  whole  temporal 
mode  of  being."  While  man  is  born  guilty  as  to  his  -rrvev^a,  for  the  reason  that  this  Tri/eG/mo. 
sinned  in  a  preexistent  state,  he  is  also  born  guilty  as  to  his  tyvxn,  because  this  was  one 
with  the  first  man  in  his  transgression. 

Even  upon  the  most  favorable  statement  of  Mtiller's  view,  we  fail  to  see  how  it  can 
consist  with  the  organic  unity  of  the  race  ;  for  in  that  which  chiefly  constitutes  us  men 
—the  nvfvua.— we  are  as  distinct  and  separate  creations  as  are  the  angels.  We  also  fail  to 
see  how,  upon  this  view,  Christ  can  be  said  to  take  our  nature  ;  or,  if  he  takes  it,  how  it 
can  be  without  sin.  See  Ernesti,  Ursprung  der  Stinde,  2  :  1-24T ;  Frohschammer,  Ur- 
sprung  der  Seele,  11-17;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3:  92-122;  Bruch,  Lehre  der  Praexis- 


250  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

tenz,  translated  in  Bib.  Sac.,  20  :  681-733.  Also,  Bib.  Sac.,  11 :  186-191 ;  12 : 156 ;  17 :  419-427 ; 
30  :  447 ;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3 :  250—"  This  doctrine  is  inconsistent  with  the  indisputable 
fact  that  the  souls  of  children  are  like  those  of  the  parents ;  and  it  ignores  the  connec- 
tion of  the  individual  with  the  race." 

2.     The  Greatian  Theory. 

This  view  was  held  by  Aristotle,  Jerome,  and  Pelagius,  and  in  modern 
times  has  been  advocated  by  most  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Reformed 
theologians.  It  regards  the  soul  of  each  human  being  as  immediately  cre- 
ated by  God  and  joined  to  the  body  either  at  conception,  at  birth,  or  at 
some  time  between  these  two.  The  advocates  of  the  theory  urge  in  its  favor 
certain  texts  of  Scripture,  referring  to  God  as  the  Creator  of  the  human 
spirit,  together  with  the  fact  that  there  is  a  marked  individuality  in  the 
child,  which  cannot  be  explained  as  a  mere  reproduction  of  the  qualities 
existing  in  the  parents. 

Creatianism,  as  ordinarily  held,  regards  only  the  body  as  propagated  from  past  gene- 
rations. Creatianists  who  hold  to  trichotomy  would  say,  however,  that  the  animal  soul, 
the  fyv\ri,  is  propagated  with  the  body,  while  the  highest  part  of  man,  the  Trreujua,  is  in 
each  case  a  direct  creation  of  God— the  nvev^a  not  being  created,  as  the  advocates  of 
pree'xistence  believe,  ages  before  the  body,  but  rather  at  the  time  that  the  body  assumes 
its  distinct  individuality. 

Aristotle  (De  Anima)  first  gives  definite  expression  to  this  view.  Jerome  speaks  of 
God  as  "  making  souls  daily."  The  scholastics  followed  Aristotle,  and  through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Reformed  church,  creatianism  has  been  the  prevailing  opinion  for  the  last 
two  hundred  years.  Among  its  best  representatives  are  Turretin,  Inst.,  5  : 13  (vol.  1: 
425 ) ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  65-76 ;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  141-148 ;  Liddon,  Elements  of 
Religion,  99-106.  Certain  Reformed  theologians  have  defined  very  exactly  God's  method 
of  creation  :  Polanus  (5  :  31  : 1)  says  that  God  breaths  the  soul  into  boys,  forty  days, 
and  into  girls,  eighty  days,  after  conception.  Goschel  (in  Herzog,  Encyclop.,  art. :  Seele) 
holds  that  while  dichotomy  leads  to  traducianism,  trichotomy  allies  itself  to  that  form 
of  creatianism  which  regards  the  nvev^a.  as  a  direct  creation  of  God,  but  the  tyvxn  as 
propagated  with  the  body.  To  the  latter  answers  the  family  name ;  to  the  former  the 
Christian  name. 

Creatianism  is  untenable  for  the  following  reasons  : 

(a)  The  passages  adduced  in  its  support  may  with  equal  propriety  be 
regarded  as  expressing  God's  mediate  agency  in  the  origination  of  human 
souls  ;  while  the  general  tenor  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  its  representations  of 
God  as  the  author  of  man's  body,  favor  this  latter  interpretation. 

Passages  commonly  relied  upon  by  creatianists  are  the  following :    Eccl.  12  :  7— "the  spirit 

return  unto  God  who  gave  it";  Is.  57  : 16 — "the  souls  which  I  have  made"  ;  Zech.  12  : 1 — "the  Lord which 

formeth  the  spirit  of  man  within  him"  ;  Heb.  12  :  9— "the  Father  of  spirits."  But  God  is  with  equal  clear- 
ness declared  to  be  the  former  of  man's  body:  see  Ps.  139 : 13, 14— "thou  hast  possessed  [marg. 
4  formed '  ]  my  reins :  Thou  hast  covered  me  [  marg.  '  knit  me  together '  ]  in  my  mother's  womb.  I  will  give  thanks 
unto  thee ;  for  I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made :  Wonderful  are  thy  works  "  ;  Jer.  1  :  5— "I  formed  thee  in  the 
belly."  Yet  we  do  not  hesitate  to  interpret  these  latter  passages  as  expressive  of  mediate, 
not  immediate,  creatorship— God  works  through  natural  laws  of  generation  and  devel- 
opment so  far  as  the  production  of  man's  body  is  concerned.  None  of  the  passages  first 
mentioned  forbid  us  to  suppose  that  he  works  through  these  same  natural  laws  in  the 
production  of  the  soul. 

(6)  Creatianism  regards  the  earthly  father  as  begetting  only  the  body 
of  his  child — certainly  as  not  the  father  of  the  child's  highest  part.  This 
makes  the  beast  to  possess  nobler  powers  of  propagation  than  man  ;  for  the 
beast  multiplies  himself  after  his  own  image. 

The  new  physiology  properly  views  soul,  not  as  something  added  from  without,  but 
as  the  animating  principle  of  the  body  from  the  beginning,  and  as  having  a  determining 


ORIGIN   OF  THE   SOUL.  251 

influence  upon  its  whole  development.  That  children  are  like  their  parents,  in  intel- 
lectual and  spiritual  as  well  as  in  physical  respects,  is  a  fact  of  which  the  creatian  theory 
gives  no  proper  explanation. 

(c)  The  individuality  of  the  child,  even  in  the  most  extreme  cases,  as  in 
the  sudden  rise  from  obscure  families  and  surroundings  of  marked  men  like 
Luther,  may  be  better  explained  by  supposing  a  law  of  variation  impressed 
upon  the  species  at  its  beginning — a  law  whose  operation  is  foreseen  and 
supervised  by  God. 

The  differences  of  the  child  from  the  parent  are  often  exaggerated ;  men  are  generally 
more  the  product  of  their  ancestry  and  of  their  time  than  we  are  accustomed  to  think. 
Dickens  made  angelic  children  to  be  born  of  depraved  parents,  and  to  grow  up  in  the 
slums.  But  this  writing  belongs  to  a  past  generation,  when  the  facts  of  heredity  were 
unrecognized.  George  Eliot's  school  is  nearer  the  truth ;  although  she  exaggerates  the 
doctrine  of  heredity  in  turn,  until  all  idea  of  free  will  and  all  hope  of  escaping  our  fate 
vanish. 

Sometimes,  in  spite  of  George  Eliot,  a  lily  grows  out  of  a  stagnant  pool— how  shall  we 
explain  the  fact?  We  must  remember  that  the  paternal  and  the  maternal  elements  are 
themselves  unlike;  the  union  of  the  two  may  well  produce  a  third  in  some  respects  un- 
like either ;  as,  when  two  chemical  elements  unite,  the  product  differs  from  either  of  the 
constituents.  We  must  remember  also  that  nature  is  one  factor;  nurture  is  another; 
and  that  the  latter  is  often  as  potent  as  the  former  (see  Galton,  Inquiries  into  Human 
Faculty,  77-81 ).  Environment  determines  to  a  large  extent  both  the  fact  and  the  degree 
of  development.  Genius  is  often  another  name  for  Providence.  Yet  before  all  and 
beyond  all  we  must  recognize  a  manifold  wisdom  of  God,  which  in  the  very  organization 
of  species  impresses  upon  it  a  law  of  variation,  so  that  at  proper  times  and  under  proper 
conditions  the  old  is  modified  in  the  line  of  progress  and  advance  to  something  higher 

(d]  This  theory,  if  it  allows  that  the  soul  is  originally  possessed  of  de- 
praved tendencies,  makes  God  the  direct  author  of  moral  evil ;  if  it  holds 
the  soul  to  have  been  created  pure,  it  makes  God  indirectly  the  author  of 
moral  evil,  by  teaching  that  he  puts  this  pure  soul  into  a  body  which  will 
inevitably  corrupt  it. 

The  decisive  argument  against  creatianism  is  this  one,  that  it  makes  God  the  author 
of  moral  evil.  See  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3 :  250—"  Creatianism  rests  upon  a  justly  antiqua- 
ted dualism  between  soul  and  body,  and  is  irreconcilable  with  the  sinful  condition  of 
the  human  soul.  The  truth  in  the  doctrine  is  just  this  only,  that  generation  can  bring 
forth  an  immortal  human  life  only  according  to  the  power  imparted  by  God's  word,  and 
with  the  special  cooperation  of  God  himself."  The  difficulty  of  supposing  that  God 
immediately  creates  a  pure  soul,  only  to  put  it  into  a  body  that  will  infallibly  corrupt  it 
— sicut  vinum  in  vase  acetoso — has  led  many  of  the  most  thoughtful  Reformed  theolo- 
gians to  modify  the  creatian  doctrine  by  combining  it  with  traducianism. 

Rothe,  Dogmatik,  1 :  249-251,  holds  to  a  creation  in  a  wider  sense— a  union  of  the  pa- 
ternal and  maternal  elements  under  the  express  and  determining  efficiency  of  God. 
Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  327-332,  regards  the  soul  as  new-created,  yet  by  a  process  of  medi- 
ate creation  according  to  law,  which  he  calls  '  metaphysical  generation.'  Dorner,  Sys- 
tem of  Doctrine,  3  :  56,  says  that  the  individual  is  not  simply  a  manifestation  of  the 
species ;  God  applies  to  the  origination  of  every  single  man  a  special  creative  thought 
and  act  of  will ;  yet  he  does  this  through  the  species,  so  that  it  is  creation  by  law— else 
the  child  would  be,  not  a  continuation  of  the  old  species,  but  the  establishment  of  a  new 
one.  So  in  speaking  of  the  human  soul  of  Christ,  Dorner  says  ( 3 :  340-349 )  that  the  soul 
itself  does  not  owe  its  origin  to  Mary  nor  to  the  species,  but  to  the  creative  act  of  God. 
This  soul  appropriates  to  itself  from  Mary's  body  the  elements  of  a  human  form,  puri- 
fying them  in  the  process  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  beginning  of  a  life  yet  subject 
to  development  and  human  weakness. 

Bowne,  Metaphysics,  500— "The  laws  of  heredity  must  be  viewed  simply  as  descrip- 
tions of  a  fact  and  never  as  its  explanation.  Not  as  if  ancestors  passed  on  something  to 
posterity,  but  solely  because  of  the  inner  consistency  of  the  divine  action  "  are  children 
like  their  parents.  We  cannot  regard  either  of  these  mediating  views  as  self-consistent 
or  intelligible.  We  pass  on  therefore  to  consider  the  traducian  theory  which  we  believe 


252  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

more  fully  to  meet  the  requirements  of  Scripture  and  of  reason.  For  further  discussion 
of  creatianism,  see  Frohschammer,  Ursprung  der  Seele,  18-58 ;  Alger,  Doctrine  of  a 
Future  Life,  1-17. 

3.     The  Traducian  Theory. 

This  view  was  propounded  by  Tertullian,  and  was  implicitly  held  by 
Augustine.  In  modern  times  it  has  been  the  prevailing  opinion  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  It  holds  that  the  human  race  was  immediately  created 
in  Adam,  and,  as  respects  both  body  and  soul,  was  propagated  from  him 
by  natural  generation — all  souls  since  Adam  being  only  mediately  created 
by  God,  as  the  upholder  of  the  laws  of  propagation  which  were  originally 
established  by  him. 

Tertullian,  De  Anima :  Tradux  peccati,  tradux  animi.  Gregory  of  Nyssa :  "  Man  being 
one,  consisting  of  soul  and  body,  the  common  beginning  of  his  constitution  must  be 
supposed  also  one ;  so  that  he  may  not  be  both  older  and  younger  than  himself —that  in 
him  which  is  bodily  being  first,  and  the  other  coming  after"  (quoted  in  Crippen,  Hist,  of 
Christ.  Doct.,  80 ).  Augustine.  De  Pec.  Mer.  et  Rem.,  3  :  7—"  In  Adam  all  sinned,  at  the 
time  when  in  his  nature  all  were  still  that  one  man  "  ;  De  Civ.  Dei,  13  : 14—"  For  we  all 

were  in  that  one  man,  when  we  all  were  that  one  man The  form  in  which  we  each 

should  live  was  not  as  yet  individually  created  and  distributed  to  us,  but  there  already 
existed  the  seminal  nature  from  which  we  were  propagated." 

Augustine,  indeed,  wavered  in  his  statements  with  regard  to  the  origin  of  the  soul, 
apparently  fearing  that  an  explicit  and  pronounced  traducianism  might  involve  mate- 
rialistic consequences ;  yet,  as  logically  lying  at  the  basis  of  his  doctrine  of  original  sin, 
traducianism  came  to  be  the  ruling  view  of  the  Lutheran  reformers.  In  his  Table  Talk, 
Luther  says :  "  The  reproduction  of  mankind  is  a  great  marvel  and  mystery.  Had  God 
consulted  me  in  the  matter,  I  should  have  advised  him  to  continue  the  generation  of  the 
species  by  fashioning  them  out  of  clay,  in  the  way  Adam  was  fashioned ;  as  I  should 
have  counselled  him  also  to  let  the  sun  remain  always  suspended  over  the  earth,  like  a 
great  lamp,  maintaining  perpetual  light  and  heat." 

Traducianism  holds  that  man,  as  a  species,  was  created  in  Adam.  In  Adam,  the  sub- 
stance of  humanity  was  yet  undistributed.  We  derive  our  immaterial  as  well  as  our 
material  being,  by  natural  laws  of  propagation,  from  Adam — each  individual  man  after 
Adam  possessing  a  part  of  the  substance  that  was  originated  in  him.  See  Shedd,  Hist. 
Doctrine,  2  : 1-26,  Discourses  and  Essays,  259 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  137-51,  335-384 ; 
Edwards,  Works,  2  : 483 ;  Hopkins,  Works,  1 : 289 ;  Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  161 ; 
Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psych.,  128-142 ;  Frohschammer,  Ursprung  der  Seele,  59-224. 

"With  regard  to  this  view  we  remark  : 

(a)  It  seems  best  to  accord  with  Scripture,  which  represents  God  as 
creating  the  species  in  Adam  ( Gen.  1  :  27 ),  and  as  increasing  and  perpetua- 
ting it  through  secondary  agencies  ( 1  :  28  ;  cf.  22 ).  Only  once  is  breathed 
into  man's  nostrils  the  breath  of  life  (2:7;  cf.  22 ;  1  Cor.  11  :  8.  Gen. 
4:1;  5:3;  46  :  26  ;  cf.  Acts  17  :  24-26  ;  Heb.  7  :  10 ),  and  after  man's  for- 
mation God  ceases  from  his  work  of  creation  ( Gen.  2:2). 

Gen.  1  :  27—"  And  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him ;  male  and  female  created 
he  them  "  ;  28—"  And  God  blessed  them  ;  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth  "  ; 
cf.  22— of  the  brute  creation  :  "  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  fill  the  waters 
in  the  seas,  and  let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth."  Gen.  2  :  7—"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul"  ;  cf.  22— "And  the  rib,  which  the 
Lord  God  had  taken  from  the  man,  made  he  a  woman,  and  brought  her  unto  the  man  "  ;  1  Cor.  11 :  8—"  For  the  man  is 

not  of  the  woman ;  but  the  woman  of  the  man  "  ( e£  ii/6p6s ).    Gen.  4  : 1—"  Eve bare  Cain  "  ;  5  :  3—"  Adam 

.  .  .  begat  a  son  ...  Seth  "  ;  46  :  26—"  He  made  of  one  [ '  father '  or  '  body '  ]  every  nation  of  men  "  ;  Heb.  7  : 10 
— Levi  "was  yet  in  the  loins  of  his  father,  when  Melchisedek  met  him."  Gen.  2  :  2— "And  on  the  seventh  day  God 
finished  his  work  which  he  had  made ;  and  he  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made." 

(ft)  It  is  favored  by  the  analogy  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  in  which 
increase  of  numbers  is  secured,  not  by  a  multiplicity  of  immediate  creations, 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    SOUL.  ^53 

but  by  the  natural  derivation  of  new  individuals  from  a  parent  stock.  A 
derivation  of  the  human  soul  from  its  parents  no  more  implies  a  materialis- 
tic view  of  the  soul  and  its  endless  division  and  subdivision,  than  the 
similar  derivation  of  the  brute  proves  the  principle  of  intelligence  in  the 
lower  animals  to  be  wholly  material. 

God's  method  is  not  the  method  of  endless  miracle.  God  works  in  nature  through 
second  causes.  God  does  not  create  a  new  vital  principle  at  the  beginning  of  existence 
of  each  separate  apple,  and  of  each  separate  dog.  Each  of  these  is  the  result  of  a  self- 
multiplying  force,  implanted  once  for  all  in  the  first  of  its  race.  To  say,  with  Moxom 
(Baptist  Review,  1881 :  278),  that  God  is  the  immediate  author  of  each  new  individual,  is 
to  deny  second  causes,  and  to  merge  nature  in  God.  The  whole  tendency  of  modern 
science  is  in  the  opposite  direction.  Nor  is  there  any  good  reason  for  making  the  origin 
of  the  individual  human  soul  an  exception  to  the  general  rule.  Augustine  wavered  in 
his  traducianism  because  he  feared  the  inference  that  the  soul  is  divided  and  subdi- 
vided— that  is,  that  it  is  composed  of  parts,  and  is  therefore  material  in  its  nature.  But 
it  does  not  follow  that  all  separation  is  material  separation.  We  do  not,  indeed,  know 
how  the  soul  is  propagated.  But  we  know  that  animal  life  is  propagated,  and  still  that 
it  is  not  material,  nor  composed  of  parts.  The  fact  that  the  soul  is  not  material,  nor 
composed  of  parts,  is  no  reason  why  it  may  not  be  propagated  also. 

(c)  The  observed  transmission  not  merely  of  physical,  but  of  mental  and 
spiritual,  characteristics  in  families  and  races,  and  especially  the  uniformly 
evil  moral  tendencies  and  dispositions  which  all  men  possess  from  their 
birth,  are  proof  that  in  soul,  as  well  as  in  body,  we  derive  our  being  from 
our  human  ancestry. 

Galton,  in  his  Hereditary  Genius,  and  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  furnishes  abun- 
dant proof  of  the  transmission  of  mental  and  spiritual  characteristics  from  father  to 
son.  Illustrations,  in  the  case  of  families,  are  the  American  Adamses,  the  English 
Georges,  the  French  Bourbons,  the  German  Bachs.  Illustrations,  in  the  case  of  races, 
are  the  Indians,  the  Negroes,  the  Chinese,  the  Jews.  Hawthorne  represented  the  intro- 
spection and  the  conscience  of  Puritan  New  England.  Emerson  had  a  minister  among 
his  ancestry,  either  on  the  paternal  or  the  maternal  side,  for  eight  generations  back. 
Every  man  is  "a  chip  of  the  old  block."  "A  man  is  an  omnibus,  in  which  all  his  an- 
cestors are  seated  "  (O.  W.  Holmes).  Variation  is  one  of  the  properties  of  living  things 
—the  other  is  transmission.  "  On  a  dissecting  table,  in  the  membranes  of  a  new-born 
infant's  body,  can  be  seen  'the  drunkard's  tinge.'  The  blotches  on  his  grand-child's 
cheeks  furnish  a  mirror  to  the  old  debauchee.  Heredity  is  God's  visiting  of  sin  to  the 
third  and  fourth  generations."  On  heredity  and  depravity,  see  Phelps  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Apr., 
1884  :  254—"  When  every  molecule  in  the  paternal  brain  bears  the  shape  of  a  point  of 
interrogation,  it  would  border  on  the  miraculous  if  we  should  find  the  exclamation- 
sign  of  faith  in  the  brain-cells  of  the  child." 

(d)  The  traducian  doctrine  embraces  and  acknowledges  the  element  of 
truth  which  gives  plausibility  to  the  creation  view.    Traducianism,  properly 
denned,  admits  a  divine  concurrence  throughout  the  whole  development  of 
the  human  species,  and  allows,  under  the  guidance  of  a  superintending 
Providence,  special  improvements  in  type  at  the  birth  of  marked  men,  sim- 
ilar to  those  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  occurred  in  the  introduction  of 
new  varieties  in  the  animal  creation. 

Page-Roberts,  Oxford  University  Sermons:  "It  is  no  more  unjust  that  man  should 
inherit  evil  tendencies,  than  that  he  should  inherit  good.  To  make  the  former  impossible 
is  to  make  the  latter  impossible.  To  object  to  the  law  of  heredity,  is  to  object  to  God's 
ordinance  of  society,  and  to  say  that  God  should  have  made  men,  like  the  angels,  a  com- 
pany, and  not  a  race."  The  common  moral  characteristics  of  the  race  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for  upon  the  Scriptural  view  that  "that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh"  (John  3  :  6). 
Since  propagation  is  a  propagation  of  soul,  as  well  as  body,  we  see  that  to  beget  children 
under  improper  conditions  is  a  crime,  and  that  f  oeticide  is  murder.  On  organic  unity  in 
connection  with  realism,  see  Hodge,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1865  : 126-135.  See  also 


254  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

Dabney,  Theology,  317-321 ;  Ribot,  Heredity ;  W.  K.  Brooks,  Heredity  (the  male  element 
representing  the  law  of  variation ;  the  female  the  conservative  principle). 

Y.     THE  MORAL  NATURE  OF  MAN. 

By  the  moral  nature  of  man  we  mean  those  powers  which  fit  him  for 
right  or  wrong  action.  These  powers  are  intellect,  sensibility,  and  will, 
together  with  that  peculiar  power  of  discrimination  and  impulsion,  which 
we  call  conscience.  In  order  to  moral  action,  man  has  intellect  or  reason,  to 
discern  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong ;  sensibility,  to  be  moved 
by  each  of  these  ;  free  will,  to  do  the  one  or  the  other.  Intellect,  sensibil- 
ity, and  will  are  man's  three  faculties.  But  in  connection  with  these  facul- 
ties there  is  a  sort  of  activity  which  involves  them  all,  and  without  which 
there  can  be  no  moral  action,  namely,  the  activity  of  conscience.  Con- 
science applies  the  moral  law  to  particular  cases  in  our  personal  experience, 
and  proclaims  that  law  as  binding  upon  us.  Only  a  rational  and  sentient 
being  can  be  truly  moral ;  yet  it  does  not  come  within  our  province  to  treat 
of  man's  intellect  or  sensibility  in  general.  We  speak  here  only  of  Con- 
science and  of  Will. 

1.     Conscience. 

As  already  intimated,  conscience  is  not  a  separate  faculty,  like  intellect, 
sensibility,  and  will,  but  rather  a  mode  in  which  these  faculties  act.  Like 
consciousness,  conscience  is  an  accompanying  knowledge.  Conscience  is  a 
knowing  of  self  (including  our  acts  and  states)  in  connection  with  a  moral 
standard,  or  law.  Adding  now  the  element  of  feeling,  we  may  say  that 
conscience  is  man's  consciousness  of  his  own  moral  relations,  together  with 
a  peculiar  feeling  in  view  of  them.  It  thus  involves  the  combined  action 
of  the  intellect  and  of  the  sensibility,  and  that,  in  view  of  a  certain  class  of 
objects,  viz. :  right  and  wrong. 

But  we  need  to  define  more  narrowly  both  the  intellectual  and  the  emo- 
tional elements  in  conscience.  As  respects  the  intellectual  element,  we  may 
say  that  conscience  is  a  power  of  judgment — it  declares  our  acts  or  states  to 
conform,  or  not  to  conform,  to  law  ;  it  declares  the  acts  or  states  which  con- 
form to  be  obligatory — those  which  do  not  conform,  to  be  forbidden.  In 
other  words,  conscience  judges  :  (1)  This  is  right  (or  wrong) ;  (2)  I  ought 
(or  I  ought  not).  In  connection  with  this  latter  judgment,  there  comes  into 
view  the  emotional  element  of  conscience — we  feel  the  claim  of  duty  ;  there 
is  an  inner  sense  that  the  wrong  must  not  be  done.  Thus  conscience  is 
(1)  discriminative,  and  (2)  impulsive. 

The  nature  and  office  of  conscience  will  be  still  more  clearly  perceived  if 
we  distinguish  it  from  other  processes  and  operations  with  which  it  is  too 
often  confounded.  The  term  conscience  has  been  used  by  various  writers 
to  designate  either  one  or  all  of  the  following :  1.  Moral  intuition— the 
intuitive  perception  of  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong,  as  opposite 
moral  categories.  2.  Accepted  law — the  application  of  the  intuitive  idea 
to  general  classes  of  actions,  and  the  declaration  that  these  classes  of  actions 
are  right  or  wrong,  apart  from  our  individual  relation  to  them.  This 
accepted  law  is  the  complex  product  of  (a)  the  intuitive  idea,  (6)  the  logi- 
cal intelligence,  (c)  experiences  of  utility,  (d)  influences  of  society  and 


THE    MORAL   NATURE    OF    MAN.  ,  255 

education,  and  (e)  positive  divine  revelation.  3.  Judgment — applying 
this  accepted  law  to  individual  and  concrete  cases  in  our  own  experience, 
and  pronouncing  our  own  acts  or  states  either  past,  present,  or  prospective, 
to  be  right  or  wrong.  4.  Command — authoritative  declaration  of  obligation 
to  do  the  right,  or  forbear  the  wrong,  together  with  an  impulse  of  the  sen- 
sibility away  from  the  one,  and  toward  the  other.  5.  Rem,orse  or  approval 
— moral  sentiments  either  of  approbation  or  disapprobation,  in  view  of  past 
acts  or  states,  regarded  as  wrong  or  right.  6.  Fear  or  hope — instinctive 
disposition  of  disobedience  to  expect  punishment,  and  of  obedience  to 
expect  reward. 

From  what  has  been  previously  said,  it  is  evident  that  only  3.  and  4.  are 
properly  included  under  the  term  conscience.  Conscience  is  the  moral 
judiciary  of  the  soul — the  power  within  of  judgment  and  command.  Con- 
science must  judge  according  to  the  law  given  to  it,  and  therefore,  since  the 
moral  standard  accepted  by  the  reason  may  be  imperfect,  its  decisions, 
while  relatively  just,  may  be  absolutely  unjust. — 1.  and  2.  belong  to  the 
moral  reason,  but  not  to  conscience  proper.  Hence  the  duty  of  enlight- 
ening and  cultivating  the  moral  reason,  so  that  conscience  may  have  a 
proper  standard  of  judgment. — 5.  and  6.  belong  to  the  sphere  of  moral 
sentiment,  and  not  to  conscience  proper.  Since  conscience,  in  the  proper 
sense,  gives  uniform  and  infallible  judgment  that  the  right  is  supremely 
obligatory,  and  that  the  wrong  must  be  forborne  at  every  cost,  it  can  be 
called  an  echo  of  God's  voice,  and  an  indication  in  man  of  that  which  is 
supreme  in  the  nature  of  God.  Its  office  is  to  "bear  witness "  (Eom.  2  : 15). 

In  Rom.  2  : 15—"  they  shew  the  work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  witness  therewith, 
and  their  thoughts  one  with  another  accusing  or  else  excusing  them"— we  have  conscience  clearly  distin- 
guished both  from  the  law  and  the  perception  of  law  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the 
moral  sentiments  of  approbation  and  disapprobation  on  the  other.  Conscience  does 
not  furnish  the  law,  but  it  bears  witness  with  the  law  which  is  furnished  by  other 
sources.  It  is  not  "  that  power  of  mind  by  which  moral  law  is  discovered  to  each  indi- 
vidual "  ( Calderwood,  Moral  Philosophy,  77 )  nor  can  we  speak  of  "  Conscience,  the  Law" 
(as  Whewell  does  in  his  Elements  of  Morality,  1 :  359-266).  Conscience  is  not  the  law- 
book,  in  the  court  room,  but  it  is  the  judge— whose  business  is,  not  to  make  law,  but  to 
decide  cases  according-  to  the  law  given  to  him. 

As  conscience  is  not  legislative,  so  it  is  not  retributive ;  as  it  is  not  the  law-book,  so  it 
is  not  the  sheriff.  We  say,  indeed,  in  popular  language,  that  conscience  scourges  or 
chastises,  but  it  is  only  in  the  sense  in  which  we  say  that  the  judge  punishes — i.  e. 
through  the  sheriff.  The  moral  sentiments  are  the  sheriff— they  carry  out  the  decisions 
of  conscience,  the  judge;  but  they  are  not  themselves  conscience,  any  more  than  the 
sheriff  is  the  judge. 

Only  this  doctrine,  that  conscience  does  not  discover  law,  can  explain  on  the  one 
hand  the  fact  that  men  are  bound  to  follow  their  consciences,  and  on  the  other  hand  the 
fact  that  their  consciences  so  greatly  differ  as  to  what  is  right  or  wrong  in  particular 
cases.  The  truth  is,  that  conscience  is  uniform  and  infallible,  in  the  sense  that  it  always 
decides  rightly  according  to  the  law  given  it.  Men's  decisions  vary,  only  because  the 
moral  reason  has  presented  to  the  conscience  different  standards  by  which  to  judge. 

Conscience  can  be  educated  only  in  the  sense  of  acquiring  greater  facility  and  quick- 
ness in  making  its  decisions.  Education  has  its  chief  effect,  not  upon  the  conscience,  but 
upon  the  moral  reason,  in  rectifying  its  erroneous  or  imperfect  standards  of  judgment. 
Give  conscience  a  right  law  by  which  to  judge,  and  its  decisions  will  be  uniform,  and 
absolutely  as  well  as  relatively  just.  We  are  botmd,  not  only  to  "follow  our  con- 
science," but  to  have  a  right  conscience  to  follow— and  to  follow  it,  not  as  one  follows 
the  beast  he  drives,  but  as  the  soldier  follows  his  commander. 

Conscience  is  the  con-knowing  of  a  particular  act  or  state,  as  coming  under  the  law 
accepted  by  the  reason  as  to  right  and  wrong ;  and  the  judgment  of  conscience  subsumes 


256  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

this  act  or  state  under  that  general  standard.  Conscience  cannot  include  the  law— can- 
not itself  be  the  law— because  reason  only  knows,  never  con-knows.  Reason  says  scio ; 
only  judgment  says  conscio. 

This  view  enables  us  to  reconcile  the  intuitional  and  the  empirical  theories  of  morals. 
Each  has  its  element  of  truth.  The  original  sense  of  right  and  wrong  is  intuitive— no 
education  could  ever  impart  the  idea  of  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong  to 
one  who  had  it  not.  But  what  classes  of  things  are  right  or  wrong,  we  learn  by  the 
exercise  of  our  logical  intelligence,  in  connection  with  experiences  of  utility,  influences 
of  society  and  tradition,  and  positive  divine  revelation.  Thus  our  moral  reason,  through 
a  combination  of  intuition  and  education,  of  internal  and  external  information  as  to 
.general  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  furnishes  the  standard  according  to  which  con- 
science may  judge  the  particular  cases  which  come  before  it. 

This  moral  reason  may  become  depraved  by  sin,  so  that  the  light  becomes  darkness 
( Mat.  6 : 22,  23 )  and  conscience  has  only  a  perverse  standard  by  which  to  judge.  The  "  weak  " 
conscience  (1  Cor.  8  : 12)  is  one  whose  standard  of  judgment  is  yet  imperfect ;  the  consci- 
ence " branded "  ( Rev.  Vers. )  or  " seared  "  ( A.  V. )  "as  with  a  hot  iron "  ( 1  Tim.  4  :  2 )  is  one  whose 
standard  has  been  wholly  perverted  by  practical  disobedience.  The  word  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  are  the  chief  agencies  in  rectifying  our  standards  of  judgment,  and  so  of  enabling 
conscience  to  make  absolutely  right  decisions.  God  can  so  unite  the  soul  to  Christ,  that 
it  becomes  partaker  on  the  one  hand  of  his  satisfaction  to  justice  and  is  thus  "  sprinkled  from 
an  evil  conscience"  (Heb.  10  :  22),  and  on  the  other  hand  of  his  sanctifying  power  and  is  thus 
enabled  in  certain  respects  to  obey  God's  command  and  to  speak  of  a  "  good  conscience  " 
<1  Pet.  3  : 16— of  single  act ;  3  :  21—  of  state)  instead  of  an  "  evil  conscience  "  (Heb.  10  :  22)  or  a  consci- 
ence "defiled"  (Tit.  1 : 15)  by  sin.  Here  the  "good  conscience"  is  the  conscience  which  has  been 
obeyed  by  the  will,  and  the  "evil  conscience"  the  conscience  which  has  been  disobeyed ;  with 
the  result,  in  the  first  case,  of  approval  from  the  moral  sentiments,  and,  in  the  second 
case,  of  disapproval. 

The  conscience  of  the  regenerate  man  may  have  such  right  standards,  and  its  decisions 
may  be  followed  by  such  uniformly  right  action,  that  its  voice,  though  it  is  not  itself 
God's  voice,  is  yet  the  very  echo  of  God's  voice.  The  renewed  conscience  may  take 
up  unto  itself,  and  may  express,  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (Rom.  9  : 1— "I  say  the 
truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  bearing  witness  with  me  in  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  c/.  8  : 16— "the  Spirit  himself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  children  of  God  " ). 

But  even  when  conscience  judges  according  to  imperfect  standards,  and  is  imperfectly 
obeyed  by  the  will,  there  is  a  spontaneity  in  its  utterances  and  a  sovereignty  in  its  com- 
mands. It  declares  that  whatever  is  right  must  be  done.  The  imperative  of  conscience 
is  a  "  categorical  imperative  "  (Kant).  It  is  independent  of  the  human  will.  Even  when 
disobeyed,  it  still  asserts  its  authority.  Before  conscience,  every  other  impulse  and  affec- 
tion of  man's  nature  is  called  to  bow. 

Yet  conscience  is  not  an  original  authority.  "The  authority  of  conscience"  is  an 
abbreviated  form  of  expression  for  the  authority  of  the  moral  law,  or  rather,  the 
authority  of  the  personal  God,  of  whose  nature  the  law  is  but  a  transcript.  Conscience, 
therefore,  with  its  continual  and  supreme  demand  that  that  which  is  right  should  be 
done,  furnishes  the  best  witness  to  man  of  the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  and  of  the 
supremacy  of  holiness  in  him  in  whose  image  we  are  made. 

On  the  New  Testament  passages  with  regard  to  conscience,  see  Hofmann,  Lehre  von 
dem  Gewissen,  30-38 ;  Kahler,  Das  Gewissen,  225-293.  For  the  view  that  conscience  is 
primarily  the  cognitive  or  intuitional  power  of  the  soul,  see  Calderwood,  Moral  Philos- 
ophy, 77;  Alexander,  Moral  Science,  20;  McCosh,  Div.  Gov't,  297-312;  Talbot,  Ethical 
Prolegomena,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  July,  1877  : 257-274 ;  Park,  Discourses,  260-296 ;  Whewell, 
Elements  of  Morality,  1 :  259-266.  On  the  whole  subject  of  conscience,  see  Mansel,  Meta- 
physics, 158-170 ;  Martineau,  Religion  and  Materialism,  45-"  The  discovery  of  duty  is 
as  distinctly  relative  to  an  objective  Righteousness  as  the  perception  of  form  to  an 
external  space." 

Hopkins,  Outline  Study  of  Man,  283-285,  Moral  Science,  49,  Law  of  Love,  41—"  Con- 
science is  the  moral  consciousness  of  man  in  view  of  his  own  actions  as  related  to  moral 
law.  It  is  a  double  knowledge  of  self  and  of  the  law.  Conscience  is  not  the  whole  of 
the  moral  nature.  It  presupposes  the  moral  reason,  which  recognizes  the  moral  law 
and  affirms  its  universal  obligation  for  all  moral  beings.  It  is  the  office  of  conscience 
to  bring  man  into  personal  relation  to  this  law.  It  sets  up 'a  tribunal  within  him  by 
which  his  own  actions  are  judged.  Not  conscience,  but  the  moral  reason,  judges  of  the 
conduct  of  others.  This  last  is  science,  but  not  conscience."  Way  land,  Moral  Science, 
49 ;  Harless,  Christian  Ethics,  45,  60 ;  H.  N.  Day,  Science  of  Ethics,  17 ;  Janet,  Theory 


THE   MORAL   NATURE   OF   MAN. 


257 


of  Morals,  364,  348;  Kant,  Metaphysic  of  Ethics,  62;  c/.  Schwegler,  Hist.  Philosophy, 
333;  Haven,  Mor.  Philos.,  41;  Fairchild,  Mor.  Phil.,  75;  Gregory,  Christian  Ethics,  71. 

Peabody,  Moral  Philos.,  41-60—"  Conscience  not  a  source,  but  a  means,  of  knowledge. 
Analogous  to  consciousness.  A  judicial  faculty.  Judges  according  to  the  law  before 
it.  Verdict  (verum  dictum)  always  relatively  right,  although,  by  the  absolute  standard 
of  right,  it  may  be  wrong.  Like  all  perceptive  faculties,  educated  by  use  (not  by 
increase  of  knowledge  only,  for  man  may  act  worse,  the  more  knowledge  he  has).  For 
absolutely  right  decisions,  conscience  is  dependent  upon  knowledge.  To  recognize 
conscience  as  legislator  (as  well  as  judge),  is  to  fail  to  recognize  any  objective  standard 
of  right."  The  Two  Consciences,  46,  47—"  Conscience  the  Law,  and  Conscience  the  Wit- 
ness. The  latter  is  the  true  and  proper  Conscience." 

H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christ.  Theology,  178-191—"  The  unity  of  conscience  is  not  in 
its  being  one  faculty  or  in  its  performing  one  function,  but  in  its  having  one  object,  its 
relation  to  one  idea,  viz.  right ....  The  term  '  conscience '  no  more  designates  a  special 
faculty  than  the  term  '  religion '  does  ( or  than  the  '  aesthetic  sense ')....  The  existence 
of  conscience  proves  a  moral  law  above  us ;  it  leads  logically  to  a  Moral  Governor ; .  . .  . 
it  implies  an  essential  distinction  between  right  and  wrong,  an  immutable  morality ; .  . . . 
yet  needs  to  be  enlightened ; . . .  .  men  may  be  conscientious  in  iniquity ; .  . . .  conscience 
is  not  righteousness ;  . . .  .  this  may  only  show  the  greatness  of  the  depravity,  having 
conscience,  and  yet  ever  disobeying  it." 

2.      Will. 

A.  Will  defined. — Will  is  the  soul's  power  to  choose  between  motives 
and  to  direct  its  subsequent  activity  according  to  the  motive  thus  chosen — 
in  other  words,  the  soul's  power  to  choose  both  an  end  and  the  means  to 
attain  it.     The  choice  of  an  ultimate  end  we  call  immanent  preference  ;  the 
choice  of  means  we  call  executive  volition. 

i»X       IJ 

B.  Will  and  other  faculties.— (a)  We  accept  the  threefold  division  of*^ 
human  faculties  into  intellect,   sensibility,   and  will.     (6)  Intellect  is  the 
soul  knowing ;  sensibility  is  the  soul  feeling  (desires,  affections) ;   will  is 
the  soul  choosing  (end  or  means),     (c)  In  every  act  of  the  soul,   all  the 
faculties  act.      Knowing  involves  feeling  and  willing ;    feeling  involves 
knowing  and  willing  ;  willing  involves  knowing  and  feeling,     (d]  Logically, 
each  latter  faculty  involves  the  preceding  action  of  the  former  :  the  soul 
must  know  before  feeling;   must  know  and  feel  before  willing,     (e)  Yet 
since  knowing  and  feeling  are  activities,  neither  of  these  is  possible  without 
willing. 

C.  Will  and  permanent  states. — (a)    Though   every  act  of    the   soul 
involves  the  action  of  all  the  faculties,  yet  in  any  particular  action  one 
faculty  may  be  more  prominent  than  the  others.     So  we  speak  of  acts  of 
intellect,    of    affection,    of    will.      (6)   This  predominant    action   of    any 
single  faculty  produces  effects  upon  the  other  faculties  associated  with  it. 
The  action  of  will  gives  a  direction  to  the  intellect  and  to  the  affections,  as 
well  as  a  permanent  bent  to  the  will  itself,     (c)     Each  faculty,  therefore,  has 
its  permanent  states  as  well  as  its  transient  acts,  and  the  will  may  originate 
these  states.     Hence  we  speak  of  voluntary  affections,  and  may  with  equal 
propriety  speak  of  voluntary  opinions.     These  permanent  voluntary  states 
we  denominate  character. 

D.  Will  and  motives. — (a)  The  permanent  states  just  mentioned,  when 
they  have  been  once  determined,  also  influence  the  will.     Internal  views 
and  dispositions,    and  not  simply   external  presentations,    constitute  the 
strength  of   motives.     (6)  These  motives  often  conflict,    and  though  the 

17 


258  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

soul  never  acts  without  motive,  it  does  notwithstanding  choose  between 
motives,  and  so  determines  the  end  toward  which  it  will  direct  its  activities. 
(c)  Motives  are  not  causes,  which  compel  the  will,  but  influences,  which 
persuade  it.  The  power  of  these  motives,  however,  is  proportioned  to  the 
strength  of  will  which  has  entered  into  them  and  has  made  them  what  they 
are. 

E.  Will  and  contrary  choice. — (a)  Though  no  act  of  pure  will  is  pos- 
sible, the  soul   may   put  forth  single  volitions  in  a  direction  opposed  to 
its  previous  ruling  purpose,  and  thus  far  man  has  the  power  of  a  contrary 
choice  (Bom.  7  :  18 — "to  will  is  present  with  me").     (6)  But  in  so  far  as 
will  has  entered  into  and  revealed  itself  in  permanent  states  of  intellect 
and  sensibility  and  in  a  settled  bent  of   the  will  itself,  man  cannot  by  a 
single  act  reverse  his  moral  state,  and  in  this  respect  has  not  the  power  of  a 
contrary  choice,     (c)  In  this  latter  case  he  can  change  his  character  only 
indirectly,  by  turning  his  attention  to  considerations  fitted  to  awaken  oppo- 
site dispositions,  and  by  thus  summoning  up  motives  to  an  opposite  course. 

F.  Will  and  responsibility. — (a)  By  repeated  acts  of  will  put  forth  in 
a  given  moral  direction,  the  affections  may  become  so  confirmed  in  evil  or 
in  good  as  to  make  previously  certain,  though  not  necessary,   the  future 
good  or  evil  action  of  the  man.     Thus,  while  the  will  is  free,  the  man  may 
be  the  "bondservant  of  sin"  (John  8  :  31-36)  or  the  "servant  of  right- 
eousness" (Bom.  6  :  15-23;  c/.  Heb.  12  :  23 — "spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect " ).     (6)  Man  is  responsible  for  all  effects  of  will,  as  well  as  for  will 
itself  ;  for  voluntary  affections,  as  well  as  for  voluntary  acts ;  for  the  intellec- 
tual views  into  which  will  has  entered,   as  well  as  for  the  acts  of  will  by 
which  these  views  have  been  formed  in  the  past  or  are  maintained  in  the 
present  (2  Pet.  3  :  5— "wilfully  forget"). 

G.  Inferences  from  this  view  of  the  will. — (a)  We  can  be  responsible 
for  the  voluntary  evil  affections  with  which  we  are  born,  and  for  the  will's 
inherited  preference  of  selfishness,  only  upon  the  hypothesis  that  we  orig- 
inated these  states  of  the  affections  and  will,  or  had  a  part  in  originating 
them.     Scripture  furnishes  this  explanation,  in  its  doctrine  of  Original  Sin, 
or  the  doctrine  of  a  common  apostasy  of  the  race  in  its  first  father,  and  our 
derivation  of  a  corrupted  nature  by  natural  generation  from  him.     (6)  While 
there  remains  to  man,  even  in  his  present  condition,  a  natural  power  of  will 
by  which  he  may  put  forth  transient  volitions  externally  conformed  to  the 
divine  law  and  so  may  to  a  limited  extent  modify  his  character,  it  still 
remains  true  that  the  sinful  bent  of  his  affections  is  not  directly  under  his 
control ;  and  this  bent  constitutes  a  motive  to  evil  so  constant,  inveterate, 
and  powerful,  that  it  actually  influences  every  member  of  the  race  to  reaffirm 
his  evil  choice,  and  renders  necessary  a  special  working  of  God's  Spirit 
upon  his  heart  to  ensure  his  salvation.     Hence  the  Scripture  doctrine  of 
Regeneration. 

For  references,  and  additional  statements  with  regard  to  the  will  and  its  freedom,  see 
chapter  on  Decrees,  pages  177, 178,  and  article  by  A.  H.  Strong  in  Baptist  Review,  1883  : 
319-242,  on  Modified  Calvinism,  or  Remainders  of  Freedom  in  Man.  In  the  remarks  upon 
the  Decrees,  we  have  intimated  our  rejection  of  the  Arminian  liberty  of  indifference, 
or  the  doctrine  that  the  will  can  act  without  motive.  See  this  doctrine  advocated  in 
Peabody,  Moral  Philosophy,  1-9.  But  we  also  reject  the  theory  of  determinism  pro- 


THE    MORAL   NATURE    OF    MAN.  259 

pounded  by  Jonathan  Edwards  (Freedom  of  the  Will,  in  Works,  vol.  2),  which,  as  we 
have  before  remarked,  identifies  sensibility  with  the  will,  regards  affections  as  the  effi- 
cient causes  of  volitions,  and  speaks  of  the  connection  between  motive  and  action  as  a 
necessary  one.  Hazard,  Man  a  Creative  First  Cause,  and  The  Will,  407—"  Edwards  gives 
to  the  controlling-  cause  of  volition  in  the  past  the  name  of  motive.  He  treats  the  incli- 
nation as  a  motive,  but  he  also  makes  inclination  synonymous  with  choice  and  will,  which 
would  make  will  to  be  only  the  sou!  willing-  -and  therefore  the  cause  of  its  own  act." 
For  objections  to  the  Arminian  theory,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  Review  of  Whedon,  in  Faith 
and  Philosophy,  359-399 ;  McCosh,  Divine  Government,  263-318,  esp.  312. 

We  subjoin  quotations  from  writers  with  whom,  upon  the  subject  of  the  will,  we  sub- 
stantially agree.  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2:54— "A  being-  is  free,  in  so  far  as 
the  inner  centre  of  its  life,  from  which  it  acts,  is  conditioned  by  self-determination.  It 
is  not  enoug-h  that  the  deciding  ag-ent  in  an  act  be  the  man  himself,  his  own  nature,  his 
distinctive  character.  In  order  to  accountability,  we  must  have  more  than  this ;  we 
must  prove  that  this,  his  distinctive  nature  and  character,  springs  from  his  own  volition, 
and  that  it  is  itself  the  product  of  freedom  in  moral  development.  Mat.  12  :  33 — "  make  the 
tree  good,  and  its  fruit  good  "—combines  both.  Acts  depend  upon  nature;  but  nature  again 
depends  upon  the  primary  decisions  of  the  will  (  "  make  the  tree  good  " ).  Some  determinism 
is  not  denied ;  but  it  is  partly  limited  [  by  the  will's  remaining  power  of  choice  ]  and 
partly  traced  back  to  a  former  self -determining."  Ibid,  67— "If  freedom  be  the  self- 
determining  of  the  will  from  that  which  is  undetermined,  Determinism  is  found  want- 
ing,—because  in  its  most  spiritual  form,  though  it  grants  a  self-determination  of  the 
will,  it  is  only  such  a  one  as  springs  from  a  determinateness  already  present ;  and  Indif- 
ferentism  is  found  wanting  too,  because  while  it  maintains  indeterminateness  as  pre- 
supposed in  every  act  of  will,  it  does  not  recognize  an  actual  self-determining  on  the 
part  of  the  will,  which,  though  it  be  a  self-determining,  yet  begets  determinateness 

of  character We  must  therefore  hold  the  doctrine  of  a  conditional  and  limited 

freedom." 

Fisher,  chapter  on  the  Personality  of  God,  in  Grounds  of  Theistic  and  Christian  Belief 
— "  Self-determination,  as  the  very  term  signifies,  is  attended  with  an  irresistible  convic- 
tion that  the  direction  of  the  will  is  self -imparted That  the  will  is  free,  that  is,  not 

constrained  by  causes  exterior,  which  is  fatalism — and  not  a  mere  spontaneity,  confined 
to  one  path  by  a  force  acting  from  within,  which  is  determinism— is  immediately  evident 
to  every  unsophisticated  mind.  We  can  initiate  action  by  an  efficiency  which  is  neither 
irresistibly  controlled  by  motives,  nor  detefmined,  without  any  capacity  of  alternative 
action,  by  a  proneness  inherent  in  its  nature Motives  have  an  influence,  but  influ- 
ence is  not  to  be  confounded  with  causal  efficiency." 

Talbot,  on  Will  and  Free  Will,  Bap.  Rev.,  July,  1882—"  Will  is  neither  a  power  of  un- 
conditioned self-determination— which  is  not  freedom,  but  an  aimless,  irrational,  fatal- 
istic power ;  nor  pure  spontaneity— which  excludes  from  will  all  law  but  its  own ;  but  it 
is  rather  a  power  of  originating  action — a  power  which  is  limited  however  by  inborn 
dispositions,  by  acquired  habits  and  convictions,  by  feelings  and  social  relations."  Ernest 
Naville,  in  Rev.  Chretienne,  Jan.,  1878 :  7—"  Our  liberty  does  not  copsist  in  producing  an 
action  of  which  it  is  the  only  source.  In  consists  in  choosing  between  two  preexistent 
impulses.  It  is  choice,  not  creation,  that  is  our  destiny — a  drop  of  water  that  can  choose 
whether  it  will  go  into  the  Rhine  or  the  Rhone.  Gravity  carries  it  down— it  chooses  only 
its  direction.  Impulses  do  not  come  from  the  will,  but  from  the  sensibility ;  but  free  will 
chooses  between  these  impulses."  Bowne,  Metaphysics,  169— "Freedom  is  not  a  power 
of  acting  without,  or  apart  from,  motives,  but  simply  a  power  of  choosing  an  end  or 
law,  and  of  governing  one's  self  accordingly." 

Porter,  Moral  Science,  77-111:  Will  is  "not  a  power  to  choose  without  motive."  It 
"does  not  exclude  motives  to  the  contrary."  Volition  "  supposes  two  or  more  objects 
between  which  election  is  made.  It  is  an  act  of  preference,  and  to  prefer  implies  that 

one  motive  is  chosen  to  the  exclusion  of  another To  the  conception  and  the  act  two 

motives  at  least  are  required."  Lyall,  Intellect,  Emotions,  and  Moral  Nature,  581,  592— 
"The  will  follows  reasons,  inducements— but  it  is  not  caused.  It  obeys  or  acts  under 
inducement,  but  it  does  so  sovereignly.  It  exhibits  the  phenomena  of  activity,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  very  motive  it  obeys.  It  obeys  it,  rather  than  another.  It  determines,  in 
reference  to  it,  that  this  is  the  very  motive  it  will  obey.  There  is  undoubtedly  this  phe- 
nomenon exhibited :  the  will  obeying— but  elective,  active,  in  its  obedience.  If  it  be 
asked  how  this  is  possible— how  the  will  can  be  under  the  influence  of  motive,  and  yet 
possess  an  intellectual  activity— we  reply  that  this  is  one  of  those  ultimate  phenomena 
which  must  be  admitted,  while  they  cannot  be  explained." 


260  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

Mind,  Oct.,  1882 :  567—"  Kant  seems  to  be  in  quest  of  the  phantasmal  freedom  which 
is  supposed  to  consist  in  the  absence  of  determination  by  motives.  The  error  of  the 
determinists  from  which  this  idea  is  the  recoil,  involves  an  equal  abstraction  of  the  man 
from  his  thoughts,  and  interprets  the  relation  between  the  two  as  an  instance  of  the 
mechanical  causality  which  exists  between  two  things  in  nature.  The  point  to  be 
grasped  in  the  controversy  is  that  a  man  and  his  motives  are  one,  and  that  consequently 

he  is  in  every  instance  self-determined Indeterminism  is  tenable  only  if  an  ego 

can  be  found  which  is  not  an  ego  already  determinate ;  but  such  an  ego,  though  it  may 
be  logically  distinguished  and  verbally  expressed,  is  not  a  factor  in  psychology."  Morell, 
Mental  Philosophy,  390—"  Motives  determine  the  will,  and  so  far  the  will  is  not  free ;  but 
the  man  governs  the  motives,  allowing  them  a  Jess  or  a  greater  power  of  influencing  his 
life,  and  so  far  the  man  is  a  free  agent." 

Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  349-407—"  Action  without  motives,  or  contrary  to  all 
motives,  would  be  irrational  action.  Instead  of  being  free,  it  would  be  like  the  convul- 
sions of  epilepsy.  Motives  =  sensibilities.  Motive  is  not  cause ;  does  not  determine ;  is 
only  influence.  Yet  determination  is  always  made  under  the  influence  of  motives. 
Uniformity  of  action  is  not  to  be  explained  by  any  law  of  uniform  influence  of  mo- 
tives, but  by  character  in  the  will.  By  its  choice,  will  forms  in  itself  a  character ;  by 
action  in  accordance  with  this  choice,  it  confirms  and  develops  the  character.  Choice 
modifies  sensibilities,  and  so  modifies  motives.  Volitional  action  expresses  character, 
but  also  forms  and  modifies  it.  Man  may  change  his  choice ;  yet  intellect,  sensibility, 
motive,  habit,  remain.  Evil  choice,  having  formed  intellect  and  sensibility  into  accord 
with  itself,  must  be  a  powerful  hindrance  to  fundamental  change  by  new  and  contrary 
choice ;  and  gives  small  ground  to  expect  that  man  left  to  himself  ever  will  make  the 
change.  After  will  has  acquired  character  by  choices,  its  determinations  are  not  transi- 
tions from  complete  indeterminateness  or  indifference,  but  are  more  or  less  expressions 
of  character  already  formed.  The  theory  that  indifference  is  essential  to  freedom  im- 
plies that  will  never  acquires  character ;  that  voluntary  action  is  atomistic ;  that  every 
act  is  disintegrated  from  every  other ;  that  character,  if  acquired,  would  be  incompatible 
with  freedom.  Character  is  a  choice,  yet  a  choice  which  persists,  which  modifies  sensi- 
bility and  intellect,  and  which  influences  subsequent  determinations." 

See  also  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christ.  Theol.,  236-251 ;  Mansel,  Proleg.  Log.,  113-155, 
270-278,  and  Metaphysics,  366 ;  Gregory,  Christian  Ethics,  60  ;  Abp.  Manning,  in  Contemp. 
Rev.,  Jan.,  1871 :  468;  Ward,  Philos.  of  Theism,  1 :  287-352;  2  :  1-79,  274-349;  chapter  in 
Lotze's  Outlines  of  Philosophy,  vol.  3 ;  Bp.  Temple,  Bampton  Lect.,  1884:69-96;  Row, 
Man  not  a  Machine,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  5 :  no.  30 ;  Santayana :  "  A  free  man,  because 
he  is  free,  may  make  himself  a  slave ;  but  once  a  slave,  because  he  is  a  slave,  he  cannot 
make  himself  free."  Richards,  Lectures  on  Theology,  97-153;  Solly,  The  Will,  167-203; 
William  James,  The  Dilemma  of  Determinism,  in  Unitarian  Review,  Sept.,  1884;  T.  H. 
Green,  Prolegomena  to  Ethics,  90-159. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    ORIGINAL    STATE   OF   MAN. 

In  determining  man's  original  state,  we  are  wholly  dependent  upon  Scrip- 
ture. This  represents  human  nature  as  coming  from  God's  hand,  and 
therefore  "  very  good  "  (Gen.  1  :  31).  It  moreover  draws  a  parallel  between 
man's  first  state  and  that  of  his  restoration  (Col.  3  :  10 ;  Eph.  4  :  24).  In 
interpreting  these  passages,  however,  we  are  to  remember  the  twofold 
danger,  on  the  one  hand  of  putting  man  so  high  that  no  progress  is  con- 
ceivable, on  the  other  hand  of  putting  him  so  low  that  he  could  not  fall. 
We  shall  the  more  easily  avoid  these  dangers  by  distinguishing  between  the 
essentials  and  the  incidents  of  man's  original  state. 

Gen.  1 :  31— "And  God  saw  every  thing  that  he  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  good  "  ;  Col.  3  : 10— "the  new 
man,  which  is  being  renewed  unto  knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him  "  ;  Eph.  4  :  24 — "  the  new  man, 
which  after  God  hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth." 

Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  337-399—"  The  original  state  must  be  ( 1 )  a  contrast  to 
sin ;  (2)  a  parallel  to  the  state  of  restoration.  Difficulties  in  the  way  of  understanding- 
it :  ( 1 )  What  lives  in  regeneration  is  something  foreign  to  our  present  nature  ( "  it  is  no 
longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  "—Gal.  2  :  20 ) ;  but  the  original  state  was  something  native. 
(2)  It  was  a  state  of  childhood.  We  cannot  fully  enter  into  childhood,  though  we  see  it 
about  us,  and  have  ourselves  been  through  it.  The  original  state  is  yet  more  difficult  to 
reproduce  to  reason.  ( 3 )  Man's  external  circumstances  and  his  organization  have  suf- 
fered great  changes,  so  that  the  present  is  no  sign  of  the  past.  We  must  recur  to  the 
Scriptures,  therefore,  as  well-nigh  our  only  guide." 

Lord  Bacon:  "The  sparkle  of  the  purity  of  man's  fii*st  estate."  Calvin:  "It  was 
monstrous  impiety  that  a  son  of  the  earth  should  not  be  satisfied  with  being  made  after 
the  similitude  of  God,  unless  he  could  also  be  equal  with  him."  Prof.  Hastings:  "The 
truly  natural  is  not  the  real,  but  the  ideal.  Made  in  the  image  of  God— between  that 
beginning  and  the  end  stands  God  made  in  the  image  of  man."  On  the  general  sub- 
ject of  man's  original  state,  see  Zockler,  3:  283-290;  Thomasius,  Christ!  Person  und 
Werk,  1 :  215-243 ;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  1 :  267-276 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  374-375 ; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 :  92-116. 

I.     ESSENTIALS  OF  MAN'S  ORIGINAL  STATE. 

These  are  summed  up  in  the  phrase  "the  image  of  God."  In  God's 
image  man  is  said  to  have  been  created  (Gen.  1  :  26,  27).  In  what  did 
this  image  of  God  consist  ?  We  reply  that  it  consisted  in  1.  Natural  like- 
ness to  God,  or  personality  ;  2.  Moral  likeness  to  God,  or  holiness. 

Gen.  1  :  26,  27— "And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness And  God  created  man  in  his 

own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him."  It  is  of  great  importance  to  distinguish  clearly 
between  the  two  elements  embraced  in  this  image  of  God,  the  natural  and  the  moral. 
By  virtue  of  the  first,  man  possessed  certain  faculties  (intellect,  affection,  will);  by  virtue 
of  the  second,  he  had  right  tendencies  (bent,  proclivity,  disposition).  By  virtue  of  the 
first,  he  was  invested  with  certain  powers ;  by  virtue  of  the  second,  a  certain  direction 
was  imparted  to  these  powers.  As  created  in  the  natural  image  of  God,  man  had  a 
moral  nature ;  as  created  in  the  moral  image  of  God,  man  had  a  holy  character.  The 
first  gave  him  natural  ability ;  the  second  gave  him  moral  ability.  The  Greek  Fathers 


262  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN". 

emphasized  the  first  element,  or  personality ;  the  Latin  Fathers  emphasized  the  second 
element,  or  holiness. 

1.  Natural  likeness  to  God,  or  personality. 

Man  was  created  a  personal  being,  and  was  by  this  personality  distin- 
guished from  the  brute.  By  personality  we  mean  the  twofold  power  to 
know  self  as  related  to  the  world  and  to  God,  and  to  determine  self  in  view 
of  moral  ends.  By  virtue  of  this  personality,  man  could  at  his  creation 
choose  which  of  the  objects  of  his  knowledge — self,  the  world,  or  God — should 
be  the  norm  and  centre  of  his  development.  This  natural  likeness  to  God 
is  inalienable,  and  as  constituting  a  capacity  for  redemption  gives  value  to 
the  life  even  of  the  unregenerate  ( Gen.  9  :  6  ;  1  Cor.  11:7;  James  3:9). 

For  definitions  of  personality,  see  notes  on  the  Anthropological  Argument,  page  45 ; 
on  Pantheism,  page  57;  on  the  Attributes,  pages  121,  122;  and  in  the  chapter  on  the 
Person  of  Christ :  "  The  Real  Nature  of  this  Union.  D.  No  double  personality."  Here 
we  may  content  ourselves  with  the  formula:  Personality  =  self -consciousness  +  self- 
determination.  Seff-consciousness  and  se?/-determination,  as  distinguished  from  the 
consciousness  and  determination  of  the  brute,  involve  all  the  higher  mental  and  moral 
powers  which  constitute  us  men.  Conscience  is  but  a  mode  of  their  activity.  Notice 
that  the  term  4  image '  does  not,  in  man,  imply  perfect  representation.  Only  Christ  is 
the  "  very  image"  of  God  (Heb.  1 :  3),  the  "image  of  the  invisible  God  "  (Col.  1 : 15— on  which  see  Light- 
foot).  Christ  is  the  image  of  God  absolutely  and  archetypally ;  man,  only  relatively 
and  derivatively.  But  notice  also  that,  since  God  is  Spirit,  man  made  in  God's  image 
cannot  be  a  material  thing.  By  virtue  of  his  possession  of  this  first  element  of  the 
image  of  God,  namely,  personality,  materialism  is  excluded. 

This  first  element  of  the  divine  image  man  can  never  lose  until  he  ceases  to  be  man. 
Even  insanity  can  only  obscure  this  natural  image — it  cannot  destroy  it.  St.  Bernard 
well  said  that  it  could  not  be  burned  out,  even  in  hell.  The  lost  piece  of  money  (Luke 
15 : 8)  still  bore  the  image  and  superscription  of  the  King,  even  though  it  did  not  know  it, 
and  did  not  even  know  that  it  was  lost.  Human  nature  is  therefore  to  be  reverenced,  and 
he  who  destroys  human  life  is  to  be  put  to  death  :  Gen.  9  :  6 — "  for  in  the  image  of  God  made  he  man  "  ; 
1  Cor.  11  :  7 — "  A  man  indeed  ought  not  to  have  his  head  veiled,  forasmuch  as  he  is  the  image  and  glory  of  God  "  ;  James 
3  :  9 — even  men  whom  we  curse  "are  made  after  the  likeness  of  God."  This  possession  of  per- 
sonality involves  boundless  possibilities  of  good  or  ill,  and  it  constitutes  the  natural 
foundation  for  the  love  for  man  as  man  which  is  required  of  us  by  the  law.  See  Porter, 
Hum.  Intellect,  393,394,401;  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  2:42;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre, 
2:343. 

2.  Moral  likeness  to  God,  or  holiness. 

In  addition  to  the  powers  of  self -consciousness  and  self-determination  just 
mentioned,  man  was  created  with  such  a  direction  of  the  affections  and  the 
will,  as  constituted  God  the  supreme  end  of  man's  being,  and  constituted 
man  a  finite  reflection  of  God's  moral  attributes.  Since  holiness  is  the 
fundamental  attribute  of  God,  this  must  of  necessity  be  the  chief  attribute 
of  his  image  in  the  moral  beings  whom  he  creates.  That  original  right- 
eousness was  essential  to  this  image,  is  also  distinctly  taught  in  Scripture 
(Eccl.  7  :  29  ;  Eph.  4  :  24 ;  Col.  3  :  10). 

Besides  the  possession  of  natural  powers,  the  image  of  God  involves  the  possession 
of  right  moral  tendencies.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  man  was  created  in  a  state  of 
innocence.  The  Scripture  asserts  that  man  had  a  righteousness  like  God's :  Bed.  7 : 29 
—"God  made  man  upright"  ;  Bph.  4  :  24— "the  new  man,  which  after  God  hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and 
holiness  of  truth  "—here  Meyer  says :  Kara  tieov,  "  after  God,"  i.  e.,  ad  ejcemplnm  Dei,  after  the  pat- 
tern of  God  (Gal.  4  :  28— Kara  'i<radK,  "  after  Isaac  "  =  as  Isaac  was).  This  phrase  makes  the 
creation  of  the  new  man  a  parallel  to  that  of  our  first  parents,  who  were  created  after 
God's  image ;  they  too,  before  sin  came  into  existence  through  Adam,  were  sinless— 'in 
righteousness  and  holiness  of  the  truth.'  " 

Meyer  refers  also,  as  a  parallel  passage,  to  Col.  3  : 10—"  the  new  man,  which  is  being  renewed  unto 


ESSENTIALS   OF   MAN'S   ORIGINAL   STATE.  263 

knowledge  after  the  image  of  him  that  created  him."  Here  the  "  knowledge  "  referred  to  is  that  knowl- 
edge of  God  which  is  the  source  of  all  virtue,  and  which  is  inseparable  from  holiness  of 
heart.  On  Eph.  4  :  24  and  Col.  3  : 10,  the  classical  passages  with  regard  to  man's  original 
state,  see  also  the  Commentaries  of  DeWette,  Riickert,  Ellicott,  and  compare  Gen.  5  :  3— 
"  And  Adam  lived  an  hundred  and  thirty  years,  and  begat  a  son  in  his  own  likeness,  after  his  image,"  i.  e.  in  his 
own  sinful  likeness,  which  is  evidently  contrasted  with  the  "likeness  of  God"  (verse  1)  in 
which  he  himself  had  been  created  (An.  Par.  Bible) ;  2  Cor.  4  :  4—"  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God  " 
—where  the  phrase  "image  of  God  "  is  not  simply  the  natural,  but  also  the  moral,  image. 

This  original  righteousness,  in  which  the  image  of  God  chiefly  consisted, 
is  to  be  viewed  : 

(a)  Not  as  constituting  the  substance  or  essence  of  human  nature, — for 
in  this  case  human  nature  would  have  ceased  to  exist  as  soon  as  man  sinned. 

Men  every  day  change  their  tastes  and  loves,  without  changing  the  essence  or  sub- 
stance of  their  being.  When  sin  is  called  a  "  nature,"  therefore  (as  by  Shedd,  in  his 
Essay  on  "  Sin  a  Nature,  and  that  Nature  Guilt "),  it  is  only  in  the  sense  of  being  some- 
thing inborn  (natura,  from  nascor).  Hereditary  tastes  may  just  as  properly  be  denom- 
inated a  "  nature  "  as  may  the  substance  of  one's  being.  Moehler,  the  greatest  modern 
Roman  Catholic  critic  of  Protestant  doctrine,  in  his  Symbolism,  58,  59,  absurdly  holds 
Luther  to  have  taught  that  by  the  fall  man  lost  his  essential  nature,  and  that  another 
essence  was  substituted  in  its  room.  Luther,  however,  is  only  rhetorical  when  he  says : 
"It  is  the  nature  of  man  to  sin ;  sin  constitutes  the  essence  of  man ;  the  nature  of  man 
since  the  fall  has  become  quite  changed ;  original  sin  is  that  very  thing  which  is  born  of 
father  and  mother ;  the  clay  out  of  which  we  are  formed  is  damnable ;  the  foetus  in 
the  maternal  womb  is  sin ;  man  as  born  of  his  father  and  mother,  together  with  his 
whole  essence  and  nature,  is  not  only  a  sinner  but  sin  itself." 

(6)  Nor  as  a  gift  from  without,  foreign  to  human  nature,  and  added  to 
it  after  man's  creation, — for  man  is  said  to  have  possessed  the  divine  image 
by  the  fact  of  creation,  and  not  by  subsequent  bestowal. 

As  men,  since  Adam,  are  born  with  a  sinful  nature,  that  is,  with  tendencies  away  from 
God,  so  Adam  was  created  with  a  holy  nature,  that  is,  with  tendencies  toward  God. 
Moehler  says:  "God  cannot  give  a  man  actions."  We  reply:  "No,  but  God  can  give 
man  dispositions;  and  he  does  this  at  the  first  creation,  as  well  as  at  the  new  creation 
{regeneration). 

(c)  But  rather,  as  an  original  direction  or  tendency  of  man's  affections 
and  will,  still  accompanied  by  the  power  of  evil  choice,  and  so"  differing 
from  the  perfected  holiness  of  the  saints,  as  instinctive  affection  and  child- 
like innocence  differ  from  the  holiness  that  has  been  developed  and  con- 
firmed by  experience  of  temptation. 

Man's  original  righteousness  was  not  immutable  or  indefectible ;  there  was  still  the 
possibility  of  sinning.  Though  the  first  man  was  fundamentally  good,  he  still  had  the 
power  of  choosing  evil.  There  was  a  bent  of  the  affections  and  will  toward  God,  but 
man  was  not  yet  confirmed  in  holiness. 

(d)  As  a  moral  disposition,  moreover,  which  was  propagable  to  Adam's 
descendants,  if  it  continued,  and  which,  though  lost  to  him  and  to  them,  if 
Adam  sinned,  would  still  leave  man  possessed  of  a  natural  likeness  to  God 
which  made  him  susceptible  of  God's  redeeming  grace. 

Hooker  (Works,  ed.  Keble,  2  :  683)  distinguishes  between  aptness  and  ableness.  The 
latter,  men  have  lost ;  the  former,  they  retain— else  grace  could  not  work  in  us,  more 
than  in  the  brutes.  Base:  "Only  enough  likeness  to  God  remained  to  remind  man  of 
what  he  had  lost,  and  to  enable  him  to  feel  the  hell  of  God's  forsaking."  The  moral 
likeness  to  God  can  be  restored,  but  only  by  God  himself.  God  secures  this  to  men  by 
making  "the  light  of  the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  .  .  .  dawn  upon  them"  (2  Cor.  4:4). 
See  Edwards,  Works,  2  : 19,  20,  381-390;  3  : 102, 103;  Hopkins,  Works,  1 : 162 ;  Shedd,  Hist. 
Doctrine,  2  :  50-66 ;  Augustine,  De  Civitate  Dei,  14  : 11. 


264  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

In  the  light  of  the  preceding  investigation,  we  may  properly  estimate  two 
theories  of  man's  original  state  which  claim  to  be  more  Scriptural  and 
reasonable  : 

A.     The  image  of  God  as  including  only  personality. 

This  theory  denies  that  any  positive  determination  to  virtue  inhered 
originally  in  man's  nature,  and  regards  man  at  the  beginning  as  simply 
possed  of  spiritual  powers,  perfectly  adjusted  to  each  other.  This  is  the 
view  of  Schleiermacher,  who  is  followed  by  Nitzsch,  Julius  Miiller,  and 
Hofmann. 

For  the  view  here  combatted,  see  Schleiermacher,  Christl.  Glaube,  sec.  60 ;  Nitzsch, 
System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  201 ;  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  of  Sin,  2  : 113-133,  350-357 ;  Hof- 
mann, Schriftbeweis,  1 :  287-291 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  7  :  409-425.  Julius  Mtiller's  theory  of  a  fall  in 
a  preexistent  state  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  hold  here  that  Adam  was  possessed 
of  moral  likeness  to  God.  The  origin  of  his  view  of  the  image  of  God  renders  it  liable 
to  suspicion.  Raymond  (Theology,  2  :  43, 132)  is  an  American  representative  of  the  view 
that  the  image  of  God  consists  in  mere  personality :  "  The  image  of  God  in  which  man 
was  created  did  not  consist  in  an  inclination  and  determination  of  the  will  to  holiness." 
This  is  maintained  upon  the  ground  that  such  a  moral  likeness  to  God  would  have 
rendered  it  impossible  for  man  to  fall— to  which  we  reply  that  Adam's  righteousness 
was  not  immutable,  and  the  bias  of  his  will  toward  God  did  not  render  it  impossible  for 
him  to  sin.  Motives  do  not  compel  the  will,  and  Adam  at  least  had  a  certain  power  of 
contrary  choice. 

In  addition  to  what  has  already  been  said  in  support  of  the  opposite  view, 
we  may  urge  against  this  theory  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  It  is  contrary  to  analogy,  in  making  man  the  author  of  his  own  holi- 
ness ;  our  sinful  condition  is  not  the  product  of  our  individual  wills,  nor  is 
our  subsequent  condition  of  holiness  the  product  of  anything  but  God's  re- 
generating power. 

To  hold  that  Adam  was  created  undecided,  would  make  man,  as  Philippi  says,  in  the 
highest  sense  his  own  creator.  But  morally,  as  well  as  physically,  man  is  God's  crea- 
ture. In  regeneration  it  is  not  sufficient  for  God  to  give  power  to  decide  for  good ;  God 
must  give  new  love  also.  If  this  be  so  in  the  new  creation,  God  could  give  love  in  the 
first  creation  also.  Holiness  therefore  is  creatable.  "  Underived  holiness  is  possible 
only  in  God ;  in  its  origin,  it  is  given  both  to  angels  and  men."  Therefore  we  pray : 
"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart "  (Ps.  51 : 10 ) ;  "  Incline  my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies  "  (Ps.  119  :  36).  See  Edwards, 
Eff.  Grace,  sec.  43-51. 

(6)  The  knowledge  of  God  in  which  man  was  originally  created  logically 
presupposes  a  direction  toward  God  of  man's  affections  and  will,  since  only 
the  holy  heart  can  have  any  proper  understanding  of  the  God  of  holiness. 

Ubi  caritas,  ibi  claritas.  Man's  heart  was  originally  filled  with  divine  love,  and  out  of 
this  came  the  knowledge  of  God.  We  know  God  only  as  we  love  him,  and  this  love 
comes  not  from  our  own  single  volition.  No  one  loves  by  command,  because  no  one 
can  give  himself  love.  In  Adam  love  was  an  inborn  impulse,  which  he  could  affirm  or 
deny.  Compare  1  Cor.  8  :  3—" If  any  man  loveth  God,  the  same  [God]  is  known  by  him "  ;  1  John  4  :  8— "He 
that  loveth  not  knoweth  not  God."  See  other  Scripture  references  on  page  3. 

(c)  A  likeness  to  God  in  mere  personality,  such  as  Satan  also  possesses, 
comes  far  short  of  answering  the  demands  of  the  Scripture,  in  which  the 
ethical  conception  of  the  divine  nature  so  overshadows  the  merely  natural. 
The  image  of  God  must  be  not  simply  ability  to  be  like  God,  but  actual 
likeness. 

God  could  never  create  an  intelligent  being  evenly  balanced  between  good  and  evil— 
"  on  the  razor's  edge  "— "  on  the  fence."  The  preacher  who  took  for  his  text  "  Adam,  where 
art  thou  ?  "  had  for  his  first  head :  "  It  is  every  man's  business  to  be  somewhere."  A  simple 


ESSENTIALS   OF   MAN'S   ORIGINAL    STATE.  265 

capacity  for  good  or  evil  is,  as  Augustine  says,  already  sinful.  A  man  who  is  neutral 
between  good  and  evil  is  already  a  violator  of  that  law,  which  requires  likeness  to  God 
in  the  bent  of  his  nature.  Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psychol.,  31 :  78-87—"  Personality  is  only  the 
basis  of  the  divine  image— it  is  not  the  image  itself."  Bledsoe  says  there  can  be  no  cre- 
ated virtue  or  viciousness.  Whedon  (On  the  Will,  388)  objects  to  this,  and  says  rather: 
"There  can  be  no  created  moral  desert,  good  or  evil.  Adam's  nature  as  created  was 
pure  and  excellent,  but  there  was  nothing  meritorious  until  he  had  freely  and  rightly 
exercised  his  will  with  full  power  to  the  contrary."  We  add :  There  was  nothing  meri- 
torious even  then.  For  substance  of  these  objections,  see  Philippi,  Glaubensjehre, 
2:346. 

B.  The  image  of  God  as  consisting  simply  in  man's  natural  capacity  for 
religion. 

This  view,  first  elaborated  by  the  scholastics,  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  It  distinguishes  between  the  image  and  the  likeness  of 
God.  The  former  (DSy — Gen.  1  :  26 )  alone  belonged  to  man's  nature  at  its 
creation.  The  latter  (n-lD1!)  was  the  product  of  his  own  acts  of  obedience. 
In  order  that  this  obedience  might  be  made  easier  and  the  consequent  like- 
ness to  God  more  sure,  a  third  element  was  added — an  element  not  belong- 
ing to  man's  nature — namely,  a  supernatural  gift  of  special  grace,  which 
acted  as  a  curb  upon  the  sensuous  impulses,  and  brought  them  under  the 
control  of  reason.  Original  righteousness  was  therefore  not  a  natural  en- 
dowment, but  a  joint  product  of  man's  obedience  and  of  God's  supernatural 
grace. 

Many  of  the  considerations  already  adduced  apply  equally  as  arguments 
against  this  view.  We  may  say,  however,  with  reference  to  certain  features 
peculiar  to  the  theory  : 

(a]  No  such  distinction  can  justly  be  drawn  between  the  words  D^?¥  and 
rHDH.  The  addition  of  the  synonym  simply  strengthens  the  expression  and 
both  together  signify  "the  very  image." 

(6)  Whatever  is  denoted  by  either  or  both  of  these  words  was  bestowed 
upon  man  in  and  by  the  fact  of  creation,  and  the  additional  hypothesis  of  a 
supernatural  gift  not  originally  belonging  to  man's  nature,  but  subsequently 
conferred,  has  no  foundation  either  here  or  elsewhere  in  Scripture.  Man  is 
said  to  have  been  created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  not  to  have 
been  afterwards  endowed  with  either  of  them. 

(c)  The  concreated   opposition   between  sense  and  reason  which  this 
theory  supposes  is  inconsistent  with  the  Scripture  declaration  that  the  work 
of  God's  hands  "was  very  good"  (Gen.  1  :  31),  and  transfers  the  blame  of 
temptation  and  sin  from  man  to  God.     To  hold  to  a  merely  negative  inno- 
cence, in  which  evil  desire  was  only  slumbering,  is  to  make  God  author  of 
sin  by  making  him  author  of  the  constitution  which  rendered  sin  inevitable. 

(d]  This  theory  directly  contradicts  Scripture,  by  making  the  effect  of 
the  first  sin  to  have  been  a  weakening  but  not  a  perversion  of  human  nature, 
and  the  work  of  regeneration  to  be  not  a  renewal  of  the  will  but  merely  a 
strengthening  of  the  natural  powers.     The  theory  regards  that  first  sin  as 
simply  despoiling  man  of  a  special  gift  of  grace  and  as  putting  him  where 
he  was  when  first  created— still  able  to  obey  God  and  to  cooperate  with  God 
for  his  own  salvation, — whereas  the  Scripture  represents  man  since  the  fall 
as  "dead  through trespasses  and  sins  "  (Eph.  2:1),  as  incapable  of 


266  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

true  obedience  (Bom.  8  :  7 — "not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed 
can  it  be  " ),  and  as  needing  to  be  "  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works  " 
(Eph.  2  :  10). 

At  few  points  in  Christian  doctrine  do  we  see  more  clearly  than  here  the  large  results 
of  error  which  may  ultimately  spring-  from  what  might  at  first  sight  seem  to  be  only  a 
slight  divergence  from  the  truth.  Augustine  had  rightly  taught  that  in  Adam  the 
posse  non  peccare  was  accompanied  by  a  posse  peccare,  and  that  for  this  reason  man's 
holy  disposition  needed  the  help  of  divine  grace  to  preserve  its  integrity.  But  the  scho- 
lastics wrongly  added  that  this  original  disposition  to  righteousness  was  not  the  outflow 
of  man's  nature  as  originally  created,  but  was  the  gift  of  grace.  As  this  later  teaching, 
however,  was  by  some  disputed,  the  Council  of  Trent  ( sess.  5,  cap.  1 )  left  the  matter 
more  indefinite,  simply  declaring  man:  "Sanctitatem  et  justitiam  in  qua  constitutus 
fuerat,  amisisse."  The  Roman  Catechism,  however  (1:2:19),  explained  the  phrase 
"constitutus  fuerat"  by  the  words:  "Turn  originalis  justitiae  admirabile  donum  addi- 
dit"  And  Bellarmine  ( De  Gratia,  2)  says  plainly :  "  Imago,  quae  est  ipsa  natura  mentis 
et  voluntatis,  a  solo  Deo  fieri  potuit;  similitude  autem,  quae  in  virtute  et  probitate  con- 

sistit,  a  nohis  quoque  Deo  adjuvante  perficitur"  ....  (5)  "Integritas  ilia non 

fuit  naturalis  ejus  conditio,  sed  supernaturalis  evectio Addidisse  homini  donum 

quoddam  insigne,  justitiam  videlicet  originalem,  qua  veluti  aureo  quodam  fraeno  pars 
inferior  parti  superiori  subjecta  contineretur." 

Moehler  (Symbolism,  21-35)  holds  that  the  religious  faculty  =  the  "  image  of  God"; 
the  pious  exertion  of  this  faculty  =  the  "  likeness  of  God."  He  seems  to  favor  the  view 
that  Adam  received  "this  supernatural  gift  of  a  holy  and  blessed  communion  with  God 
at  a  later  period  than  his  creation,  i.  e.,  only  when  he  had  prepared  himself  for  its  recep- 
tion and  by  his  own  efforts  had  rendered  himself  worthy  of  it."  He  was  created  "  just " 
and  acceptable  to  God,  even  without  communion  with  God  or  help  from  God.  He  be- 
came "  holy  "  and  enjoyed  communion  with  God,  only  when  God  rewarded  his  obedience 
and  bestowed  the  supernaturale  donum.  Although  Moehler  favors  this  view  and  claims 
that  it  is  permitted  by  the  standards,  he  also  says  that  it  is  not  definitely  taught.  The 
quotations  from  Bellarmine  and  the  Roman  Catechism  above  make  it  clear  that  it  is  the 
prevailing  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

So,  to  quote  the  words  of  Shedd,  "the  Tridentine  theology  starts  with  Pelagianism 
and  ends  with  Augustinianism.  Created  without  character,  God  subsequently  endows 

man  with  character The  Papal  idea  of  creation  differs  from  the  Augustinian  in  that 

it  involves  imperfection.  There  is  a  disease  and  languor  which  require  a  subsequent  and 
supernatural  act  to  remedy."  The  Augustinian  and  Protestant  conception  of  man's 
original  state  is  far  nobler  than  this.  The  ethical  element  is  not  a  later  addition,  but  is 
man's  true  nature— essential  to  God's  idea  of  him.  The  normal  and  original  condition 
of  man  (pura  naturalia)  is  one  of  grace  and  of  the  Spirit's  indwelling — hence,  of  direc- 
tion toward  God. 

From  this  original  difference  between  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  doctrine  with 
regard  to  man's  original  state  result  diverging  views  as  to  sin  and  as  to  regeneration. 
The  Protestant  holds  that,  as  man  was  possessed  by  creation  of  moral  likeness  to  God, 
or  holiness,  so  his  sin  robbed  his  nature  of  its  integrity,  deprived  it  of  essential  and 
concreated  advantages  and  powers,  and  substituted  for  these  a  positive  corruption  and 
tendency  to  evil.  Unpremeditated  evil  desire,  or  concupiscence,  is  original  sin  ;  as  con- 
created  love  for  God  constituted  man's  original  righteousness.  No  man  since  the  fall 
has  original  righteousness,  and  it  is  man's  sin  that  he  has  it  not.  Since  without  love  to 
God  no  act,  emotion,  or  thought  of  man  can  answer  the  demands  of  God's  law,  the 
Scripture  denies  to  fallen  man  all  power  of  himself  to  know,  think,  feel,  or  do  arisrht. 
His  nature  therefore  needs  a  new-creation,  a  resurrection  from  death,  such  as  God  only, 
by  his  mighty  Spirit,  can  work ;  and  to  this  work  of  God  man  can  contribute  nothing, 
except  as  power  is  first  given  him  by  God  himself. 

According  to  the  Roman  Catholic  view,  however,  since  the  image  of  God  in  which 
man  was  created  included  only  man's  religious  faculty,  his  sin  can  rob  him  only  of 
what  became  subsequently  and  adventitiously  his.  Fallen  man  differs  from  unfallen 
only  as  spollatus  a  nudo.  He  loses  only  a  sort  of  magic  spell,  which  leaves  him  still  in 
possession  of  all  his  essential  powers.  Unpremeditated  evil  desire,  or  concupiscence,  is 
not  sin ;  for  this  belonged  to  his  nature  even  before  he  fell.  His  sin  has  therefore  only 
put  him  back  into  the  natural  state  of  conflict  and  concupiscence,  ordered  by  God  in  the 
concreated  opposition  of  sense  and  reason.  The  sole  qualification  is  this,  that,  having 
made  an  evil  decision,  his  will  is  weakened.  "Man  does  not  need  resurrection  from 


INCIDENTS    OF   MAN'S    ORIGINAL    STATE.  267 

death,  but  rather  a  crutch  to  help  his  lameness,  a  tonic  to  reinforce  his  feebleness,  a 
medicine  to  cure  his  sickness."  He  is  still  able  to  turn  to  God ;  and  in  regeneration 
the  Holy  Spirit  simply  awakens  and  strengthens  the  natural  ability  slumbering  in  the 
natural  man.  But  even  here,  man  must  yield  to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and 
regeneration  is  effected  by  uniting  his  power  to  the  divine.  In  baptism  the  guilt  of 
original  sin  is  remitted,  and  everything  called  sin  is  taken  away.  No  baptized  person 
has  any  further  process  of  regeneration  to  undergo.  Man  has  not  only  strength  to 
•cooperate  with  God  for  his  own  salvation,  but  he  may  even  go  beyond  the  demands  of 
the  law  and  perform  works  of  supererogation.  And  the  whole  sacramental  system  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  with  its  salvation  by  works,  its  purgatorial  fires,  and  its 
invocation  of  the  saints,  connects  itself  logically  with  this  erroneous  theory  of  man's 
original  state. 

See  Corner's  Augustinus,  116 ;  Perrone,  Preelectiones  Theologiese,  1 :  737-748  ( the 
ablest  Roman  Catholic  dogmatist  of  the  present  day) ;  Winer,  Confessions,  79,  80 ; 
Dorner,  History  Protestant  Theology,  38,  39 ;  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  51 ;  Van  Oosterzee, 
Dogmatics,  376 ;  Cunningham,  Historical  Theology,  1 :  516-586 ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine, 
2  :  140-149. 

II.     INCIDENTS  OP  MAN'S  ORIGINAL  STATE. 

1.     Results  of  man's  possession  of  the  divine  image. 

(a)  ^Reflection  of  this  divine  image  in  man's  physical  form. — Even  in 
man's  body  were  typified  those  higher  attributes  which  chiefly  constituted 
his  likeness  to  God,    A  gross  perversion  of  this  truth,  however,  is  the  view 
which  holds,  upon  the  ground  of  Gen.  2  :  7,  and  3  :  8,  that  the  image  of  God 
consists  in  bodily  resemblance  to  the  Creator.    In  the  first  of  these  passages, 
it  is  not  the  divine  image,  but  the  body,  that  is  formed  of  dust,  and  into 
this  body  the  soul  that  possesses  the  divine  image  is  breathed.    The  second 
of  these  passages  is  to  be  interpreted  by  those  other  portions  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch in  which  God  is  represented  as  free  from  all  limitations  of  matter 
(Gen.  11  :  5  ;   18  :  25). 

The  spirit  presents  the  divine  image  immediately ;  the  body,  mediately.  The  scholas- 
tics called  the  soul  the  image  of  God  proprie ;  the  body  they  called  the  image  of  God 
significative.  Soul  is  the  direct  reflection  of  God ;  body  is  the  reflection  of  that  reflec- 
tion. The  os  sublime  manifests  the  disrnity  of  the  endowments  within.  Hence  the  word 
*  upright,'  as  applied  to  moral  condition.  Compare  Ovid,  Metaph.,  bk.  1,  Dryden's 
transl. :  "  Thus  while  the  mute  creation  downward  bend  Their  sight,  and  to  their  earthly 
mother  tend,  Man  looks  aloft,  and  with  erected  eyes  Beholds  his  own  hereditary  skies." 
<<Wpw7ros,  from  ava,  <xi/w,  suffix  fra,  and  ^,  with  reference  to  the  upright  posture). 

Bretschneider  (Dogmatik,  1  :  682)  regards  the  Scripture  as  teaching  that  the  image  of 
God  consists  in  bodily  resemblance  to  the  Creator,  but  considers  this  as  only  the  imper- 
fect method  of  representation  belonging  to  an  early  age.  So  Strauss,  Glaubenslehre, 
1 :  687.  They  refer  to  Gen.  2  :  7—"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground  "  ;  3  :  8—"  the  Lord 
God  walking  in  the  garden."  But  see  Gen.  11  :  5—"  And  the  Lord  came  down  to  see  the  city  and  the  tower,  which  the 
children  of  men  builded  "  ;  Is.  66  : 1 — "  The  heaven  is  my  throne,  and  the  earth  is  my  footstool "  ;  1  K.  8  :  27 — "  behold 
heaven  and  the  heaven  of  heavens  cannot  contain  thee."  On  the  Anthropomorphites,  see  Hagenbach, 
Hist.  Doct.,  1 : 103,  308,  491.  For  answers  to  Bretschneider  and  Strauss,  see  Philippi, 
Glaubenslehre,  2  : 364. 

(b)  Subjection  of  the  sensuous  impulses  to  the  control  of  the  spirit. — 
Here  we  are  to  hold  a  middle  ground  between  two  extremes.     On  the  one 
hand,  the  first  man  possessed  a  body  and  a  spirit  so  fitted  to  each  other  that 
no  conflict  was  felt  between  their  several  claims.     On  the  other  hand,  this 
physical  perfection  was  not  final  and  absolute,  but  relative  and  provisional. 
There  was  still  room  for  progress  to  a  higher  state  of  being  (Gen.  3  :  22). 

Here  we  hold  to  the  cequale  temperamentum.  There  was  no  disease,  but  rather  the  joy 
of  abounding  health.  Labor  was  only  a  happy  activity.  God's  infinite  creatorship  and 


268  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

fountainhead  of  being  was  typified  in  man's  powers  of  generation.  But  there  was  no 
concreated  opposition  of  sense  and  reason,  nor  an  imperfect  physical  nature  with  whose 
impulses  reason  was  at  war.  With  this  moderate  Scriptural  doctrine,  contrast  the  exag- 
gerations of  the  Fathers  and  of  the  scholastics.  Augustine  says  that  Adam's  reason  was 
to  ours  what  the  bird's  is  to  that  of  the  tortoise ;  propagation  in  the  unfallen  state 
would  have  been  without  concupiscence,  and  the  new-born  child  would  have  attained 
perfection  at  birth.  Albertus  Magnus  thought  the  first  man  would  have  felt  no  pain, 
even  though  he  had  been  stoned  with  heavy  stones.  Scotus  Erigena  held  that  the  male 
and  female  elements  were  yet  undistinguished.  Others  called  sexuality  the  first  sin. 
Jacob  Boehrne  regarded  the  intestinal  canal,  and  all  connected  with  it,  as  the  consequence 

of  the  fall.    South,  Sermons,  1 :  24,  25—"  Man  came  into  the  world  a  philosopher 

Aristotle  was  but  the  rubbish  of  an  Adam."  But  the  Scripture  presents  to  us,  on  the 
contrary,  a  being  as  yet  inexperienced  ;  see  Gen.  3  :  22— "Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us,  to 
know  good  and  evil." 

(c)  Dominion  over  the  lower  creation. — Adam  possessed  an  insight  into 
nature  analogous  to  that  of  susceptible  childhood,  and  therefore  was  able 
to  name  and  to  rule  the  brute  creation  (Gen.   2  :  19).     Yet  this  native 
insight  was  capable  of  development  into  the  higher  knowledge  of  culture 
and  science.     From  Gen.  1  :  26  (cf.  Ps.  8  :  5-8),  it  has  been  erroneously- 
inferred  that  the  image  of  God  in  man  consists  in  dominion  over  the  brute 
creation  and  the  natural  world.     But,  in  this  verse,  the  words  "let  them 
have  dominion  "  do  not  define  the  image  of  God,  but  indicate  the  result 
of  possessing  that  image.     To  make  the  image  of    God  consist  in  this 
dominion,  would  imply  that  only  the  divine  omnipotence  was  shadowed 
forth  in  man. 

Gen.  2  : 19—"  the  Lord  God  formed  every  beast  of  the  field,  and  every  fowl  of  the  air ;  and  brought  them  unto  the 
man  to  see  what  he  would  call  them  "  ;  20—"  And  the  man  gave  names  to  all  cattle  "  ;  Gen.  1 : 26—"  Let  us  make  man  in 
our  image,  after  our  likeness :  and  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over 
the  cattle"  ;  cf.  Ps.  8  :  5-8— "thou  hast  made  him  but  little  lower  than  God,  And  crownest  him  with  glory  and  honor. 
Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy  hands ;  Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet :  All  sheep  and 
oxen,  Yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field."  Adam's  naming  the  animals  implied  insight  into  their 
nature;  see  Porter,  Hum.  Intellect,  393,  394,  401.  On  man's  original  dominion  over 
(1)  self,  (2)  nature,  (3)  fellow-man,  see  Hopkins,  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man,  105. 

Socinian  writers  generally  hold  the  view  that  the  image  of  God  consisted  simply  in  this 
dominion.  Holding  a  low  view  of  the  nature  of  sin,  they  are  naturally  disinclined  to 
believe  that  the  fall  has  wrought  any  profound  change  in  human  nature.  See  their  view 
stated  in  the  Racovian  Catechism,  21.  It  is  held  also  by  the  Arminian  Limborch,  Theol. 
Christ.,  ii,  24  :  2,  3, 11.  Upon  the  basis  of  this  interpretation  of  Scripture,  the  Encratites 
held,  with  Peter  Martyr,  that  women  do  not  possess  the  divine  image  at  all. 

(d)  Communion  with  God. — Our  first  parents  enjoyed  the  divine  pres- 
ence and  teaching  (Gen.  2  :  16).     It  would  seem  that  God  manifested  him- 
self to  them  in  visible  form  (Gen.  3  :  8).     This  companionship  was  both  in 
kind  and  degree  suited  to  their  spiritual  capacity,  and  by  no  means  neces- 
sarily involved  that  perfected  vision  of  God  which  is  possible  to  beings  of 
confirmed  and  unchangeable  holiness  (Mat.  5  :  8  ;  1  John  3:2). 

Gen.  2  :  16—"  And  the  Lord  God  commanded  the  man  "  ;  3  :  8—"  And  they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking  in. 
the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day  "  ;  Mat.  5  :  8—"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God  ";  1  John  3  :  2 
— "  We  know  that,  if  he  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see  him  even  as  he  is  "  ;  Rev.  22  :  4 — 
"and  they  shall  see  his  face." 

2.     Concomitants  of  man's  possession  of  the  divine  image. 

(a)     Surroundings  and  society  fitted  to  yield  happiness  and  to  assist  a 
holy  development  of  human  nature  (Eden  and  Eve). 
Eden  =  pleasure,  delight.    Tennyson  :  "  When  high  in  Paradise  By  the  four  rivers  the 


INCIDENTS    OF    MAN'S   OKIGINAL   STATE.  269 

first  roses  blew."  Streams  were  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  an  oriental  garden. 
Hopkins,  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man,  107—"  Man  includes  woman.  Creation  of  a  man  with- 
out a  woman  would  not  have  been  the  creation  of  man.  Adam  called  her  name  Eve, 
but  God  called  their  name  Adam."  Mat.  Henry  :  "  Not  out  of  his  head  to  top  him,  nor 
out  of  his  feet  to  be  trampled  on  by  him ;  but  out  of  his  side  to  be  equal  with  him,  under 
his  arm  to  be  protected  by  him,  and  near  his  heart  to  be  beloved."—"  The  golden  concep- 
tion of  a  Paradise  is  the  poet's  guiding-  thought."  There  is  a  universal  feeling  that  we 
are  not  now  in  our  natural  state ;  that  we  are  far  away  from  home ;  that  we  are  exiles 
from  our  true  habitation.  Poetry  and  music  echo  the  longing  for  some  possession  lost. 
Jessica,  in  Shakespeare's  Merchant  of  Venice  :  "  I  am  never  merry  when  I  hear  sweet 
music."  All  true  poetry  is  forward-looking  or  backward-looking  prophecy,  as  sculp- 
ture sets  before  us  the  original  or  the  resurrection  body. 

Hegel  claimed  that  the  Paradisaic  condition  is  only  an  ideal  conception  underlying 
human  development.  But  may  not  the  traditions  of  the  gardens  of  Brahma  and  of  the 
Hesperides  embody  the  world's  recollection  of  an  historical  fact,  when  man  was  free 
from  external  evil  and  possessed  all  that  could  minister  to  innocent  joy  ?  The  "  golden 
age  "  of  the  heathen  was  connected  with  the  hope  of  restoration.  So  the  use  of  the  doc- 
trine of  man's  original  state  is  to  convince  men  of  the  high  ideal  once  realized,  properly 
belonging  to  man,  now  lost,  and  recoverable,  not  by  man's  own  powers,  but  only 
through  God's  provision  in  Christ.  For  references  in  classic  writers  to  a  golden  age,  see 
Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  115.  He  mentions  the  following :  Hesiod,  Works 
and  Days,  109-208 ;  Aratus,  Phenom.,  100-184 ;  Plato,  Tim.,  233 ;  Vergil,  EC.,  4,  Georgics, 
1 : 135,  Aeneid,  8  :  314. 

(6)  Provision  for  the  trying  of  man's  virtue. — Since  man  was  not  yet  in 
a  state  of  confirmed  holiness,  but  rather  of  simple  childlike  innocence,  he 
could  be  made  perfect  only  through  temptation.  Hence  the  "tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil "  (Gen.  2:9).  The  one  slight  command  best 
tested  the  spirit  of  obedience.  Temptation  did  not  necessitate  a  fall.  If 
resisted,  it  would  strengthen  virtue.  In  that  case,  the  posse  non  peccare 
would  have  become  the  non  posse  peccare. 

Thomasius :  "  That  evil  is  a  necessary  transition-point  to  good,  is  Satan's  doctrine  and 
philosophy."  The  tree  was  mainly  a  tree  of  probation.  It  is  right  for  a  father  to  make 
his  son's  title  to  his  estate  depend  upon  the  performance  of  some  filial  duty,  as  Thad- 
deus  Stevens  made  his  son's  possession  of  property  conditional  upon  his  keeping  the 
temperance-pledge.  Whether,  besides  this,  the  tree  of  knowledge  was  naturally  hurtful 
or  poisonous,  we  do  not  know. 

(c)  Opportunity  of  securing  physical  immortality. — The  body  of  the  first 
man  was  in  itself  mortal  (1  Cor.  15  :  44).  Science  shows  that  physical  life 
involves  decay  and  loss.  But  means  were  apparently  provided  for  checking 
this  decay  and  preserving  the  body's  youth.  This  means  was  the  "tree  of 
life  "  (Gen.  2:9).  If  Adam  had  maintained  his  integrity,  the  body  might 
have  been  developed  and  transfigured,  without  intervention  of  death.  In 
other  words,  the  posse  non  mori  might  have  become  a  non  posse  mori. 

The  tree  of  life  was  symbolic  of  communion  with  God  and  of  man's  dependence  upon 
him .  But  this,  only  because  it  had  a  physical  efficacy.  It  was  sacramental  and  memorial 
to  the  soul,  because  it  sustained  the  life  of  the  body.  Natural  immortality  without  holi- 
ness would  have  been  unending  misery.  Sinful  man  was  therefore  shut  out  from  the 
tree  of  life,  till  he  could  be  prepared  for  it  by  God's  righteousness.  Redemption  and 
resurrection  not  only  restore  that  which  was  lost,  but  give  what  man  was  originally 
created  to  attain :  1  Cor.  15  :  45—"  The  first  man  Adam  became  a  living  soul.  The  last  man  Adam  became  a 
life-giving  Spirit "  ;  Rev.  22  :  14— "Blessed  are  they  that  wash  their  robes,  that  they  may  have  the  right  to  come  to 
the  tree  of  life." 

The  conclusions  we  have  thus  reached  with  regard  to  the  incidents  of 
man's  original  state  are  combated  upon  two  distinct  grounds  : 

1st.     The  facts  bearing  upon  man's  prehistoric  condition  point  to  a 


270  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE    OF    MAN. 

development  from  primitive  savagery  to  civilization.  Among  these  facts 
may  be  mentioned  the  succession  of  implements  and  weapons  from  stone 
to  bronze  and  iron  ;  the  polyandry  and  communal  marriage  systems  of  the 
lowest  tribes ;  the  relics  of  barbarous  customs  still  prevailing  among  the 
most  civilized. 

For  the  theory  of  an  originally  savage  condition  of  man,  see  Sir  John  Lubbock, 
Prehistoric  Times,  and  Origin  of  Civilization :  "  The  primitive  condition  of  mankind 
was  one  of  utter  barbarism  " ;  but  especially  L.  H.  Morgan,  Ancient  Society,  who 
divides  human  progress  into  three  great  periods,  the  savage,  the  barbarian  and  the  civ- 
ilized. Each  of  the  two  former  has  three  states,  as  follows :  I.  Savage :  1.  Lowest 
state,  marked  by  attainment  of  speech  and  subsistence  upon  roots.  2.  Middle  state, 
marked  by  fish-food  and  fire.  3.  Upper  state,  marked  by  use  of  the  bow  and  hunting. 
II.  Barbarian:  1.  Lower  state,  marked  by  invention  and  use  of  pottery.  2.  Middle 
state,  marked  by  use  of  domestic  animals,  maize,  and  building  stone.  3.  Upper  state, 
marked  by  invention  and  use  of  iron  tools.  III.  Civilized  man  next  appears,  with  the 
introduction  of  the  phonetic  alphabet  and  writing. 

With  regard  to  this  view  we  remark  : 

(a)  It  is  based  upon  an  insufficient  induction  of  facts. — History  shows  a 
law  of  degeneration  supplementing  and  often  counteracting  the  tendency 
to  development.  In  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any  record,  we  find 
nations  in  a  high  state  of  civilization  ;  but  in  the  case  of  every  nation  whose 
history  runs  back  of  the  Christian  era — as  for  example,  the  Romans,  the 
Greeks,  the  Egyptians — the  subsequent  progress  has  been  downward,  and 
no  nation  is  known  to  have  recovered  from  barbarism  except  as  the  result 
of  influence  from  without. 

Lubbock  seems  to  admit  that  cannibalism  was  not  primeval ;  yet  he  shows  a  general 
tendency  to  take  every  brutal  custom  as  a  sample  of  man's  first  state.  And  this,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  many  such  customs  have  been  the  result  of  corruption.  Bride-catch- 
ing, for  example,  could  not  possibly  have  been  primeval,  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  term 
Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  1 :  48,  presents  a  far  more  moderate  view.  He  favors  a  theory 
of  development,  but  with  degeneration  "as  a  secondary  action  largely  and  deeply 
affecting  the  development  of  civilization."  So  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  Unity  of  Nature : 
"  Civilization  and  savagery  are  both  the  results  of  evolutionary  development ;  but  the 
one  is  a  development  in  the  upward,  the  latter  in  the  downward  direction ;  and  for  this 
reason,  neither  civilization  nor  savagery  can  rationally  be  looked  upon  as  the  primitive 
condition  of  man." 

Modern  nations  fall  far  short  of  the  old  Greek  perception  and  expression  of  beauty. 
Modern  Egyptians,  Bushmen,  Australians,  are  unquestionably  degenerate  races.  See 
Lankester,  Degeneration.  The  same  is  true  of  Italians  and  Spaniards,  as  well  as  of 
Turks.  Abyssinians  are  now  polygamists,  though  their  ancestors  were  Christians  and 
monogamists.  The  physical  degeneration  of  portions  of  the  population  of  Ireland  is 
well  known.  See  Mivart,  Lessons  from  Nature,  146-160,  who  applies  to  the  savage-theory 
the  tests  of  language,  morals,  and  religion,  and  who  quotes  Herbert  Spencer  as  saying  : 
"  Probably  most  of  them  [savages],  if  not  all  of  them,  had  ancestors  in  higher  states, 
and  among  their  beliefs  remain  some  which  were  evolved  during  those  higher  states 

It  is  quite  possible,  and  I  believe  highly  probable,  that  retrogression  has  been  as 

frequent  as  progression.' '  Spencer,  however,  denies  that  savagery  is  always  caused  by 
lapse  from  civilization. 

Bib.  Sac.,  6  :  715 ;  29  :  282—"  Man  as  a  moral  being  does  not  tend  to  rise  but  to  fall,  and 
that  with  a  geometric  progress,  except  he  be  elevated  and  sustained  by  some  force  from 
without  and  above  himself.  While  man  once  civilized  may  advance,  yet  moral  ideas 
are  apparently  never  developed  from  within."  Had  savagery  been  man's  primitive 
condition,  he  never  could  have  emerged.  See  Whately,  Origin  of  Civilization,  who 
maintains  that  man  needed  not  only  a  divine  Creator,  but  a  divine  Instructor.  Pres. 
J.  H.  Seelye,  in  A  Century  of  Dishonor,  page  3—"  The  first  missionaries  to  the  Indians  in 
Canada  took  with  them  skilled  laborers  to  teach  the  savages  how  to  till  their  fields,  to 
provide  them  with  comfortable  homes,  clothing,  and  food.  But  the  Indians  preferred 


INCIDENTS   OF    MAN'S    ORIGINAL   STATE. 


271 


their  wig-warns,  skins,  raw  flesh,  and  filth.  Only  as  Christian  influences  taught  the 
Indian  his  inner  need,  and  how  this  was  to  be  supplied,  was  he  led  to  wish  and  work  for 
the  improvement  of  his  outward  condition  and  habits.  Civilization  does  not  reproduce 
itself.  It  must  first  be  kindled,  and  it  can  then  be  kept  alive  only  by  a  power  genuinely 
Christian."  So  Wallace,  in  Nature,  Sept.  7, 1876,  vol.  14  :  408-412. 

(£>)  Later  investigations  have  rendered  it  probable  that  the  stone  age 
of  some  localities  was  contemporaneous  with  the  bronze  and  iron  ages  of 
others,  while  certain  tribes  and  nations,  instead  of  making  progress  from  one 
to  the  other,  were  never,  so  far  back  as  we  can  trace  them,  without  the 
knowledge  and  use  of  the  metals.  It  is  to  be  observed,  moreover,  that  even 
without  such  knowledge  and  use  man  is  not  necessarily  a  barbarian,  though 
he  may  be  a  child. 

On  the  question  whether  the  arts  of  civilization  can  be  lost,  see  Arthur  Mitchell,  Past 
and  Present,  201 :  Rude  art  is  often  the  debasement  of  a  higher,  instead  of  being-  the 
earlier ;  the  rudest  art  in  a  nation  may  coexist  with  the  highest ;  cave-life  may  accom- 
pany high  civilization.  Illustrations  from  modern  Scotland,  where  burial  of  a  cock  for 
epilepsy,  and  sacrifice  of  a  bull,  were  until  very  recently  extant.  Certain  arts  have  un- 
questionably been  lost,  as  glass-making  and  iron-working  in  Assyria  ( see  Mivart,  refer- 
red to  above).  The  most  ancient  men  do  not  appear  to  have  been  inferior  to  the  latest, 
either  physically  or  intellectually.  Rawlinson  :  "  The  explorers  who  have  dug  deep  into 
the  Mesopotamian  mounds,  and  have  ransacked  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  have  come  upon 
no  certain  traces  of  savage  man  in  those  regions  which  a  wide-spread  tradition  makes  the 
cradle  of  the  human  race."  The  Tyrolese  peasants  show  that  a  rude  people  may  be 
moral,  and  a  very  simple  people  may  be  highly  intelligent.  See  Southall,  Recent  Origin 
of  Man,  386-449 ;  Schliemann,  Troy  and  her  Remains,  274. 

(c)  The  barbarous  customs  to  which  this  view  looks  for  support  may 
better  be  explained  as  marks  of  broken-down  civilization  than  as  relics  of  a 
primitive  and  universal  savagery.     Even  if  they  indicated  a  former  state  of 
barbarism,  that  state  might  have  been  itself  preceded  by  a  condition  of 
comparative  culture. 

Mark  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Sept.,  1882  : 194—"  There  is  no  cruel  treatment  of 
females  among  animals.  If  man  came  from  the  lower  animals,  then  he  cannot  have 
been  originally  savage  ;  for  you  find  the  most  of  this  cruel  treatment  among  savages." 
Tylor  instances  "  street  Arabs."  He  compares  street  Arabs  to  a  ruined  house,  but  sav- 
age tribes  to  a  builder's  yard.  See  Duke  of  Argyll,  Primeval  Man,  129,  133 ;  Bushnell, 
Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  223 ;  McLennan,  Studies  in  Ancient  History. 

(d)  The   well-nigh  universal  tradition  of  a  golden  age  of  virtue  and 
happiness  may  be  most  easily  explained  upon  the  Scripture  view  of  an 
actual  creation  of  the  race  in  holiness  and  its  subsequent  apostasy. 

For  references  in  classic  writers  to  a  golden  age,  see  Luthardt,  Compend.  der  Dog- 
matik,  115. 

2nd.  That  the  religious  history  of  mankind  warrants  us  in  inferring 
a  necessary  and  universal  law  of  progress,  in  accordance  with  which  man 
passes  from  fetichism  to  polytheism  and  monotheism, — this  first  theological 
stage,  of  which  fetichism,  polytheism,  and  monotheism  are  parts,  being 
succeeded  by  the  metaphysical  stage,  and  that  in  turn  by  the  positive. 

This  theory  is  propounded  by  Comte,  in  his  Positive  Philosophy,  English  transl.,  25, 
26;  515-636. 

This  assumed  law  of  progress,  however,  is  contradicted  by  the  following 
facts  : 

(a)     Not  only  did  the  monotheism  of  the  Hebrews  precede  the  great 


272  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

polytheistic  systems  of  antiquity,  but  even  these  heathen  religions  are  purer 
from  polytheistic  elements,  the  further  back  we  trace  them ;  so  that  the 
facts  point  to  an  original  monotheistic  basis  for  them  all. 

On  the  evidences  of  an  original  monotheism,  see  Martineau,  Essays,  1 :  24,  61 ;  Max 
Miiller,  Chips,  1 : 337 ;  Rawlinson,  in  Present  Day  Tracts,  no.  11 ;  Legge,  Religions  of 
China,  8, 11 ;  Diestel,  in  Jahrbuch  f Ur  deutsche  Theologie,  1860,  and  vol.  5  :  669 ;  Philip 
Smith,  Anc.  Hist,  of  East,  65,  195;  Warren,  on  the  Earliest  Creed  of  Mankind,  in  the 
Meth.  Quar.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1884. 

(6)  ' '  There  is  no  proof  that  the  In  do-Germanic  or  Semitic  stocks  ever 
practised  fetich  worship,  or  were  ever  enslaved  by  the  lowest  types  of  my- 
thological religion,  or  ascended  from  them  to  somewhat  higher  "  (Fisher). 

See  Fisher,  Essays  on  Supernat.  Origin  of  Christianity,  545 ;  Bartlett,  Sources  of  History 
in  the  Pentateuch,  36-115. 

(c)  Some  of  the  earliest  remains  of  man  yet  found  show,  by  the  burial 
of  food  and  weapons  with  the  dead,  that  there  already  existed  the  idea  of 
spiritual  beings  and  of  a  future  state,  and  therefore  a  religion  of  a  higher 
sort  than  fetichism. 

Idolatry  proper  regards  the  idol  as  the  symbol  and  representative  of  a  spiritual  being 
who  exists  apart  from  the  material  object,  though  he  manifests  himself  through  it. 
Fetichism,  however,  identifies  the  divinity  with  the  material  thing,  and  worships  the 
stock  or  stone ;  spirit  is  not  conceived  of  as  existing  apart  from  body.  Belief  in  spir- 
itual beings  and  a  future  state  is  therefore  proof  of  a  religion  higher  in  kind  than 
fetichism.  See  Lyell,  Antiquity  of  Man,  quoted  in  Dawson,  Story  of  Earth  and  Man, 
384 ;  see  also  368,  372,  386—"  Man's  capacities  for  degradation  are  commensurate  with  his 
capacities  for  improvement "  (Dawson).  Lyell,  in  his  last  edition,  however,  admits  the 
evidence  from  the  Aurignac  cave  to  be  doubtful.  See  art.  by  Dawkins,  in  Nature, 
4:208. 

(d)  The  theory  in  question,  in  making  theological  thought  a  merely 
transient  stage  of  mental  evolution,  ignores  the  fact  that  religion  has  its 
root  in  the  intuitions  and  yearnings  of  the  human  soul,  and  that  therefore 
no  philosophical  or  scientific  progress  can  ever  abolish  it.    While  the  terms 
theological,  metaphysical,  and  positive  may  properly  mark  the  order  in 
which  the  ideas  of  the  individual  and  the  race  are  acquired,  positivism  errs 
in  holding  that  these  three  phases  of  thought  are  mutually  exclusive,  and 
that  upon  the  rise  of  the  later  the  earlier  must  of  necessity  become  extinct. 

John  Stuart  Mill  suggests  that  "  personifying  "  would  be  a  much  better  term  than 
"  theological  "  to  designate  the  earliest  efforts  to  explain  physical  phenomena.  On  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Positivism,  see  New  Englander,  1873  :  323-386  ;  Diman,  The- 
istic  Argument,  338—"  Three  coexistent  states  are  here  confounded  with  three  successive 
stages  of  human  thought ;  three  aspects  of  things  with  three  epochs  of  time.  Theology, 
metaphysics,  and  science  must  always  exist  side  by  side,  for  all  positive  science  rests  on 
metaphysical  principles,  and  theology  lies  behind  both.  All  are  as  permanent  as  human 
reason  itself."  See  also  Gillett,  God  in  Human  Thought,  1 : 17-23;  Rawlinson,  in  Journ. 
Christ.  Philos.,  April,  1883  :  353. 


CHAPTER  III. 
SIN,  OB  MAN'S  STATE  OF  APOSTASY. 

, 

SECTION   I. — THE   LAW   OF   GOD. 

As  preliminary  to  a  treatment  of  man's  state  of  apostasy,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  consider  the  nature  of  that  law  of  God,  the  transgression  of 
which  is  sin.  We  may  best  approach  the  subject  by  inquiring  what  is  the 
true  conception  of 

I.       LAW   IN    GENERAL. 

The  essential  idea  of  law  is  that  of  a  general  expression  of  will  enforced 
by  power.  It  implies :  (a)  A  lawgiver,  or  authoritative  will.  (6)  Sub- 
jects, or  beings  upon  whom  this  will  terminates,  (c)  A  general  command, 
or  expression  of  this  will,  (d)  A  power,  enforcing  the  command. 

These  elements  are  found  even  in  what  we  call  natural  law.  The  phrase 
4  law  of  nature '  involves  a  self-contradiction,  when  used  to  denote  a  mode 
of  action  or  an  order  of  sequence  behind  which  there  is  conceived  to  be  no 
intelligent  and  ordaining  will.  Physics  derives  the  term  '  law '  from  juris- 
prudence, instead  of  jurisprudence  deriving  it  from  physics.  It  is  first 
used  of  the  relations  of  voluntary  agents.  Causation  in  our  own  wills  en- 
ables us  to  see  something  besides  mere  antecedence  and  consequence  in 
the  world  about  us.  Physical  science,  in  her  very  use  of  the  word  '  law, ' 
implicitly  confesses  that  a  supreme  Will  has  set  general  rules  which  control 
the  processes  of  the  universe. 

Wayland,  Moral  Science,  1,  unwisely  defines  law  as  "  a  mode  of  existence  or  order  of 
sequence,"  thus  leaving  out  of  his  definition  all  reference  to  an  ordaining-  will.  He 
subsequently  says  that  law  presupposes  an  establisher,  but  in  his  definition  there  is 
nothing  to  indicate  this.  We  insist,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  term  '  law '  itself  in- 
cludes the  idea  of  force  and  cause.  The  word  'law'  is  from  'lay'  (German  legen)  = 
something  laid  down ;  German  Gesetz,  from  setzen  =  something  set  or  established ; 
Greek  vd/u.os,  from  ve>w  =  something  assigned  or  apportioned ;  Latin  lex,  from  lego  = 
something  said  or  spoken. 

All  these  derivations  show  that  man's  original  conception  of  law  is  that  of  something 
proceeding  from  volition.  Lewes,  in  his  Problems  of  Life  and  Mind,  says  that  the  term 
*law '  is  so  suggestive  of  a  giver  and  impresser  of  law,  that  it  ought  to  be  dropped,  and 
the  word  '  method '  substituted.  The  merit  of  Austin's  treatment  of  the  subject  is 
that  he  "  rigorously  limits  the  term  'law'  to  the  commands  of  a  superior";  see  John 
Austin,  Province  of  Jurisprudence,  1 :  88-93,  220-223.  The  defects  of  his  treatment  we 
shall  note  further  on. 

J.  S.  Mill :  "  It  is  the  custom,  wherever  they  [scientific  men]  can  trace  regularity  of 
any  kind,  to  call  the  general  proposition  which  expresses  the  nature  of  that  regularity, 
a  law ;  as  when  in  mathematics  we  speak  of  the  law  of  the  successive  terms  of  a  con- 
verging series.  But  the  expression  '  law  of  nature '  is  generally  employed  by  scientific 
18  273 


274  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

men  with  a  sort  of  tacit  reference  to  the  original  sense  of  the  word  'law,'  namely,  the 
expression  of  the  will  of  a  superior — the  superior  in  this  case  being  the  Ruler  of  the 
universe."  Paley,  Nat.  Theology,  chap.  1 — "It  is  a  perversion  of  language  to  assign 
any  law  as  the  efficient  operative  cause  of  anything.  A  law  presupposes  an  agent ;  this 
is  the  only  mode  according  to  which  an  agent  proceeds ;  it  implies  a  power,  for  it  is  the 
order  according  to  which  that  power  acts.  Without  this  agent,  without  this  power, 
which  are  both  distinct  from  itself,  the  law  does  nothing." 

The  characteristic  of  law  is  generality.  It  is  addressed  to  substances  or 
persons  in  classes.  Special  legislation  is  contrary  to  the  true  theory  of  law. 
— It  is,  moreover,  essential  to  the  existence  of  law,  that  there  be  power  to  en- 
force. Otherwise  law  becomes  the  expression  of  mere  wish  or  advice.  Since 
physical  substances  and  forces  have  no  intelligence  and  no  power  to  resist, 
the  four  elements  already  mentioned  exhaust  the  implications  of  the  term 
*  law '  as  applied  to  nature.  In  the  case  of  rational  and  free  agents,  however, 
law  implies  in  addition  :  (e)  Duty,  or  obligation  to  obey  ;  and  (/)  Sanc- 
tions, or  pains  and  penalties  for  disobedience. 

The  order  of  an  absolute  despot,  that  an  enemy  be  beheaded,  is  not  properly  a  law. 
Amos,  Science  of  Law,  33,  34—"  Law  eminently  deals  in  general  rules."  It  knows  not 
persons  or  personality.  It  must  apply  to  more  than  one  case.  "  The  characteristic  of 
law  is  generality,  as  that  of  morality  is  individual  application."  Special  legislation  i& 
the  bane  of  good  government ;  it  does  not  properly  fall  within  the  province  of  the  law- 
making  power;  it  savors  of  the  caprice  of  despotism,  which  gives  commands  to  each 
subject  at  will.  Hence  our  more  advanced  political  constitutions  check  lobby  influence 
and  bribery,  by  prohibiting  special  legislation  in  all  cases  where  general  laws  already 
exist. 

"  Law  that  has  no  penalty  is  not  law  but  advice,  and  the  government  in  which  inflic- 
tion does  not  follow  transgression  is  the  reign  of  rogues  or  demons."  On  the  question 
whether  any  of  the  punishments  of  civil  law  are  legal  sanctions,  except  the  punishment 
of  death,  see  N.  W.  Taylor,  Moral  Gov't,  2  :  367-387. 

Rewards  are  motives,  but  they  are  not  sanctions.  Since  public  opinion 
may  be  conceived  of  as  inflicting  penalties  for  violation  of  her  will,  we 
speak  figuratively  of  the  laws  of  society,  of  fashion,  of  etiquette,  of  honor. 
Only  so  far  as  the  community  of  nations  can  and  does  by  sanctions  compel 
obedience,  can  we  with  propriety  assert  the  existence  of  international  law. 

But  the  will  which  thus  binds  its  subjects  by  commands  and  penalties  is 
an  expression  of  the  nature  of  the  governing  power,  and  reveals  the  normal 
relations  of  the  subjects  to  that  power.  Finally,  therefore,  law  (g]  Is  an 
expression  of  the  nature  of  the  lawgiver  ;  and  (h)  Sets  forth  the  condition 
or  conduct  in  the  subjects  which  is  requisite  for  harmony  with  that  nature. 
Any  so-called  law  which  fails  to  represent  the  nature  of  the  governing 
power  soon  becomes  obsolete.  All  law  that  is  permanent  is  a  transcript  of 
the  facts  of  being,  a  discovery  of  what  is  and  must  be,  in  order  to  harmony 
between  the  governing  and  the  governed  ;  in  short,  positive  law  is  just  and 
lasting  only  as  it  is  an  expression  and  republication  of  the  law  of  nature. 

Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  106, 107 :  John  Austin,  although  he  "  rigorously  limited 
the  term  law  to  the  commands  of  a  superior,"  yet  "rejected  Ulpian's  explanation  of  the 
law  of  nature,  and  ridiculed  as  fustian  the  celebrated  description  in  Hooker."  This  we 
conceive  to  be  the  radical  defect  of  Austin's  conception.  The  Will  from  which  natural 
law  proceeds  is  conceived  of  after  a  deistic  fashion,  instead  of  being  immanent  in  the 
universe.  Lightwood,  in  his  Nature  of  Positive  Law,  78-90,  criticizes  Austin's  definition 
of  law  as  command,  and  substitutes  the  idea  of  law  as  custom.  Sir  Henry  Maine's 
Ancient  Law  has  shown  us  that  the  early  village  communities  had  customs  which  only 
gradually  took  form  as  definite  laws.  But  we  reply  that  custom  is  not  the  ultimate 
source  of  anything.  Repeated  acts  of  will  are  necessary  to  constitute  custom.  The  first 


THE   LAW    OF    GOD    IN    PARTICULAR. 


275 


customs  are  due  to  the  commanding-  will  of  the  father  in  the  patriarchal  family.  So 
Austin's  definition  is  justified.  Behind  this  will,  however,  is  something  which  Austin 
does  not  take  account  of,  namely,  the  nature  of  things  as  constituted  by  God,  as  reveal- 
ing the  universal  Reason,  and  as  furnishing  the  standard  to  which  all  positive  law,  if  it 
would  be  permanent,  must  conform. 

See  Montesquieu,  Spirit  of  Laws,  book  1,  sec.  14—"  Laws  are  the  necessary  relations 
arising  from  the  nature  of  things  ....  There  is  a  primitive  Reason,  and  laws  are  the 
relations  subsisting  between  it  and  different  beings,  and  the  relations  of  these  to  one 
another .  .  .  These  rules  are  a  fixed  and  invariable  relation  ....  Particular  intelligent 
beings  may  have  laws  of  their  own  making,  but  they  have  some  likewise  that  they 
never  made  ....  To  say  that  there  is  nothing  just  or  unjust  but  what  is  commanded 
or  forbidden  by  positive  laws,  is  the  same  as  saying  that  before  the  describing  of  a  circle 
all  the  radii  were  not  equal.  We  must  therefore  acknowledge  relations  antecedent  to 
the  positive  law  by  which  they  were  established."  Kant,  Metaphysic  of  Ethics,  169-172— 
"By  the  science  of  law  is  meant  the  systematic  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  law 
of  nature— from  which  positive  law  takes  its  rise— which  is  forever  the  same,  and  carries 
its  sure  and  unchanging  obligations  over  all  nations  and  throughout  all  ages." 

It  is  true  even  of  a  despot's  law,  that  it  reveals  his  nature,  and  shows  what  is  requisite 
in  the  subject  to  constitute  him  in  harmony  with  that  nature.  A  law  which  does  not 
represent  the  nature  of  things,  or  the  real  relations  of  the  governor  and  the  governed, 
has  only  a  nominal  existence,  and  cannot  be  permanent.  On  the  definition  and  nature 
of  law,  see  also  Pomeroy,  in  Johnson's  Encyclopaedia,  art. :  Law ;  Ahrens,  Cours  de 
Droit  Naturel,  book  1,  sec.  14 ;  Lorimer,  Institutes  of  Law,  256,  who  quotes  from  Burke : 
"All  human  laws  are,  properly  speaking,  only  declaratory.  They  may  alter  the  mode 
and  application,  but  have  no  power  over  the  substance  of  original  justice  " ;  Lord  Bacon : 
"Regula  enim  legem  (ut  acus  nautica  polos)  indicat,  non  statuit."  Duke  of  Argyll^ 
Reign  of  Law,  64;  H.  C.  Carey,  Unity  of  Law. 


II.     THE  LAW  OF  GOD  IN  PARTICULAR. 

The  law  of  God  is  a  general  expression  of  the  divine  will  enforced  by 
power.  It  has  two  forms  :  Elemental  Law  and  Positive  Enactment. 

1 .  Elemental  Law,  or  law  inwrought  into  the  elements,  substances,  and 
forces  of  the  rational  and  irrational  creation.  This  is  twofold  : 

A.  The  expression  of  the  divine  will  in  the  constitution  of  the  material 
universe  ; — this  we  call  physical,  or  natural  law.  Physical  law  is  not  neces- 
sary. Another  order  of  things  is  conceivable.  Physical  order  is  not  an  end 
in  itself ;  it  exists  for  the  sake  of  moral  order.  Physical  order  has  there- 
fore only  a  relative  constancy,  and  God  supplements  it  at  times  by  miracle. 

Joseph  Cook :  "  The  laws  of  nature  are  the  habits  of  God."  But  Campbell,  Atone- 
ment, Introd.,  xxvi,  says  there  is  this  difference  between  the  laws  of  the  moral  universe 
and  those  of  the  physical,  namely,  that  we  do  not  trace  the  existence  of  the  former  to 
an  act  of  will,  as  we  do  the  latter.  To  say  that  God  has  given  existence  to  goodness,  as 
he  has  to  the  laws  of  nature,  would  be  equivalent  to  saying  that  he  has  given  existence 
to  himself."  Pepper,  Outlines  of  Syst.  Theol.,  91—"  Moral  law,  unlike  natural  law,  is  a 
standard  of  action  to  be  adopted  or  rejected  in  the  exercise  of  rational  freedom,  i.  e.,  of 
moral  agency." 

Mark  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Sept.,  1882 : 190—"  In  moral  law  there  is  enforcement 
by  punishment  only— never  by  power,  for  this  would  confound  moral  law  with  physical, 
and  obedience  can  never  be  produced  or  secured  by  power.  In  physical  law,  on  the 
contrary,  enforcement  is  wholly  by  power,  and  punishment  is  impossible.  So  far  as  man 
is  free,  he  is  not  subject  to  law  at  all,  in  its  physical  sense.  Our  wills  are  free  from  law, 
as  enforced  by  power;  but  are  free  under  law,  as  enforced  by  punishment.  Where  law 
prevails  in  the  same  sense  as  in  the  material  world,  there  can  be  no  freedom.  Law  does 
not  prevail  when  we  reach  the  region  of  choice.  We  hold  to  a  power  in  the  mind  of  man 
originating  a  free  choice.  Two  objects  or  courses  of  action,  between  which  choice  is  to 
be  made,  are  presupposed:  (1)  A  uniformity  or  set  of  uniformities  implying  a  force 
by  which  the  uniformity  is  produced  [physical  or  natural  law]  ;  (2)  A  command,  ad- 


276  ANTHKOPOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

dressed  to  free  and  intelligent  beings,  that  can  be  obeyed  or  disobeyed,  and  that  has 
connected  with  it  rewards  or  punishments  "  [  moral  law].  See  also  Wm.  Arthur,  Differ- 
ence between  Physical  and  Moral  Law. 

B.  The  expression  of  the  divine  will  in  the  constitution  of  rational  and 
free  agents; — this  we  call  moral  law.  This  elemental  law  of  our  moral 
nature,  with  which  only  we  are  now  concerned,  has  all  the  characteristics 
mentioned  as  belonging  to  law  in  general.  It  implies  :  (a)  A  divine  Law- 
giver, or  ordaining  Will.  (6)  Subjects,  or  moral  beings  upon  whom  the 
law  terminates,  (c)  General  command,  or  expression  of  this  will  in  the 
moral  constitution  of  the  subjects,  (d)  Power,  enforcing  the  command. 
(e)  Duty,  or  obligation  to  obey.  (/)  Sanctions,  or  pains  and  penalties  for 
disobedience. 

All  these  are  of  a  loftier  sort  than  are  found  in  human  law.  But  we  need 
especially  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  this  law  (g]  Is  an  expression  of  the 
moral  nature  of  God,  and  therefore  of  God's  holiness,  the  fundamental  at- 
tribute of  that  nature  ;  and  that  it  (h)  Sets  forth  absolute  conformity  to 
that  holiness,  as  the  normal  condition  of  man.  This  law  is  inwrought  into 
man's  rational  and  moral  being.  Man  fulfils  it,  only  when  in  his  moral  as 
well  as  his  rational  being  he  is  the  image  of  God. 

Although  the  will  from  which  the  moral  law  springs  is  an  expression  of  the  nature  of 
God,  and  a  necessary  expression  of  that  nature  in  view  of  the  existence  of  moral  beings, 
it  is  none  the  less  a  personal  will.  We  should  be  careful  not  to  attribute  to  law  a  per- 
sonality of  its  own.  When  Plutarch  says :  "  Law  is  king  both  of  mortal  and  of  immor- 
tal beings,"  and  when  we  say:  "The  law  will  take  hold  of  you,"  "  The  criminal  is  in 
danger  of  the  law,"  we  are  simply  substituting  the  name  of  the  agent  for  that  of  the 
principal.  God  is  not  subject  to  law ;  God  is  the  source  of  law ;  and  we  may  say :  "  If 
Jehovah  be  God,  worship  him ;  but  if  Law,  worship  it." 

Since  moral  law  merely  reflects  God,  it  is  not  a  thing  made.  Men  discover  laws,  but 
they  do  not  make  them,  any  more  than  the  chemist  makes  the  laws  by  which  the  ele- 
ments combine.  Instance  the  solidification  of  hydrogen  at  Geneva.  Utility  does  not 
constitute  law,  although  we  test  law  by  utility;  see  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith, 
53-71.  The  true  nature  of  the  moral  law  is  set  forth  in  the  noble  though  rhetorical  de- 
scription of  Hooker  ( Eccl.  Pol.,  1 : 194 )— "  Of  law  there  can  be  no  less  acknowledged  than 
that  her  seat  is  in  the  bosom  of  God ;  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the  world ;  all  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  do  her  homage,  the  very  least  as  feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as 
not  exempted  from  her  power ;  both  angels  and  men,  and  creatures  of  what  condition 
soever,  though  each  in  a  different  sort  and  manner,  yet  all  with  uniform  consent  admir- 
ing her  as  the  mother  of  their  peace  and  joy." 

The  law  of  God,  then,  is  simply  an  expression  of  the  nature  of  God  in  the 
form  of  moral  requirement,  and  a  necessary  expression  of  that  nature  in 
view  of  the  existence  of  moral  beings  (Ps.  19  :  7  ;  cf.  1).  To  the  existence 
of  this  law  all  men  bear  witness.  The  consciences  even  of  the  heathen  tes- 
tify to  it  (Eom.  2  :  14,  15).  Those  who  have  the  written  law  recognize  this 
elemental  law  as  of  greater  compass  and  penetration  (Rom.  7  :  14 ;  8:4). 
The  perfect  embodiment  and  fulfilment  of  this  law  is  seen  only  in  Christ 
(Eom.  10  :  4 ;  Phil.  3  :  8,  9). 

Ps,  19  .  7__"  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,  restoring  the  soul "  ;  c/.  verse  1—"  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  " 
=  two  revelations  of  God— one  in  nature,  the  other  in  the  moral  law.  Rom.  2  : 14, 15— "For 
•when  Gentiles  which  have  not  the  law  do  by  nature  the  things  of  the  law,  these,  not  having  the  law,  are  a  law  unto 
themselves ;  in  that  they  shew  the  work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  witness  therewith, 
and  their  thoughts  one  with  another  accusing  or  else  excusing  them"— here  the  "work  of  the  law"=,  not  the 
ten  commandments,  for  of  these  the  heathen  were  ignorant,  but  rather  the  work  corres- 
ponding to  them,  i.  e.,  the  substance  of  them.  Rom.  7  : 14—"  For  we  know  that  the  law  is  spiritual  "- 
this,  says  Meyer,  is  equivalent  to  saying  "  its  essence  is  divine,  of  like  nature  with  the 


THE   LAW   OF   GOD   IK   PARTICULAR.  277 

Holy  Spirit  who  gave  it,  a  holy  self -revelation  of  God."  Rom.  8  :  4—"  that  the  ordinance  of  the  law 
might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit"  ;  10  :  4— "For  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law 
unto  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth  "  ;  Phil.  3  :  9 — "  That  I  may  gain  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having 
a  righteousness  of  mine  own,  even  that  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  God  by  faith";  Heb.  10  :  9— "Lo,  I  am  come  to  do  thy  will."  In  Christ  "the  law  appears 
Drawn  out  in  living1  characters."  Just  such  as  he  was  and  is,  we  feel  that  we  ought  to 
be.  Hence  the  character  of  Christ  convicts  us  of  sin,  as  does  no  other  manifestation  of 
God.  See,  on  the  passages  from  Romans,  the  Commentary  of  Philippi. 

Fleming,  Vocab.  Philos.,  286—"  Moral  laws  are  derived  from  the  nature  and  will  of 
God,  and  the  character  and  condition  of  man."  God's  nature  is  reflected  in  the  laws  of 
our  nature.  Since  law  is  inwrought  into  man's  nature,  man  is  a  law  unto  himself.  To 
conform  to  his  own  nature,  in  which  conscience  is  supreme,  is  to  conform  to  the  nature 
of  God.  The  law  is  only  the  revelation  of  the  constitutive  principles  of  being,  the  dec- 
laration of  what  must  be,  so  long  as  man  is  man  and  God  is  God.  It  says  in  effect :  "  Be 
like  God,  or  you  cannot  be  truly  man."  So  moral  law  is  not  simply  a  test  of  obedience, 
but  is  also  a  revelation  of  eternal  reality.  Man  cannot  be  lost  to  God,  without  being  lost 
to  himself.  " The  'hands  of  the  living  God '  ( Heb.  10  :  31 )  into  which  we  fall,  are  the  laws  of  na- 
ture." In  the  spiritual  world  "  the  same  wheels  revolve,  only  there  is  no  iron  "  ( Drum- 
mond,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  27 ).  Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  2 :  82-92—"  The 
totality  of  created  being  is  to  be  in  harmony  with  God  and  with  itself.  The  idea  of  this 
harmony,  as  active  in  God  under  the  form  of  will,  is  God's  law."  For  fuller  treatment 
of  the  subject,  see  Bowen,  Metaph.  and  Ethics,  321-344 ;  Talbot,  Ethical  Prolegomena,  in 
Bap.  Quar.,  July,  1877 :  257-274 ;  Whewell,  Elements  of  Morality,  2 :  35. 

Each  of  the  two  last-mentioned  characteristics  of  God's  law  is  important 
in  its  implications.  We  treat  of  these  in  their  order. 

First,  the  law  of  God  as  a  transcript  of  the  divine  nature. — If  this  be 
the  nature  of  the  law,  then  certain  common  misconceptions  of  it  are 
excluded.  The  law  of  God  is 

(a)  Not  arbitrary,  or  the  product  of  arbitrary  will.  Since  the  will  from 
which  the  law  springs  is  a  revelation  of  God's  nature,  there  can  be  no  rash- 
ness or  unwisdom  in  the  law  itself. 

(6)  Not  temporary,  or  ordained  simply  to  meet  an  exigency.  The  law 
is  a  manifestation,  not  of  temporary  moods  or  desires,  but  of  the  essential 
nature  of  God. 

(c)  Not  merely  negative,  or  a  law  of  mere  prohibition, — since  positive 
conformity  to  God  is  the  inmost  requisition  of  law. 

(d)  Not  partial,  or  addressed  to  one  part  only  of  man's  being, — since 
likeness  to  God  requires  purity  of  substance  in  man's  soul  and  body,  as  well 
as  purity  in  all  the  thoughts  and  acts  that  proceed  therefrom.     As  law  pro- 
ceeds from  the  nature  of  God,  so  it  requires  conformity  to  that  nature  in 
the  nature  of  man. 

(e)  Not  outwardly  published, — since  all  positive  enactment  is  only  the 
imperfect  expression  of  this  underlying  and  unwritten  law  of  being. 

(/)  Not  inwardly  conscious,  or  limited  in  its  scope  by  men's  conscious- 
ness of  it.  Like  the  laws  of  our  physical  being,  the  moral  law  exists 
whether  we  recognize  it  or  not. 

(g)  Not  local,  or  confined  to  place, — since  no  moral  creature  can  escape 
from  God,  from  his  own  being,  or  from  the  natural  necessity  that  unlike- 
ness  to  God  should  involve  misery  and  ruin. 

(h)  Not  changeable,  or  capable  of  modification.  Since  law  represents 
the  unchangeable  nature  of  God,  it  is  not  a  sliding-scale  of  requirements 


278  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

which  adapts  itself    to  the  ability  of    the  subjects.     God  himself  cannot 
change  it  without  ceasing  to  be  God. 

The  law,  then,  has  a  deeper  foundation  than  that  God  merely  "  said  so."  God's  word 
and  God's  will  are  revelations  of  his  inmost  being ;  every  transgression  of  the  law  is  a 
stab  at  the  heart  of  God. 

The  obligation  to  obey  this  law  and  to  be  conformed  to  God's  perfect  moral  character 
is  based  upon  man's  original  ability  and  the  gifts  which  God  bestowed  upon  him  at  the 
beginning.  Created  in  the  image  of  God,  it  is  man's  duty  to  render  back  to  God  that 
which  God  first  gave,  enlarged  and  improved  by  growth  and  culture  (Luke  19  :  23—"  Where- 
fore gavest  thou  not  my  money  into  the  bank,  and  I  at  my  coming  should  have  required  it  with  interest " ).  This 
obligation  is  not  impaired  by  sin  and  the  weakening  of  man's  powers.  To  let  down  the 
standard  would  be  to  misrepresent  God.  Adolphe  Monod  would  not  save  himself  from 
shame  and  remorse  by  lowering  the  claims  of  the  law :  "  Save  first  the  holy  law  of  my 
God,"  he  says,  "after  that  you  shall  save  me!  " 

Even  salvation  is  not  through  violation  of  law.  The  moral  law  is  immutable,  be- 
cause it  is  a  transcript  of  the  nature  of  the  immutable  God.  Shall  nature  conform  to 
me,  or  I  to  nature  ?  If  I  attempt  to  resist  even  physical  laws,  I  am  crushed.  I  can  use 
nature  only  by  obeying  her  laws.  Lord  Bacon :  "  Natura  enim  non  nisi  parendo  vinci- 
tur."  So  in  the  moral  realm.  We  cannot  buy  off  nor  escape  the  moral  law  of  God. 
God  will  not,  and  God  cannot,  change  his  law  by  one  hair's  breadth,  even  to  save  a 
universe  of  sinners. 

Secondly,  the  law  of  God  as  the  ideal  of  human  nature. — A  law  thus 
identical  with  the  eternal  and  necessary  relations  of  the  creature  to  the 
Creator,  and  demanding  of  the  creature  nothing  less  than  perfect  holiness, 
as  the  condition  of  harmony  with  the  infinite  holiness  of  God,  is  adapted 
to  man's  finite  nature,  as  needing  law ;  to  man's  free  nature,  as  needing 
moral  law  ;  and  to  man's  progressive  nature,  as  needing  ideal  law. 

Man,  as  finite,  needs  law,  just  as  railway  cars  need  a  track  to  guide  them — to  leap  the 
track  is  to  find,  not  freedom,  but  ruin.  "  In  vain  shall  spirits  that  are  all  unbound  To 
the  pure  heights  of  perfectness  aspire ;  In  limitation  first  the  Master  shines.  And  law 
alone  can  give  us  liberty."— Man,  as  a  free  being,  needs  moral  law.  He  is  not  an  autom- 
aton, a  creature  of  necessity,  governed  only  by  physical  influences.  With  conscience 
to  command  the  right,  and  will  to  choose  or  reject  it,  his  true  dignity  and  calling  are 
that  he  should  freely  realize  the  riarht.— Man,  as  a  progressive  being,  needs  nothing  less 
than  an  ideal  and  infinite  standard  of  attainment,  a  goal  which  he  can  never  overpass, 
an  end  which  shall  ever  attract  and  urge  him  forward.  This  he  finds  iu  the  holiness  of 
God. 

The  law  of  God  is  therefore  characterized  by  : 

(a)  All-comprehensiveness.  — It  is  over  us  at  all  times ;  it  respects  our 
past,  our  present,  our  future.  It  forbids  every  conceivable  sin  ;  it  requires 
every  conceivable  virtue  ;  omissions  as  well  as  commissions  are  condemned 
by  it. 

Ps.  119  :  96 — "  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection thy  commandment  is  exceeding  broad  "  ;  Rom.  3  :  23 — 

"  All  have  sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God  "  ;  James  4  : 17—"  To  him  therefore  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and 
doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin." 

(6)  Spirituality. — It  demands  not  only  right  acts  and  words,  but  also 
right  dispositions  and  states.  Perfect  obedience  requires  not  only  the 
intense  and  unremitting  reign  of  love  toward  God  and  man,  but  conformity 
of  the  whole  inward  and  outward  nature  of  man  to  the  holiness  of  God. 

Mat.  5  :  22,  28— the  angry  word  is  murder;  the  sinful  look  is  adultery.  Mark  12  :  30,  31— "Thou 
shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength 
•  .  .  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  ;  2  Cor.  10  :  5— "bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience 
of  Christ"  ;  Eph.  5  : 1— "Be  ye  therefore  imitators  of  God,  as  beloved  children"  ;  1  Pet.  1 : 16—"  Ye  shall  be  holy ;  for 
I  am  holy." 


THE    LAW    OF    GOD    IN    PARTICULAR.  279 

(c)  Solidarity. — It  exhibits  in  all  its  parts  the  nature  of  the  one  Law- 
giver, and  it  expresses,  in  its  least  command,  the  one  requirement  of 
harmony  with  him. 

Mat.  5  :  48—"  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect"  ;  Mark  12  :  29,  30—"  The  Lord  our 
God,  the  Lord  is  one  :  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  "  ;  James  2  : 10— "For  whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law. 
and  yet  stumble  in  one  point,  he  is  become  guilty  of  all "  ;  4  : 12—"  One  only  is  the  lawgiver  and  judge." 

Only  to  the  first  man,  then,  was  the  law  proposed  as  a  method  of  salva- 
tion. With  the  first  sin,  all  hope  of  attaining  the  divine  favor  by  perfect 
obedience  is  lost.  To  sinners,  the  law  remains  as  a  means  of  discovering 
and  developing  sin  in  its  true  nature,  and  of  compelling  a  recourse  to  the 
mercy  provided  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Rom.  3  :  20—"  By  the  works  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight :  for  through  the  law  comath  the  knowl- 
edge of  sin" ;  5  :  20— "the  law  came  in  beside,  that  the  trespass  might  abound  "  ;  7:7,  8— "I  had  not  known  sin, 
except  through  the  law :  for  I  had  not  known  coveting,  except  the  law  had  said,  Thou  shalt  not  covet :  but  sin,  finding 
occasion,  wrought  in  me  through  the  commandment  all  manner  of  coveting :  for  apart  from  the  law  sin  is  dead  " ;  10  :  4 
"Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  unto  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth"  ;  Gal.  3  :  24— "So  that  the  law  hath  been 
our  tutor  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith." 

No  man  ever  yet  drew  a  straight  line  or  a  perfect  curve ;  yet  he  would  be  a  poor  archi- 
tect who  contented  himself  with  anything1  less.  Since  men  never  come  up  to  their 
ideals,  he  who  aims  to  live  only  an  average  moral  life  will  inevitably  fall  below  the 
average.  The  law,  then,  leads  to  Christ.  He  who  is  the  ideal  is  also  the  way  to  attain 
the  ideal.  He  who  is  himself  the  Word  and  the  Law  embodied,  is  also  the  Spirit  of  life 
that  makes  obedience  possible  to  us  (John  14  :  6— "I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life" ;  Rom. 
8  :  2—"  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  " ). 

Law,  then,  with  its  picture  of  spotless  innocence,  simply  reminds  man  of  the  heights 
from  which  he  has  fallen.  "It  is  a  mirror  which  reveals  derangement,  but  does  not 
create  or  remove  it."  With  its  demand  of  absolute  perfection,  up  to  the  measure  of 
man's  original  endowments  and  possibilities,  it  drives  us,  in  despair  of  ourselves,  to 
Christ  as  our  only  righteousness  and  our  only  Savior  (Rom.  8  :  3— "For  what  the  law  could  not  do, 
in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin,  condemned 
sin  in  the  flesh :  that  the  ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the 
Spirit "  ;  Phil.  3  :  9 — "that  I  may  gain  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  a  righteousness  of  mine  own,  even  that 
which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  from  God  by  faith." )  Thus 
law  must  prepare  the  way  for  grace,  and  John  the  Baptist  must  precede  Christ.  See 
Fairbairn,  Revelation  of  Law  in  Scripture;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  187-242;  Hovey, 
God  with  Us,  187-210 ;  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  45-50 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases 
of  Faith,  53-71. 

2.  Positive  Enactment,  or  the  expression  of  the  will  of  God  in  pub- 
lished ordinances.  This  is  also  twofold  : 

A.  General  moral  precepts.— These  are  written  summaries  of  the  elemen- 
tal law  ( Mat.  5  :  48  ;  22  :  37-40  ),  or  authorized  applications  of  it  to  special 
human  conditions  (Ex.  20  :  1-17 ;  Mat.  5-8). 

Mat.  5  :  48— "Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect " ;  22  :  37-40— "Thou  shalt  love  the 

Lord  thy  God thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hangeth  the  whole  law,  and 

the  prophets" ;  Ex.  20  : 1-17— the  ten  commandments ;  Mat.  chap.  5-8— the  sermon  on  the  mount. 

Solly,  On  the  Will,  162,  gives  two  illustrations  of  the  fact  that  positive  precepts  are 
merely  applications  of  elemental  law  or  the  law  of  nature:  "  '  Thou  shalt  not  steal,'  is  a 
moral  law  which  may  be  stated  thus :  thou  shalt  not  take  that  for  thy  own  property,  which 
is  the  property  of  another.  The  contradictory  of  this  proposition  would  be :  thou  mayest 
take  that  for  thy  own  pi'operty  which  is  the  property  of  another.  But  this  is  a  contradiction 
in  terms  ;  for  it  is  the  very  conception  of  property,  that  the  owner  stands  in  a  peculiar 
relation  to  its  subject-matter ;  and  what  is  every  man's  property  is  no  man's  property, 
as  it  is  proper  to  no  man.  Hence  the  contradictory  of  the  commandment  contains  a 
simple  contradiction  directly  it  is  made  a  rule  universal ;  and  the  commandment  itself 
is  established  as  one  of  the  principles  for  the  harmony  of  individual  wills." 

"'  Thou  shalt  not  tell  a  lie,'  as  a  rule  of  morality,  may  be  expressed  generally:  thou 
shalt  not  by  thy  outward  act  make  another  to  believe  thy  thought  to  be  other  than  it  is.  The 


280  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN". 

contradictory  made  universal  is :  every  man  may  by  his  outward  act  make  another  to 
believe  his  thought  to  be  other  than  it  is.  Now  this  maxim  also  contains  a  contradiction, 
and  is  self-destructive.  It  conveys  a  permission  to  do  that  which  is  rendered  impossible 
by  the  permission  itself.  Absolute  and  universal  indifference  to  truth,  or  the  entire 
mutual  independence  of  the  thought  and  symbol,  makes  the  symbol  cease  to  be  a  sym- 
bol, and  the  conveyance  of  thought  by  its  means,  an  impossibility." 

Kant,  Metaphysic  of  Ethics,  48,  90—"  Fundamental  law  of  reason :  So  act,  that  thy 
maxims  of  will  might  become  law  in  a  system  of  universal  moral  legislation."  This  i& 
Kant's  categorical  imperative.  He  expresses  it  in  yet  another  form :  "Act  from  maxims 
fit  to  be  regarded  as  universal  laws  of  nature."  For  expositions  of  the  decalogue  which 
bring  out  its  spiritual  meaning,  see  Kurtz,  Religionslehre,  9-72 ;  Dick,  Theology,  2  :  513- 
554 ;  Dwight,  Theology,  3  : 163-560 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  3  :  259-465. 

B.  Ceremonial  or  special  injunctions. — These  are  illustrations  of  the 
elemental  law,  or  approximate  revelations  of  it,  suited  to  lower  degrees  of 
capacity  and  to  earlier  stages  of  spiritual  training  (Ez.  20  :  25  ;  Mat.  19  :  8  ; 
Mark  10  :  5).  Though  temporary,  only  God  can  say  when  they  cease  to  be 
binding  upon  us  in  their  outward  form. 

All  positive  enactments,  therefore,  whether  they  be  moral  or  ceremonial, 
are  republications  of  elemental  law.  Their  forms  may  change,  but  the  sub- 
stance is  eternal.  Certain  modes  of  expression,  like  the  Mosaic  system, 
may  be  abolished,  but  the  essential  demands  are  unchanging  (Mat.  5  :  17,. 
18;  cf.  Eph.  2  :  15).  From  the  imperfection  of  human  language,  no  pos- 
itive enactments  are  able  to  express  in  themselves  the  whole  content  and 
meaning  of  the  elemental  law.  "It  is  not  the  purpose  of  revelation  to 
disclose  the  whole  of  our  duties."  Scripture  is  not  a  complete  code  of 
rules  for  practical  action,  but  an  enunciation  of  principles,  with  occasional 
precepts  by  way  of  illustration.  Hence  we  must  supplement  the  positive 
enactment  by  the  law  of  being — the  moral  ideal  found  in  the  nature  of 
God. 

Ex.  20  :  25 — "Moreover  also  I  gave  them  statutes  that  were  not  good,  and  judgments  wherein  they  should  not  live"  ; 
Mat.  19  :  8—"  Moses  for  your  hardness  of  heart  suffered  you  to  put  away  your  wives  "  ;  Mark  10  :  5—"  For  your  hard- 
ness of  heart  he  wrote  you  this  commandment" ;  Mat.  5  :  17,  18 — "Think  not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets :  I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one  jot  or 
one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  away  from  the  law,  till  all  things  be  accomplished"  ;  cf.  Eph.  2: 15— "having  abolished 
in  his  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  commandments  contained  in  ordinances." 

The  written  law  was  imperfect  because  God  could,  at  the  time,  give  no  higher  "to  an 
unenlightened  people.  "  But  to  say  that  the  scope  and  design  were  imperfectly  moral,  is 
contradicted  by  the  whole  course  of  the  history.  We  must  ask  what  is  the  moral  stand- 
ard in  which  this  course  of  education  issues."  And  this  we  find  in  the  life  and  precepts 
of  Christ.  Even  the  law  of  repentance  and  faith  does  not  take  the  place  of  the  old  law 
of  being,  but  applies  the  latter  to  the  special  conditions  of  sin.  Under  the  Levitical 
law,  the  prohibition  of  the  touching  of  the  dry  bone  (Num.  19 : 16),  equally  with  the 
purifications  and  sacrifices,  the  separations  and  penalties  of  the  Mosaic  code,  expressed 
God's  holiness  and  his  repelling  from  him  all  that  savored  of  sin  or  death.  The  laws 
with  regard  to  leprosy  were  symbolic,  as  well  as  sanitary.  So  church  polity  and  the 
ordinances  are  not  arbitrary  requirements,  but  they  publish  to  dull  sense-environed 
consciences,  better  than  abstract  propositions  could  have  done,  the  fundamental  truths 
of  the  Christian  scheme.  Hence  they  are  not  to  be  abrogated  "  till  he  come "  ( 1  Cor.  11 :  26 ). 

The  Puritans,  however,  in  ree'nacting  the  Mosaic  code,  made  the  mistake  of  confound- 
ing the  eternal  law  of  God  with  a  partial,  temporary,  and  obsolete  expression  of  it. 
So  we  are  not  to  rest  in  external  precepts  respecting  women's  hair  and  dress  and  speech, 
but  to  find  the  underlying  principle  of  modesty  and  subordination  which  alone  is  of 
universal  and  eternal  validity.  Robert  Browning,  The  Ring  and  the  Book,  1 :  255—"  God 
breathes,  not  speaks,  his  verdicts,  felt  not  heard— Passed  on  successively  to  each  court, 
I  call  Man's  conscience,  custom,  manners,  all  that  make  More  and  more  effort  to  pro- 
mulgate, mark  God's  verdict  in  determinable  words,  Till  last  come  human  jurists- 
solidify  Fluid  results,— what's  fixable  lies  forged,  Statute,— the  residue  escapes  in  fume,. 


RELATION  OF  THE  LAW  TO  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD.       281 

Yet  hangs  aloft  a  cloud,  as  palpable  To  the  finer  sense  as  word  the  legist  welds.  Jus- 
tinian's Pandects  only  make  precise  What  simply  sparkled  in  men's  eyes  before,  Twitched 
in  their  brow  or  quivered  on  their  lip,  Waited  the  speech  they  called,  but  would  not 
come."  See  Mozley,  Ruling  Ideas  in  Early  Ages,  104 ;  Tulloch,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  141- 
144;  Finney,  Syst.  Theol.,  1-40,  135-319;  Mansel,  Metaphysics,  378,  379;  H.  B.  Smith, 
System  of  Theology,  191-195. 

III.     RELATION  OF  THE  LAW  TO  THE  GBACE  OF  GOD. 

In  human  government,  while  law  is  an  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
governing  power,  and  so  of  the  nature  lying  behind  the  will,  it  is  by  no 
means  an  exhaustive  expression  of  that  will  and  nature,  since  it  consists 
only  of  general  ordinances,  and  leaves  room  for  particular  acts  of  command 
through  the  executive,  as  well  as  for  "  the  institution  of  equity,  the  faculty 
of  discretionary  punishment,  and  the  prerogative  of  pardon. " 

Amos,  Science  of  Law,  29-46,  shows  how  "  the  institution  of  equity,  the  faculty  of  dis- 
cretionary punishment,  and  the  prerogative  of  pardon"  all  involve  expressions  of  will 
above  and  beyond  what  is  contained  in  mere  statute. 

Applying  now  to  the  divine  law  this  illustration  drawn  from  human  law, 
we  remark : 

(a)  The  law  of  God  is  a  general  expression  of  God's  will,  applicable  to 
all  moral  beings.  It  therefore  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  of  special 
injunctions  to  individuals,  and  special  acts  of  wisdom  and  power  in  creation 
and  providence.  The  very  specialty  of  these  latter  expressions  of  will 
prevents  us  from  classing  them  under  the  category  of  law. 

Lord  Bacon,  Confession  of  Faith :  "  The  soul  of  man  was  not  produced  by  heaven  or 
earth,  but  was  breathed  immediately  from  God ;  so  the  ways  and  dealings  of  God  with 
spirits  are  not  included  in  nature,  that  is,  in  the  laws  of  heaven  and  -earth,  but  are 
reserved  to  the  law  of  his  secret  will  and  grace." 

(6)  The  law  of  God,  accordingly,  is  a  partial,  not  an  exhaustive,  expres- 
sion of  God's  nature.  It  constitutes,  indeed,  a  manifestation  of  that 
attribute  of  holiness  which  is  fundamental  in  God,  and  which  man  must 
possess  in  order  to  be  in  harmony  with  God.  But  it  does  not  fully  express 
God's  nature  in  its  aspects  of  personality,  sovereignty,  helpfulness,  mercy. 

The  chief  error  of  all  pantheistic  theology  is  the  assumption  that  law  is  an  exhaustive 
expression  of  God :  Strauss,  Glaubenslehre,  1 :  31—"  If  nature,  as  the  self-realization  of 
the  divine  essence,  is  equal  to  this  divine  essence,  then  it  is  infinite,  and  there  can  be 
nothing  above  and  beyond  it."  This  is  a  denial  of  the  transcendence  of  God  ( see  notes 
on  pantheism,  pages  55-57 ).  Mere  law  is  illustrated  by  the  Buddhist  proverb :  "  As  the 
cartwheel  follows  the  tread  of  the  ox,  so  punishment  follows  sin."  Denovan:  "Apart 
from  Christ,  even  if  we  have  never  yet  broken  the  law,  it  is  only  by  steady  and  perfect 
obedience  for  the  entire  future  that  we  can  remain  justified.  If  we  have  sinned,  we  can 
be  justified  [without  Christ]  only  by  suffering  and  exhausting  the  whole  penalty  of  the 
law." 

(c)  Mere  law,  therefore,  leaves  God's  nature  in  these  aspects  of  person- 
ality, sovereignty,  helpfulness,  mercy,  to  be  expressed  toward  sinners  in 
another  way,  namely  through  the  atoning,  regenerating,  pardoning,  sancti- 
fying work  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  As  creation  does  not  exclude  miracles, 
so  law  does  not  exclude  grace  (Rom.  8  :  3 — "what  the  law  could  not  do 
God"  did). 

Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  303-327,  esp.  315—"  To  impersonal  law,  it  is  indifferent  whether 
its  subjects  obey  or  not.  But  God  desires,  not  the  punishment,  but  the  destruction,  of 


282  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

sin."  Campbell,  Atonement,  Introd.,  28— "There  are  two  regions  of  the  divine  self- 
manifestation,  one  the  reign  of  law,  the  other  the  kingdom  of  God."  C.  H.  M. :— "  Law 
is  the  transcript  of  the  mind  of  God  as  to  what  man  ought  to  be.  But  God  is  not  merely 
law,  but  love.  There  is  more  in  his  heart  than  could  be  wrapped  up  in  the  '  ten  words.' 
Not  the  law,  but  only  Christ,  is  the  perfect  image  of  God  "  (John  1 : 17— "For  the  law  was  given 
by  Moses ;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ ").  So  there  is  more  in  man's  heart  toward  God  than 
exact  fulfilment  of  requirement.  The  mother  who  sacrifices  herself  for  her  sick  child 
does  it,  not  because  she  must,  but  because  she  loves.  To  say  that  we  are  saved  by  grace, 
is  to  say  that  we  are  saved  both  without  merit  on  our  own  part,  and  without  necessity 
on  the  part  of  God.  Grace  is  made  known  in  proclamation,  offer,  command ;  but  in  all 
these  it  is  gospel,  or  glad-tidings. 

(d]  Grace  is  to  be  regarded,  however,  not  as  abrogating  law,  but  as 
republishing  and  enforcing  it  (Bom.  3  :  31 — "  we  establish  the  law  ").     By 
removing  obstacles  to  pardon  in  the  mind  of  God,  and  by  enabling  man  to 
obey,  grace  secures  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  law  (Rom.  8  :  4 — "that  the 
ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us").     Even  grace  has  its  law 
(Eom.  8  :  2 — "the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  " )  ;  another  higher  law  of  grace, 
the  operation  of  individualizing  mercy,  overbears  the  "law  of  sin  and  of 
death," — this  last,  as  in  the  case  of  the  miracle,  not  being  suspended, 
annulled,  or  violated,  but  being  merged  in,  while  it  is  transcended  by,  the 
exertion  of  personal  divine  will. 

Hooker,  Eccl.  Polity,  1 : 155, 185, 194—"  Man,  having  utterly  disabled  his  nature  unto 
those  [natural]  means,  hath  had  other  revealed  by  God,  and  hath  received  from  heaven 
a  law  to  teach  him  how  that  which  is  desired  naturally,  must  now  be  supernaturally 
attained.  Finally,  we  see  that,  because  those  latter  exclude  not  the  former  as  unneces- 
sary, therefore  the  law  of  grace  teaches  and  includes  natural  duties  also,  such  as  are 
hard  to  ascertain  by  the  Jaw  of  nature."  The  truth  is  midway  between  the  Pelagian 
view,  that  there  is  no  obstacle  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  the  modern  rationalistic 
view,  that  since  law  fully  expresses  God,  there  can  be  no  forgiveness  of  sins  at  all. 
Greg,  Creed  of  Christendom,  2  : 217-228 -"God  is  the  only  being  who  cannot  forgive 

sins Punishment  is  not  the  execution  of  a  sentence,  but  the  occurrence  of  an 

effect."  Robertson,  Lect.  on  Genesis :  "  Deeds  are  irrevocable— their  consequences  are 
knit  up  with  them  irrevocably."  So  Baden  Powell,  Law  and  Gospel,  in  Noyes'  Theolog- 
ical Essays,  27.  All  this  is  true  if  God  be  regarded  as  merely  the  source  of  law.  But 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  grace,  and  grace  is  more  than  law.  There  is  no  forgiveness  in 
nature,  but  grace  is  above  and  beyond  nature. 

(e)  Thus  the  revelation  of  grace,  while  it  takes  up  and  includes  in  itself 
the  revelation  of  law,  adds  something  different  in  kind,  namely,  the  mani- 
festation of  the  personal  love  of  the  Lawgiver.     Without  grace,  law  has 
only  a  demanding  aspect.     Only  in  connection  with  grace  does  it  become 
"the  perfect  law,  the  law  of  liberty"  (James  1  :  25).     In  fine,  grace  is  that 
larger  and  completer  manifestation  of  the  divine  nature,  of  which  law  con- 
stitutes the  necessary  but  preparatory  stage . 

Dorner,  Person  of  Christ,  1 : 64,  78— "The  law  was  a  word  (A6yos),  but  it  was  not  a 
Adyos  reXeio?,  a  plastic  word,  like  the  words  of  God  that  brought  forth  the  world,  for  it 
was  only  imperative,  and  there  was  no  reality  nor  willing  corresponding  to  the  com- 
mand (dem  Sollen  fehlte  das  Seyn,  das  Wotten).  The  Christian  A6-yo?  is  Aoyos  aArj^eia?— 
vofio?  Te'Aeio?  TJJS  eA.ev#epi'as — an  operative  and  effective  word,  as  that  of  creation  .... 
....  So  long,  indeed,  as  the  holiness  of  God  is  only  directive  and  lawgiving,  God  himself 
is  thought  of  only  as  absolute  Moral  Law,  not  yet  as  Love.  So  the  Law  tends  forward  to 
Prophecy— is  an  imperative  word  of  God  which  does  not  lack  entity,  but  which  an- 
nounces a  higher  revelation  whereby  the  idea  of  holiness  is  powerfully  presented,  and 
thus  the  revelation  of  the  divine  holiness  is  for  the  first  time  established  in  the  world 
and  completed.  See  Burton,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  July,  1879:261-273,  art.:  Law  and  Divine 
Intervention ;  Farrar,  Science  and  Theology,  184 ;  Salmon,  Reign  of  Law ;  Philippi, 
Glaubenslehre,  1 : 31. 


DEFINITION    OF    SIN.  283 

SECTION    II. — NATURE    OF   SIN. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  SIN. 

Sin  is  lack  of  conformity  to  the  moral  law  of  God,  either  in  act,  disposi- 
tion, or  state. 

In  explanation,  we  remark  that  (a)  This  definition  regards  sin  as  pre- 
dicable  only  of  rational  and  voluntary  agents.  (6)  It  assumes,  however, 
that  man  has  a  rational  nature  below  consciousness,  and  a  voluntary  nature 
apart  from  actual  volition,  (c)  It  holds  that  the  divine  law  requires  moral 
likeness  to  God  in  the  affections  and  tendencies  of  the  nature,  as  well  as  in 
its  outward  activities,  (d)  It  therefore  considers  lack  of  conformity  to  the 
divine  holiness  in  disposition  or  state  as  a  violation  of  law,  equally  with  the 
outward  act  of  transgression. 

In  our  discussion  of  the  Will  (pages  257-260),  we  noticed  that  there  were  permanent 
states  of  the  will,  as  well  as  of  the  intellect  and  of  the  sensibilities.  It  is  evident,  more- 
over, that  these  permanent  states,  unlike  man's  deliberate  acts,  are  always  very  imper- 
fectly conscious,  and  in  many  cases  are  not  conscious  at  all.  Yet  it  is  in  these  very 
states  that  man  is  most  unlike  God,  and  so,  as  law  only  reflects  God  (see  pages  276-279), 
most  lacking  in  conformity  to  God's  law. 

One  main  difference  between  Old  School  and  New  School  views  of  sin  is  that  the  latter 
constantly  tends  to  limit  sin  to  mere  act,  while  the  former  finds  sin  in  the  states  of  the 
soul.  We  propose  what  we  think  to  be  a  valid  and  proper  compromise  between  the  two. 
We  make  sin  coe'xtensive,  not  with  act,  but  with  activity.  The  Old  School  and  the  New 
School  are  not  so  far  apart,  when  we  remember  that  the  New  School  "  choice  "  is  elective 
preference,  exercised  so  soon  as  the  child  is  born  (Park)  and  reasserting  itself  in  all 
the  subordinate  choices  of  life;  while  the  Old  School  "state"  is  not  a  dead,  passive, 
mechanical  thing,  but  is  a  state  of  active  movement,  or  of  tendency  to  move,  toward  evil. 

The  soul  may  not  always  be  conscious,  but  it  may  always  be  active.  At  his  creation 
man  "became  a  living  soul"  (Gen.  2  :  7),  and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  human  spirit  ever 
ceases  its  activity,  any  more  than  the  divine  Spirit  in  whose  image  it  is  made.  There  is 
some  reason  to  believe  that  even  in  the  deepest  sleep  the  body  rests  rather  than  the 
mind.  And  when  we  consider  how  large  a  portion  of  our  activity  is  automatic  and  con- 
tinuous, we  see  the  impossibility  of  limiting  the  term  'sin '  to  the  sphere  of  momentary 
act,  whether  conscious  or  unconscious. 

On  unconscious  mental  action,  see  Carpenter,  Mental  Physiology,  139,  515-543;  Porter? 
Human  Intellect,  333,  334;  versus  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  who  adopts  the  maxim:  "Non 
sentimus,  nisi  sentiamus  nos  sentire  "  (Philosophy,  ed.  Wight,  171).  Observe  also  that 
sin  may  infect  the  body,  as  well  as  the  soul,  and  may  bring  it  into  a  state  of  non-con- 
formity to  God's  law  (see  H.  B.  Smith,  Syst.  Theol.,  267). 

1.     Proof. 

As  it  is  readily  admitted  that  the  outward  act  of  transgression  is  properly 
denominated  sin,  we  here  attempt  to  show  only  that  lack  of  conformity  to 
the  law  of  God  in  disposition  or  state  is  also  and  equally  to  be  so  denom- 
inated. 

A.     From  Scripture. 

(a)  The  words  ordinarily  translated  'sin,'  or  used  as  synonyms  for  it, 
are  as  applicable  to  dispositions  and  states  as  to  acts  (HDNPI  and  djuapria  = 
&  missing,  failure,  coming  short  [sc.  of  God's  will] ). 

See  Num.  15  :  28— "sinneth  unwittingly  "  ;  Ps.  51  :  2— "cleanse  me  from  my  sin  "  ;  5— "Behold,  I  was  shapen  in 
iniquity;  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me"  ;  Rom.  7  : 17— "Sin  which  dwelleth  in  me"  ;  compare  Judges 
20  : 16,  where  the  literal  meaning  of  the  word  appears:  "sling  stones  at  a  hair-breadth  and  not 
In  a  similar  manner,  #$D  [ LXX.  do-e'/Seta ]  =  separation  from,  rebellion 


284  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OB   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

against  [  sc.  God  ]  ;  see  Lev.  16  : 16, 21 ;  cf.  Delitzsch  on  Ps.  32  : 1.  jty  [  LXX.  iSiKt'a  ]  =  bending, 
perversion  [sc.  of  what  is  right],  iniquity;  see  Lev.  5  : 17;  c/.  John  7  : 18.  So  also  the  He- 
brew y~],  >'^HT'  [  =  rum»  Confusion],  and  the  Greek  a.iro<na.aia,  eiridv/xia,  f\dpa,  (caKi'a, 

TTovrjpi'a,  o-apf.  None  of  these  designations  of  sin  limit  it  to  mere  act — most  of  them 
more  naturally  suggest  disposition  or  state.  On  the  words  mentioned,  see  Girdlestone, 
O.  T.  Synonyms ;  Crerner,  Lexicon  N.  T.  Greek ;  Present  Day  Tracts,  5  :  no.  28,  pp.  43- 
47 ;  Trench,  N.  T.  Synonyms,  part  2  :  61,  73. 

(6)  The  New  Testament  descriptions  of  sin  bring  more  distinctly  to  view 
the  states  and  dispositions  than  the  outward  acts  of  the  soul  (1  John  3  :  4 — 
rj  dpapria  karlv  TJ  dvo/aia,  where  dvojuia  =}  not  "transgression  of  the  law,"  but, 
as  both  context  and  etymology  show,  "lack  of  conformity  to  law  "  or  "law- 
lessness " — Rev.  Vers.). 

See  1  John  5  : 17 — "  All  unrighteousness  is  sin"  ;  Rom.  14  :  23 — "whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin"  ;  James  4  : 17 
— "  To  him  therefore  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin."  Where  the  sin  is  that  of 
not  doing,  sin  cannot  be  said  to  consist  in  act.  It  must  then  at  least  be  a  state. 

(c)  Moral  evil  is  ascribed  not  only  to  the  thoughts  and  affections,  but  to 
the  heart  from  which  they  spring  (we  read  of  the  "evil  thoughts"  and  of 
the  "  evil  heart"— Mat.  15  :  19  and  Heb.  3  :  12). 

See  also  Mat.  5  :  22— anger  in  the  heart  is  murder ;  28— impure  desire  is  adultery.  Luke  6  :  45 
— "  the  evil  man  out  of  the  evil  treasure  [of  his  heart]  bringeth  forth  that  which  is  evil."  Heb.  3  :  12 — "  an  evil 
heart  of  unbelief" ;  c/.  Is.  1  :  5— "the  whole  head  is  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint"  ;  Jer.  17  :  9— "The  heart  is 
deceitful  above  all  things,  and  it  is  desperately  sick:  who  can  know  it?" — the  sin  here  that  cannot  be 
known  is  not  sin  of  act,  but  sin  of  the  heart. 

(d)  The  state  or  condition  of  the  soul  which  gives  rise  to  wrong  desires 
and  acts  is  expressly  called  sin  (  Rom.  7  :  8 — "  Sin  ....  wrought  in  me  .... 
all  manner  of  coveting  " ). 

John  8  :  34— "Every  one  that  committeth  sin  is  the  bondservant  of  sin";  Rom.  7  : 11, 13, 14, 17,  20— "sin 

beguiled  me  ....  working  death  to  me  ....  I  am  carnal,  sold  under  sin sin  which  dwelleth  in  me."    These 

representations  of  sin  as  a  principle  or  state  of  the  soul  are  incompatible  with  the  defi- 
nition of  it  as  a  mere  act. 

(e)  Sin  is  represented  as  existing  in  the  soul,  prior  to  the  consciousness 
of  it,  and  as  only  discovered  and  awakened  by  the  law  (Rom.  7  :  9,  10 — 
"  when  the  commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  I  died  " — if  sin  "  revived, " 
it  must  have  had  previous  existence  and  life,  even  though  it  did  not  mani- 
fest itself  in  acts  of  conscious  transgression). 

Rom.  7  :  8— "apart  from  the  law  sin  was  dead  "—here  is  sin  which  is  not  yet  sin  of  act.  Dead  or 
unconscious  sin  is  still  sin.  The  fire  in  a  cave  discovers  reptiles  and  stirs  them,  but  they 
were  there  before ;  the  light  does  not  create  them.  Let  a  beam  of  light,  says  Jean  Paul 
Richter,  through  your  window-shutter  into  a  darkened  room,  and  you  reveal  a  thousand 
motes  floating  in  the  air  whose  existence  was  before  unsuspected.  So  the  law  of  God 
reveals  our  "hidden  faults"  (Ps.  19  : 12)— infirmities,  imperfections,  evil  tendencies  and  desires 
— which  cannot  all  be  classed  as  acts  of  transgression. 

(/)  The  allusions  to  sin  as  a  permanent  power  or  reigning  principle,  not 
only  in  the  individual  but  in  humanity  at  large,  forbid  us  to  define  it  as  a 
momentary  act,  and  compel  us  to  regard  it  as  being  primarily  a  settled 
depravity  of  nature,  of  which  individual  sins  or  acts  of  transgression  are 
the  workings  and  fruits  (Rom.  5  :  21— "sin  reigned  in  death"  ;  6  :  12— 
"let  not  therefore  sin  reign  in  your  mortal  body  "  ). 

In  Rom.  5  :  21,  the  reign  of  sin  is  compared  to  the  reign  of  grace.  As  grace  is  not  an  act 
but  a  principle,  so  sin  is  not  au  act  but  a  principle.  As  the  poisonous  exhalations  from 
a  well  indicate  that  there  is  corruption  and  death  at  the  bottom,  so  the  ever-recurring 


DEFINITION   OF   SIN.  285 

thoughts  and  acts  of  sin  are  evidence  that  there  is  a  principle  of  sin  in  the  heart— in 
other  words,  that  sin  exists  as  a  permanent  disposition  or  state.  A  momentary  act 
cannot  "  reign  "  nor  "  dwell "  ;  a  disposition  or  state  can. 

(g)  The  Mosaic  sacrifices  for  sins  of  ignorance  and  of  omission,  and 
especially  for  general  sinfulness,  are  evidence  that  sin  is  not  to  be  limited 
to  mere  act,  but  that  it  includes  something  deeper  and  more  permanent  in 
the  heart  and  the  life  (Lev.  1  :  3  ;  cf.  Luke  2  :  24). 

The  sin-offering  for  sins  of  ignorance  (Lev.  4  : 14,  20,  31),  the  trespass-offering  for  sins  of 
omission  (Lev.  5  :  5,  6),  and  the  burnt-offering  to  expiate  general  sinfulness  (Lev.  1:3;  cf. 
Luke  2  :  22-24),  all  witness  that  sin  is  not  confined  to  mere  act.  See  Oehler,  O.  T.  Theology, 
1:233;  Schmid,  Bib.  Theol.  N.  T.,  194,  381,  442,  488,  492,  604;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre, 
3  :  210-217  ;  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  fein,  2  :  259-306 ;  Edwards,  Works,  3  :  16-18.  For 
the  New  School  definition  of  sin,  see  Fitch,  Nature  of  Sin,  and  Park,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  7  :  551. 

B.     From  the  common  judgment  of  mankind. 

(a)  Men  universally  attribute  vice  as  well  as  virtue  not  only  to  conscious 
and  deliberate  acts,  but  also  to  dispositions  and  states.  Belief  in  something 
more  permanently  evil  than  acts  of  transgression  is  indicated  in  the  common 
phrases,  "hateful  temper,"  "  wicked  pride,"  "  bad  character." 

As  the  beatitudes  (Mat.  5  : 1-12)  are  pronounced,  not  upon  acts,  but  upon  dispositions  of 
the  soul,  so  the  curses  of  the  law  are  uttered  not  so  much  against  single  acts  of  trans- 
gression as  against  the  evil  affections  from  which  they  spring.  Compare  the  "  works  of  the 
flesh"  (Gal.  5  : 19)  with  the  "fruit  of  the  Spirit"  (5  : 22).  In  both,  dispositions  and  states  pre- 
dominate. 

(6)  Outward  acts,  indeed,  are  condemned  only  when  they  are  regarded 
as  originating  in,  and  as  symptomatic  of,  evil  dispositions.  Civil  law  pro- 
ceeds upon  this  principle  in  holding  crime  to  consist,  not  alone  in  the 
external  act,  but  also  in  the  evil  motive  or  intent  with  which  it  is  performed. 

The  mens  rea  is  essential  to  the  idea  of  crime.  The  "idle  word"  (Mat.  12:36)  shall  be 
brought  into  the  judgment,  not  because  it  is  so  important  in  itself,  but  because  it  is  a 
floating  straw  that  indicates  the  direction  of  the  whole  current  of  the  heart  and  life. 
Murder  differs  from  homicide,  not  in  any  outward  respect,  but  simply  because  of  the 
motive  that  prompts  it— and  that  motive  is  always,  in  the  last  analysis,  an  evil  disposition 
or  state. 

(c)  The  stronger  an  evil  disposition,  or,  in  other  words,  the  more  it  con- 
nects itself  with,  or  resolves  itself  into,  a  settled  state  or  condition  of  the 
soul,  the  more  blameworthy  is  it  felt  to  be.     This  is  shown  by  the  distinc- 
tion drawn  between  crimes  of  passion  and  crimes  of  deliberation. 

Edwards :  "  Guilt  consists  in  having  one's  heart  wrong,  and  in  doing  wrong  from  the 
heart."  There  is  guilt  in  evil  desires,  even  when  the  will  combats  them.  But  there  is 
greater  guilt  when  the  will  consents.  The  outward  act  may  be  in  each  case  the  same, 
but  the  guilt  of  it  is  proportioned  to  the  extent  to  which  the  evil  disposition  is  settled 
and  strong. 

(d)  This  condemning  sentence  remains  the  same,  even  although  the 
origin  of  the  evil  disposition  or  state  cannot  be  traced  back  to  any  con- 
scious act  of  the  individual.     Neither  the  general  sense  of  mankind,  nor 
the  civil  law  in  which  this  general  sense  is  expressed,  goes  behind  the  fact 
of  an  existing  evil  will.     Whether  this  evil  will  is  the  result  of  personal 
transgression,  or  is  a  hereditary  bias  derived  from  generations  past,  this  evil 
will  is  the  man  himself,  and  upon  him  terminates  the  blame.     We  do  not 
excuse  arrogance  or  sensuality  upon  the  ground  that  they  are  family  traits. 


286  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAX. 

The  young  murderer  in  Boston  was  not  excused  upon  the  ground  of  a  congenitally 
cruel  disposition.  We  repent  in  later  years  of  sins  of  boyhood,  which  we  only  now  see 
to  be  sins ;  and  converted  cannibals  repent,  after  becoming-  Christians,  of  the  sins  of 
heathendom  which  they  once  committed  without  a  thought  of  their  wickedness. 

(e)  When  any  evil  disposition  has  such  strength  in  itself,  or  is  so  com- 
bined with  others,  as  to  indicate  a  settled  moral  corruption  in  which  no 
power  to  do  good  remains,  this  state  is  regarded  with  the  deepest  disappro- 
bation of  all.  Sin  weakens  man's  power  of  obedience,  but  the  can-not  is  a 
will-not,  and  is  therefore  condemnable.  The  opposite  principle  would  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that,  the  more  a  man  weakened  his  powers  by  transgres- 
sion, the  less  guilty  he  would  be,  until  absolute  depravity  became  absolute 
innocence. 

The  boy  who  hates  his  father  cannot  change  his  hatred  into  love  by  a  single  act  of 
will ;  but  he  is  not  therefore  innocent.  Spontaneous  and  uncontrollable  profanity  is  the 
worst  profanity  of  all.  It  is  a  sign  that  the  whole  will,  like  a  subterranean  Kentucky 
river,  is  moving  away  from  God,  and  that  no  recuperative  power  is  left  in  the  soul 
which  can  reach  into  the  depths  to  reverse  its  course.  See  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2 : 110- 
114 ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doct.,  2 : 79-92,  152-157 ;  Richards,  Lectures  on  Theology,  256-301 ;  Ed- 
wards, Works,  2  : 134 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  243-262 ;  Princeton  Essays,  2  :  224-239  i 
Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  394. 

C.     From  the  experience  of  the  Christian. 

Christian  experience  is  a  testing  of  Scripture  truth,  and  therefore  is  not  an 
independent  source  of  knowledge.  It  may,  however,  corroborate  conclusions 
drawn  from  the  word  of  God.  Since  the  judgment  of  the  Christian  is  formed 
under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  may  trust  this  more  implicitly 
than  the  general  sense  of  the  world.  We  affirm,  then,  that  just  in  propor- 
tion to  his  spiritual  enlightenment  and  self-knowledge,  the  Christian 

(a)  Regards  his  outward  deviations  from  God's  law,  and  his  evil  inclina- 
tions and  desires,  as  outgrowths  and  revelations  of  a  depravity  of  nature 
which  lies  below  his  consciousness ;  and 

(6)  Repents  more  deeply  for  this  depravity  of  nature,  which  constitutes 
his  inmost  character  and  is  inseparable  from  himself,  than  for  what  he 
merely  feels  or  does. 

In  proof  of  these  statements  we  appeal  to  the  biographies  and  writings 
of  those  in  all  ages  who  have  been  by  general  consent  regarded  as  most 
advanced  in  spiritual  culture  and  discernment. 

"  Intelligentia  prima  est,  ut  te  noris  peccatorem."  Compare  David's  experience,  Ps. 
51 .  e_"  Behold,  thou  desirest  truth  in  the  inward  parts :  And  in  the  hidden  part  thou  shalt  make  me  to  know  wisdom  "— 
with  Paul's  experience  in  Rom.  7  :  24—"  0  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of 
this  death?"— with  Isaiah's  experience  (6:5),  when  in  the  presence  of  God's  glory  he  uses 
the  words  of  the  leper  ( Lev.  13  :  45 )  and  calls  himself  "unclean,"  and  with  Peter's  experience 
( Luke  5:8),  when  at  the  manifestation  of  Christ's  miraculous  power  "  he  fell  down  at  Jesus'  knees, 
saying,  Depart  from  me  ;  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  0  Lord."  So  the  publican  cries,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  the 
sinner"  (Luke  18  : 13),  and  Paul  calls  himself  the  "chief"  of  sinners  (1  Tim.  1 : 15).  It  is  evident 
that  in  none  of  these  cases  were  there  merely  single  acts  of  transgression  in  view;  the 
humiliation  and  self -abhorrence  were  in  view  of  permanent  states  of  depravity.  Van 
Oosterzee :  "  What  we  do  outwardly  is  only  the  revelation  of  our  inner  nature."  It 
may  be  doubted,  indeed,  whether  any  repentance  is  genuine  which  is  not  repentance  for 
sin  rather  than  for  sins ;  compare  John  16  :  8— the  Holy  Spirit  "  will  convict  the  world  in  respect  of 
sin." 

Martensen,  Dogmatics,  389:  Luther  during  his  early  experience  "often  wrote  to  Stau- 
pitz:  'Oh,  my  sins,  my  sins! '  and  yet  in  the  confessional  he  could  name  no  sins  in  par- 
ticular which  he  had  to  confess ;  so  that  it  was  clearly  a  sense  of  the  general  depravity 


DEFINITION    OF    SIN.  287 

of  his  nature  which  filled  his  soul  with  deep  sorrow  and  pain."  Luther's  conscience 
would  not  accept  the  comfort  that  he  wished  to  be  without  sin,  and  therefore  had  no  real 
sin.  When  he  thought  himself  too  great  a  sinner  to  be  saved,  Staupitz  replied :  "  Would 
you  have  the  semblance  of  a  sinner,  and  the  semblance  of  a  Savior  ?  " 

After  twenty  years  of  religious  experience,  Jonathan  Edwards  wrote  ( Works,  1 :  22, 
23 ;  also  3 :  16-18 ) :  "  Often  since  I  have  lived  in  this  town  I  have  had  very  affecting  views 
of  my  own  sinfulness  and  vileness,  very  frequently  to  such  a  degree  as  to  hold  me  in  a 
kind  of  loud  weeping,  sometimes  for  a  considerable  time  together,  so  that  I  have  been 
often  obliged  to  shut  myself  up.  I  have  had  a  vastly  greater  sense  of  my  own  wicked- 
ness and  the  badness  of  my  heart  than  ever  I  had  before  my  conversion.  It  has  often 
appeared  to  me  that  if  God  should  mark  iniquity  against  me,  I  should  appear  the  very 
worst  of  all  mankind,  of  all  that  have  been  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this 
time;  and  that  I  should  have  by  far  the  lowest  place  in  hell.  When  others  that  have 
come  to  talk  with  me  about  their  soul's  concerns  have  expressed  the  sense  they  have 
had  of  their  own  wickedness,  by  saying  that  it  seemed  to  them  they  were  as  bad  as  the 
devil  himself ;  I  thought  their  expressions  seemed  exceeding  faint  and  feeble  to  repre- 
sent my  wickedness." 

Edwards  continues :  "  My  wickedness,  as  I  am  in  myself,  has  long  appeared  to  me  per- 
fectly ineffable  and  swallowing  up  all  thought  and  imagination— like  an  infinite  deluge, 
or  mountains  over  my  head.  I  know  not  how  to  express  better  what  my  sins  appear  to 
me  to  be,  than  by  heaping  infinite  on  infinite  and  multiplying  infinite  by  infinite.  Very 
often  for  these  many  years,  these  expressions  are  in  my  mind  and  in  my  mouth  :  '  Infi- 
nite upon  infinite— infinite  upon  infinite ! '  When  I  look  into  my  heart  and  take  a  view 
of  my  wickedness,  it  looks  like  an  abyss  infinitely  deeper  than  hell.  And  it  appears  to 
me  that  were  it  not  for  free  grace,  exalted  and  raised  up  to  the  infinite  height  of  all  the 
fulness  and  glory  of  the  great  Jehovah,  and  the  arm  of  his  power  and  grace  stretched 
forth  in  all  the  majesty  of  his  power  and  in  all  the  glory  of  his  sovereignty,  I  should 
appear  sunk  down  in  my  sins  below  hell  itself,  far  beyond  the  sight  of  everything  but 
the  eye  of  sovereign  grace  that  can  pierce  even  down  to  such  a  depth.  And  yet  it  seems 
to  me  that  my  conviction  of  sin  is  exceeding  small  and  faint ;  it  is  enough  to  amaze  me 
that  I  have  no  more  sense  of  my  sin.  I  know  certainly  that  I  have  very  little  sense  of 
my  sinfulness.  When  I  have  had  turns  of  weeping  for  my  sins,  I  thought  I  knew  at  the 
time  that  my  repentance  was  nothing  to  my  sin  ....  It  is  affecting  to  think  how  igno- 
rant I  was,  when  a  young  Christian,  of  the  bottomless,  infinite  depths  of  wickedness, 
pride,  hypocrisy,  and  deceit  left  in  my  heart." 

Jonathan  Edwards  was  not  an  ungodly  man,  but  the  holiest  man  of  his  time.  He  was 
not  an  enthusiast,  but  a  man  of  acute,  philosophic  mind.  He  was  not  a  man  who  in- 
dulged in  exaggerated  or  random  statements,  for  with  bis  powers  of  introspection  and 
analysis  he  combined  a  faculty  and  habit  of  exact  expression  unsurpassed  among  the 
sons  of  men.  If  the  maxim  "cuique  in  arte  sua  credendum  est"  is  of  any  value, 
Edwards's  statements  in  a  matter  of  religious  experience  are  to  be  taken  as  correct  in- 
terpretations of  the  facts.  H.  B.  Smith  (System  Theol.,  275)  quotes  Thomasius  as  say- 
ing :  "  It  is  a  striking  fact  in  Scripture  that  statements  of  the  depth  and  power  of  sin 
are  chiefly  from  the  regenerate."  Another  has  said  that  "a  serpent  is  never  seen  at  its 
whole  length  until  it  is  dead."  Thomas  a  Kempis  (ed.  Gould  and  Lincoln,  142)—"  Do  not 
think  that  thou  hast  made  any  progress  toward  perfection,  till  thou  feelest  that  thou 
art  less  than  the  least  of  all  human  beings." 

Law's  Serious  Call  to  a  Devout  and  Holy  Life:  "You  may  justly  condemn  yourself 
for  being  the  greatest  sinner  that  you  know,  1.  Because  you  know  more  of  the  folly 
of  your  own  heart  than  of  other  people's,  and  can  charge  yourself  with  various  sins 
which  you  know  only  of  yourself  and  cannot  be  sure  that  others  are  guilty  of  them. 
2.  The  greatness  of  our  guilt  arises  from  the  greatness  of  God's  goodness  to  us.  You 
know  more  of  these  aggravations  of  your  sins  than  you  do  of  the  sins  of  other  people. 
Hence  the  greatest  saints  have  in  all  ages  condemned  themselves  as  the  greatest  sin- 
ners." We  may  add :  3.  That,  since  each  man  is  a  peculiar  being,  each  man  is  guilty  of 
peculiar  sins,  and  in  certain  particulars  and  aspects  may  constitute  an  example  of  the 
enormity  and  hatefulness  of  sin,  such  as  neither  earth  nor  hell  can  elsewhere  show. 

Of  Cromwell,  as  a  representative  of  the  Puritans,  Green  says  ( Short  History  of  the 
English  People,  454) :  "  The  vivid  sense  of  the  divine  Purity  close  to  such  men,  made  the 
life  of  common  men  seem  sin."  Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby  ( Life  and  Corresp.,  App.  D.) :  "  In 
a  deep  sense  of  moral  evil,  more  perhaps  than  anything  else,  abides  a  saving  knowledge 
of  God."  Augustine,  on  his  death-bed,  had  the  32nd  Psalm  written  over  against  him  on 
the  wall.  For  his  expressions  with  regard  to  sin,  see  his  Confessions,  book  10.  See  also 
Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  284,  note. 


288  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

2.     Inferences. 

In  the  light  of  the  preceding  discussion,  we  may  properly  estimate  the 
elements  of  truth  and  of  error  in  the  common  definition  of  sin  as  '  the  vol- 
untary transgression  of  known  law.' 

(a)  Not  all  sin  is  voluntary  as  being  a  distinct  ,and  conscious  volition  ;  for 
evil  disposition  and  state  often  precede  and  occasion  evil  volition,  and  evil 
disposition  and  state  are  themselves  sin.  All  sin,  however,  is  voluntary  as 
springing  either  directly  from  will,  or  indirectly  from  those  perverse  affec- 
tions and  desires  which  have  themselves  originated  in  will.  '  Voluntary '  is 
a  term  broader  than  '  volitional, '  and  includes  all  those  permanent  states  of 
intellect  and  affection  which  the  will  has  made  what  they  are.  Will, 
moreover,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  simply  the  faculty  of  volitions,  but  as 
primarily  the  underlying  determination  of  the  being  to  a  supreme  end. 

Will,  as  we  have  seen,  includes  preference  (tfeArj/ua,  voluntas,  Wille)  as  well  as  volition 
(/SovArj,  arbitrium,  WillkUr).  We  do  not,  with  Edwards  and  Hodge,  regard  the  sensi- 
bilities as  states  of  the  will.  They  are,  however,  in  their  character  and  their  objects 
determined  by  the  will,  and  so  they  may  be  called  voluntary.  The  permanent  state  of 
the  will  (New  School  "elective  preference")  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  permanent 
states  of  the  sensibilities  (dispositions,  or  desires).  But  both  are  voluntary  because 
both  are  due  to  past  decisions  of  the  will,  and  "  whatever  springs  from  will  we  are  re- 
sponsible for  "  ( Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  243 ).  Julius  MUller,  2 :  51—"  We  speak  of 
self-consciousness  and  reason  as  something  which  the  ego  has,  but  we  identify  the  will 
with  the  ego.  No  one  would  say,  '  my  will  has  decided  this  or  that,'  although  we  do  say 
*my  reason,  my  conscience  teaches  me  this  or  that.'  The  will  is  the  very  man  himself, 
as  Augustine  says :  '  Voluntas  est  in  omnibus ;  imo  omnes  nihil  aliud  quam  voluntates 
sunt.' " 

For  other  statements  of  the  relation  of  disposition  to  will,  see  Alexander,  Moral  Sci- 
ence, 151—"  In  regard  to  dispositions,  we  say  that  they  are  in  a  sense  voluntary.  They 
properly  belong  to  the  will,  taking  the  word  in  a  large  sense.  In  judging  of  the  morality 
of  voluntary  acts,  the  principle  from  which  they  proceed  is  always  included  in  our  view 
and  comes  in  for  a  large  part  of  the  blame" ;  see  also  pages  201,  207,  208.  Edwards  on 
the  Affections,  3 : 1-22 ;  on  the  Will,  3 :  4 — "  The  affections  are  only  certain  modes  of  the 
exercise  of  the  will."  A.  A.  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  234 — "  All  sin  is  voluntary,  in 
the  sense  that  all  sin  has  its  root  in  the  perverted  dispositions,  desires,  and  affections 
which  constitute  the  depraved  state  of  the  will."  But  to  Alexander,  Edwards,  and 
Hodge,  we  reply  that  the  first  sin  was  not  voluntary  in  this  sense,  for  there  was  no  such 
depraved  state  of  the  will  from  which  it  could  spring.  We  are  responsible  for  disposi- 
tions, not  upon  the  ground  that  they  are  a  part  of  the  will,  but  upon  the  ground  that 
they  are  effects  of  will,  in  other  words,  that  past  decisions  of  the  will  have  made  them 
what  they  are. 

(6)  Deliberate  intention  to  sin  is  an  aggravation  of  transgression,  but  it 
is  not  essential  to  constitute  any  given  act  or  feeling  a  sin.  Those  evil  in- 
clinations and  impulses  which  rise  unbidden  and  master  the  soul  before  it  is 
well  aware  of  their  nature,  are  themselves  violations  of  the  divine  law,  and 
indications  of  an  inward  depravity  which  in  the  case  of  each  descendant  of 
Adam  is  the  chief  and  fontal  transgression.. 

Joseph  Cook :  "  Only  the  surface-water  of  the  sea  is  penetrated  with  light.  Beneath 
is  a  half-lit  region.  Still  further  down  is  absolute  darkness.  We  are  greater  than  we 
know."  Cf.  Ps.  51  :  6;  19  : 12— "the  inward  parts  ...  the  hidden  part  .  .  .  hidden  faults "— hidden  not 
only  from  others,  but  even  from  ourselves. 

(c)  Knowledge  of  the  sinfulness  of  an  act  or  feeling  is  also  an  aggrava- 
tion of  transgression,  but  it  is  not  essential  to  constitute  it  a  sin.  Moral 
blindness  is  the  effect  of  transgression,  and,  as  inseparable  from  corrupt 
affections  and  desires,  is  itself  condemned  by  the  divine  law. 


THE    ESSENTIAL    PRINCIPLE    OF    SIN. 


289 


We  cannot  excuse  disobedience  by  saying :  " I  forgot."  God's  commandment  is :  "Re- 
member "—as  in  Ex.  20  :  8 ;  c/.  2  Pet.  3  :  5—"  For  this  they  wilfully  forget."  "  Ignorantia  legis  neminem 
excusat."  Rom.  2  : 12 — "As  many  as  have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  perish  without  law  "  ;  Luke  12  :  48 — "he 
that  knew  not,  and  did  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  [though]  with  few .  stripes."  The  aim  of 
revelation  and  of  preaching  is  to  bring  man  "to  himself "  (c/.  Luke  15  : 17)— to  show  him  what 
he  has  been  doing  and  what  he  is.  Goethe :  "  We  are  never  deceived :  we  deceive  our- 
selves." 

(d)  Ability  to  fulfil  the  law  is  not  essential  to  constitute  the  non-fulfilment 
sin.  Inability  to  fulfil  the  law  is  a  result  of  transgression,  and,  as  con- 
sisting not  in  an  original  deficiency  of  faculty  but  in  a  settled  state  of  the 
affections  and  will,  it  is  itself  condemnable.  Since  the  law  presents  the 
holiness  of  God  as  the  only  standard  for  the  creature,  ability  to  obey  can 
never  be  the  measure  of  obligation  or  the  test  of  sin. 

Not  power  to  the  contrary,  in  the  sense  of  ability  to  change  all  our  permanent  states 
by  mere  volition,  is  the  basis  of  obligation  and  responsibility;  for  surely  Satan's 
responsibility  does  not  depend  upon  his  power  at  any  moment  to  turn  to  God  and  be 
holy. 

Definitions  of  Sin.  Melancthon  :  Defectus  vel  inclinatio  vel  actio  pugnans  cum  lege 
Dei.  Calvin :  Illegalitas,  seu  difformitas  a  lege.  Hollaz :  Aberratio  a  lege  divina.  Hol- 
laz  adds :  "  Voluntariness  does  not  enter  into  the  definition  of  sin,  generically  con- 
sidered. Sin  may  be  called  voluntary,  either  in  respect  to  its  cause,  as  it  inheres  in  the 
will,  or  in  respect  to  the  act,  as  it  proceeds  from  deliberate  volition.  Here  is  the  an- 
tithesis to  the  Roman  Catholics  and  to  the  Socinians,  the  latter  of  whom  define  sin  as 
a  voluntary  [i.  e.,  a  volitional]  transgression  of  law"— a  view,  says  Hase  (Hutterus 
Redivivus,  llth  ed.,  162-164),  "which  is  derived  from  the  necessary  methods  of  civil 
tribunals,  and  which  is  incompatible  with  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  original  sin." 

On  the  New  School  definition  of  Sin,  see  Fairchild,  Nature  of  Sin,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  25  :  30- 
48;  Whedon,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  19  :  251,  and  On  the  Will,  328.  Per  contra,  see  Hodge,  Syst. 
Theol.,  2  : 180-190 ;  Lawrence,  Old  School  in  N.  E.  Theol.,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  20  :  317-328 ;  Julius 
Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  1 : 40-72 ;  Nitzsch,  Christ.  Doct.,  216 ;  Luthardt,  Compendium  der 
Dogm.,  124-126. 


II.     THE  ESSENTIAL  PRINCIPLE  OF  SIN. 

The  definition  of  sin  as  lack  of  conformity  to  the  divine  law  does  not 
exclude,  but  rather  necessitates,  an  inquiry  into  the  characterizing  motive  or 
impelling  power  which  explains  its  existence  and  constitutes  its  guilt.  Only 
three  views  require  extended  examination.  Of  these  the  first  two  constitute 
the  most  common  excuses  for  sin,  although  not  propounded  for  this  purpose 
by  their  authors  :  Sin  is  due  ( 1 )  to  the  human  body,  or  ( 2 )  to  finite  weak- 
ness. The  third,  which  we  regard  as  the  Scriptural  view,  considers  sin  as 
(3)  the  supreme  choice  of  self,  or  selfishness. 

1.     Sin  as  Sensuousness. 

This  view  regards  sin  as  the  necessary  product  of  man's  sensuous  nature 
— a  result  of  the  soul's  connection  with  a  physical  organism.  This  is  the 
view  of  Schleiermacher  and  of  Rothe. 

For  statement  of  the  view  here  opposed,  see  Schleiermacher,  Der  Christliche  Glaube, 
1 : 361-364—"  Sin  is  a  prevention  of  the  determining  power  of  the  spirit,  caused  by 
the  independence  ( Selbstandigkeit )  of  the  sensuous  functions."  Rothe,  Dogmatik, 
1 : 300-302.  The  advocates  of  this  view  would  say  that  the  child  lives  at  first  a  life  of 
sense,  in  which  the  bodily  appetites  are  supreme.  The  senses  are  the  avenues  of  all 
temptation,  the  physical  domineers  over  the  spiritual,  and  the  soul  never  shakes  off  the 
body.  Sin  is,  therefore,  a  malarious  exhalation  from  the  low  grounds  of  human  nature, 
or,  to  use  the  words  of  Schleiermacher,  "  a  positive  opposition  of  the  flesh  to  the  spirit." 
19 


290  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

John  Fiske,  Destiny  of  Man,  103 — "  Original  sin  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  brute- 
inheritance  which  every  man  carries  with  him,  and  the  process  of  evolution  is  an 
advance  toward  true  salvation  "—thus  making  sin  a  mere  physical  necessity. 

In  refutation  of  this  view,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  urge  the  following  con- 
siderations : 

(a)  It  involves  an  assumption  of  the  inherent  evil  of  matter,  at  least  so 
far  as  regards  the  substance  of  man's  body.  But  this  is  either  a  form  of 
dualism,  and  may  be  met  with  the  objections  already  brought  against  that 
system,  or  it  implies  that  God,  in  being  the  author  of  man's  physical 
organism,  is  also  the  responsible  originator  of  human  sin. 

This  has  been  called  the  "  caged-eagle  theory  "  of  man's  existence ;  it  holds  that  the 
body  is  a  prison  only,  or,  as  Plato  expressed  it,  "  the  tomb  of  the  soul,"  so  that  the  soul 
can  be  pure  only  by  escaping-  from  the  body.  But  matter  is  not  eternal.  God  made  it, 
and  made  it  pure.  The  body  was  made  to  be  the  servant  of  the  spirit.  We  must  not 
throw  the  blame  of  sin  upon  the  senses,  but  upon  the  spirit  that  used  the  senses  so 
wickedly.  To  attribute  sin  to  the  body  is  to  make  God,  the  author  of  the  body,  to  be 
also  the  author  of  sin— which  is  the  greatest  of  blasphemies.  Men  cannot  "Justly 
accuse  Their  Maker,  or  their  making,  or  their  fate  "  ( Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  3  : 112). 

(6)  It  rests  upon  an  incomplete  induction  of  facts,  taking  account  of  sin 
solely  in  its  aspect  of  self -degradation,  but  ignoring  the  worst  aspect  of  it 
as  self-exaltation.  Avarice,  envy,  pride,  ambition,  malice,  cruelty,  revenge, 
self -righteousness,  unbelief,  enmity  to  God,  are  none  of  them  fleshly  sins,. 
and  upon  this  principle  are  incapable  of  explanation. 

Goethe  and  Napoleon  I  were  neither  of  them  markedly  sensual  men ;  yet  the  spiritual 
vivisection  which  Goethe  practised  on  Frederica  Brion,  his  perfidious  misrepresentation 
of  his  relations  with  Kestner's  wife  in  the  "  Sorrows  of  Werther,"  and  his  flattery  of 
Napoleon,  when  Wieland  rejected  with  scorn  the  advances  of  the  invader  of  his  country » 
show  Goethe  to  have  been  a  very  incarnation  of  heartlessness  and  selfishness ;  while  of 
Napoleon  it  has  been  well  said  that  "  his  self-sufficiency  surpassed  the  self-sufficiency 
of  common  men  as  the  great  Sahara  desert  surpasses  an  ordinary  sand-patch."  Hutton 
calls  Goethe  "  a  Narcissus  in  love  with  himself."  Like  George  Eliot's  "  Dinah,"  in  Adam 
Bede,  Goethe's  "  Confessions  of  a  Beautiful  Soul,"  in  Wilhelm  Meister,  are  the  purely 
artistic  delineation  of  a  character  with  which  he  had  no  inner  sympathy.  And  the  most 
truthful  epitaph  to  Napoleon  was :  "  The  little  butchers  of  Ghent  to  Napoleon  the 
Great"  [butcher]. 

(c)  It  leads  to  absurd  conclusions, — as,  for  example,  that  asceticism,  by 
weakening  the  power  of  sense,  must  weaken  the  power  of   sin  ;   that  man 
becomes  less  sinful  as  his  senses  fail  with  age  ;  that  disembodied  spirits  are 
necessarily  holy. 

Asceticism  only  turns  the  current  of  sin  in  other  directions.  Spiritual  pride  and 
tyranny  take  the  place  of  fleshly  desires.  The  miser  clutches  his  gold  more  closely  as  he 
nears  death.  Satan  has  no  physical  organism,  yet  he  is  the  prince  of  evil. 

(d)  It  interprets  Scripture  erroneously.     In  passages  like  Bom.  7  :  18 — 
OVK  o'tKei  iv  £fj.oi.  TOVT'  iortv  kv  rf/  crapul  /unv,  ayatidv — era/of,  or  flesh,  signifies,  not 
man's  body,  but  man's  whole  being  when  destitute  of   the  Spirit  of  God. 
The  Scriptures  distinctly  recognize  the  seat  of  sin  as   being  in  the  soul 
itself,  not  in  its  physical  organism.     God  does  not  tempt  man,  nor  has  he 
made  man's  nature  to  tempt  him  (James  1  :  13,  14). 

In  the  use  of  the  term  "flesh,"  Scripture  puts  a  stigma  upon  sin,  and  intimates  that 
human  nature  without  God  is  as  corruptible  and  perishable  as  the  body  would  be  with- 
out the  soul  to  inhabit  it.  The  "  carnal  mind,"  or  "mind  of  the  flesh  "  ( Rom.  8:7),  accordingly 
means,  not  the  sensual  mind,  but  the  mind  which  is  not  under  the  control  of  the  Holy 


THE   ESSENTIAL   PRINCIPLE   OF   SIN.  291 

Spirit,  its  true  life.  See  Meyer,  on  1  Cor.  1 :  26— <r<ip£  =  •*  the  purely  human  element  in 
man,  as  opposed  to  the  divine  principle"  ;  Pope,  Theology,  2  :  65— <rap£  =  "the  whole 
being1  of  man,  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  separated  from  God  and  subjected  to  the  creature  "  . 
Julius  Miiller,  Proof -texts,  19— <rdp£  =  "  human  nature  as  living-  in  and  for  itself,  sun- 
dered from  God  and  opposed  to  him."  The  earliest  and  best  statement  of  this  view  of 
the  term  <rap£  is  that  of  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  1 :  295-333,  especially  321.  See 
also  Dickson,  St.  Paul's  Use  of  the  Terms  Flesh  and  Spirit,  270,  271— <rap£  =  "  human 
nature  without  the  nvevna  ....  man  standing-  by  himself,  or  left  to  himself,  over  ag-ainst 
God  ....  the  natural  man,  conceived  as  not  having-  yet  received  grace,  or  as  not  yet 
wholly  under  its  influence." 

(e)  Instead  of  explaining  sin,  this  theory  virtually  denies  its  existence, 
— for  if  sin  arises  from  the  original  constitution  of  our  being,  reason  may 
recognize  it  as  misfortune,  but  conscience  cannot  attribute  to  it  guilt. 

Sin  which  in  its  ultimate  origin  is  a  necessary  thing  is  no  longer  sin.  On  the  whole 
theory  of  the  sensuous  origin  of  sin,  see  Neander,  Planting  and  Training,  386,  428; 
Ernesti,  Ursprung  der  Stinde,  1 :  29-274 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  2  : 132-147  ;  Tulloch, 
Doctrine  of  Sin,  144 — "  That  which  is  an  inherent  and  necessary  power  in  the  creation 
cannot  be  a  contradiction  of  its  highest  law." 

2.     Sin  as  Finiteness. 

This  view  explains  sin  as  a  necessary  result  of  the  limitations  of  man's 
finite  being.  As  an  incident  of  imperfect  development,  the  fruit  of  ignorance 
and  impotence,  sin  is  not  absolutely  but  only  relatively  evil — an  element  in 
human  education  and  a  means  of  progress. 

This  theory  is  advocated  by  Leibnitz,  Theodicee,  part  i,  §§  20,  31 ;  Spinoza,  Ethics,  part 
iv,  prop.  20.  Upon  this  view,  sin  is  the  blundering  of  inexperience,  the  thoughtlessness 
that  takes  evil  for  good,  the  ignorance  that  puts  its  fingers  into  the  fire,  the  stumbling 
without  which  one  cannot  learn  to  walk.  It  is  a  fruit  which  is  sour  and  bitter  simplj' 
because  it  is  immature.  It  is  a  means  of  discipline  and  training  for  something  better- 
it  is  holiness  in  the  germ,  good  in  the  making—"  Erhebung  des  Menschen  zur  freien 
Vernunft."  The  fall  was  a  fall  up,  and  not  down. 

We  object  to  this  theory,  that 

(a)  It  rests  upon  a  pantheistic  basis,  as  the  sense-theory  rests  upon 
dualism.  The  moral  is  confounded  with  the  physical ;  might  is  identified 
with  right.  Since  sin  is  a  necessary  incident  of  finiteness,  and  creatures 
can  never  be  infinite,  it  follows  that  sin  must  be  everlasting,  not  only  in  the 
universe,  but  in  each  individual  soul. 

Goethe,  Carlyle,  and  Emerson  are  representatives  of  this  view  in  literature.  Goethe 
spoke  of  the  "idleness  of  wishing  to  jump  off  from  one's  own  shadow."  Carlyle  began 
by  worshiping  truth ;  then  he  worshiped  sincerity ;  still  later,  will ;  finally,  force.  In 
our  civil  war  he  was  upon  the  side  of  the  slave-holder.  Confounding  all  moral  distinc- 
tions, as  he  did  in  his  later  writings,  he  was  fit  to  wear  the  title  which  he  invented  for 
another:  "President  of  the  Heaven-and-Hell-Amalgamation  Society."  Froude  calls 
him  a  "  Calvinist  without  the  theology  "  ( a  believer  in  predestination  without  grace? ). 
Emerson  also  was  the  worshiper  of  successful  force.  His  pantheism  is  most  manifest 
in  his  poems  "  Cupido  "  and  "  Brahma,"  and  in  his  Essays  on  "  Spirit "  and  on  the  "  Over- 
soul."  He  thought  the  Africans  not  worth  the  saving,  and  he  would  treat  them  as  he 
would  treat  the  ants  of  one  of  their  great  ant-hills— step  on  them.  His  view  of  Jesus 
is  found  in  his  Essays,  2  :  263—"  Jesus  would  absorb  the  race ;  but  Tom  Paine,  or  the 
coarsest  blasphemer,  helps  humanity  by  resisting  this  exuberance  of  power."  Sin  is  an 
inseparable  factor  in  the  nature  of  finite  things.  The  highest  archangel  cannot  be 
without  it.  Man  in  moral  character  is  the  "  asymptote  of  God."  The  throne  of  iniquity 
is  set  up  forever  in  the  universe. 

(6)     It  is  inconsistent  with  known  facts, — as  for  example,  the  following  : 


292  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

Not  all  sins  are  negative  sins  of  ignorance  and  infirmity ;  there  are  acts 
of  positive  malignity,  conscious  transgressions,  wilful  and  presumptuous 
choices  of  evil.  Increased  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  sin  does  not  of  itself 
give  strength  to  overcome  it ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  repeated  acts  of  con- 
scious transgression  harden  the  heart  in  evil.  Men  of  greatest  mental  pow- 
ers are  not  of  necessity  the  greatest  saints,  nor  are  the  greatest  sinners  men 
of  least  strength  of  will  and  understanding. 

Not  the  weak  but  the  strong  are  the  greatest  sinners.  We  do  not  pity  Nero  and  Caesar 
Borgia  for  their  weakness ;  we  abhor  them  for  their  crimes.  Judas  was  an  able  man,  a 
practical  administrator ;  and  Satan  is  a  being  of  great  natural  endowments.  Sin  is  not 
simply  a  weakness— it  is  also  a  power.  A  pantheistic  philosophy  should  worship  Satan 
most  of  all ;  for  he  is  the  truest  type  of  godless  intellect  and  selfish  strength. 

(c)  Like  the  sense-theory  of  sin,  it  contradicts  both  conscience  and  Scrip- 
ture by  denying  human  responsibility  and  by  transferring  the  blame  of  sin 
from  the  creature  to  the  Creator.  This  is  to  explain  sin,  again,  by  denying 
its  existence. 

Oedipus  said  that  his  evil  deeds  had  been  suffered,  not  done.  Agamemnon,  in  the 
Iliad,  says  the  blame  belongs,  not  to  himself,  but  to  Jupiter,  and  to  fate.  So  sin  blames 
everything  and  everybody  but  self.  Gen.  3  : 12—"  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave 
me  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat."  But  self- vindicating  is  God-accusing.  Made  imperfect  at  the 
start,  man  cannot  help  his  sin.  By  the  very  fact  of  his  creation  he  is  cut  loose  from 
God.  That  cannot  be  sin  which  is  a  necessary  outgrowth  of  human  nature,  which  is 
not  our  act  but  our  fate.  To  all  this,  the  one  answer  is  found  in  Conscience.  Conscience 
testifies  that  sin  is  not  "das  Gewordene,"  but  "'das  Gemachte,"  and  that  it  was  his  own 
act  when  man  by  transgression  fell.  The  Scriptures  refer  man's  sin,  not  to  the  limita- 
tions of  his  being,  but  to  the  free-will  of  man  himself.  On  the  theory  here  combatted, 
see  Miiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  271-295 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3  : 123-131. 

3.     Sin  as  Selfishness. 

We  hold  the  essential  principle  of  sin  to  be  selfishness.  By  selfishness 
we  mean  not  simply  the  exaggerated  self-love  which  constitutes  the  anti- 
thesis of  benevolence,  but  that  choice  of  self  as  the  supreme  end  which 
constitutes  the  antithesis  of  supreme  love  to  God.  That  selfishness  is  the 
essence  of  sin  may  be  shown  as  follows  : 

A.  Love  to  God  is  the  essence  of  all  virtue.  The  opposite  to  this,  the 
choice  of  self  as  the  supreme  end,  must  therefore  be  the  essence  of  sin. 

We  are  to  remember,  however,  that  the  love  to  God  in  which  virtue  con- 
sists is  love  for  that  which  is  most  characteristic  and  fundamental  in  God, 
namely,  his  holiness.  It  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  supreme  regard  for 
God's  interests  or  for  the  good  of  being  in  general.  Not  mere  benevolence, 
but  love  for  God  as  holy,  is  the  principle  and  source  of  holiness  in  man. 
Since  the  love  of  God  required  by  the  law  is  of  this  sort,  it  not  only  does 
not  imply  that  love,  in  the  sense  of  benevolence,  is  the  essence  of  holiness 
in  God, — it  implies  rather  that  holiness,  or  self -loving  and  self -affirming 
purity,  is  fundamental  in  the  divine  nature.  From  this  self-loving  and 
self-affirming  purity,  love  properly  so-called,  or  the  self-communicating 
attribute,  is  to  be  carefully  distinguished  ( see  page  129  ). 

Bossuet,  describing  heathendom,  says :  "  Every  thing  was  God  but  God  himself."  Sin 
goes  further  than  this,  and  says :  "  I  am  myself  all  things  "—not  simply  as  Louis  XVI : 
"I  am  the  state,"  but:  "I  am  the  world,  the  universe,  God."  Heine  represents 
Napoleon  as  saying  to  the  world :  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me."  Comte's 


THE   ESSENTIAL   PRINCIPLE   OF   SIN.  293 

religion  is  a  "synthetic  idealization  of  our  existence"— a  worship,  not  of  God,  but  of 
humanity;  and  "the  festival  of  humanity  "among  positivists  =  Walt  Whitman's  "I 
celebrate  myself."  The  most  thorough  discussion  of  the  essential  principle  of  sin  is  that 
of  Julius  Miiller,  Doct.  Sin,  1 : 147-182.  He  defines  sin  as  "  a  turning  away  from  the  love 
of  God  to  self-seeking." 

N.  W.  Taylor  holds  that  self-love  is  the  primary  cause  of  all  moral  action  ;  that  self- 
ishness is  a  different  thing,  and  consists  not  in  making  our  own  happiness  our  ultimate 
end,  which  we  must  do  if  we  are  moral  beings,  but  in  love  of  the  world,  and  in  prefer- 
ring the  world  to  God  as  our  portion  or  chief  good  ( see  N.  W.  Taylor,  Moral  Govt.,  1 :  24- 
26;  2  :  20-24;  and  Rev.  Theol.,  134-162 ;  Tyler,  Letters  on  the  New  Haven  Theology,  72). 
We  claim,  on  the  contrary,  that  to  make  our  own  happiness  our  ultimate  aim  is  itself 
sin,  and  the  essence  of  sin.  As  God  makes  his  holiness  the  central  thing,  so  we  are  to 
live  for  that,  loving  self  only  in  God  and  for  God's  sake.  This  love  for  God  as  holy  is 
the  essence  of  virtue.  The  opposite  to  this,  or  supreme  love  for  self,  is  sin.  As  the  poet 
writes:  "  I  could  not  love  thee,  dear,  so  much,  Loved  I  not  honor  more,"  so  Christian 
friends  can  say :  "  Our  loves  in  higher  love  endure."  The  sinner  raises  some  lower  ob- 
ject of  instinct  or  desire  to  supremacy,  regardless  of  God  and  his  law,  and  this  he  does 
for  no  other  reason  than  to  gratify  self.  On  the  distinction  between  mere  benevolence 
and  the  love  required  by  God's  law,  see  Hovey,  God  With  Us,  187-200 ;  Hopkins,  Works, 
1 :  235 ;  F.  W.  Robertson,  Sermon  I.  Emerson :  "  Your  goodness  must  have  some  edge 
to  it,  else  it  is  none." 

B.  All  the  different  forms  of  sin  can  be  shown  to  have  their  root  in 
selfishness,  while  selfishness  itself,  considered  as  the  choice  of  self  as  a 
supreme  end,  cannot  be  resolved  into  any  simpler  elements. 

(a)  Selfishness  may  reveal  itself  in  the  elevation  to  supreme  dominion 
of  any  one  of  man's  natural  appetites,  desires,  or  affections.  Sensuality  is 
selfishness  in  the  form  of  inordinate  appetite.  Selfish  desire  takes  the  forms 
respectively  of  avarice,  ambition,  vanity,  pride,  acccording  as  it  is  set  upon 
property,  power,  esteem,  independence.  Selfish  affection  is  falsehood  or 
malice,  according  as  it  hopes  to  make  others  its  voluntary  servants,  or  re- 
gards them  as  standing  in  its  way  ;  it  is  unbelief  or  enmity  to  God,  according 
as  it  simply  turns  away  from  the  truth  and  love  of  God,  or  conceives  of 
God's  holiness  as  positively  resisting  and  punishing  it. 

Augustine  and  Aquinas  held  the  essence  of  sin  to  be  pride ;  Luther  and  Calvin  re- 
garded its  essence  to  be  unbelief.  Kreibig  ( Versohnungslehre )  regards  it  as  "  world- 
love  "  ;  still  others  consider  it  as  enmity  to  God.  In  opposing  the  view  that  sensuality 
is  the  essence  of  sin,  Julius  Mtiller  says :  "  Wherever  we  find  sensuality,  there  we  find 
selfishness,  but  we  do  not  find  that,  where  there  is  selfishness,  there  is  always  sensuality. 
Selfishness  may  embody  itself  in  fleshly  lust  or  inordinate  desire  for  the  creature,  but 
this  last  cannot  bring  forth  spiritual  sins  which  have  no  element  of  sensuality  in  them." 

Covetousness  or  avarice  makes,  not  sensual  gratification  itself,  but  the  things  that 
may  minister  thereto,  the  object  of  pursuit,  and  in  this  last  chase  often  loses  sight  of  its 
original  aim.  Ambition  is  selfish  love  of  power ;  vanity  is  selfish  love  of  esteem.  Pride 
is  but  the  self-complacency,  self-sufficiency,  and  self-isolation  of  a  selfish  spirit  that 
desires  nothing  so  much  as  unrestrained  independence.  Falsehood  originates  in  selfish- 
ness, first  as  self-deception,  and  then,  since  man  by  sin  isolates  himself  and  yet  in  a 
thousand  ways  needs  the  fellowship  of  his  brethren,  as  deception  of  others.  Malice,  the 
perversion  of  natural  resentment  ( together  with  hatred  and  revenge),  is  the  reaction 
of  selfishness  against  those  who  stand,  or  are  imagined  to  stand,  in  its  way.  Unbelief 
and  enmity  to  God  are  effects  of  sin,  rather  than  its  essence  ;  selfishness  leads  us  first  to 
doubt,  and  then  to  hate,  the  Lawgiver  and  Judge.  Tacitus :  "  Humani  generis  proprium 
est  odisse  quern  lasseris." 

(&)  Even  in  the  nobler  forms  of  unregenerate  life,  the  principle  of  self- 
ishness is  to  be  regarded  as  manifesting  itself  in  the  preference  of  lower 
ends  to  that  of  God's  proposing.  Others  are  loved  with  idolatrous  affection 
because  these  others  are  regarded  as  a  part  of  self.  That  the  selfish  element 
is  present  even  here,  is  evident  upon  considering  that  such  affection  does 


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not  seek  the  highest  interest  of  its  object,  that  it  often  ceases  when  unre- 
turned,  and  that  it  sacrifices  to  its  own  gratification  the  claims  of  God  and 
his  law. 

Even  in  the  mother's  idolatry  of  her  child,  the  explorer's  devotion  to  science,  the 
sailor's  risk  of  his  life  to  save  another's,  the  gratification  sought  may  be  that  of  a  lower 
instinct  or  desire,  and  any  substitution  of  a  lower  for  the  highest  object  is  non-con- 
formity to  law,  and  therefore  sin.  H.  B.  Smith,  System  Theology,  277— "Some  lower 
affection  is  supreme."  And  the  underlying  motive  which  leads  to  this  substitution  is 
self-gratification.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  disinterested  sin,  for  "every  one  that  loveth  is 
begotten  of  God  "  (1  John  4:7).  Thomas  Hughes,  The  Manliness  of  Christ :  Much  of  the  hero- 
ism of  battle  is  simply  "  resolution  in  the  actors  to  have  their  way,  contempt  for  ease, 
animal  courage  which  we  share  with  the  bulldog  and  the  weasel,  intense  assertion  of 
individual  will  and  force,  avowal  of  the  rough-handed  man  that  he  has  that  in  him 
which  enables  him  to  defy  pain  and  danger  and  death." 

Mozley  on  Blanco  White,  in  Essays,  2 :  143 :  Truth  may  be  sought  in  order  to  absorb 
truth  in  self,  not  for  the  sake  of  absorbing  self  in  truth.  So  Blanco  White,  in  spite  of 
the  pain  of  separating  from  old  views  and  friends,  lived  for  the  selfish  pleasure  of  new 
discovery,  till  all  his  early  faith  vanished,  and  even  immortality  seemed  a  dream.  He 
falsely  thought  that  the  pain  he  suffered  in  giving  up  old  beliefs  was  evidence  of  self- 
sacrifice  with  which  God  must  be  pleased,  whereas  it  was  the  inevitable  pain  which 
attends  the  victory  of  selfishness.  Robert  Browning,  Paracelsus,  81—"  I  still  must  hoard, 
and  heap,  and  class  all  truths  With  one  ulterior  purpose :  I  must  know !  Would  God 
translate  me  to  his  throne,  believe  That  I  should  only  listen  to  his  words  To  further  my 
own  ends."  F.  W.  Robertson  on  Genesis,  57—"  He  who  sacrifices  his  sense  of  right,  his 
conscience,  for  another,  sacrifices  the  God  within  him ;  he  is  not  sacrificing  self.  ...  He 
who  prefers  his  dearest  friend  or  his  beloved  child  to  the  call  of  duty,  will  soon  show 
that  he  prefers  himself  to  his  dearest  friend,  and  would  not  sacrifice  himself  for  his 
child."  Ib.,  91—"  In  those  who  love  little,  love  [for  finite  beings]  is  a  primary  affection 
—a  secondary,  in  those  who  love  much  ....  The  only  true  affection  is  that  which  is  sub- 
ordinate to  a  higher."  True  love  is  love  for  the  soul  and  its  highest,  its  eternal  interests. 
love  that  seeks  to  make  it  holy,  love  for  the  sake  of  God  and  for  the  accomplishment  of 
God's  idea  in  his  creation. 

Although  we  cannot,  with  Augustine,  call  the  virtues  of  the  heathen  "splendid  vices" 
—for  they  were  relatively  good  and  useful— they  still,  except  in  possible  instances  where 
God's  Spirit  wrought  upon  the  heart,  were  illustrations  of  a  morality  divorced  from  love 
to  God,  were  lacking  in  the  most  essential  element  demanded  by  the  law,  were  therefore 
infected  with  sin.  Since  the  law  judges  all  action  by  the  heart  from  which  it  springs, 
no  action  of  the  unregenerate  can  be  other  than  sin.  The  ebony-tree  is  white  in  its 
outer  circles  of  woody  fibre ;  at  heart  it  is  black  as  ink. 

On  the  various  forms  of  sin  as  manifestations  of  selfishness,  see  Julius  MUller,  Doct. 
Sin,  1 : 147-182 ;  Jonathan  Edwards,  Works,  2  :  268,  269 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3  :  5,  6 ; 
Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  243-262 ;  Stewart,  Active  and  Moral  Powers,  11-91 ;  Hopkins, 
Moral  Science,  86-156.  On  the  Roman  Catholic  "Seven  Deadly  Sins"  (Pride,  Envy 
Anger,  Sloth,  Avarice,  Gluttony,  Lust),  see  Wetzer  und  Welte,  Kirchenlexikon,  and 
Orby  Shipley,  Theory  about  Sin,  preface,  xvi-xviii. 

C.     This  view  accords  best  with  Scripture. 

(a)     The  law  requires  love  to  God  as  its  all-embracing  requirement. 

Mat.  22  :  37-39— the  command  of  love  to  God  and  man ;  Rom.  13  :  8-10— "love  therefore  is  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  law";  Gal.  5  : 14— "the  whole  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this:  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself"  ;  James  2  :  8— "the  royal  law." 

(6)     The  holiness  of  Christ  consisted  in  this,  that  he  sought  not  his  own 
will  or  glory,  but  made  God  his  supreme  end. 

John  5  :  30— "my  judgment  is  righteous;  because  I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me"  ; 
7  . 18— "He  that  speaketh  from  himself  seeketh  his  own  glory:  but  he  that  seaketh  the  glory  of  him  that  sent  him,  the 
same  is  true,  and  no  unrighteousness  is  in  him  " ;  Rom.  15  :  3—"  Christ  also  pleased  not  himself." 

(c)     The  Christian  is  one  who  has  ceased  to  live  for  self. 

Rom.  14  :  7— "none  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  none  dieth  to  himself" ;  2  Cor.  5 : 15— "he  died  for  all,  that  they 


THE    UNIVERSALITY    OF    SIN.  295 

which  live  should  no  longer  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  for  their  sakes  died  and  rose  again  "  ;  Gal.  2  :  20  — 
•"  I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  Contrast  2  Tim.  3  :  2 
—  "lovers  of  self." 

(d)  The  tempter's  promise  is  a  promise  of  selfish  independence. 

Gen.  3  :  5—"  ye  shall  be  as  God,  knowing  good  and  evil." 

(e)  The  prodigal  separates  himself  from  his  father,  and  seeks  his  own 
interest  and  pleasure. 

Luke  15  :  12,  13—"  Give  me  the  portion  of  thy  substance  ----  gathered  all  together,  and  took  his  journey  into  a  far 
•country." 

(/)  The  'man  of  sin'  illustrates  the  nature  of  sin,  in  'opposing  and 
exalting  himself  against  all  that  is  called  God.  ' 

2  Thess.  2  :  3,  4—  "the  man  of  sin  ...  the  son  of  perdition,  he  that  opposeth  and  eialteth  himself  against  all  that  is 
•called  God  or  that  is  worshipped  ;  so  that  he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  setting  himself  forth  as  God." 

Sin  therefore  is  not  merely  a  negative  thing,  or  an  absence  of  love  to  God. 
It  is  a  fundamental  and  positive  choice  or  preference  of  self,  instead  of  God, 
as  the  object  of  affection  and  the  supreme  end  of  being.  Instead  of  making 
God  the  centre  of  his  life,  surrendering  himself  unconditionally  to  God  and 
possessing  himself  only  in  subordination  to  God's  will,  the  sinner  makes 
«elf  the  centre  of  his  life,  sets  himself  directly  against  God,  and  constitutes 
Ms  own  interest  the  supreme  motive  and  his  own  will  the  supreme  rule. 

We  may  follow  Dr.  E.  G.  Kobinson  in  saying  that,  while  sin  as  a  state  is 
unlikeness  to  God,  as  a  principle  is  opposition  to  God,  and  as  an  act  is  trans- 
gression of  God's  law,  the  essence  of  it  always  and  everywhere  is  selfishness. 
It  is  therefore  not  something  external,  or  the  result  of  compulsion  from 
without  ;  it  is  a  depravity  of  the  affections  and  a  perversion  of  the  will, 
constitutes  man's  inmost  character. 


See  Harns,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  18  :  148—"  Sin  is  essentially  egoism  or  selflsm,  putting:  self  in 
•God's  place.  It  has  four  principal  characteristics  or  manifestations  :  (  1  )  self  -sufficiency, 
instead  of  faith;  (2)  self-will,  instead  of  submission  ;  (3)  self-seeking,  instead  of  bene- 
volence; (4)  self-righteousness,  instead  of  humility  and  reverence."  All  sin  is  either 
•explicit  or  implicit  "  enmity  against  God"  (Rom.  8:7).  All  true  confessions  are  like  David's 
{  Ps.  51  :  4  )—  "  Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I  sinned,  And  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight."  Of  all  sinners  it  might 
be  said  that  they  "Fight  neither  with  small  nor  great,  but  only  with  the  king  of  Israel  "  (  1  K.  22  :  31). 

Not  every  sinner  is  conscious  of  this  enmity.  Sin  is  a  principle  in  course  of  develop- 
ment. It  is  not  yet  "full-grown"  (James  1  :  15  —  "the  sin,  when  it  is  full-grown,  bringeth  forth  death")- 
Even  now,  as  James  Martineau  has  said  :  "  If  it  could  be  known  that  God  was  dead, 
the  news  would  cause  but  little  excitement  in  the  streets  of  London  and  Paris."  But 
this  indifference  easily  grows,  in  the  presence  of  threatening  and  penalty,  into  violent 
hatred  to  God  and  positive  defiance  of  his  law.  If  the  sin  which  is  now  hidden  in  the 
sinner's  heart  were  but  permitted  to  develop  itself  according  to  its  own  nature,  it  would 
hurl  the  Almighty  from  his  throne,  and  would  set  up  its  own  kingdom  upon  the  ruins 
of  the  moral  universe.  See  Dwight,  Works,  Sermon  80,. 


SECTION   III. — UNIVERSALITY   OF    SIN. 

In  showing  that  sin  is  universal  in  the  human  race,  we  divide  our  proof 
into  two  parts.  In  the  first,  we  regard  sin  in  its  aspect  as  conscious  viola- 
tion of  law  ;  in  the  second,  in  its  aspect  as  a  bias  of  the  nature  to  evil,  prior 
to  or  underlying  consciousness. 


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ANTHROPOLOGY,    OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    MAN. 


I.     EVERT  HUMAN  BEING  WHO  HAS  ARRIVED  AT  MORAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

HAS     COMMITTED     ACTS,     OR     CHERISHED     DISPOSITIONS,     CONTRARY     TO     THE. 
DIVINE    LAW. 

1.     Proof  from  Scripture. 

The  universality  of  transgression  is  : 

(a)     Set  forth  in  direct  statement  of  Scripture. 

1  L  8  :  46— "there  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not" ;  Ps.  143  :  2— "enter  not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant;  For  in 
thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified  "  ;  Prov.  20  :  9—"  Who  can  say,  I  have  made  my  heart  clean,  I  am  pure  from 
my  sin  ?  "  Bed.  7  :  20 — "  Surely  there  is  not  a  righteous  man  upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not "  ;  Rom.  3  : 
10, 12 — "  There  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one  ....  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  so  much  as  one"  ;  19,  20 — 
"  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  may  be  brought  under  the  judgment  of  God :  because  by  the  works 
of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  be  justified  in  his  sight;  for  through  the  law  cometh  the  knowledge  of  sin"  ;  23— "for  all 
have  sinned,  and  fall  short  of  the  glory  of  God  "  ;  Gal.  3  :  22 — "the  scripture  shut  up  all  things  under  sin "  ;  1  John 
1 :  8— "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Compare  Mat.  6  : 12— 
"  forgive  us  our  debts  "—given  as  a  prayer  for  all  men;  14— "  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses  "—the 
condition  of  our  own  forgiveness.  Luke  11 : 13—"  If  ye  then,  being  evil." 

(6)  Implied  in  declarations  of  the  universal  need  of  atonement,  regene- 
ration, and  repentance. 

Universal  need  of  atonement :  Mark  16  : 16—"  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  "  ( Mark 
16  :  9-20,  though  probably  not  written  by  Mark,  is  nevertheless  of  canonical  authority) ; 
John  3  : 16— "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish  "  ;  6  :  50 — "This  is  the  bread  which  cometh  down  out  of  heaven,  that  a  man  may  eat  thereof,  and  not  die  "  ; 
12  :  47 — "  I  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  to  save  the  world "  ;  Acts  4  : 12 — "in  none  other  is  there  salvation ;  for 
neither  is  there  any  other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved."  Universal 

need  of  regeneration  :  John  3  :  3,  5 — "  Eicept  a  man  be  born  anew,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God 

except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."     Universal  need  of 
repentance  :  Acts  17  :  30 — "  commandeth  men  that  they  should  all  everywhere  repent." 

(c)  Shown  from  the  condemnation  resting  upon  all  who  do  not  accept 
Christ. 

John  3  : 18— "he  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God"  ;  36— "he  that  obeyeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him"  :. 
Compare  1  John  5  : 19 — "the  whole  world  lieth  in  the  evil  one." 

(d]  Consistent  with  those  passages  which  at  first  sight  seem  to  ascribe 
to  certain  men  a  goodness  which  renders  them  acceptable  to  God,  where  a 
closer  examination  will  show  that  in  each  case  the  goodness  supposed  is 
either  a  merely  imperfect  and  fancied  goodness,  or  else  a  goodness  resulting 
from  the  trust  of  a  conscious  sinner  in  God's  method  of  salvation. 

In  Mat.  9  : 12 — "They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick" — Jesus  means 
those  who  in  their  own  esteem  are  whole ;  c/.  13— "I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners"  = 
"  if  any  were  truly  righteous,  they  would  not  need  my  salvation  ;  if  they  think  them- 
selves so,  they  will  not  care  to  seek  it "  (An.  Par.  Bib.).  In  Luke  10  :  30-37— the  parable  of 
the  good  Samaritan — Jesus  intimates,  not  that  the  good  Samaritan  was  not  a  sinner,  but 
that  there  were  saved  sinners  outside  of  the  bounds  of  Israel.  In  Acts  10  :  35 — "  in  every 
nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him  " — Peter  declares,  not  that  Corne- 
lius was  not  a  sinner,  but  that  God  had  accepted  him  through  Christ ;  Cornelius  wa» 
already  justified,  but  he  needed  to  know  (1)  that  he  was  saved,  and  (2)  how  he  wa» 
saved ;  and  Peter  was  sent  to  tell  him  of  the  fact,  and  of  the  method,  of  his  salvation  in 
Christ.  In  Rom.  2  : 14—"  for  when  Gentiles  that  have  not  the  law  do  by  nature  the  things  of  the  law,  these  not 
having  the  law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves  "—it  is  only  said  that  in  certain  respects  the  obedience  of 
these  Gentiles  shows  that  they  have  an  unwritten  law  in  their  hearts ;  it  is  not  said  that 
they  perfectly  obey  the  law  and  therefore  have  no  sin— for  Paul  says  immediately  after 
<  Rom.  3  : 9 )  -"  we  before  laid  to  the  charge  both  of  Jews  and  Greeks,  that  they  are  all  under  sin." 

So  with  regard  to  the  words  "  perfect "  and  "  upright,"  as  applied  to  godly  men.  We  shall  see" 


THE    UNIVERSALITY    OF    SIN.  297 

when  we  come  to  consider  the  doctrine  of  sanctiflcation,  that  the  word  "perfect,"  as  ap- 
plied to  spiritual  conditions  already  attained,  signifies  only  a  relative  perfection,  equiva- 
lent to  sincere  piety  or  maturity  of  Christian  judgment,  in  other  words,  the  perfection 
of  a  sinner  who  has  long-  trusted  in  Christ,  and  in  whom  Christ  has  overcome  his  chief 
defects  of  character.  See  1  Cor.  2  :  6—"  we  speak  wisdom  among  the  perfect"  (Am.  Rev. :  "among  them 
that  are  full-grown  " ) ;  Phil.  3  : 15 — "  Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded  " — i.  e.  to  press  to- 
ward the  goal— a  goal  expressly  said  by  the  apostles  to  be  not  yet  attained  ( v.  12-14). 

2.  Proof  from  history,  observation,  and  the  common  judgment  of 
mankind. 

(a)  History  witnesses  to  the  universality  of  sin,  in  its  accounts  of  the 
universal  prevalence  of  priesthood  and  sacrifice. 

See  references  in  Luthardt,  Fund.  Truths,  161-172,  335-339.  Baptist  Review,  1882:  343— 
"Plutarch  speaks  of  the  tear-stained  eyes,  the  pallid  and  woe-begone  countenances 
which  he  sees  at  the  public  altars,  men  rolling  themselves  in  the  mire  and  confessing 
their  sins.  Among  the  common  people  the  dull  feeling  of  guilt  was  too  real  to  be  shaken 
off  or  laughed  away." 

(6)  Every  man  knows  himself  to  have  come  short  of  moral  perfection, 
and,  in  proportion  to  his  experience  of  the  world,  recognizes  the  fact  that 
every  other  man  has  come  short  of  it  also. 

Chinese  proverb :  "  There  are  but  two  good  men ;  one  is  dead,  and  the  other  is  not  yet 
born." 

(c)  The  common  judgment  of  mankind  declares  that  there  is  an  element 
of  selfishness  in  every  human  heart,  and  that  every  man  is  prone  to  some 
form  of  sin.  This  common  judgment  is  expressed  in  the  maxims:  "No 
man  is  perfect";  "Every  man  has  his  weak  side,"  or  "his  price";  and 
every  great  name  in  literature  has  attested  its  truth. 

Seneca,  De  Ira,  3 :  26—"  We  are  all  wicked.  What  one  blames  in  another  he  will  find 
in  his  own  bosom.  We  live  among  the  wicked,  ourselves  being  wicked  "  ;  Ep.,  22—"  No 
one  has  strength  of  himself  to  emerge  [from  this  wickedness  ];  someone  must  needs 
hold  forth  a  hand;  some  one  must  draw  us  out."  Ovid,  Met.,  7  : 19— "I  see  the  things 

that  are  better  and  I  approve  them,  yet  I  follow  the  worse We  strive  even  after 

that  which  is  forbidden,  and  we  desire  the  things  that  are  denied."  Cicero:  "Nature 
has  g-iven  us  faint  sparks  of  knowledge ;  we  extinguish  them  by  our  immoralities." 

Goethe:  "I  see  no  fault  committed  which  I  too  might  not  have  committed."  Dr. 
Johnson  :  "  Every  man  knows  that  of  himself  which  he  dare  not  tell  to  his  dearest 
friend."  Thackeray  showed  himself  a  master  in  fiction  by  having  no  heroes ;  the  para- 
gons of  virtue  belonged  to  a  cruder  age  of  romance.  So  George  Eliot  represents  life 
correctly  by  setting  before  us  no  perfect  characters ;  all  act  from  mixed  motives.  Car- 
lyle,  hero-worshipper  as  he  was  inclined  to  be,  is  said  to  have  become  disgusted  with 
each  of  his  heroes  before  he  finished  his  biography. 

Every  man  will  grant  ( 1 )  that  he  is  not  perfect  in  moral  character ;  ( 2 )  that  love  to 
God  has  not  been  the  constant  motive  of  his  actions,  1'.  e.,  that  he  has  been  to  some 
degree  selfish;  (3)  that  he  has  committed  at  least  one  known  violation  of  conscience. 
Shedd,  Sermons  to  the  Natural  Man,  86,  87—"  Those  theorists  who  reject  revealed  re- 
ligion, and  remand  man  to  the  first  principles  of  ethics  and  morality  as  the  only  religion 
that  he  needs,  send  him  to  a  tribunal  that  damns  him  "  ;  for  it  is  simple  fact  that  "  no 
human  creature,  in  any  country  or  grade  of  civilization,  has  ever  glorified  God  to  the 
extent  of  his  knowledge  of  God." 

3.  Proof  from  Christian  experience. 

(a}  In  proportion  to  his  spiritual  progress  does  the  Christian  recognize 
evil  dispositions  within  him,  which  but  for  divine  grace  might  germinate 
and  bring  forth  the  most  various  forms  of  outward  transgression. 

See  Goodwin's  Experience,  in  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  409:  Goodwin,  member  of  the 


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ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 


Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  speaking-  of  his  conversion,  says :  "  An  abundant  dis- 
covery was  made  to  me  of  my  inward  lusts  and  concupiscence,  and  I  was  amazed  to  see 
with  what  greediness  I  had  sought  the  gratification  of  every  sin."  Tollner's  experience, 
in  Martensen's  Dogmatics;  Tollner,  though  inclined  to  Pelagianism,  says:  "I  look 
into  my  own  heart  and  I  see  with  penitent  sorrow  that  I  must  in  God's  sight  accuse 
myself  of  all  the  offences  I  have  named" — and  he  had  named  only  deliberate  transgres- 
sions—" he  who  does  not  allow  that  he  is  similarly  guilty,  let  him  look  deep  into  his  own 
heart."  John  Newton  sees  the  murderer  led  to  execution,  and  says :  "  There,  but  for 
the  grace  of  God,  goes  John  Newton !  "  Count  de  Maistre:  "I  do  not  know  what  the 
heart  of  a  villain  may  be — I  only  know  that  of  a  virtuous  man,  and  that  is  frightful." 
Tholuck  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  professorship  at  Halle,  said  to  his  students  : 
"  In  review  of  God's  manifold  blessings,  the  thing  I  seem  most  to  thank  him  for  is  the 
conviction  of  sin." 

(6)  Since  those  most  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  recognize  them- 
selves as  guilty  of  unnumbered  violations  of  the  divine  law,  the  absence  of 
any  consciousness  of  sin  on  the  part  of  unregenerate  men  must  be  regarded 
as  proof  that  they  are  blinded  by  persistent  transgression. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  while  those  who  are  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
who  are  actually  overcoming  their  sins  see  more  and  more  of  the  evil  of  their  hearts 
and  lives,  those  who  are  the  slaves  of  sin  see  less  and  less  of  that  evil,  and  often  deny 
that  they  are  sinners  at  all.  Rousseau,  in  his  Confessions,  confesses  sin  in  a  spirit  which 
itself  needs  to  be  confessed.  He  glosses  over  his  vices,  and  magnifies  his  virtues.  "  No 
man,"  he  says,  "  can  come  to  the  throne  of  God  and  say :  '  I  am  a  better  man  than 

Rousseau.' Let  the  trumpet  of  the  last  judgment  sound  when  it  will :  I  will  present 

myself  before  the  Sovereign  Judge  with  this  book  in  my  hand,  and  I  will  say  aloud : 
4  Here  is  what  I  did,  what  I  thought,  and  what  1  was.' "  "Ah,"  said  he,  just  before  he 
expired,  "  how  happy  a  thing  it  is  to  die,  when  one  has  no  reason  for  remorse  or  self- 
reproach!"  And  then,  addressing  himself  to  the  Almighty,  he  said:  "Eternal  Being, 
the  soul  that  I  am  going  to  give  thee  back  is  as  pure  at  this  moment  as  it  was  when  it 
proceeded  from  thee ;  render  it  a  partaker  of  thy  felicity !  "  Yet,  in  his  boyhood,  Rous- 
seau was  a  petty  thief.  In  his  writings,  he  advocated  adultery  and  suicide.  He  lived  for 
more  than  twenty  years  in  practical  licentiousness.  His  children,  most  of  whom,  if  not 
all,  were  illegitimate,  he  sent  off  to  the  foundling  hospital  as  soon  as  they  were  born, 
thus  casting  them  upon  the  charity  of  strangers.  He  was  mean,  vacillating,  treacher- 
ous, hypocritical,  and  blasphemous.  And  in  his  Confessions,  he  rehearses  the  exciting 
scenes  of  his  life  in  the  spirit  of  the  bold  adventurer.  See  N.  M.  Williams,  in  Bap.  Re- 
view, art. :  Rousseau,  from  which  the  substance  of  the  above  is  taken. 

Edwin  Forrest,  when  accused  of  being  converted  in  a  religious  revival,  wrote  an 
indignant  denial  to  the  public  press,  saying  that  he  had  nothing  to  regret;  his  sins  were 
those  of  omission  rather  than  commission  ;  he  had  always  acted  upon  the  principle  of 
loving  his  friends  and  hating  his  enemies ;  and  trusting  in  the  justice  as  well  as  the 
mercy  of  God,  he  hoped,  when  he  left  this  earthly  sphere,  to  '  wrap  the  drapery  of  his 
couch  about  him,  and  lie  down  to  pleasant  dreams.'  And  yet  no  man  of  his  time  was 
more  arrogant,  self-sufficient,  licentious,  revengeful.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "  the 
greatest  of  sins  is  to  be  conscious  of  none." 

The  following  reasons  may  be  suggested  for  men's  unconsciousness  of  their  sins : 
1.  We  never  know  the  force  of  any  evil  passion  or  principle  within  us,  until  we  begin  to 
resist  it.  2.  God's  providential  restraints  upon  sin  have  hitherto  prevented  its  full  de- 
velopment. 3.  God's  judgments  against  sin  have  not  yet  been  made  manifest.  4.  Sin 
itself  has  a  blinding  influence  upon  the  mind.  5.  Only  he  who  has  been  saved  from  the 
penalty  of  sin  is  willing  to  look  into  the  abyss  from  which  he  has  been  rescued.— That  a 
man  is  unconscious  of  any  sin  is  therefore  only  proof  that  he  is  a  great  and  hardened 
transgressor.  This  is  also  the  most  hopeless  feature  of  his  case,  since  for  one  who  never 
realizes  his  sin  there  is  no  salvation.  In  the  light  of  this  truth,  we  see  the  amazing  grace 
of  God,  not  only  in  the  gift  of  Christ  to  die  for  sinners,  but  in  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  convince  men  of  their  sins  and  to  lead  them  to  accept  the  Savior.  See  Julius  Mliller, 
Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  :  248-259 ;  Edwards,  Works,  2 :  326 ;  John  Caird,  Reasons  for  Men's 
Unconsciousness  of  their  Sins,  in  Sermons,  33 ;  Rowland  Hill :  "  The  devil  makes  little 
of  sin,  that  he  may  retain  the  sinner." 


THE    UNIVERSALITY   OF    SIN.  299 

II.     EVERY  MEMBER  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE,  WITHOUT  EXCEPTION,  POSSESSES 

A  CORRUPTED  NATURE,  WHICH  IS  A  SOURCE  OF  ACTUAL  SIN,  AND  IS  ITSELF  SIN. 

1.     Proof  from  Scripture. 

A.  The  sinful  acts  and  dispositions  of  men  are  referred  to,  and  explained 
by,  a  corrupt  nature. 

By  '  nature '  we  mean  that  which  is  born  in  a  man,  that  which  he  has  by  birth.  That 
there  is  an  inborn  corrupt  state,  from  which  sinful  acts  and  dispositions  flow,  is  evident 

from  Luke  6  :  43-45— "  There  is  no  good  tree  that  bringeth  forth  corrupt  fruit the  evil  man  out  of  the  evil 

treasure  [of  his  heart]  bringeth  forth  that  which  is  evil";  Mat.  12  :  34— "Ye  offspring  of  vipers,  how  can  ye, 
being  evil,  speak  good  things  ?  "  Ps.  58  :  3— "The  wicked  are  estranged  from  the  womb ;  They  go  astray  as  soon  as 
they  be  born,  speaking  lies." 

This  corrupt  nature  : 

(a)     Belongs  to  man  from  the  first  moment  of  his  being. 

Ps.  51 :  5 — "  Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity ;  And  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me  " — here  David  is  con- 
fessing, not  his  mother's  sin,  but  his  own  sin ;  and  he  declares  that  this  sin  goes  back  to 
the  very  moment  of  his  conception.  Tholuck,  quoted  by  H.  B.  Smith,  System,  281— 
"  David  confesses  that  sin  begins  with  the  life  of  man ;  that  not  only  his  works,  but  the 
man  himself,  is  guilty  before  God." 

(6)     Underlies  man's  consciousness. 

Ps.  19  : 12 — "  Who  can  discern  his  errors  ?  Clear  thou  me  from  hidden  faults" ;  51  :  6,  7 — "Behold,  thou  desirest 
truth  in  the  inward  parts :  And  in  the  hidden  part  thou  shalt  make  me  to  know  wisdom.  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I 
shall  be  clean :  Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." 

(c)  Cannot  be  changed  by  man's  own  power. 

Jer.  13  :  23 — "  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ?  then  may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are 
accustomed  to  do  evil " ;  Rom.  7  :  24-  "0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this 
death  ?  " 

(d)  First  constitutes  him  a  sinner  before  God. 

Ps.  51  :  6— "Behold,  thou  dosirest  truth  in  the  inward  parts"  ;  Jer.  17  :  9— "The  heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things 
aud  it  is  desperately  sick." 

(e)  Is  the  common  heritage  of  the  race. 

Job  14  :  4 — "  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean  ?  not  one  "  ;  John  3  :  6 — "  That  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh,"  i.  e,  human  nature  sundered  from  God.  Pope,  Theology,  2  :  53—"  Christ,  who 
knew  what  was  in  man,  says:  'If  ye  then,  being  evil'  (Mat.  7  : 11),  and  'That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh 
is  flesh '  ( John  3:6),  that  is— putting  the  two  together—'  men  are  evil,  because  they  are  born 
evil.1 " 

B.  All  men  are  declared  to  be  by  nature  children  of  wrath  (  Eph.  2:3). 
Here  'nature'  signifies  something  inborn  and  original,   as  distinguished 
from  that  which  is  subsequently  acquired.    The  text  implies  that :     (a)    Sin 
is  a  nature,  in  the  sense  of  a  congenital  depravity  of  the  will.     (6)    This 
nature  is  guilty  and  condemnable, — since  God's  wrath  rests  only  upon  that 
which  deserves  it.     (c)    All  men  participate  in  this  nature  and  in  this  con- 
sequent guilt  and  condemnation. 

Eph.  2  :  3— "were  by  nature  children  of  wrath,  even  as  the  rest."  Shedd:  "Nature  here  is  not  sub- 
stance created  by  God,  but  corruption  of  that  substance,  which  corruption  is  created  by 
man."  Nature  (from  nascor)  may  denote  anything  inborn,  and  the  term  may  just  as 
properly  designate  inborn  evil  tendencies  and  state,  as  inborn  faculties  or  substance. 
"By  nature"  therefore  =  "by  birth  "  ;  compare  Gal.  2  : 15— "Jews  by  nature." 

Meyer,  however,  interprets  the  verse :  "  We  become  children  of  wrath  by  following  a 
natural  propensity."  He  claims  the  doctrine  of  the  apostle  to  be,  that  man  incurs  the 
divine  wrath  by  his  actual  sin,  when  he  submits  his  will  to  the  inborn  sin-principle.  So 


300 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 


N.  W.  Taylor,  Concio  ad  Clerum,  quoted  in  H.  B.  Smith,  System,  281—"  We  were  by 
nature  such  that  we  became  through  our  own  act  children  of  wrath."  "But,"  says 
Smith,  "if  the  apostle  had  meant  this,  he  could  have  said  so;  there  is  a  proper  Greek 
work  for  '  became ' ;  the  word  which  is  used  can  only  be  rendered  '  were.'  "  So  1  Cor.  7  :  14 
—"else  were  your  children  unclean  "—implies  that,  apart  from  the  operations  of  grace,  all  men 
are  denied  in  virtue  of  their  very  birth  from  a  corrupt  stock. 

For  the  proper  interpretation  of  Eph.  2  :  3,  see  Julius  MUller,  Dock  of  Sin,  2 :  278,  and 
Commentaries  of  Harless  and  Olshausen.  See  also  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3  :  212  sq., 
and  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  289.  Per  contra,  see  Reuss,  Christ.  Theol. 
in  Apost.  Age,  2 :  29,  79-84 ;  Weiss,  Bib.  Theol.  N.  T.,  239. 

C.  Death,  the  penalty  of  sin,  is  visited  even  upon  those  who  have  never 
exercised  a  personal  and  conscious  choice  ( Rom.  5  :  12,  14 ).  This  text  im- 
plies that  (a)  Sin  exists  in  the  case  of  infants  prior  to  moral  consciousness, 
and  therefore  in  the  nature,  as  distinguished  from  the  personal  activity. 
(6)  Since  infants  die,  this  visitation  of  the  penalty  of  sin  upon  them  marks 
the  ill-desert  of  that  nature  which  contains  in  itself,  though  undeveloped, 
the  germs  of  actual  transgression,  (c)  It  is  therefore  certain  that  a  sinful, 
guilty,  and  condemnable  nature  belongs  to  all  mankind. 

Rom.  5  : 12-14—  "  Therefore  as  through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin ;  and  so  death 
passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned :— for  until  the  law  sin  was  in  the  world :  but  sin  is  not  imputed  when  there  is 
no  law.  Nevertheless  death  reigned  from  Adam  until  Moses,  even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  likeness  of 
Adam's  transgression  "—that  is,  over  those  who,  like  infants,  had  never  personally  and  con- 
sciously sinned.  See  a  more  full  treatment  of  these  last  words,  in  connection  with  an 
exegesis  of  the  whole  passage— Rom.  5  : 12-19— under  the  head :  "  Imputation  of  Sin." 

N.  W.  Taylor  maintained  that  infants,  prior  to  moral  agency,  are  not  subjects  of  the 
moral  government  of  God,  any  more  than  are  animals.  In  this  he  disagreed  with  Ed- 
wards, Bellamy,  Hopkins,  Dwight,  Smalley,  Griffin.  See  Tyler,  Letters  on  N.  E.  Theol., 
8, 132-142—"  To  say  that  animals  die,  and  therefore  death  can  be  no  proof  of  sin  in  infants, 
is  to  take  infidel  ground.  The  infidel  has  just  as  good  a  right  to  say:  Because  animals 
die  without  being  sinners,  therefore  adults  may.  If  death  may  reign  to  such  an  alarm- 
ing extent  over  the  human  race  and  yet  be  no  proof  of  sin,  then  you  adopt  the  principle 
that  death  may  reign  to  any  extent  over  the  universe,  yet  never  can  be  made  a  proof  of 
sin  in  any  case."  We  reserve  our  full  proof  that  physical  death  is  the  penalty  of  sin  to 
the  section  on  Penalty  as  one  of  the  Consequences  of  Sin. 

2.     Proof  from  Reason. 

Three  facts  demand  explanation  :  (a)  The  universal  existence  of  sinful 
dispositions  in  every  mind,  and  of  sinful  acts  in  every  life.  (6)  The  pre- 
ponderating tendencies  to  evil,  which  necessitate  the  constant  education  of 
good  impulses,  while  the  bad  grow  of  themselves,  (c)  The  yielding  of  the 
will  to  temptation,  and  the  actual  violation  of  the  divine  law,  in  the  case  of 
every  human  being  so  soon  as  he  reaches  moral  consciousness. 

Reason  seeks  an  underlying  principle  which  will  reduce  these  multitudi- 
nous phenomena  to  unity.  As  we  are  compelled  to  refer  common  physical 
and  intellectual  phenomena  to  a  common  physical  and  intellectual  nature, 
so  we  are  compelled  to  refer  these  common  moral  phenomena  to  a  common 
moral  nature,  and  to  find  in  it  the  cause  of  this  universal,  spontaneous,  and 
all-controlling  opposition  to  God  and  his  law.  The  only  possible  solution 
of  the  problem  is  this,  that  the  common  nature  of  mankind  is  corrupt,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  human  will,  prior  to  the  single  volitions  of  the  indi- 
vidual, is  turned  away  from  God  and  supremely  set  upon  self-gratification. 
This  unconscious  and  fundamental  direction  of  the  will,  as  the  source  of 
actual  sin,  must  itself  be  sin  ;  and  of  this  sin  all  mankind  are  partakers. 


THE    UNIVERSALITY    OF   SIN.  301 

The  greatest  thinkers  of  the  world  have  certified  to  the  correctness  of  this  conclusion. 
Plato  speaks  of  "  that  blind,  many-headed  wild  beast  of  all  that  is  evil  within  thee." 
He  repudiates  the  idea  that  men  are  naturally  good,  and  says  that,  if  this  were  true,  all 
that  would  be  needed  to  make  them  holy  would  be  to  shut  them  up,  from  their  earliest 
years,  so  that  they  might  not  be  corrupted  by  others. 

See  Aristotle's  doctrine  of  "the  slope,"  described  in  Chase's  Introd.  to  Aristotle's 
Ethics,  xxxv  and  33— "  In  regard  to  moral  virtue,  man  stands  on  a  slope.  His  appetites 
and  passions  gravitate  downward ;  his  reason  attracts  him  upward.  Conflict  occurs.  A 
step  upward,  and  reason  gains  what  passion  has  lost ;  but  the  reverse  is  the  case  if  he 
steps  downward.  The  tendency  in  the  former  case  is  to  the  entire  subjection  of  passion ; 
in  the  latter  case,  to  the  entire  suppression  of  reason.  The  slope  will  terminate  upwards 
in  a  level  summit  where  men's  steps  will  be  secure,  or  downwards  in  an  irretrievable 
plunge  over  the  precipice.  Continual  self-control  leads  to  absolute  self-mastery ;  con- 
tinual failure  to  the  utter  absence  of  self-control.  But  all  we  can  see  is  the  slope.  No 
man  is  ever  at  the  ^pe/Aia  of  the  summit,  nor  can  we  say  that  a  man  has  irretrievably 
fallen  into  the  abyss.  How  it  is  that  men  constantly  act  against  their  own  convictions 
of  what  is  right,  and  their  previous  determinations  to  follow  right,  is  a  mystery  which 
Aristotle  discusses,  but  leaves  unexplained. 

"  Compare  the  passage  in  the  Ethics,  1 : 11—'  Clearly  there  is  in  them  [men],  besides 
the  Reason,  some  other  inborn  principle  (  TTC^UKO?)  which  fights  with  and  strains  against 
the  Reason  ....  There  is  in  the  soul  also  somewhat  besides  the  Reason  which  is  opposed 
to  this  and  goes  against  it.'— Compare  this  passage  with  Paul,  in  Rom.  7  :  23— 'I  see  a  different 
law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the  law  of  sin  which 
is  in  my  members.'  But  as  Aristotle  does  not  explain  the  cause,  so  he  suggests  no  cure. 
Revelation  alone  can  account  for  the  disease,  or  point  out  the  remedy." 

Wuttke,  Christian  Ethics,  1 : 102—"  Aristotle  makes  the  significant  and  almost  surpris- 
ing observation,  that  the  character  which  has  become  evil  by  guilt  can  just  as  little  be 
thrown  off  again  at  mere  volition,  as  the  person  who  has  made  himself  sick  by  his  own 
fault  can  become  well  again  at  mere  volition ;  once  become  evil  or  sick,  it  stands  no 
longer  within  his  discretion  to  cease  to  be  so ;  a  stone,  when  once  cast,  cannot  be  caught 
back  from  its  flight ;  and  so  is  it  with  the  character  that  has  become  evil."  He  does  not 
tell  "  how  a  reformation  in  character  is  possible— moreover  he  does  not  concede  to  evil 
any  other  than  an  individual  effect,— knows  nothing  of  any  natural  solidarity  of  evil  in 
self -propagating,  morally  degenerated  races  "  (Nic.  Eth.,  3  :  6,  7 ;  5  : 12;  7  :  2,  3;  10  : 10). 
The  good  nature,  he  says,  "  is  evidently  not  within  our  power,  but  is  by  some  kind  of 
divine  causality  conferred  upon  the  truly  happy." 

Plato,  Meno,  89— "The  cause  of  corruption  is  from  our  parents,  so  that  we  never 
relinquish  their  evil  way,  or  escape  the  blemish  of  their  evil  habit."  Horace,  Ep.,  1 :  10 
— "  Naturam  expellas  f urea,  tamen  usque  recurret."  Latin  proverb :  "  Nemo  repente  fuit 
turpissimus."  Pascal:  "We  are  born  unrighteous;  for  each  one  tends  to  himself,  and 
the  bent  toward  self  is  the  beginning  of  all  disorder."  Kant  spoke  of  "  the  radical  evil 
of  human  nature."  "  Hegel,  pantheist  as  he  was,  declared  that  original  sin  is  the  nature 
of  every  man— every  man  begins  with  it"  (H.  B.  Smith).  A  sceptic  who  gave  his 
children  no  religious  training,  with  the  view  of  letting  them  each  in  mature  years  choose 
a  faith  for  himself,  reproved  Coleridge  for  letting  his  garden  run  to  weeds ;  but  Coleridge 
replied,  that  he  did  not  think  it  right  to  prejudice  the  soil  in  favor  of  roses  and  straw- 
berries. Van  Oosterzee :  Rain  and  sunshine  make  weeds  grow  more  quickly,  but  cpuld 
not  draw  them  out  of  the  soil  if  the  seeds  did  not  lie  there  already ;  so  evil  education  and 
example  draw  out  sin,  but  do  not  implant  it.  Tennyson :  "  He  finds  a  baseness  in  his 
blood,  At  such  strange  war  with  what  is  good,  He  cannot  do  the  thing  he  would." 

Chief  Justice  Thompson,  of  Pennsylvania :  "  If  those  who  preach  had  been  lawyers 
previous  to  entering  the  ministry,  they  would  know  and  say  far  more  about  the 
depravity  of  the  human  heart  than  they  do.  The  old  doctrine  of  total  depravity  is  the 
only  thing  that  can  explain  the  falsehoods,  the  dishonesties,  the  licentiousness,  and  the 
murders  which  are  so  rife  in  the  world.  Education,  refinement,  and  even  a  high  order 
of  talent,  cannot  overcome  the  inclination  to  evil  which  exists  in  the  heart,  and  has 
taken  possession  of  the  very  fibres  of  our  nature."  See  Edwards,  Original  Sin,  in  Works, 
2  :  309-510 ;  Julius  MUller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  259-307 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  231-238 ;  Shedd, 
Discourses  and  Essays,  226-236. 


302  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OB   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

SECTION    IV. — ORIGIN   OF   SIN    IN   THE    PERSONAL   ACT   OF    ADAM. 

With  regard  to  the  origin  of  this  sinful  nature  which  is  common  to  the 
race,  and  which  is  the  occasion  of  all  actual  transgressions,  reason  affords 
no  light.  The  Scriptures,  however,  refer  the  origin  of  this  nature  to  that 
free  act  of  our  first  parents  by  which  they  turned  away  from  God,  corrupted 
themselves,  and  brought  themselves  under  the  penalties  of  the  law. 

I.  THE  SCRIPTURAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  TEMPTATION  AND  FALL  IN  GEN- 
ESIS 3  :  1-7. 

1.  Its  general  character  not  mythical  or  allegorical,  but  historical. 

We  adopt  this  view  for  the  following  reasons  : — (a)  There  is  no  intima- 
tion in  the  account  itself  that  it  is  not  historical.  (6)  As  a  part  of  a  histor- 
ical book,  the  presumption  is  that  it  is  itself  historical,  (c)  The  later 
Scripture  writers  refer  to  it  as  a  veritable  history  even  in  its  details,  (d)  Par- 
ticular features  of  the  narrative,  such  as  the  placing  of  our  first  parents  in 
a  garden  and  the  speaking  of  the  tempter  through  a  serpent-form,  are 
incidents  suitable  to  man's  condition  of  innocent  but  untried  childhood. 
(e)  This  view  that  the  narrative  is  historical  does  not  forbid  our  assuming 
that  the  trees  of  life  and  of  knowledge  were  symbols  of  spiritual  truths, 
while  at  the  same  time  they  were  outward  realities. 

See  John  8  :  44 — "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  it  is  your  will  to  do.  He  was  a  mur- 
derer from  the  beginning,  and  standeth  not  in  the  truth,  because  there  is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  h& 
speaketh  of  his  own,  for  he  is  a  liar  and  the  father  thereof  "  ;  2  Cor.  11 :  3 — "  the  serpent  beguiled  Eve  in  his  craftiness  "  > 
Rev.  20  :  2—"  the  dragon,  the  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan." 

Infantile  and  innocent  man  found  his  fit  place  and  work  in  a  garden.  The  language 
of  appearances  is  doubtless  used.  Satan  might  enter  into  a  brute-form,  and  might 
appear  to  speak  through  it.  In  all  languages,  the  stories  of  brutes  speaking  show  that 
such  a  temptation  is  congruous  with  the  condition  of  early  man.  Asiatic  myths  agree 
in  representing  the  serpent  as  the  emblem  of  the  spirit  of  evil.  The  tree  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  good  and  evil  was  the  symbol  of  God's  right  of  eminent  domain,  and  indicated 
that  all  belonged  to  him.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  it  was  known  by  this  name 
before  the  fall.  By  means  of  it  man  came  to  know  good,  by  the  loss  of  it ;  to  know 
evil,  by  bitter  experience;  C.  H.  M. :  "To  know  good,  without  the  power  to  do  it;  to 
know  evil,  without  the  power  to  avoid  it."  Bible  Com.,  1 :  40— The  tree  of  life  was  sym_ 
bol  of  the  fact  that  "life  is  to  be  sought  not  from  within,  from  himself,  in  his  own 
powers  or  faculties ;  but  from  that  which  is  without  him,  even  from  him  who  hath  life 
in  himself. 

As  the  water  of  baptism  and  the  bread  of  the  Lord's  supper,  though  themselves  com- 
mon" things,  are  symbolic  of  the  greatest  truths,  so  the  tree  of  knowledge  and  the  tree 
of  life  were  sacramental.  Mcllvaine,  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture,  99-141—"  The  two  trees 
represented  good  and  evil.  The  prohibition  of  the  latter  was  a  declaration  that  man  of 
himself  could  not  distinguish  between  good  and  evil,  and  must  trust  divine  guidance. 
Satan  urged  man  to  discern  between  good  and  evil  by  his  own  wisdom,  and  so  become 
independent  of  God.  Sin  is  the  attempt  of  the  creature  to  exercise  God's  attribute  of 
discerning  and  choosing  between  good  and  evil  by  his  own  wisdom.  It  is  therefore 
self-conceit,  self-trust,  self-assertion,  the  preference  of  his  own  wisdom  and  will  to  the 
wisdom  and  will  of  God."  Mcllvaine  refers  to  Lord  Bacon,  Works,  1 :  82, 162.  See  also 
Pope,  Theology,  2  : 10, 11 ;  Boston  Lectures  for  1871 :  80,  81.  For  the  mythical  or  alle- 
gorical explanation  of  the  narrative,  see  Hase,  Hutterus  Redivivus,  164, 165,  and  Nitzsch, 
Christ.  Doct.,  218. 

2.  The  course  of  the  temptation,  and  the  resulting  fall. 
The  stages  of  the  temptation  appear  to  have  been  as  follows  : 

(a)     An  appeal  on  the  part  of  Satan  to  innocent  appetites,  together  with 


SCRIPTURAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  TEMPTATION  AND  FALL.          303 

an  implied  suggestion  that  God  was  arbitrarily  withholding  the  means  of 
their  gratification  (  Gen.  3:1).  The  first  sin  was  in  Eve's  isolating  herself 
and  choosing  to  seek  her  own  pleasure  without  regard  to  God's  will.  This 
initial  selfishness  it  was,  which  led  her  to  listen  to  the  tempter  instead  of 
rebuking  him  or  flying  from  him,  and  to  exaggerate  the  divine  command  in 
her  response  ( Gen.  3:3). 

Gen.  3  : 1— "  Yea,  hath  God  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  any  tree  of  the  garden?  "  Satan  emphasizes  the  limi- 
tation, but  is  silent  with  regard  to  the  generous  permission—"  Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  [but 
one]  thou  mayest  freely  eat"  (2:16).  C.  H.  M.,  in  loco:  "To  admit  the  question  'Hath  God 
said  ? '  is  already  positive  infidelity.  To  add  to  God's  word  is  as  bad  as  to  take  from  it. 
'  Hath  God  said  ? '  is  quickly  followed  by  '  thou  shalt  not  surely  die.'  Questioning  whether  God  has 
spoken  results  in  open  contradiction  of  what  God  has  said.  Eve  suffered  God's  word  to 
be  contradicted  by  a  creature,  only  because  she  had  abjured  its  authority  over  her  con- 
science and  heart."  The  command  was  simply:  "Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it"  (Gen.  2  : 17).  In  her 
rising-  dislike  to  the  authority  she  had  renounced,  she  exaggerates  the  command  into : 
"  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it "  (  Gen.  3:3).  Here  is  already  self-isolation,  instead  of 
love. 

(b)  A  denial  of  the  veracity  of  God,  on  the  part  of  the  tempter,  with  a 
charge  against  the  Almighty  of  jealousy  and  fraud  in  keeping  his  creatures 
in  a  position  of  ignorance  and  dependence  ( Gen.  3  :  4,  5  ).     This  was  fol- 
lowed, on  the  part  of  the  woman,  by  positive  unbelief,  and  by  a  conscious 
and  presumptuous  cherishing  of  desire  for  the  forbidden  fruit,  as  a  means 
of  independence  and  knowledge.     Thus  unbelief,  pride,  and  lust  all  sprang 
from  the  self-isolating,  self-seeking  spirit,  and  fastened  upon  the  means  of 
gratifying  it  (  Gen.  3  :  6  ). 

Gen.  3  :  4,  5—"  And  the  serpent  said  unto  the  woman,  Ye  shall  not  surely  die :  for  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye 
eat  thereof,  then  your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  God,  knowing  good  and  evil"  ;  3  :  6— "And  when  the 
woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  a  delight  to  the  eyes,  and  that  the  tree  was  to  be  desired  to 
make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat;  and  she  gave  also  unto  her  husband  with  her,  and  he  did  eat " 
—so  "taking  the  word  of  a  Professor  of  Lying,  that  he  does  not  lie"  (John  Henry 
Newman ). 

(c)  The  tempter  needed  no  longer  to  urge  his  suit.     Having  poisoned 
the  fountain,  the  stream  would  naturally  be  evil.     Since  the  heart  and  its 
desires  had  become  corrupt,  the  inward  disposition  manifested  itself  in  act 
( Gen.  3  :  6 — '  did  eat ;  and  she  gave  also  unto  her  husband  with  her '  =  who 
had  been  with  her,  and  had  shared  her  choice  and  longing ).     Thus  man 
fell  inwardly,  before  the  outward  act  of  eating  the  forbidden  fruit, — fell  in 
that  one  fundamental  determination  whereby  he  made  supreme  choice  of 
self  instead  of  God.     This  sin  of  the  inmost  nature  gave  rise  to  sins  of  the 
desires,  and  sins  of  the  desires  led  to  the  outward  act  of  transgression  (James 
1  :15). 

James  1 : 15—"  Then  the  lust,  when  it  hath  conceived,  beareth  sin."  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  388—"  The 
law  of  God  had  already  been  violated ;  man  was  fallen  before  the  fruit  had  been  plucked, 
or  the  rebellion  had  been  thus  signalized.  The  law  required  not  only  outward  obedience 
but  fealty  of  the  heart,  and  this  was  withdrawn  before  any  outward  token  indicated 
the  change."  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre :  "So  man  became  like  God,  a  setter  of  law  to 
himself.  Man's  self-elevation  to  godhood  was  his  fall.  God's  self-humiliation  to  man- 
hood was  man's  restoration  and  elevation 'The  man  has  become  as  one  of  us '  in  his  condi- 
tion of  self -centered  activity— thereby  losing  all  real  likeness  to  God,  which  consists  in 
having  the  same  aim  with  God  himself.  De  te  fabula  narratur ;  it  is  the  condition,  not 
of  one  alone,  but  of  all  the  race."  Sin  once  brought  into  being  is  self -propagating ;  its 
seed  is  in  itself :  the  centuries  of  misery  and  crime  that  have  followed  have  only  shown 
what  endless  possibilities  of  evil  were  wrapped  up  in  that  single  sin.  Keble :  "  'T  was 


304  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

but  a  little  drop  of  sin  We  saw  this  morning  enter  in,  And  lo,  at  eventide  a  world  is 
drowned  !  "  Farrar,  Fall  of  Man :  "  The  guilty  wish  of  one  woman  has  swollen  into  the 
irremediable  corruption  of  a  world."  See  Oehler,  O.  T.  Theology,  1 :  231 ;  Mtiller,  Doct. 
Sin,  2  :  381-385;  Edwards  on  Original  Sin,  part  4,  chap.  2. 

II.  DIFFICULTIES  CONNECTED  WITH  THE  FALL  CONSIDERED  AS  THE  PER- 
SONAL ACT  OF  ADAM. 

1.     How  could  a  holy  being  fall  ? 

Here  we  must  acknowledge  that  we  cannot  understand  how  the  first 
unholy  emotion  could  have  found  lodgment  in  a  mind  that  was  set  supremely 
upon  God,  nor  how  temptation  could  have  overcome  a  soul  in  which  there 
were  no  unholy  propensities  to  which  it  could  appeal.  The  mere  power  of 
choice  does  not  explain  the  fact  of  an  unholy  choice.  The  fact  of  natural 
desire  for  sensuous  and  intellectual  gratification  does  not  explain  how  this 
desire  came  to  be  inordinate.  Nor  does  it  throw  light  upon  the  matter,  to 
resolve  this  fall  into  a  deception  of  our  first  parents  by  Satan.  Their 
yielding  to  such  deception  presupposes  distrust  of  God  and  alienation  from 
him.  Satan's  fall,  moreover,  since  it  must  have  been  uncaused  by  tempta- 
tion from  without,  is  more  difficult  to  explain  than  Adam's  fall. 

But  sin  is  an  existing  fact.  God  cannot  be  its  author,  either  by  creating 
man's  nature  so  that  sin  was  a  necessary  incident  of  its  development,  or  by 
withdrawing  a  supernatural  grace  which  was  necessary  to  keep  man  holy. 
Reason,  therefore,  has  no  other  recourse  than  to  accept  the  Scripture  doc- 
trine that  sin  originated  in  man's  free  act  of  revolt  from  God  —  the  act  of  a 
will  which,  though  inclined  toward  God,  was  not  yet  confirmed  in  virtue 
and  was  still  capable  of  a  contrary  choice.  The  original  possession  of  such 
power  to  the  contrary  seems  to  be  the  necessary  condition  of  probation  and 
moral  development.  Yet  the  exercise  of  this  power  in  a  sinful  direction 
can  never  be  explained  upon  grounds  of  reason,  since  sin  is  essentially 
unreason.  It  is  an  act  of  wicked  arbitrariness,  the  only  motive  of  which  is 
the  desire  to  depart  from  God  and  to  render  self  supreme. 

Sin  is  a  "  mystery  of  lawlessness  "  ( 2  Thess.  2  :  7 ),  at  the  beginning,  as  well  as  at  the  end.  Nean- 
der,  Planting  and  Training,  288—"  Whoever  explains  sin,  nullifies  it."  Man's  power  at 
the  beginning  to  choose  evil  does  not  prove  that,  now  that  he  has  fallen,  he  has  equal 
power  of  himself  permanently  to  choose  good.  Because  man  has  power  to  cast  himself 
from  the  top  of  a  precipice  to  the  bottom,  it  does  not  follow  that  he  has  equal  power  to 
transport  himself  from  the  bottom  to  the  top. 

Hodge,  Essays  and  Reviews,  30—"  There  is  a  broad  difference  between  the  commence- 
ment of  holiness  and  the  commencement  of  sin,  and  more  is  necessary  for  the  former 
than  for  the  latter.  An  act  of  obedience,  if  it  is  performed  under  the  mere  impulse  of 
self-love,  is  virtually  no  act  of  obedience.  It  is  not  performed  with  any  intention  to 
obey,  for  that  is  holy,  and  cannot,  according  to  the  theory,  precede  the  act.  But  an  act 
of  disobedience,  performed  from  the  desire  of  happiness,  is  rebellion.  The  cases  are 
surely  different.  If,  to  please  myself,  I  do  what  God  commands,  it  is  not  holiness:  but 
if,  to  please  myself,  I  do  what  he  forbids,  it  is  sin.  Besides,  no  creature  is  immutable. 
Though  created  holy,  the  taste  for  holy  enjoyments  may  be  overcome  by  a  temptation 
sufficiently  insidious  and  powerful,  and  a  selfish  motive  or  feeling  excited  in  the  mind. 
Neither  is  a  sinful  character  immutable.  By  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  truth 
may  be  clearly  presented  and  so  effectually  applied  as  to  produce  that  change  which  is 
called  regeneration ;  that  is,  to  call  into  existence  a  taste  for  holiness,  so  that  it  is  chosen 
for  its  own  sake  and  not  as  a  means  of  happiness." 

H.  B.  Smith,  System,  262—"  The  state  of  the  case,  as  far  as  we  can  enter  into  Adam's 
experience,  is  this:  Before  the  command,  there  was  the  state  of  love  without  the 


DIFFICULTIES   CONNECTED    WITH   THE    FALL.  305 

thought  of  the  opposite :  a  knowledge  of  good  only,  a  yet  unconscious  goodness :  there 
was  also  the  knowledge  that  the  eating  of  the  fruit  was  against  the  divine  command. 
The  temptation  aroused  pride :  the  yielding  to  that  was  the  sin.  The  change  was  there. 
The  change  was  not  in  the  choice  as  an  executive  act,  nor  in  the  result  of  that  act— the 
eating ;  but  in  the  choice  of  supreme  love  to  the  world  and  self,  rather  than  supreme 
devotion  to  God.  It  was  an  immanent  preference  of  the  world,— not  a  love  of  the 
world  following  the  choice,  but  a  love  of  the  world  which  is  the  choice  itself." 

263  — "  We  cannot  account  for  Adam's  fall,  psychologically.  In  saying  this  we  mean : 
It  is  inexplicable  by  anything  outside  itself.  We  must  receive  the  fact  as  ultimate  and 
rest  there.  Of  course  we  do  not  mean  that  it  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
moral  agency,— that  it  was  a  violation  of  those  laws:  but  only  that  we  do  not  see  the 
mode,  that  we  cannot  construct  it  for  ourselves  in  a  rational  way.  It  differs  from  all 
other  similar  cases  of  ultimate  preference  which  we  know ;  viz.,  the  sinner's  immanent 
preference  of  the  world,  where  we  know  there  is  an  antecedent  ground  in  the  bias  to 
sin,  and  the  Christian's  regeneration,  or  immanent  preference  of  God,  where  we  know 
there  is  an  influence  from  without,  the  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  264 — "  We  must 
leave  the  whole  question  with  the  immanent  preference  standing  forth  as  the  ultimate 
fact  in  the  case,  which  is  not  to  be  constructed  philosophically,  as  far  as  the  processes  of 
Adam's  soul  are  concerned  :  we  must  regard  that  immanent  preference  as  both  a  choice 
and  an  affection,  not  an  affection  the  result  of  a  choice,  not  a  choice  which  is  the  conse- 
quence of  an  affection,  but  both  together." 

In  one  particular,  however,  we  must  differ  with  H.  B.  Smith :  Since  the  power  of  vol- 
untary internal  movement  is  the  power  of  will,  we  must  regard  the  change  from  good 
to  evil  as  primarily  a  choice,  and  only  secondarily  a  state  of  affection  caused  thereby. 
Only  by  postulating  a  free  and  conscious  act  of  transgression  on  the  part  of  Adam,  an 
act  which  bears  to  evil  affection  the  relation  not  of  effect  but  of  cause,  do  we  reach,  at 
the  beginning  of  human  development,  a  proper  basis  for  the  responsibility  and  guilt  of 
Adam  and  the  race. 

2.     How  could  God  justly  permit  Satanic  temptation  f 
We  see  in  this  permission  not  injustice  but  benevolence. 

(a]     Since  Satan  fell  without  external  temptation,  it  is  p: 
man's  trial  would  have  been  substantially  the  same,  even  though  there  had 
been  no  Satan  to  tempt  him. 

Angels  had  no  animal  nature  to  obscure  the  vision ;  they  could  not  be  influenced 
through  sense ;  yet  they  were  tempted  and  they  fell. 


(b)  In  this  case,  however,  man's  fall  would  perhaps  have  been  without 
what  now  constitutes  its  single  mitigating  circumstance.     Self-originated 
sin  would  have  made  man  himself  a  Satan. 

Mat.  13  :  28—"  An  enemy  hath  done  this."    See  Trench,  Studies  in  the  Gospels,  16-29. 

(c)  As,  in  the  conflict  with  temptation,  it  is  an  advantage  to  objectify  evil 
under  the  image  of  corruptible  flesh,  so  it  is  an  advantage  to  meet  it  as 
embodied  in  a  personal  and  seducing  spirit. 

Man's  body,  corruptible  and  perishable  as  it  is,  furnishes  him  with  an  illustration  and 
reminder  of  the  condition  of  soul  to  which  sin  has  reduced  him.  The  flesh,  with  its 
burdens  and  pains,  is  thus,  under  God,  a  help  to  the  distinct  recognition  and  overcom- 
ing of  sin.  So  it  was  an  advantage  to  man  to  have  temptation  confined  to  a  single 
external  voice.  We  may  say  of  the  influence  of  the  tempter,  as  Birks,  in  his  Difficulties 
of  Belief,  101,  says  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil :  "  Temptation  did 
not  depend  upon  the  tree.  Temptation  was  certain  in  any  event.  The  tree  was  a  type 
into  which  God  contracted  the  possibilities  of  evil,  so  as  to  strip  them  of  delusive  vast- 
ness,  and  connect  them  with  definite  and  palpable  warning— to  show  man  that  it  was 
only  one  of  the  many  possible  activities  of  his  spirit  which  was  forbidden,  that  God  had 
right  to  all  and  could  forbid  all." 

(d)  Such  temptation  has  in  itself  no  tendency  to  lead  the  soul  astray. 
If  the  soul  be  holy,  temptation  may  only  confirm  it  in  virtue.     Only  the 

20 


306  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

evil  will,  self-determined  against  God,  can  turn  temptation  into  an  occasion 
of  ruin. 

As  the  sun's  heat  has  no  tendency  to  wither  the  plant  rooted  in  deep  and  moist  soil,, 
but  only  causes  it  to  send  down  its  roots  the  deeper  and  to  fasten  itself  the  more  strongly,, 
so  temptation  has  in  itself  no  tendency  to  pervert  the  soul.  It  was  only  the  seeds  that 
"  fell  upon  the  rocky  places,  where  they  had  not  much  earth  "  ( Mat.  13  :  5,  6 ),  that  "  were  scorched  "  when  "  the  sun 
was  risen"  ;  and  our  Lord  attributes  their  failure,  not  to  the  sun,  but  to  their  lack  of  root 
and  of  soil :  "Because  they  had  no  root,"  "  because  they  had  no  deepness  of  earth."  The  same  temptation 
which  occasions  the  ruin  of  the  false  disciple  stimulates  to  sturdy  growth  the  virtue  of 
the  true  Christian.  Contrast  with  the  temptation  of  Adam  the  temptation  of  Christ. 
Adam  had  everything  to  plead  for  God,  the  garden  and  its  delights,  while  Christ  had 
everything  to  plead  against  him,  the  wilderness  and  its  privations.  But  Adam  had  con- 
fidence in  Satan,  while  Christ  had  confidence  in  God ;  and  the  result  was  in  the  former 
case  defeat,  in  the  latter  victory.  See  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  385-396. 

3.  How  could  a  penalty  so  great  be  justly  connected  with  disobedi- 
ence to  so  slight  a  comm.and  f 

To  this  question  we  may  reply  : 

(a)  So  slight  a  command  presented  the  best  test  of  the  spirit  of  obedience. 

Cicero  :  "Parva  res  est,  at  magna  culpa."  The  child's  persistent  disobedience  in  one 
single  respect  to  the  mother's  command  shows  that  in  all  his  other  acts  of  seeming 
obedience  he  does  nothing  for  his  mother's  sake,  but  all  for  his  own  sake— shows,  in* 
other  words,  that  he  does  not  possess  the  spirit  of  obedience  in  a  single  act. 

(b)  The  external  command  was  not  arbitrary  or  insignificant  in  its  sub- 
stance.    It  was  a  concrete  presentation  to  the  human  will  of  God's  claim  to- 
eminent  domain  or  absolute  ownership. 

John  Hall,  Lectures  on  the  Religious  Use  of  Property,  10—"  It  sometimes  happens- 
that  owners  of  land,  meaning  to  give  the  use  of  it  to  others,  without  alienating  it, 
impose  a  nominal  rent— a  quit-rent,  the  passing  of  which  acknowledges  the  recipient  as 
owner  and  the  occupier  as  tenant.  This  is  understood  in  all  lands.  In  many  an  old 
English  deed  'three  barley-corns,'  'a  fat  capon,'  or  'a  shilling'  is  the  consideration 
which  permanently  recognizes  the  rights  of  lordship.  God  taught  man  by  the  forbid- 
den tree  that  he  was  owner,  that  man  was  occupier.  He  selected  the  matter  of  property 
to  be  the  test  of  man's  obedience,  the  outward  and  sensible  sign  of  a  right  state  of  heart 
toward  God ;  and  when  man  put  forth  his  hand  and  did  eat,  he  denied  God's  ownership 
and  asserted  his  own.  Nothing  remained  but  to  eject  him." 

(c)  The  sanction  attached  to  the  command  shows  that  man  was  not  left 
ignorant  of  its  meaning  or  importance. 

Gen.  2  : 17— "In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die." 

(d)  The  act  of  disobedience  was  therefore  the  revelation  of  a  will  thor- 
oughly corrupted  and  alienated  from  God — a  will  given  over  to  ingratitude,, 
unbelief,  ambition,  and  rebellion. 

The  motive  to  disobedience  was  not  appetite,  but  the  ambition  to  be  as  gods.  The 
outward  act  of  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  was  only  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge,  behind 
which  lay  the  whole  mass  — the  fundamental  determination  to  isolate  self  and  to  seek 
personal  pleasure  regardless  of  God  and  his  law.  So  the  man  under  conviction  for  sin 
commonly  clings  to  some  single  passion  or  plan,  only  half-conscious  of  the  fact  that 
opposition  to  God  in  one  thing  is  opposition  in  all. 

III.     CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  FALL,  so  FAB  AS  RESPECTS  ADAM. 

1.     Death. — This  death  was  twofold.     It  was  partly : 
A.     Physical  death,  or  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body.  — The 
seeds  of  death,  naturally  implanted  in  man's  constitution,  began  to  develop 


DIFFICULTIES    CONNECTED   WITH    THE    FALL.  307 

themselves  the  moment  that  access  to  the  tree  of  life  was  denied  him.     Man 
from  that  moment  was  a  dying  creature. 

In  a  true  sense  death  began  at  once.  To  it  belonged  the  pains  which  both  man  and 
woman  should  suffer  in  their  appointed  callings.  The  fact  that  man's  earthly  existence 
did  not  at  once  end,  was  due  to  God's  counsel  of  redemption.  "  The  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life "  ( Rom. 
8:2)  began  to  work  even  then,  and  grace  began  to  counteract  the  effects  of  the  fall. 
Christ  has  now  "abolished  death"  (2  Tim.  1 : 10)  by  taking  its  terrors  away,  and  by  turning  it 
into  the  portal  of  heaven.  He  will  destroy  it  utterly  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  26 )  when,  by  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  the  bodies  of  the  saints  shall  be  made  immortal.  We  reserve  the  full 
proof  that  physical  death  is  part  of  the  penalty  of  sin  until  we  discuss  the  Consequences 
of  Sin  to  Adam's  Posterity. 

But  this  death  was  also,  and  chiefly, 

B.  Spiritual  death,  or  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  God. — In  this  are 
included  :  (a)  Negatively,  the  loss  of  man's  moral  likeness  to  God,  or  that 
underlying  tendency  of  his  whole  nature  toward  God  which  constituted 
his  original  righteousness.  (6)  Positively,  the  depraving  of  all  those 
powers  which,  in  their  united  action  with  reference  to  moral  and  religious 
truth,  we  call  man's  moral  and  religious  nature ;  or,  in  other  words,  the 
blinding  of  his  intellect,  the  corruption  of  his  affections,  and  the  enslave- 
ment of  his  will. 

Seeking  to  be  a  god,  man  becomes  a  slave  ;  seeking  independence,  he  ceased  to  be 
master  of  himself.  Once  his  intellect  was  pure.  He  was  supremely  conscious  of  God, 
and  saw  all  things  else  in  God's  light.  Now  he  was  supremely  conscious  of  self,  and  saw 
all  things  as  they  affected  self.  This  self-consciousness  —  how  unlike  the  objective  life 
of  the  first  apostles,  of  Christ,  and  of  every  loving  soul !  Once  man's  affections  were 
pure.  He  loved  God  supremely,  and  other  things  in  subordination  to  God's  will.  Now 
he  loved  self  supremely,  and  was  ruled  by  inordinate  affections  towards  the  creatures 
which  could  minister  to  his  selfish  gratification.  Now  man  could  do  nothing  pleasing  to 
God,  because  he  lacked  the  love  which  is  necessary  to  all  true  obedience. 

In  fine,  man  no  longer  made  God  the  end  of  his  life,  but  chose  self 
instead.  While  he  retained  the  power  of  self-determination  in  subordinate 
things,  he  lost  that  freedom  which  consisted  in  the  power  of  choosing  God 
as  his  ultimate  aim,  and  became  fettered  by  a  fundamental  inclination  of 
his  will  toward  evil.  The  intuitions  of  the  reason  were  abnormally  obscured, 
since  these  intuitions,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned  with  moral  and  religious 
truth,  are  conditioned  upon  a  right  state  of  the  affections  ;  and  —  as  a  nec- 
essary result  of  this  obscuring  of  reason  —  conscience,  which,  as  the  moral 
judiciary  of  the  soul,  decides  upon  the  basis  of  the  law  given  to  it  by  reason, 
became  perverse  in  its  deliverances.  Yet  this  inability  to  judge  or  act 
aright,  since  it  was  a  moral  inability  springing  ultimately  from  will,  was 
itself  hateful  and  condemnable. 

See  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3:61-73;  Shedd,  Sermons  on  the  Natural  Man,  203-330, 
esp.  305  — "  Whatsoever  springs  from  will  we  are  responsible  for.  Man's  inability  to  love 
God  supremely  results  from  his  intense  self-will  and  self-love,  and  therefore  his  impo- 
tence is  a  part  and  element  of  his  sin,  and  not  an  excuse  for  it."  And  yet  the  question 
"  Adam,  where  art  thou  ?  "  ( Gen.  3  :  9 ),  says  C.  J.  Baldwin,  "  was,  (Da  question,  not  as  to  Adam's 
physical  locality,  but  as  to  his  moral  condition ;  (3)  a  question,  not  of  justice  threaten- 
ing, but  of  love  inviting  to  repentance  and  return ;  ( 3)  a  question,  not  to  Adam  as  an 
individual  only,  but  to  the  whole  humanity  of  which  he  was  the  representative." 

2.  Positive  and  formal  conclusion  from  God's  presence. — This  in- 
cluded : 

(a)     The  cessation  of  man's  former  familiar  intercourse  with  God,  and 


308  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

the  setting  up  of  outward  barriers  between  man  and  his  Maker  (cherubim 
and  sacrifice). 

"  In  die  Welt  hinausgestossen,  Steht  der  Mensch  verlassen  da."  Though  God  punished 
Adam  and  Eve,  he  did  not  curse  them  as  he  did  the  serpent.  Their  exclusion  from  the 
tree  of  life  was  a  matter  of  benevolence  as  well  as  of  justice,  for  it  prevented  the 
immortality  of  sin. 

(6)  Banishment  from  the  garden,  where  God  had  specially  manifested 
his  presence. — Eden  was  perhaps  a  spot  reserved,  as  Adam's  body  had  been, 
to  show  what  a  sinless  world  would  be.  This  positive  exclusion  from  God's 
presence,  with  the  sorrow  and  pain  which  it  involved,  may  have  been 
intended  to  illustrate  to  man  the  nature  of  that  eternal  death  from  which  he 
now  needed  to  seek  deliverance. 

At  the  gates  of  Eden,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  manifestation  of  God's  presence, 
in  the  cherubim,  which  constituted  the  place  a  sanctuary.  Both  Cain  and  Abel  brought 
offerings  "unto  the  Lord  "  (Gen.  4  :  3,  4),  and  when  Cain  fled,  he  js  said  to  have  gone  out  "from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord"  (Gen.  4  : 16).  On  the  consequences  of  the  fall  to  Adam,  see  Edwards, 
Works,  2  :  390-405 ;  Hopkins,  Works,  1  :  206-246 ;  Dwight,  Theology,  1 :  393-434 ;  Watson, 
Institutes,  2  : 19-42 ;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  155-173 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  402-412. 


SECTION   V. — IMPUTATION   OF   ADAM'S   SIN   TO   HIS   POSTERITY. 

We  have  seen  that  all  mankind  are  sinners ;  that  all  men  are  by  nature 
depraved,  guilty,  and  condemnable  ;  and  that  the  transgression  of  our  first 
parents,  so  far  as  respects  the  human  race,  was  the  first  sin.  We  have  still 
to  consider  the  connection  between  Adam's  sin  and  the  depravity,  guilt,  and 
condemnation  of  the  race. 

(a)  The  Scriptures  teach  that  the  transgression  of  our  first  parents  con- 
stituted their  posterity  sinners  (Bom.  5  :  19 — "through  the  one  man's 
disobedience  the  many  were  made  sinners"),  so  that  Adam's  sin  is  imputed, 
reckoned,  or  charged  to  every  member  of  the  race  of  which  he  was  the  germ 
and  head  ( Bom.  5  :  16  — "the  judgment  came  of  one  [offence]  unto  condem- 
nation"). It  is  because  of  Adam's  sin  that  we  are  born  depraved  and 
subject  to  God's  penal  inflictions  (Bom.  5  :  12 — "through  one  man  sin 
entered  into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin  "  ;  Eph.  2  :  3 — "by  nature 
children  of  wrath").  Two  questions  demand  answer, — first,  how  we  can 
be  responsible  for  a  depraved  nature  which  we  did  not  personally  and  con- 
sciously originate  ;  and,  secondly,  how  God  can  justly  charge  to  our  account 
the  sin  of  the  first  father  of  the  race.  These  questions  are  substantially 
the  same,  and  the  Scriptures  intimate  the  true  answer  to  the  problem,  when 
they  declare  that  "in  Adam  all  die"  (1  Cor.  15  :  22)  and  "that  death 
passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned"  when  "through  one  man  sin 
entered  into  the  world  "  ( Bom.  5  :  12 ).  In  other  words,  Adam's  sin  is  the 
cause  and  ground  of  the  depravity,  guilt,  and  condemnation  of  all  his  pos- 
terity, simply  because  Adam  and  his  posterity  are  one,  and,  by  virtue  of 
their  organic  unity,  the  sin  of  Adam  is  the  sin  of  the  race. 

The  steps  of  our  treatment  thus  far  are  as  follows :  1.  God's  holiness  is  purity  of 
nature.  2.  God's  law  demands  purity  of  nature.  3.  Sin  is  impure  nature.  4.  All 
men  have  this  impure  nature.  5.  Adam  originated  this  impure  nature.  In  the  present 
section  we  expect  to  add :  6.  Adam  and  we  are  one ;  and,  in  the  succeeding  section,  to 
complete  the  doctrine  with :  7.  The  guilt  and  penalty  of  Adam's  sin  are  ours. 


IMPUTATION  OF  ADAM'S  SIN  TO  HIS  POSTERITY.  309 

(6)  According  as  we  regard  this  twofold  problem  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  abnormal  human  condition,  or  of  the  divine  treatment  of  it,  we  may 
call  it  the  problem  of  original  sin,  or  the  problem  of  imputation.  Neither 
of  these  terms  is  objectionable  when  its  meaning  is  defined.  By  imputa- 
tion of  sin  we  mean,  not  the  arbitrary  and  mechanical  charging  to  a  man  of 
that  for  which  he  is  not  naturally  responsible,  but  the  reckoning  to  a  man  of 
a  guilt  which  is  properly  his  own,  whether  by  virtue  of  his  individual  acts, 
or  by  virtue  of  his  connection  with  the  race.  By  original  sin  we  mean  that 
participation  in  the  common  sin  of  the  race  with  which  God  charges  us,  in 
virtue  of  our  descent  from  Adam,  its  first  father  and  head. 

We  should  not  permit  our  use  of  the  term  '  imputation '  to  be  hindered  or  prejudiced 
by  the  fact  that  certain  schools  of  theology,  notably  the  federal  school,  have  attached 
to  it  an  arbitrary,  external,  and  mechanical  meaning:— holding-  that  God  imputes  sin  to 
to  men,  not  because  they  are  sinners,  but  upon  the  ground  of  a  legal  fiction  whereby 
Adam,  without  their  consent,  was  made  their  representative.  We  shall  see,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  (1)  in  the  case  of  Adam's  sin  imputed  to  us,  (2)  in  the  case  of  our  sins 
imputed  to  Christ,  and  ( 3 )  in  the  case  of  Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  the  believer, 
there  is  always  a  realistic  basis  for  the  imputation,  namely,  a  real  union,  ( 1 )  between 
Adam  and  his  descendants ;  ( 2 )  between  Christ  and  the  race ;  and  ( 3 )  between  believers 
and  Christ,  such  as  gives  in  each  case  community  of  life,  and  enables  us  to  say  that  God 
imputes  to  no  man  what  does  not  properly  belong-  to  him. 

(c)  There  are  two  fundamental  principles  which  the  Scriptures  already 
cited  seem  clearly  to  substantiate,  and  which  other  Scriptures  corroborate. 
The  first  is,  that  man's  relations  to  moral  law  extend  beyond  the  sphere  of 
conscious  and  actual  transgression,  and  embrace  those  moral  tendencies  and 
qualities  of  his  being  which  he  has  in  common  with  every  /other  member  of 
the  race.  The  second  is,  that  God's  moral  government  is  a  government 
which  not  only  takes  account  of  persons  and  personal  acts,  but  also  recog- 
nizes race-responsibilities  and  inflicts  race-penalties ;  or,  in  other  words, 
judges  mankind,  not  simply  as  a  collection  of  separate  individuals,  but  also 
as  an  organic  whole,  which  can  collectively  revolt  from  God  and  incur  the 
curse  of  his  violated  law. 

On  race-responsibility,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Theology,  288-302—"  No  one  can 
apprehend  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  nor  the  doctrine  of  redemption,  who  insists  that 
the  whole  moral  government  of  God  has  respect  only  to  individual  desert,  who  does  not 
allow  that  the  moral  government  of  God,  as  moral,  has  a  wider  scope  and  larger  rela- 
tions, so  that  God  may  dispense  suffering  and  happiness  ( in  his  all-wise  and  inscrutable 
providence )  on  other  grounds  than  that  of  personal  merit  and  demerit.  The  dilemma 
here  is :  the  facts  connected  with  native  depravity  and  with  the  redemption  through 
Christ  either  belong  to  the  moral  government  of  God,  or  not.  If  they  do,  then  that 
government  has  to  do  with  other  considerations  than  those  of  personal  merit  and  de- 
merit ( since  our  disabilities  in  consequence  of  sin  and  the  grace  offered  in  Christ  are 
not  in  any  sense  the  result  of  our  personal  choice,  though  we  do  choose  in  our  rela- 
tions to  both ).  If  they  do  not  belong  to  the  moral  government  of  God,  where  shall  we 
assign  them  ?  To  the  physical  ?  That  certainly  cannot  be.  To  the  divine  sovereignty  ? 
But  that  does  not  relieve  any  difficulty  ;  for  the  question  still  remains,  Is  that  sov- 
ereignty, as  thus  exercised,  just  or  unjust?  We  must  take  one  or  the  other  of  these. 
The  whole  (of  sin  and  grace)  is  either  a  mystery  of  sovereignty— of  mere  omnipotence 
—or  a  proceeding  of  moral  government.  The  question  will  arise  with  respect  to  grace 
as  well  as  to  sin :  How  can  the  theory  that  all  moral  government  has  respect  only  to  the 
merit  or  demerit  of  personal  acts,  be  applied  to  our  justification  ?  If  all  sin  is  in  sinning, 
with  a  personal  desert  of  everlasting  death,  by  parity  of  reasoning  all  holiness  must 
consist  in  a  holy  choice  with  personal  merit  of  eternal  life.  We  say  then,  generally,  that 
all  definitions  of  sin  which  mean  a  sin  are  irrelevant  here."  Dr.  Smith  quotes  Edwards, 
2  :  309—"  Original  sin,  the  innate  sinful  depravity  of  the  heart,  includes  not  only  the 


310  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

depravity  of  nature  but  the  imputation  of  Adam's  first  sin,  or,  in  other  words,  the  liable- 
ness  or  exposedness  of  Adam's  posterity,  in  the  divine  judgment,  to  partake  of  the 
punishment  of  that  sin."  For  further  statements  with  regard  to  race-responsibility, 
see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  29-39  (System  Doctrine,  2  :  324-333),  quoted  on  pages  311, 
313,  among  objections  to  the  Pelagian  Theory. 

The  watchword  of  a  large  class  of  theologians— popularly  called  "New  School"— is 
that  "all  sin  consists  in  sinning  "—that  is,  all  sin  is  sin  of  act.  But  we  have  seen  that 
the  dispositions  and  states  in  which  a  man  is  unlike  God  and  his  purity  are  also  sin 
according  to  the  meaning  of  the  law.  We  have  now  to  add  that  each  man  is  responsible 
also  for  that  sin  of  our  first  father  in  which  the  human  race  apostatized  from  God.  In 
other  words,  we  recognize  the  ffuilt  of  race-sin  as  well  as  of  personal  sin.  We  desire  to 
say  at  the  outset,  however,  that  our  view,  and,  as  we  believe,  the  Scriptural  view, 
requires  us  also  to  hold :  ( 1 )  that  actual  sin,  in  which  the  personal  agent  reaffirms  the 
underlying  evil  determination  of  his  will,  is  more  guilty  than  original  sin  alone ;  ( 2 )  that 
110  human  being  is  finally  condemned  solely  on  account  of  original  sin ;  but  that  all  who, 
like  infants,  do  not  commit  personal  transgressions,  are  saved  through  the  application 
of  Christ's  atonement ;  and  (3)  that  our  responsibility  for  inborn  evil  dispositions,  or 
for  the  depravity  common  to  the  race,  can  be  maintained  only  upon  the  ground  that 
this  depravity  was  caused  by  an  original  and  conscious  act  of  free  will,  when  the  race 
revolted  from  God  in  Adam.  Over  against  the  maxim,  "  All  sin  consists  in  sinning,"  we 
put  the  more  correct  statement :  Personal  sin  consists  in  sinning,  but  in  Adam's  first 
sinning  the  race  also  sinned,  so  that  "in  Adam  all  die"  (1  Cor.  15  :  22). 

(d)  There  is  a  race-sin,  therefore,  as  well  as  a  personal  sin  ;  and  that  race- 
sin  was  committed  by  the  first  father  of  the  race,  when  he  comprised  the 
whole  race  in  himself.  All  mankind  since  that  time  have  been  born  in 
the  state  into  which  he  fell — a  state  of  depravity,  guilt,  and  condemnation. 
To  vindicate  God's  justice  in  imputing  to  us  the  sin  of  our  first  father,  many 
theories  have  been  devised,  a  part  of  which  must  be  regarded  as  only 
attempts  to  evade  the  problem,  by  denying  the  facts  set  before  us  in  the 
Scriptures.  Among  these  attempted  explanations  of  the  Scripture  state- 
ments, we  proceed  to  examine  the  six  theories  which  seem  most  worthy  of 
attention. 

The  first  three  of  the  theories  which  we  discuss  may  be  said  to  be  evasions  of  the 
problem  of  original  sin ;  all,  in  one  form  or  another,  deny  that  God  imputes  to  all  men 
Adam's  sin,  in  such  a  sense  that  all  are  guilty  for  it.  These  theories  are  the  Pelagian, 
the  Arminian,  and  the  New  School.  The  last  three  of  the  theories  which  we  are  about 
to  treat,  namely,  the  Federal  theory,  the  theory  of  mediate  imputation,  and  the  theory 
of  Adam's  natural  headship,  are  all  Old  School  theories,  and  have  for  their  common 
characteristic  that  they  assert  the  guilt  of  inborn  depravity.  All  three,  moreover,  hold 
that  we  are  in  some  way  responsible  for  Adam's  sin,  though  they  differ  as  to  the  precise 
way  in  which  we  are  related  to  Adam.  We  must  grant  that  no  one,  even  of  these  latter 
theories,  is  wholly  satisfactory.  We  hope,  however,  to  show  that  the  last  of  them— the 
Augustinian  theory,  the  theory  of  Adam's  natural  headship,  the  theory  that  Adam  and 
his  descendants  are  naturally  and  organically  one— explains  the  largest  number  of  facts, 
is  least  open  to  objection,  and  is  most  accordant  with  Scripture. 

I.     THEORIES  OF  IMPUTATION. 

1.     The  Pelagian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Man's  natural  Innocence. 

Pelagius,  a  British  monk,  propounded  his  doctrines  at  Borne,  409.  They 
were  condemned  by  the  Synod  of  Carthage,  412.  Pelagianism,  however,  as 
opposed  to  Augustinianism,  designates  a  complete  scheme  of  doctrine  with 
regard  to  sin,  of  which  Pelagius  was  the  most  thorough  representative, 
although  every  feature  of  it  cannot  be  ascribed  to  his  authorship.  Socinians 
and  Unitarians  are  the  more  modern  advocates  of  this  general  scheme. 

According  to  this  theory,  every  human  soul  is  immediately  created  by 
God,  and  created  as  innocent,  as  free  from  depraved  tendencies,  and  as  per- 


PELAGIAN   THEORY   OF   IMPUTATION.  311 

f  ectly  able  to  obey  God,  as  Adam  was  at  his  creation.  The  only  effect  of 
Adam's  sin  upon  his  posterity  is  the  effect  of  evil  example  ;  it  has  in  no  way 
corrupted  human  nature  ;  the  only  corruption  of  human  nature  is  that  habit 
•of  sinning  which  each  individual  contracts  by  persistent  transgression  of 
inown  law. 

Adam's  sin  therefore  injured  only  himself ;  the  sin  of  Adam  is  imputed 
only  to  Adam— it  is  imputed  in  no  sense  to  his  descendants  ;  God  imputes 
to  each  of  Adam's  descendants  only  those  acts  of  sin  which  he  has  person- 
ally and  consciously  committed.  Men  can  be  saved  by  the  law  as  well  as 
by  the  gospel ;  and  some  have  actually  obeyed  God  perfectly,  and  have  thus 
been  saved.  Physical  death  is  therefore  not  the  penalty  of  sin,  but  an 
original  law  of  nature  ;  Adam  would  have  died  whether  he  had  sinned  or 
not ;  in  Kom.  5  :  12,  "  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned,"  sig- 
nifies :  "all  incurred  eternal  death  by  sinning  after  Adam's  example." 

Wiggers,  Augustinism  and  Pelagianism,  59,  states  the  seven  points  of  the  Pelagian 
•doctrine  as  follows :  ( 1 )  Adam  was  created  mortal,  so  that  he  would  have  died  even  if 
he  had  not  sinned;  (2)  Adam's  sin  injured,  not  the  human  race,  but  only  himself; 
<3)  new-born  infants  are  in  the  same  condition  as  Adam  before  the  fall ;  (4)  the  whole 
human  race  neither  dies  on  account  of  Adam's  sin,  nor  rises  on  account  of  Christ's  re- 
surrection ;  ( 5 )  infants,  even  though  not  baptized,  attain  eternal  life  ;  ( 6 )  the  law  is  as 
good  a  means  of  salvation  as  the  gospel ;  ( 7 )  even  before  Christ  some  men  lived  who 
•did  not  commit  sin. 

In  Pelagius'  Com.  on  Rom.  5  : 12,  published  in  Jerome's  Works,  vol.  xi,  we  learn  who 
these  sinless  men  were,  namely,  Abel,  Enoch,  Joseph,  Job,  and,  among  the  heathen, 
•Socrates,  Aristides,  Numa.  The  virtues  of  the  heathen  entitle  them  to  reward.  Their 
worthies  were  not  indeed  without  evil  thoughts  and  inclinations ;  but,  on  the  view  of 
Pelagius  that  all  sin  consists  in  act,  these  evil  thoughts  and  inclinations  were  not  sin. 
Non  pleni  nascimur:  we  are  born,  not  full,  but  vacant,  of  character.  Holiness,  Pelagius 
thought,  could  not  be  concreated.  Adam's  descendants  are  not  weaker,  but  stronger, 
than  he ;  since  they  have  fulfilled  many  commands,  while  did  not  fulfill  so  much  as  one. 
In  every  man  there  is  a  natural  conscience ;  he  has  an  ideal  of  life ;  he  forms  right  re- 
solves; he  recognizes  the  claims  of  law;  he  accuses  himself  when  he  sins— all  these 
things  Pelagius  regards  as  indications  of  a  certain  holiness  in  all  men,  and  misinterpre- 
tation of  these  facts  gives  rise  to  his  system.  Grace,  on  the  Pelagian  theory,  is  simply 
the  grace  of  creation— God's  originally  endowing  man  with  these  high  powers  of  reason 
and  will.  While  Augustinianism  regards  human  nature  as  dead,  and  Semi-Pelagianism 
regards  it  as  sick,  Pelagianism  proper  declares  it  to  be  well. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2:43  (Syst.  Doct.,  2 : 338)— "Neither  the  body,  man's  sur- 
roundings, nor  the  inward  operation  of  God  have  any  determining  influence  upon  the 
will.  God  reaches  man  only  through  external  means,  such  as  Christ's  doctrine,  exam- 
ple, and  promise.  This  clears  God  of  the  charge  of  evil,  but  also  takes  from  him  the 
authorship  of  good.  It  is  Deism,  applied  to  man's  nature.  God  cannot  enter  man's 
being  if  he  would,  and  he  would  not  if  he  could.  Free  will  is  everything."  Ib.,  1 :  626 
(Syst.  Doct.,  2  : 188, 189 )— " Pelagianism  at  one  time  counts  it  too  great  an  honor  that 
man  should  be  directly  moved  upon  by  God,  and  at  another,  too  great  a  dishonor  that 
man  should  not  be  able  to  do  without  God.  In  this  inconsistent  reasoning,  it  shows  its 
desire  to  be  rid  of  God  as  much  as  possible.  The  true  conception  of  God  requires  a  liv- 
ing relation  to  man,  as  well  as  to  the  external  universe.  The  true  conception  of  man 
requires  satisfaction  of  his  longings  and  powers  by  reception  of  impulses  and  strength 
from  God.  Pelagianism,  in  seeking  for  man  a  development  only  like  that  of  nature, 
shows  that  its  high  estimate  of  man  is  only  a  delusive  one;  it  really  degrades  him,  by 
ignoring  his  true  dignity  and  destiny."  See  Ib.,  1 : 124,  125  (Syst.  Doct.,  1 : 136,  137); 
2, :  43-45  (Syst.  Doct.,  2  :  338,  339) ;  2  : 148  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  44).  Also  Schaff,  Church  His- 
tory, 2  :  783-856 ;  Doctrines  of  the  Early  Socinians,  in  Princeton  Essays,  1 : 194-211 ;  Wor- 
ter,  Pelagianismus.  For  substantially  Pelagian  statements,  see  Sheldon,  Sin  and  Re- 
demption ;  Ellis,  Half  Century  of  Unitarian  Controversy,  76. 


312  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

Of  the  Pelagian  theory  of  sin,  we  may  say  : 

A.  It  has  never  been  recognized  as  Scriptural,  nor  has  it  been  formu- 
lated in  confessions,  by  any  branch  of  the  Christian  church.     Held  only 
sporadically  and  by  individuals,  it  has  ever  been  regarded  by  the  church  at 
large  as  heresy.     This  constitutes  at  least  a  presumption  against  its  truth. 

B.  It  contradicts  Scripture  in  denying  : 

(a)  That  evil  disposition  and  state,  as  well  as  evil  acts,  are  sin. 

Pelagianism,  holding,  as  it  does,  that  virtue  and  vice  consist  only  in  single  decisions, 
does  not  account  for  character  at  all.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  state  of  sin,  or  a  self- 
propagating  power  of  sin.  And  yet  upon  these  the  Scriptures  lay  greater  emphasis  than 
upon  mere  acts  of  transgression. 

(b)  That  such  evil  disposition  and  state  are  inborn  in  all  mankind. 

John  3  :  6—"  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  "  =  "  that  which  comes  of  a  sinful  and  guilty 
stock  is  itself,  from  the  very  beginning,  sinful  and  guilty  "  ( Dorner).  Witness  the  tend- 
ency to  degradation  in  families  and  nations. 

(c)  That  men  universally  are  guilty  of  overt  transgression  so  soon  as  they 
come  to  moral  consciousness. 

(d)  That  no  man  is  able  without  divine  help  to  fulfil  the  law. 

(e)  That  all  men,  without  exception,  are  dependent  for  salvation  upon 
God's  atoning,  regenerating,  sanctifying  grace. 

(/)     That  man's  present  state  of  corruption,  condemnation,  and  death  is 
the  direct  effect  of  Adam's  transgression. 

Schaff,  on  the  Pelagian  controversy,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  5 :  205-243— The  controversy  "  resolves 
itself  into  the  question  whether  redemption  and  sanctiflcation  are  the  work  of  man  or 
or  of  God.  Pelagianism  in  its  whole  mode  of  thinking  starts  from  man  and  seeks  to 
work  itself  upward  gradually,  by  means  of  an  imaginary  good-will,  to  holiness  and 
communion  with  God.  Augustinism  pursues  the  opposite  way,  deriving  from  God's 
unconditioned  and  all-working  grace  a  new  life  and  all  power  of  working  good.  The 
first  is  led  from  freedom  into  a  legal,  self-righteous  piety;  the  other  rises  from  the 
slavery  of  sin  to  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  For  the  first,  revelation  is 
of  force  only  as  an  outward  help,  or  the  power  of  a  high  example ;  for  the  last,  it  is  the 
inmost  life,  the  very  marrow  and  blood  of  the  new  man.  The  first  involves  an  Ebionitic 
view  of  Christ,  as  noble  man,  not  high-priest  or  king ;  the  second  finds  in  him  one  in 
whom  dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  The  first  makes  conversion  a  pro- 
cess of  gradual  moral  purification  on  the  ground  of  original  nature ;  with  the  last,  it  is 

a  total  change,  in  which  the  old  passes  away  and  all  becomes  new Rationalism  is 

simply  the  form  in  which  Pelagianism  becomes  theoretically  complete.  The  high  opin- 
ion which  the  Pelagian  holds  of  the  natural  will  is  transferred  with  equal  right  by  the 
Rationalist  to  the  natural  reason.  The  one  does  without  grace,  as  the  other  does  without 
revelation.  Pelagian  divinity  is  rationalistic.  Rationalistic  morality  is  Pelagian." 

C.  It  rests  upon  false  philosophical  principles  ;  as,  for  example, 

(a)  That  the  human  will  is  simply  the  faculty  of  volitions ;  whereas  it  is 
also,  and  chiefly,  the  faculty  of  self-determination  to  an  ultimate  end. 

Neander,  Church  History,  2 :  564-625,  holds  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Pela- 
gianism to  be  "  the  ability  to  choose,  equally  and  at  any  moment,  between  good  and 
evil."  There  is  no  recognition  of  the  law  by  which  acts  produce  states ;  the  power 
which  repeated  acts  of  evil  possess  to  give  a  definite  character  and  tendency  to  the  will 
itself.  There  is  no  continuity  of  moral  life — no  character  in  man,  angel,  devil,  or  God." 

(b)  That  the  power  of  a  contrary  choice  is  essential  to  the  existence  of 
will ;  whereas  the  will  fundamentally  determined  to  self-gratification  has  this 


PELAGIAN   THEORY    OF    IMPUTATION.  313 

power  only  with  respect  to  subordinate  choices,  and  cannot  by  a  single  voli- 
tion reverse  its  moral  state. 

See  art.  on  Power  of  Contrary  Choice,  in  Princeton  Essays,  1 :  213-233—  Pelagianism 
holds  that  no  confirmation  in  holiness  is  possible.  Thornwell,  Theology :  "  The  sinner  is 
as  free  as  the  saint ;  the  devil  as  the  angel."  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism,  399— "  The 
theory  that  indifference  is  essential  to  freedom  implies  that  will  never  acquires  char- 
acter ;  that  voluntary  action  is  atomistic,  every  act  disintegrated  from  every  other ;  that 
character,  if  acquired,  would  be  incompatible  with  freedom."  On  the  Pelagian  view  of 
freedom,  see  Julius  Mttller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  37-44. 

(c)  That  ability  is  the  measure  of  obligation — a  principle  which  would 
diminish  the  sinner's  responsibility,  just  in  proportion  to  his  progress  in  sin 

(d)  That  law  consists  only  in  positive  enactment ;  whereas  it  is  the  de- 
mand of  perfect  harmony  with  God,  inwrought  into  man's  moral  nature. 

(e)  That  each  human  soul  is  immediately  created  by  God,  and  holds  no 
other  relations  to  moral  law  than  those  which  are  individual ;  whereas  all 
human  souls  are  organically  connected  with  each  other,  and  together  have 
a  corporate  relation  to  God's  law,  by  virtue  of  their  derivation  from  one 
common  stock. 

Notice  the  analogy  of  individuals  who  suffer  from  the  effects  of  parental  mistakes  or 
of  national  transgression.  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2 :  316,  317—"  Neither  the  Atomistic 
nor  the  Organic  view  of  human  nature  is  the  complete  truth."  Each  must  be  comple- 
mented by  the  other.  For  statement  of  race-responsibility,  see  Doraer,  Glaubenslehre, 
2:30-39,  51-64,  161,  162  (System  of  Doctrine,  2:324-334,  345-359;  3:  50-54)— "  Among  the 
Scripture  proofs  of  the  moral  connection  of  the  individual  with  the  race  are  the  visiting 
of  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  ;  the  obligation  of  the  people  to  punish  the 
sin  of  the  individual  that  the  whole  land  may  not  incur  guilt ;  the  offering  of  sacrifice 
for  a  murder,  the  perpetrator  of  which  is  unknown.  Achan's  crime  is  charged  to  the 
whole  people.  The  Jewish  race  is  the  better  for  its  parentage,  and  other  nations  are  the 
worse  for  theirs.  The  Hebrew  people  become  a  legal  personality. 

"  Is  it  said  that  none  are  punished  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers  unless  they  are  like 
their  fathers  ?  But  to  be  unlike  their  fathers  requires  a  new  heart.  They  who  are  not 
held  accountable  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers  are  those  who  have  recognized  their  re- 
sponsibility for  them,  and  have  repented  for  their  likeness  to  their  ancestors.  Only  the 
self-isolating  spirit  says :  '  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper  ? '  ( Gen.  4:9),  and  thinks  to  construct  a  con- 
stant equation  between  individual  misfortune  and  individual  sin.  The  calamities  of  the 
righteous  led  to  an  ethical  conception  of  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  the  commu- 
nity. Such  sufferings  show  that  men  can  love  God  disinterestedly,  that  the  good  has 
unselfish  friends.  These  sufferings  are  substitutionary,  when  borne  as  belonging  to  the 
sufferer,  not  foreign  to  him,  the  guilt  of  others  attaching  to  him  by  virtue  of  his  national 
or  race-relation  to  them.  So  Moses  in  Ex.  34  :  9,  David  in  Ps.  51 :  6,  Isaiah  in  Is.  59  :  9-16,  recog- 
nize the  connection  between  personal  sin  and  race-sin. 

"  Christ  restores  the  bond  between  man  and  his  fellows,  turns  the  hearts  of  the  fathers 
to  the  children.  He  is  the  creator  of  a  new  race-consciousness.  In  him  as  the  head  we 
see  ourselves  bound  to,  and  responsible  for,  others.  Love  finds  it  morally  impossible  to 
isolate  itself.  It  restores  the  consciousness  of  unity  and  the  recognition  of  common 
guilt.  Does  every  man  stand  for  himself  in  the  N.  T.  ?  This  would  be  so,  only  if  each 
man  become  a  sinner  solely  by  free  and  conscious  personal  decision,  either  in  the  pres- 
ent, or  in  a  past  state  of  existence.  But  this  is  not  Scriptural.  Something  comes  before 
personal  transgression:  'That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh'  (John  3:6).  Personality  is  the 
stronger  for  recognizing  the  race-sin.  We  have  common  joy  in  the  victories  of  the 
good ;  so  in  shameful  lapses  we  have  sorrow.  These  are  not  our  worst  moments,  but  our 
best— there  is  something  great  in  them.  Original  sin  must  be  displeasing  to  God ;  for  it 
perverts  the  reason,  destroys  likeness  to  God,  excludes  from  communion  with  God, 
makes  redemption  necessary,  leads  to  actual  sin,  influences  future  generations.  But  to 
complain  of  God  for  permitting  its  propagation  is  to  complain  of  his  not  destroying  the 
race— that  is,  to  complain  of  one's  own  existence."  See  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  2 :  93-110 ; 
Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doctrine,  1:287,  296-310;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  354-362;  Princeton 
Essays,  1 :  74-97 ;  Dabney,  Theology,  296-302,  314,  315. 


314  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

2.  The  Arminian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  voluntarily  appropriated 
Depravity. 

Arminius  (1560-1609),  professor  in  the  University  of  Ley  den,  in  South 
Holland,  while  formally  accepting  the  doctrine  of  the  Adamic  unity  of  the 
race  propounded  both  by  Luther  and  Calvin,  gave  a  very  different  interpre- 
tation to  it — an  interpretation  which  verged  toward  Semi-Pelagianism  and 
the  anthropology  of  the  Greek  Church.  The  Methodist  body  is  the  modern 
representative  of  this  view. 

According  to  this  theory,  all  men,  as  a  divinely  appointed  sequence  of 
Adam's  transgression,  are  naturally  destitute  of  original  righteousness,  and 
are  exposed  to  misery  and  death.  By  virtue  of  the  infirmity  propagated 
from  Adam  to  all  his  descendants,  mankind  are  wholly  unable  without  di- 
vine help  perfectly  to  obey  God  or  to  attain  eternal  life.  This  inability, 
however,  is  physical  and  intellectual,  but  not  voluntary.  As  matter  of  justice, 
therefore,  God  bestows  upon  each  individual  from  the  first  dawn  of  con- 
sciousness a  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  is  sufficient  to  coun- 
teract the  effect  of  the  inherited  depravity  and  to  make  obedience  possible, 
provided  the  human  will  cooperates,  which  it  still  has  power  to  do. 

The  evil  tendency  and  state  may  be  called  sin  ;  but  they  do  not  in  them- 
selves involve  guilt  or  punishment ;  still  less  are  mankind  accounted  guilty 
of  Adam's  sin.  God  imputes  to  each  man  his  inborn  tendencies  to  evil,  only 
when  he  consciously  and  voluntarily  appropriates  and  ratifies  these  in  spite 
of  the  power  to  the  contrary,  which,  in  justice  to  man,  God  has  specially 
communicated.  In  Eom.  5  :  12,  "death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all 
sinned,"  signifies  that  physical  and  spiritual  death  is  inflicted  upon  all  men, 
not  as  the  penalty  of  a  common  sin  in  Adam,  but  because,  by  divine  decree, 
all  suffer  the  consequences  of  that  sin,  and  because  all  personally  consent  to 
their  inborn  sinfulness  by  acts  of  transgression. 

See  Arminius,  Works,  1 :  253-254,  317-324,  325-327,  523-531,  575-583.  The  description  given 
above  is  a  description  of  Arminianism  proper.  The  expressions  of  Arminius  himself 
are  so  guarded  that  Moses  Stuart  ( Bib.  Repos.,  1831 )  found  it  possible  to  construct  an 
argument  to  prove  that  Arminius  was  not  an  Arminian.  But  it  is  plain  that  by  inher- 
ited sin  Arminius  meant  only  inherited  evil,  and  that  it  was  not  of  a  sort  to  justify  God's 
condemnation.  He  denied  any  in  being  in  Adam,  such  as  made  us  justly  chargeable  with 
Adam's  sin,  except  in  the  sense  that  we  are  obliged  to  endure  certain  consequences  of  it. 
This  Shedd  has  shown  in  his  History  of  Doctrine,  2 : 178-196.  The  system  of  Arminius  was 
more  fully  expounded  by  Limborch  and  Episcopius.  See  Limborch,  Theol.  Christ.,  3 : 
4  :  6  ( p.  189 ).  The  sin  with  which  we  are  born  "  does  not  inhere  in  the  soul,  for  this  [soul  ] 
is  immediately  created  by  God,  and  therefore,  if  it  were  infected  with  sin,  that  sin  would 
be  from  God."  Many  so-called  Arminians,  such  as  Whitby  and  John  Taylor,  were  rather 
Pelagians. 

John  Wesley,  however,  greatly  modified  and  improved  the  Arminian  doctrine. 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2:  329,  330— " Wesleyanism  (1)  admits  entire  moral  depravity; 
<2)  denies  that  men  in  this  state  have  any  power  to  cooperate  with  the  grace  of  God ; 
{ 3 )  asserts  that  the  guilt  of  all  through  Adam  was  removed  by  the  justification  of  all 
through  Christ;  (4)  ability  to  cob'perate  is  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  universal 
Influence  of  the  redemption  of  Christ.  The  order  of  the  decrees  is  ( 1 )  to  permit  the 
fall  of  man  ;  ( 2 )  to  send  the  Son  to  be  a  full  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world ; 
(3)  OH  that  ground  to  remit  all  original  sin,  and  to  give  such  grace  as  would  enable 
all  to  attain  eternal  life ;  ( 4 )  those  who  improve  that  grace  and  persevere  to  the  end 
are  ordained  to  be  saved."  We  may  add  that  Wesley  made  the  bestowal  upon  our 
depraved  nature  of  ability  to  cooperate  with  God  to  be  a  matter  of  grace,  while  Armin- 
ius regarded  it  as  a  matter  of  justice,  man  without  it  not  being  accountable. 

Wesleyanism  was  systematized  by  Watson,  who,  in  his  Institutes,  2  : 53-55,  59,  77, 


ARMINIAN   THEORY   OF   IMPUTATION.  315 

although  denying-  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  in  any  proper  sense,  yet  declares  that 
"Limborch  and  others  materially  departed  from  the  tenets  of  Arminius  in  denying 
inward  lusts  and  tendencies  to  be  sinful  till  complied  with  and  improved  by  the  will. 
But  men  universally  choose  to  ratify  these  tenden9ies ;  therefore  they  are  corrupt  in 
heart.  If  there  be  a  universal  depravity  of  will  previous  to  the  actual  choice,  then  it 
inevitably  follows  that  though  infants  do  not  commit  actual  sin,  yet  that  theirs  is  a  sin- 
ful nature As  to  infants,  they  are  not  indeed  born  justified  and  regenerate ;  so  that 

to  say  original  sin  is  taken  away,  as  to  infants,  by  Christ,  is  not  the  correct  view  of  the 
case,  for  the  reasons  before  given ;  but  they  are  all  born  under  '  the  free  gift,'  the  effects 
of  the  '  righteousness '  of  one,  which  is  extended  to  all  men ;  and  this  free  gift  is 
bestowed  on  them  in  order  to  justification  of  life,  the  adjudging  of  the  condemned  to 

live Justification  in  adults  is  connected  with  repentance  and  faith ;  in  infants,  we 

do  not  know  how.  The  Holy  Spirit  may  be  given  to  children.  Divine  and  effectual 
influence  may  be  exerted  on  them,  to  cure  the  spiritual  death  and  corrupt  tendency  of 
their  nature." 

It  will  be  observed  that  Watson's  Wesleyanism  is  much  more  near  to  Scripture  than 
what  we  have  described,  and  properly  described,  as  Arminianism  proper.  Pope,  in  his 
Theology,  follows  Wesley  and  Watson,  and  (2:70-86)  gives  a  valuable  synopsis  of  the 
differences  between  Arminius  and  Wesley.  Whedon  and  Raymond,  in  America,  better 
represent  original  Arminianism.  They  hold  that  God  was  under  obligation  to  restore 
man's  ability,  and  yet  they  inconsistently  speak  of  this  ability  as  a  gracious  ability. 
Two  passages  from  Raymond's  Theology  show  the  inconsistency  of  calling  that  "  grace," 
which  God  is  bound  in  justice  to  bestow,  in  order  to  make  man  responsible.  2  :  84-86— 
•"  The  race  came  into  existence  under  grace.  Existence  and  justification  are  secured  for 
it  only  through  Christ ;  for,  apart  from  Christ,  punishment  and  destruction  would  have 
followed  the  first  sin.  So  all  gifts  of  the  Spirit  necessary  to  qualify  him  for  the  putting 
forth  of  free  moral  choices  are  secured  for  him  through  Christ.  The  Spirit  of  God  is 
not  a  bystander,  but  a  quickening  power.  So  man  is  by  grace,  not  by  his  fallen  nature, 
a  moral  being  capable  of  knowing,  loving,  obeying,  and  enjoying  God.  Such  he  ever 
will  be,  if  he  does  not  frustrate  the  grace  of  God.  Not  till  the  Spirit  takes  his  final  flight 
is  he  in  a  condition  of  total  depravity." 

Compare  with  this  the  following  passage  of  the  same  work  in  which  this  "grace"  is 
called  a  debt.  2  : 317  — "The  relations  of  the  posterity  of  Adam  to  God  are  substan- 
tially those  of  newly  created  beings.  Each  individual  person  is  obligated  to  God,  and 
God  to  him,  precisely  the  same  as  if  God  had  created  him  such  as  he  is.  Ability  must 
equal  obligation.  God  was  not  obligated  to  provide  a  Redeemer  for  the  first  transgress- 
ors, but  having  provided  Redemption  for  them,  and  through  it  having  permitted  them 
to  propagate  a  degenerate  race,  an  adequate  compensation  is  due.  The  gracious  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit  are  then  a  debt  due  to  man  —  a  compensation  for  the  disabilities  of 
inherited  depravity."  McClintock  and  Strong  (Cyclopaedia,  art.:  Arminius)  endorse 
Whedon's  art.  in  the  Bib.  Sac.,  19  : 241  as  an  exhibition  of  Arminianism,  and  Whedon 
himself  claims  it  to  be  such.  See  Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  214-216. 

With  regard  to  the  Arminian  theory  we  remark  : 

A.  It  is  wholly  extra-Scriptural  in  its  assumptions  :  (a)  That  there  is  a 
universal  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  (6)  That  this  gift  remedies  the  general 
evil  derived  from  Adam's  fall,  (c)  That  without  this  gift  man  would  not  be 
responsible  for  being  morally  imperfect,  (d]  That  at  the  beginning  of 
moral  life  men  consciously  appropriate  their  inborn  tendencies  to  evil. 

(a)  Wesley  adduced  in  proof  of  universal  grace  the  text:  John  1:9  — "the  light  which 
lighteth  every  man  "  —  which  however  refers,  not  to  a  universal  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but 
to  the  natural  light  of  reason  and  conscience  which  the  preincarnate  Logos  bestowed 
on  all  men,  though  in  different  degrees,  before  his  coming  in  the  flesh.  Rom.  5  : 18  was 
also  referred  to  —  "through  one  act  of  righteousness  the  free  gift  came  unto  all  men  to  justification  of  life" — 
but  here  the  "all  men"  is  conterminous  with  "the  many"  who  are  "made  righteous"  in  verse  19, 
and  with  the  "all"  who  are  "made  alive"  in  1  Cor.  15  :  22;  in  other  words,  the  "all"  in  this  case 
is  "all  believers"  :  else  the  passage  teaches,  not  a  universal  gift  of  the  Spirit,  but  uni- 
versal salvation. 

(c)  Must  God  bestow  upon  Satan  a  special  gift  of  the  Spirit,  or  a  "gracious  ability," 
before  he  can  be  responsible  for  his  depravity  or  for  the  actual  sin  that  proceeds  there- 
from? Dabney,  Theology,  315,  316  — "  Arminianism  is  orthodox  as  to  the  legal  conse- 


316 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 


quences  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity  ;  but  what  it  gives  with  one  hand,  it  takes  back 
with  the  other,  attributing-  to  grace  the  restoration  of  this  natural  ability  lost  by  the 
fall.  If  the  effects  of  Adam's  fall  on  his  posterity  are  such  that  they  would  have  been 
unjust  if  not  repaired  by  a  redeeming-  plan  that  was  to  follow  it,  then  God's  act  in  pro- 
viding- a  Redeemer  was  not  an  act  of  pure  grace.  He  was  under  obligation  to  do  some 
such  thing  —  salvation  is  not  grace,  but  debt." 

B.  It  contradicts  Scripture  in  maintaining  :  (a]  That  inherited  moral 
evil  does  not  involve  guilt.  (6)  That  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  regen- 
eration of  infants,  are  matters  of  justice,  (c)  That  the  effect  of  grace  is 
simply  to  restore  man's  natural  ability,  instead  of  disposing  him  to  use  that 
ability  aright,  (d)  That  election  is  God's  choice  of  certain  men  to  be  saved 
upon  the  ground  of  their  foreseen  faith,  instead  of  being  God's  choice  to 
make  certain  men  believers,  (e)  That  physical  death  is  not  the  just  pen- 
alty of  sin,  but  is  a  matter  of  arbitrary  decree. 

(a)  See  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  58  ( System  of  Doctrine,  2  :  352-359)—  "  With  Armin- 
ius,  original  sin  is  original  evil  only,  not  guilt.    He  explained  the  problem  of  original  sin 
by  denying  the  fact,  and  turning  the  native  sinfulness  into  a  morally  indifferent  thing. 
No  sin  without  consent ;  no  consent  at  the  beginning  of  human  development ;  there- 
fore, no  guilt  in  evil  desire.   This  is  the  same  as  the  Romanist  doctrine  of  concupiscence, 
and  like  that  leads  to  blaming  God  for  an  originally  bad  constitution  of  our  nature. .  .  . 
. .  Original  sin  is  merely  an  enticement  to  evil  addressed  to  the  free  will.    All  internal 
disorder  and  vitiosity  is  morally  indifferent,  and  becomes  sin  only  through  appropria- 
tion by  free  will.   But  involuntary,  loveless,  proud  thoughts  are  recognized  in  Scripture 
as  sin ;  yet  they  spring  from  the  heart  without  our  conscious  consent.    Undeliberate 
and  deliberate  sins  run  into  each  other,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  draw  /a  line  between 
them.     The  doctrine  that  there  is  no  sin  without  consent,  implies  power  to  withhold 
consent.    But  this  contradicts  the  universal  need  of  redemption  and  our  observation 
that  none  have  ever  thus  entirely  withheld  consent  from  sin." 

(b)  H.  B.  Smith's  Review  of  Whedon  on  the  Will,  in  Faith  and  Philosophy,  359-399— 
"  A  child,  upon  the  old  view,  needs  only  growth  to  make  him  guilty  of  actual  sin ; 
whereas,  upon  this  view,  he  needs  growth  and  grace  too."    See  Bib.  Sac.,  20  :  327,  328. 
According  to  Whedon,  Com.  on  Rom.  5:12,  "the  condition  of  an  infant  apart  from 
Christ  is  that  of  a  sinner,  as  one  sure  to  sin,  yet  never  actually  condemned  before  per- 
sonal apostasy.    This  would  be  its  condition,  rather,  for  in  Christ  the  infant  is  regenerate 
and  justified  and  endowed  with  the  Holy  Spirit.    Hence  all  actual  sinners  are  apostates 
from  a  state  of  srrace."   But  we  ask :    1.  Why  then  do  infants  die  before  they  have  com- 
mitted actual  sin?    Surely  not  on  account  of  Adam's  sin,  for  they  are  delivered  from 
all  the  evils  of  that,  through  Christ.    It  must  be  because  they  are  still  somehow  sinners. 
2.    How  can  we  account  for  all  infants  sinning  so  soon  as  they  begin  morally  to  act,  if, 
before  they  sin,  they  are  in  a  state  of  grace  and  sanctification  ?    It  must  be  because  they 
were  still  somehow  sinners.    In  other  words,  the  universal  regeneration  and  justifica- 
tion of  infants  contradict  Scripture  and  observation. 

(c)  Notice  that  this  "  gracious  "  ability  does  not  involve  saving  grace  to  the  recipient, 
because  it  is  given  equally  to  all  men.    Nor  is  it  more  than  a  restoring  to  man  of  his 
natural  ability  lost  by  Adam 's  sin.   It  is  not  sufficient  to  explain  why  one  man  who  has  the 
gracious  ability  chooses  God,  while  another  who  has  the  same  gracious  ability  chooses 
self.    "  Who  made  thee  to  differ  ?  "    Not  God,  but  thyself.   Over  against  this  doctrine  of 
Arminians,  who  held  to  universal,  resistible  grace,  restoring  natural  ability,  Calvinists 
and  Augustinians  hold  to  particular,  irresistible  grace,  giving  moral  ability,  or  in  other 
words  bestowing  the  disposition  to  use  natural  ability  aright.    "  Grace  "  is  a  word  much 
used  by  Arminians.    Methodist  Doctrine  and  Discipline,  Articles  of  Religion,  viii— "The 
condition  of  man  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is  such  that  he  cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself, 
by  his  own  natural  strength  and  works,  to  faith,  and  calling  upon  God ;  wherefore  we 
have  no  power  to  do  good  works,  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God,  without  the  grace 
of  God  by  Christ  preventing  us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us, 
when  we  have  that  good  will."    It  is  important  to  understand  that,  in  Arminian  usage, 
grace  is  simply  the  restoration  of  man's  natural  ability  to  act  for  himself ;  it  never 
actually  saves  him,  but  only  enables  him  to  save  himself —  if  he  will. 

(d)  In  the  Arminian  system,  the  order  of  salvation  is,    ( 1 )  faith  —  by  an  unrenewed 
but  convicted  man ;  (2)  justification;  (3)  regeneration,  or  a  holy  heart.    God  decrees, 


ARMINIAN   THEORY   OF   IMPUTATION.  317 

not  to  originate  faith,  but  to  reward  it.   Hence  Wesleyans  make  faith  a  work,  and  regard 
election  as  God's  ordaining-  those  who,  he  foresees,  will  of  their  own  accord  believe. 

C.  It  rests  upon  false  philosophical  principles,  as  for  example  :    (a)  That 
the  will  is  simply  the  faculty  of  volitions.     (6)  That  the  power  of  contrary 
choice,  in  the  sense  of  power  by  a  single  act  to  reverse  one's  moral  state,  is 
essential  to  will,     (c)  That  previous  certainty  of  any  given  moral  act  is 
incompatible  with  its  freedom,     (d]  That  ability  is  the  measure  of  obliga- 
tion,    (e)  That  law  condemns  only  volitional  transgression.     (/)  That  man 
has  no  organic  moral  connection  with  the  race. 

(b)  Raymond  says  :  "  Man  is  responsible  for  character,  but  only  so  far  as  that  char- 
acter is  self-imposed.    We  are  not  responsible  for  character  irrespective  of  its  origin. 
Freedom  from  an  act  is  as  essential  to  responsibility  as  freedom  to  it.    If  power  to  the 
contrary  is  impossible,  then  freedom  does  not  exist  in  God  or  man.    Sin  was  a  necessity, 
and  God  was  the  author  of  it."    But  this  is  a  denial  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  char- 
acter ;  that  the  will  can  give  itself  a  bent  which  no  single  volition  can  change ;  that  the 
wicked  man  can  become  the  slave  of  sin  ;  that  Satan,  though  without  power  now  in  him- 
self to  turn  to  God,  is  yet  responsible  for  his  sin.    The  power  of  contrary  choice  which 
Adam  had  exists  no  longer  in  its  entirety  ;  it  is  narrowed  down  to  a  power  to  the  con- 
trary in  temporary  and  subordinate  choices ;  it  no  longer  is  equal  to  the  work  of  chang- 
ing the  fundamental  determination  of  the  being  to  selfishness  as  an  ultimate  end.    Yet 
for  this  very  inability,  because  originated  by  will,  man  is  responsible. 

Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  : 28—"  Formal  freedom  leads  the  way  to  real  freedom. 
The  starting-point  is  a  freedom  which  does  not  yet  involve  an  inner  necessity,  but  the 
possibility  of  something  else  ;  the  goal  is  the  freedom  which  is  identical  with  necessity. 
The  first  is  a  means  to  the  last.  When  the  will  has  fully  and  truly  chosen,  the  power  of 
acting  otherwise  may  still  be  said  to  exist  in  a  metaphysical  sense ;  but  morally,  i.  e. 
with  reference  to  the  contrast  of  good  and  evil,  it  is  entirely  done  away.  Formal  free- 
dom is  freedom  of  choice,  in  the  sense  of  volition  with  the  express  consciousness  of 
other  possibilities."  Real  freedom  is  freedom  to  choose  the  good  only,  with  no  remain- 
ing possibility  that  evil  will  exert  a  counter  attraction.  But  as  the  will  can  reach  a 
"  moral  necessity  "  of  good,  so  it  can  through  sin  reach  a  "  moral  necessity  "  of  evil. 

(c)  Park:  "The  great  philosophical  objection  to  Arminianism  is  its  denial  of  the 
certainty  of  human  action— the  idea  that  a  man  may  act  either  way  without  certainty 
how  he  will  act — power  of  a  contrary  choice  in  the  sense  of  a  moral  indifference  which 
can  choose  without  motive,  or  contrary  to  the  strongest  motive.    The  New  School  view 
is  better  than  this,  for  that  holds  to  the  certainty  of  wrong  choice,  while  yet  the  soul 
has  power  to  make  a  right  one The  Arminians  believe  that  it  is  objectively  uncer- 
tain whether  a  man  shall  act  in  this  way  or  in  that,  right  or  wrong.    There  is  nothing, 
antecedently  to  choice,  to  decide  the  choice.    It  was  the  whole  aim  of  Edwards  to  refute 
the  idea  that  man  would  not  certainly  sin.    The  old  Calvinists  believe  that  antecedently 
to  the  fall  Adam  was  in  this  state  of  objective  uncertainty,  but  that  after  the  fall  it  was 
certain  he  would  sin,  and  his  probation  therefore  was  closed.    Edwards  affirms  that  no 
such  objective  uncertainty  or  power  to  the  contrary  ever  existed,  and  that  man  now  has 
all  the  liberty  he  ever  had  or  could  have.   The  truth  in  4  power  to  the  contrary  '  is  simply 
the  power  of  the  will  to  act  contrary  to  the  way  it  does  act.   President  Edwards  believed 
in  this,  though  he  is  commonly  understood  as  reasoning  to  the  contrary.    The  false 
*  power  to  the  contrary '  is  uncertainty  how  one  will  act,  or  a  willingness  to  act  otherwise 
than  one  does  act.    This  is  the  Arminian  power  to  the  contrary,  and  it  is  this  that 
Edwards  opposes." 

(e)  Whedon,  On  the  Will,  338-360,  388-395—"  Prior  to  free  volition,  man  may  be  uncon- 
formed  to  law,  yet  not  a  subject  of  retribution.  The  law  has  two  offices,  one  judicatory 
and  critical,  the  other  retributive  and  penal.  Hereditary  evil  may  not  be  visited  with 
retribution,  as  Adam's  concreated  purity  was  not  meritorious.  Passive,  prevolitional 
holiness  is  moral  rectitude,  but  not  moral  desert.  Passive,  prevolitional  impurity  needs 
concurrence  of  active  will  to  make  it  condemnable." 

D.  It  renders  uncertain  either  the  universality  of  sin  or  man's  respon- 
sibility for  it.     If  man  has  full  power  to  refuse  consent  to  inborn  depravity, 
then  the  universality  of  sin  and  the  universal  need  of  a  Savior  are  merely 


318  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

hypothetical.  If  sin  however  be  universal,  there  must  have  been  an  absence 
of  free  consent,  and  the  objective  certainty  of  man's  sinning,  according  to 
the  theory,  destroys  his  responsibility. 

Raymond,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  86-89,  holds  it  "  theoretically  possible  that  a  child  may  be  so 
trained  and  educated  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  as  that  he  will  never 
knowingly  and  willingly  transgress  the  law  of  God ;  in  which  case  he  will  certainly 
grow  up  into  regeneration  and  final  salvation.  But  it  is  grace  that  preserves  him  from 
sin — [common  grace  ?].  We  do  not  know,  either  from  experience  or  Scripture,  that  none 
have  been  free  from  known  and  wilful  transgressions."  Per  contra,  see  Julius  MUller, 
Doct.  Sin,  2  :  320-326  ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  479-494 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  23  :  206 ;  28  :  279  ;  Phi- 
lippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3  :  56  sq. 

3.     The  New  School  Theory,  or  Theory  of  uncondemnable  Vitiosity. 

This  theory  is  called  New  School,  because  of  its  recession  from  the  old 
Puritan  anthropology  of  which  Edwards  and  Bellamy  in  the  last  century 
were  the  expounders.  The  New  School  theory  is  a  general  scheme  built 
up  by  the  successive  labors  of  Hopkins,  Emmons,  Dwight,  Taylor,  and 
Finney.  It  is  held  at  present  by  New  School  Presbyterians,  and 'by  the 
larger  part  of  the  Congregational  body. 

According  to  this  theory,  all  men  are  born  with  a  physical  and  moral  con- 
stitution which  predisposes  them  to  sin,  and  all  men  do  actually  sin  so  soon 
as  they  come  to  moral  consciousness.  This  vitiosity  of  nature  may  be 
called  sinful,  because  it  uniformly  leads  to  sin  ;  but  it  is  not  itself  sin,  since 
nothing  is  to  be  properly  denominated  sin  but  the  voluntary  act  of  trans- 
gressing known  law. 

God  imputes  to  men  only  their  own  acts  of  personal  transgression ;  he 
does  not  impute  to  them  Adam's  sin  ;  neither  original  vitiosity  nor  physical 
death  are  penal  inflictions  ;  they  are  simply  consequences  which  God  has  in 
his  sovereignty  ordained  to  mark  his  displeasure  at  Adam's  transgression, 
and  subject  to  which  evils  God  immediately  creates  each  human  soul.  In 
Bom.  5  :  12,  "death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned,"  signifies 
"spiritual  death  passed  on  all  men,  because  all  men  have  actually  and  per- 
sonally sinned. " 

Edwards  held  that  God  imputes  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity  by  arbitrarily  identifying 
them  with  him — identity,  on  the  theory  of  continuous  creation  ( see  pages  205, 206 ),  being 
only  what  God  appoints.  Since  this  did  not  furnish  sufficient  ground  for  imputation, 
Edwards  joined  the  Placean  doctrine  to  the  other,  and  showed  the  justice  of  the  condem- 
nation by  the  fact  that  man  is  depraved.  He  adds,  moreover,  the  consideration  that 
man  ratifies  this  depravity  by  his  own  act.  So  Edwards  tried  to  combine  three  views. 
But  all  were  vitiated  by  his  doctrine  of  continuous  creation,  which  logically  made  God 
the  only  cause  in  the  universe,  and  left  no  freedom,  guilt,  or  responsibility  to  man.  He 
believed  in  "  a  real  union  between  the  root  and  the  branches  of  the  world  of  mankind, 

established  by  the  author  of  the  whole  system  of  the  universe the  full  consent  of 

the  hearts  of  Adam's  posterity  to  the  first  apostasy and  therefore  the  sin  of  the 

apostasy  is  not  theirs  merely  because  God  imputes  it  to  them,  but  it  is  truly  and  prop- 
erly theirs,  and  on  that  ground  God  imputes  it  to  them."  Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  435- 
448,  esp.  436,  quotes  from  Edwards :  "  The  guilt  a  man  has  upon  his  soul  at  his  first 
existence  is  one  and  simple,  viz. :  the  guilt  of  the  original  apostasy,  the  guilt  of  the  sin 
by  which  the  species  first  rebelled  against  God." 

Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  2  :  25,  claims  Edwards  as  a  Traducianist.  But  Fisher,  Discus- 
sions, 240,  shows  that  he  was  not.  As  we  have  seen  ( Prolegomena,  page  26 ),  Edwards 
thought  too  little  of  nature.  He  tended  to  Berkeleyanism  as  applied  to  mind.  Hence  the 
chief  good  was  in  happiness— a  form  of  sensibility.  Virtue  is  voluntary  choice  of  this 
good.  Hence  union  of  acts  and  exercises  with  Adam  was  sufficient.  This  God's  will 
might  make  identity  of  being  with  him.  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  250  sq.,  says  well,  that 


NEW    SCHOOL   THEOEY   OF   IMPUTATION.  319 

"  Edwards's  idea  that  the  character  of  an  act  was  to  be  sought  somewhere  else  than  in  its 
cause  involves  the  fallacious  assumption  that  acts  have  a  subsistence  and  moral  agency 
of  their  own  apart  from  that  of  the  actor."  This  divergence  from  the  truth  led  to  the 
Exercise-system  of  Hopkins  and  Emmons,  who  not  only  denied  moral  character  prior 
to  individual  choices  (i.  e.,  denied  sin  of  nature),  but  attributed  all  human  acts  and 
exercises  to  the  direct  efficiency  of  God.  On  Emmons,  see  Works,  4  :  502-507,  and  Bib. 
Sac.,  7  :  479;  20  :  317 ;  also  H.  B.  Smith,  in  Faith  and  Philosophy,  215-263. 

N.  W.  Taylor,  of  New  Haven,  agreed  with  Hopkins  and  Emmons  that  there  is  no  im- 
putation of  Adam's  sin  or  of  inborn  depravity.  He  called  that  depravity  physical,  not 
moral.  But  he  repudiated  the  doctrine  of  divine  efficiency  in  the  production  of  men's 
acts  and  exercises,  and  made  all  sin  to  be  personal.  He  held  to  the  power  of  contrary 
choice.  Adam  had  it,  and  contrary  to  the  belief  of  Augustinians,  he  never  lost  it.  Man 
"not  only  can  if  he  will,  but  he  can  if  he  won't."  He  can,  but,  without  the  Spirit,  will 
not.  Yet  he  did  not  hold  to  the  Arminian  liberty  of  indifference  or  contingence.  He 
believed  in  the  certainty  of  wrong  action,  yet  in  power  to  the  contrary.  See  Moral  Gov- 
ernment, 2  : 132— "The  error  of  Pelagius  was  not  in  asserting  that  man  can  obey  God 
without  grace,  but  in  saying  that  man  does  actually  obey  God  without  grace."  There 
is  a  part  of  the  sinner's  nature  to  which  the  motives  of  the  gospel  may  appeal— a  part  of 
his  nature  which  is  neither  holy  nor  unholy,  viz.  self-love,  or  innocent  desire  for  hap- 
piness. Greatest  happiness  is  the  ground  of  obligation.  Under  the  influence  of  motives 
appealing  to  happiness,  the  sinner  can  suspend  his  choice  of  the  world  as  his  chief  good, 
and  can  give  his  heart  to  God.  He  can  do  this,  whatever  the  Holy  Spirit  does,  or  does 
not  do ;  but  the  moral  inability  can  be  overcome  only  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  moves 
the  soul,  without  coercing,  by  means  of  the  truth.  On  Dr.  Taylor's  system,  and  its  con- 
nection with  prior  New  England  theology,  see  Fisher,  Discussions,  285-354. 

This  form  of  New  School  doctrine  suggests  the  following  questions :  1.  Can  the  sinner 
suspend  his  selfishness  before  he  is  subdued  by  divine  grace  ?  2.  Can  his  choice  of  God 
from  mere  self-love  be  a  holy  choice?  3.  Since  God  demands  love  in  every  choice,  must 
it  not  be  a  positively  unholy  choice?  4.  If  it  is  not  itself  a  holy  choice,  how  can  it  be  a 
beginning  of  holiness?  5.  If  the  sinner  can  become  regenerate  by  preferring  God  on 
the  ground  of  self-interest,  where  is  the  necessity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  the  heart  ? 
6.  Does  not  this  asserted  ability  of  the  sinner  to  turn  to  God  contradict  consciousness 
and  Scripture?  For  Taylor's  views,  see  his  Revealed  Theology,  134-309.  For  criticism 
of  them,  see  Hodge,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Jan.,  1868  :  63  sq.,  and  368-398 ;  also,  Tyler,  Letters 
on  the  New  Haven  Theology.  Neither  Hopkins  and  Emmons  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
Taylor  on  the  other,  represent  most  fully  the  general  course  of  New  England  Theo- 
logy. Smalley,  Dwight,  Woods,  all  held  to  more  conservative  views  than  Taylor,  or  than 
Finney,  whose  system  had  much  resemblance  to  Taylor's.  All  three  of  these  denied  the 
power  of  contrary  choice  which  Dr.  Taylor  so  strenuously  maintained,  although  all 
agreed  with  him  in  denying  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  or  of  our  hereditary  depravity. 
These  are  not  sinful,  except  in  the  sense  of  being  occasions  of  actual  sin. 

Dr.  Park,  of  Andover,  is  understood  to  teach  that  the  disordered  state  of  the  sensibil- 
ities and  faculties  with  which  we  are  born  is  the  immediate  occasion  of  sin,  while  Adam's 
transgression  is  the  remote  occasion  of  sin.  The  will,  though  influenced  by  an  evil  ten- 
dency, is  still  free ;  the  evil  tendency  itself  is  not  free,  and  therefore  is  not  sin.  The 
statement  of  New  School  doctrine  given  in  the  text  is  intended  to  represent  the  com- 
mon New  England  doctrine,  as  taught  by  Smalley,  Dwight,  Woods,  and  Park ;  although 
the  historical  tendency,  even  among  these  theologians,  has  been  to  emphasize  less  and 
less  the  depraved  tendencies  prior  to  actual  sin,  and  to  maintain  that  moral  character 
begins  only  with  individual  choice,  most  of  them,  however,  holding  that  this  individual 
choice  begins  at  birth.  See  Bib.  Sac.,  7  :  552,  567  ;  8  :  607-647;  20  :  462-471,  576-593 ;  Van 
Oosterzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  407-412. 

To  the  New  School  theory  we  object  as  follows  : 

A.  It  contradicts  Scripture  in  maintaining  or  implying  :  (a)  That  sin 
consists  solely  in  acts,  and  in  the  dispositions  caused  in  each  case  by  man's 
individual  acts,  and  that  the  state  which  predisposes  to  acts  of  sin  is  not 
itself  sin.  (6)  That  the  vitiosity  which  predisposes  to  sin  is  a  part  of  each 
man's  nature  as  it  proceeds  from  the  creative  hand  of  God.  (c)  That  physi- 
cal death  in  the  human  race  is  not  a  penal  consequence  of  Adam's  transgres- 
sion, (d)  That  infants,  before  moral  consciousness,  do  not  need  Christ's- 


320  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

sacrifice  to  save  them.  Since  they  are  innocent,  no  penalty  rests  upon  them, 
and  none  needs  to  be  removed,  (e)  That  we  are  neither  condemned  upon 
the  ground  of  actual  inbeing  in  Adam,  nor  justified  upon  the  ground  of 
actual  inbeing  in  Christ. 

If  a  child  may  not  be  unholy  before  he  voluntarily  transgresses,  then,  by  parity  of 
reasoning:,  Adam  could  not  have  been  holy  before  he  obeyed  the  law,  nor  can  a  change 
of  heart  precede  Christian  action.  New  School  principles  would  compel  us  to  assert 
that  right  action  precedes  change  of  heart,  and  that  obedience  in  Adam  must  have  pre- 
ceded his  holiness.  Emmons  held  that,  if  children  die  before  they  become  moral  agents, 
it  is  most  rational  to  conclude  that  they  are  annihilated.  They  are  mere  animals.  The 
common  New  School  doctrine  would  regard  them  as  saved  either  on  account  of  their 
innocence,  or  because  the  atonement  of  Christ  avails  to  remove  the  consequences  as  well 
as  the  penalty  of  sin. 

But  to  say  that  infants  are  pure  contradicts  Rom.  5 : 12 — "  all  sinned  "  ;  1  Cor.  7 : 14 — "  else  were  your 
children  unclean"  ;  Eph.  2  :  3— "by  nature  children  of  wrath."  That  Christ's  atonement  removes  nat- 
ural consequences  of  sin,  is  nowhere  asserted  or  implied  in  Scripture.  See,  per  contra, 
H.  B.  Smith,  System,  271,  where,  however,  it  is  only  maintained  that  Christ  saves  from 
all  the  just  consequences  of  sin.  But  all  just  consequences  are  penalty,  and  should  be 
so  called.  The  exigencies  of  New  School  doctrine  compel  it  to  put  the  beginning  of  sin 
in  the  infant  at  the  very  first  moment  of  its  separate  existence— in  order  not  to  contra- 
dict those  Scriptures  which  speak  of  sin  as  being  universal,  and  of  the  atonement  as 
being  needed  by  all.  But  by  putting  sin  thus  early  in  human  experience,  all  meaning  is 
taken  out  of  the  New  School  definition  of  sin  as  the  "voluntary  transgression  of  known 
law."  It  is  difficult  to  say,  upon  this  theory,  what  sort  of  a  choice  the  infant  makes  of 
sin,  or  what  sort  of  a  known  law  it  violates. 

B.  It  rests  upon  false  philosophical  principles,  as  for  example  :    (a)   That 
the  soul  is  immediately  created  by  God.     (6)    That  the  law  of  God  consists 
wholly  in  outward  command,     (c)    That  present  natural  ability  to  obey  the 
law  is  the  measure  of  obligation,     (d)    That  man's  relations  to  moral  law 
are  exclusively  individual,     (e)    That  the  will  is  merely  the  faculty  of  indi- 
vidual and  personal  choices.     (/)    That  the  will,  at  man's  birth,  has  no 
moral  state  or  character. 

See  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  250  sq. — "Personality  is  inseparable  from  nature.  The 
one  duty  is  love.  Unless  any  given  duty  is  performed  through  the  activity  of  a  princi- 
ple of  love  springing  up  in  the  nature,  it  is  not  performed  at  all.  The  law  addresses  the 
nature.  The  efficient  cause  of  moral  action  is  the  proper  subject  of  moral  law.  It  is 
only  in  the  perversity  of  unscriptural  theology  that  we  find  the  absurdity  of  separating 
the  moral  character  from  the  substance  of  the  soul,  and  tying  it  to  the  vanishing  deeds 
of  life.  The  idea  that  responsibility  and  sin  are  predicable  of  actions  merely  is  only 
consistent  with  an  utter  denial  that  man's  nature  as  such  owes  anything  to  God,  or  has 
an  office  to  perform  in  showing  forth  his  glory-  It  ignores  the  fact  that  actions  are 
empty  phenomena,  which  in  themselves  have  no  possible  value.  It  is  the  heart,  soul, 
might,  mind,  strength,  with  which  we  are  to  love.  Christ  conformed  to  the  law,  by  being 
'  that  holy  thing '  ( Luke  1 :  35,  marg )." 

C.  It  impugns  the  justice  of  God  : 

(a)  By  regarding  him  as  the  direct  creator  of  a  vicious  nature  which 
infallibly  leads  every  human  being  into  actual  transgression.  To  maintain 
that,  in  consequence  of  Adam's  act,  God  brings  it  about  that  all  men  become 
sinners,  and  that,  not  by  virtue  of  inherent  laws  of  propagation,  but  by  the 
direct  creation  in  each  case  of  a  vicious  nature,  is  to  make  God  indirectly 
the  author  of  sin. 

(6)  By  representing  him  as  the  inflicter  of  suffering  and  death  upon 
millions  of  human  beings  who  in  the  present  life  do  not  come  to  moral  con- 
sciousness, and  who  are  therefore,  according  to  the  theory,  perfectly  inno- 


NEW    SCHOOL   THEORY    OF    IMPUTATION.  321 

cent.  This  is  to  make  him  visit  Adam's  sin  on  his  posterity,  while  at  the 
same  time  it  denies  that  moral  connection  between  Adam  and  his  posterity 
which  alone  could  make  such  visitation  just. 

(c)  By  holding  that  the  probation  which  God  appoints  to  men  is  a  sepa- 
rate probation  of  each  soul,  when  it  first  conies  to  moral  consciousness  and  is 
least  qualified  to  decide  aright.  It  is  much  more  consonant  with  our  ideas 
of  the  divine  justice,  that  the  decision  should  have  been  made  by  the  whole 
race,  in  one  whose  nature  was  pure  and  who  perfectly  understood  God's  law, 
than  that  heaven  and  hell  should  have  been  determined  for  each  of  us  by  a 
decision  made  in  our  own  inexperienced  childhood,  under  the  influence  of 
.a  vitiated  nature. 

On  this  theory,  God  determines,  in  his  mere  sovereignty,  that  because  one  man  sinned, 
all  men  should  be  called  into  existence  depraved,  under  a  constitution  which  secures  the 
certainty  of  their  sinning-.  But  we  claim  that  it  is  unjust  that  any  should  suffer  without 
ill-desert.  To  say  that  God  thus  marks  his  sense  of  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin  is  to  con- 
tradict the  main  principle  of  the  theory,  namely,  that  men  are  held  responsible  only  for 
their  own  sins.  We  prefer  to  justify  God  by  holding-  that  there  is  a  reason  for  this  inflic- 
tion, and  that  this  reason  is  the  connection  of  the  infant  with  Adam.  If  mere  tendency 
to  sin  is  innocent,  then  Christ  might  have  taken  it,  when  he  took  our  nature.  But  if  he 
had  taken  it,  it  would  not  explain  the  fact  of  the  atonement,  for  upon  this  theory  it 
would  not  need  to  be  atoned  for. 

"Man  kills  a  snake,"  says  Raymond,  "because  it  is  a  snake,  and  not  because  it  is  to 
blame  for  being-  a  snake"— which  seems  to  us  a  new  proof  that  the  advocates  of  inno- 
cent depravity  regard  infants,  not  as  moral  beings,  but  as  mere  animals.  "  We  must 
distinguish  automatic  excellence  or  badness,"  says  Raymond  again,  "from  moral  desert, 
whether  good  or  ill."  This  seems  to  us  a  doctrine  of  punishment  without  guilt.  Prince- 
ton Essays,  1 : 138,  quote  Coleridge :  "  It  is  an  outrage  on  common  sense  to  affirm  that  it 
is  no  evil  for  men  to  be  placed  on  their  probation  under  such  circumstances  that  not 
one  of  ten  thousand  millions  ever  escapes  sin  and  condemnation  to  eternal  death.  There 
is  evil  inflicted  on  us,  as  a  consequence  of  Adam's  sin,  antecedent  to  our  personal  trans- 
gressions. It  matters  not  what  this  evil  is,  whether  temporal  death,  corruption  of  na- 
ture, certainty  of  sin,  or  death  in  its  more  extended  sense ;  if  the  ground  of  the  evil's 
•coming  on  us  is  Adam's  sin,  the  principle  is  the  same."  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  488— 
So,  it  seems,  "  if  a  creature  is  punished,  it  implies  that  some  one  has  sinned,  but  does  not 
necessarily  intimate  the  sufferer  to  be  the  sinner !  But  this  is  wholly  contrary  to  the 
argument  of  the  apostle  in  Rom.  5  : 12-19,  which  is  based  upon  the  opposite  doctrine,  and 
it  is  also  contrary  to  the  justice  of  God,  who  punishes  only  those  who  deserve  it."  See 
Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  67-74. 

D.  Its  limitation  of  responsibility  to  the  evil  choices  of  the  individual 
and  the  dispositions  caused  thereby  is  inconsistent  with  the  following  facts  : 

(a)  The  first  moral  choice  of  each  individual  is  so  undeliberate  as  not  to 
be  remembered.     Put  forth  at  birth,  as  the  chief  advocates  of  the  New 
School  theory  maintain,  it  does  not  answer  to  their  definition  of  sin  as  a 
voluntary  transgression  of  known  law.     Eesponsibility  for  such  choice  does 
not  differ  from  responsibility  for  the  inborn  evil  state  of  the  will  which 
manifests  itself  in  that  choice. 

(b)  The  uniformity  of  sinful  action  among  men  cannot  be  explained  by 
the  existence  of  a  mere  faculty  of  choices.     That  men  should  uniformly 
choose  may  be  thus  explained ;  but  that  men  should  uniformly  choose  evil, 
requires  us  to  postulate  an  evil  tendency  or  state  of  the  will  itself,  prior  to 
these  separate  acts  of  choice.     This  evil  tendency  or  inborn  determination 
to  evil,  since  it  is  the  real  cause  of  actual  sins,  must  itself  be  sin,  and  as  such 
must  be  guilty  and  condemnable. 

21 


322  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

(c)  Power  in  the  "will  to  prevent  the  inborn  vitiosity  from  developing- 
itself  is  upon  this  theory  a  necessary  condition  of  responsibility  for  actual 
sins.  But  the  absolute  uniformity  of  actual  transgression  is  evidence  that 
the  will  is  practically  impotent.  If  responsibility  diminishes  as  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  free  decision  increase,  the  fact  that  these  difficulties  are 
insuperable  shows  that  there  can  be  no  responsibility  at  all.  To  deny  the- 
guilt  of  inborn  sin  is  therefore  virtually  to  deny  the  guilt  of  the  actual  sin 
which  springs  therefrom. 

The  aim  of  all  the  theories  is  to  find  a  decision  of  the  will  which  will  justify  God  in 
condemning  men.  Where  shall  we  find  such  a  decision  ?  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  ten,  five  ? 
Then  all  who  die  before  this  age  are  not  sinners,  cannot  justly  be  punished  with  death, 
do  not  need  a  Savior.  Is  it  at  birth  ?  But  decision  at  such  a  time  is  not  such  a  conscious 
decision  against  God  as,  according  to  this  theory,  would  make  it  the  proper  determiner 
of  our  future  destiny.  We  claim  that  the  theory  of  Augustine— that  of  a  sin  of  the 
race  in  Adam— is  the  only  one  that  shows  a  conscious  transgression  fit  to  be  the  cause- 
and  ground  of  man's  guilt  and  condemnation. 

Causa  causae  est  causa  causati.  Inborn  depravity  is  the  cause  of  the  first  actual  sin. 
The  cause  of  inborn  depravity  is  the  sin  of  Adam.  If  there  be  no  guilt  in  original  sin,, 
then  the  actual  sin  that  springs  therefrom  cannot  be  guilty.  There  are  subsequent 
presumptuous  sins  in  which  the  personal  element  overbears  the  element  of  race  and 
heredity.  But  this  cannot  be  said  of  the  first  acts  which  make  man  a  sinner.  These  are 
so  naturally  and  uniformly  the  result  of  the  inborn  determination  of  the  will,  that  they 
cannot  be  guilty,  unless  that  inborn  determination  is  also  guilty.  In  short,  not  all  sin  is 
personal.  There  must  be  a  sin  of  nature — a  race-sin — or  the  beginnings  of  actual  sin 
cannot  be  accounted  for  or  regarded  as  objects  of  God's  condemnation.  Julius  Miillerr 
Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  :  320-328,  341—"  If  the  deep-rooted  depravity  which  we  bring  with  us^ 
into  the  world  be  not  our  sin,  it  at  once  becomes  an  excuse  for  our  actual  sins."  Prince- 
ton Essays,  1 : 138, 139— Alternative :  1.  May  a  man  by  his  own  power  prevent  the  de- 
velopment of  this  hereditary  depravity  ?  Then  we  do  not  know  that  all  men  are  sinners, 
or  that  Christ's  salvation  is  needed  by  all.  2.  Is  actual  sin  a  necessary  consequence  of 
hereditary  depravity  ?  Then  it  is,  on  this  theory,  a  free  act  no  longer,  and  is  not  guiltyr 
since  guilt  is  predicable  only  of  voluntary  transgression  of  known  law.  See  Baird,. 
Elohim  Revealed,  256  sq. ;  Hodge,  Essays,  571-633 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3 :  61-73  ^ 
Edwards  on  the  Will,  part  iii,  sec.  4;  Bib.  Sac.,  20  :  317-320. 

4.     The  federal  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Condemnation  by  Covenant. 

The  federal  theory,  or  theory  of  the  covenants,  had  its  origin  with 
Cocceius  ( 1603-1669  ),  professor  at  Leyden,  but  was  more  fully  elaborated 
by  Turretin  ( 1623-1687).  It  has  become  a  tenet  of  the  Reformed  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Lutheran  church,  and  in  this  country  it  has  its  main 
advocates  in  the  Princeton  school  of  theologians,  of  whom  Dr.  Hodge  is 
the  representative. 

According  to  this  view,  Adam  was  constituted  by  God's  sovereign  appoint- 
ment the  representative  of  the  whole  human  race.  With  Adam  as  their 
representative,  God  entered  into  covenant,  agreeing  to  bestow  upon  them 
eternal  life  on  condition  of  his  obedience,  but  making  the  penalty  of  his 
disobedience  to  be  the  corruption  and  death  of  all  his  posterity.  In 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  this  covenant,  since  Adam  sinned,  God  ac- 
counts all  his  descendants  as  sinners,  and  condemns  them  because  of  Adam's 
transgression. 

In  execution  of  this  sentence  of  condemnation,  God  immediately  creates 
each  soul  of  Adam's  posterity  with  a  corrupt  and  depraved  nature,  which 
infallibly  leads  to  sin,  and  which  is  itself  sin.  The  theory  is  therefore  a 
theory  of  the  immediate  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  their 


FEDEEAL  THEORY  OF  IMPUTATION.  323 

corruption  of  nature  not  being  the  cause  of  that  imputation,  but  the  effect 
of  it.  In  Bom.  5  :  12,  "death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  men 
sinned,"  signifies:  "physical,  spiritual,  and  eternal  death  came  to  all, 
because  all  were  regarded  and  treated  as  sinners. " 

Fisher,  Discussions,  355-409,  compares  the  Augustinian  and  Federal  Theories  of  Origi- 
nal Sin.  His  account  of  the  Federal  theory  and  its  origin  is  substantially  as  follows : 
The  federal  theory  is  a  theory  of  the  covenants  (/cedws,  a  covenant).  1.  The  covenant 
is  a  sovereign  constitution  imposed  by  God.  2.  Federal  union  is  the  legal  ground  of 
imputation,  though  kinship  to  Adam  is  the  reason  why  Adam  and  not  another  was 
selected  as  our  representative.  3.  Our  guilt  for  Adam's  sin  is  simply  a  legal  responsi- 
bility. 4.  That  imputed  sin  is  punished  by  inborn  depravity,  and  that  inborn  depravity 
by  eternal  death.  Augustine  could  not  reconcile  inherent  depravity  with  the  justice  of 
God ;  hence  he  held  that  we  sinned  in  Adam. 

So  Anselm  says:  "Because  the  whole  human  nature  was  in  them  (Adam  and  Eve), 
and  outside  of  them  there  was  nothing  of  it,  the  whole  was  weakened  and  corrupted." 
After  the  first  sin  "this  nature  was  propagated  just  as  it  had  made  itself  by  sinning." 
All  sin  belongs  to  the  will ;  but  this  is  a  part  of  our  inheritance.  The  descendants  of 
Adam  were  not  in  him  as  individuals ;  yet  what  he  did  as  a  person,  he  did  not  do  sine 
natura,  and  this  nature  is  ours  as  well  as  his.  So  Peter  Lombard.  Sins  of  our  immediate 
ancestors,  because  they  are  qualities  which  are  purely  personal,  are  not  propagated. 
After  Adam's  first  sin,  the  actual  qualities  of  the  first  parent  or  of  other  later  parents  do 
not  corrupt  the  nature  as  concerns  its  qualities,  but  only  as  concerns  the  qualities  of 
the  person. 

Calvin  maintained  two  propositions :  1.  We  are  not  condemned  for  Adam's  sin  apart 
from  our  own  inherent  depravity  which  is  derived  from  him.  The  sin  for  which  we 
are  condemned  is  our  own  sin.  2.  This  sin  is  ours,  for  the  reason  that  our  nature  is 
vitiated  in  Adam,  and  we  receive  it  in  the  condition  in  which  it  was  put  by  the  first 
transgression.  Melancthon  also  held  to  an  imputation  of  the  first  sin  conditioned  upon 
our  innate  depravity.  The  impulse  to  federalism  was  given  by  the  difficulty,  on  the  pure 
Augrustinian  theory,  of  accounting  for  the  non-imputation  of  Adam's  subsequent  sins, 
and  those  of  his  posterity. 

Cocceius,  the  author  of  the  covenant-theory,  conceived  that  he  had  solved  this  diffi- 
culty by  making  Adam's  sin  to  be  imputed  to  us  upon  the  ground  of  a  covenant 
between  God  and  Adam,  according  to  which  Adam  was  to  stand  as  the  representative  of 
his  posterity.  In  Cocceius's  use  of  the  term,  however,  the  only  difference  between 
covenant  and  command  is  found  in  the  promise  attached  to  the  keeping  of  it.  Fisher 
remarks  on  the  mistake,  in  modern  defenders  of  imputation,  of  ignoring  the  capital  fact 
of  a  true  and  real  participation  in  Adam's  sin.  The  great  body  of  Calvinistic  theolo- 
gians in  the  17th  century  were  Augustinians  as  well  as  federalists.  So  Owen  and  the 
Westminster  Confession.  Turretin,  however,  almost  merged  the  natural  relation  to 
Adam  in  the  Federal. 

Edwards  fell  back  on  the  old  doctrine  of  Aquinas  and  Augustine.  He  tried  to  make 
out  a  real  participation  in  the  first  sin.  The  first  rising  of  sinful  inclination,  by  a 
divinely  constituted  identity,  is  this  participation.  But  Hopkins  and  Emmons  regarded 
the  sinful  inclination,  not  as  a  real  participation,  but  only  as  a  constructive  consent  to 
Adam's  first  sin.  Hence  the  New  School  theology,  in  which  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
sin  was  given  up.  On  the  contrary,  Calvinists  of  the  Princeton  school  planted  them- 
selves on  the  federal  theory,  and  taking  Turretin  as  their  text  book,  waged  war  on 
New  England  views,  not  wholly  sparing  Edwards  himself.  After  this  review  of  the 
origin  of  the  theory,  for  which  we  are  mainly  indebted  to  Fisher,  it  can  be  easily  seen 
how  little  show  of  truth  there  is  in  the  assumption  of  the  Princeton  theologians  that 
the  federal  theory  is  "  the  immemorial  doctrine  of  the  church  of  God." 

Statements  of  the  theory  are  found  in  Cocceius,  Summa  Doctrina  de  Foedere,  cap.  1,  5 ; 
Turretin,  Inst.,  loc.  9,  quses.  9;  Princeton  Essays,  1:98-185,  esp.  120— "In  imputation 
there  is,  first,  an  ascription  of  something  to  those  concerned ;  secondly,  a  determination 
to  deal  with  them  accordingly."  The  ground  for  this  imputation  is  "  the  union  between 
Adam  and  his  posterity,  which  is  twofold  — a  natural  union,  as  between  father  and 
children,  and  the  union  of  representation,  which  is  the  main  idea  here  insisted  on." 
123  —  "  As  in  Christ  we  are  constituted  righteous  by  the  imputation  of  righteousness,  so 

in  Adam  we  are  made  sinners  by  the  imputation  of  his  sin Guilt  is  liability  or 

exposedness  to  punishment;  it  does  not  in  theological  usage  imply  moral  turpitude  or 
criminality."  162  — Turretin  is  quoted:  "The  foundation  therefore  of  imputation  is 


324  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

not  merely  the  natural  connection  which  exists  between  us  and  Adam — for,  were  this 
the  case,  all  his  sins  would  be  imputed  to  us— but  principally  the  moral  and  federal,  on 
the  ground  of  which  God  entered  into  covenant  with  him  as  our  head.  Hence  in  that 
sin  Adam  acted  not  as  a  private  but  a  public  person  and  representative."  The  oneness 
results  from  contract ;  the  natural  union  is  frequently  not  mentioned  at  all.  Marck : 
All  men  sinned  in  Adam,  "eos  representante."  The  acts  of  Adam  and  of  Christ  are  ours 
"jure  representation^." 

G.  W.  Northrup  makes  the  order  of  the  Federal  theory  to  be:  (1)  imputation  of 
Adam's  guilt ;  (2)  condemnation  on  the  ground  of  this  imputed  guilt;  (3)  corruption 
of  nature  consequent  upon  treatment  as  condemned."  So  judicial  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin  is  the  cause  and  ground  of  innate  corruption.  The  Presb.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1882  : 
30,  claims  that  Kloppenburg  (1642)  preceded  Cocceius  (1648)  in  holding  to  the  theory 
of  the  covenants,  as  did  also  the  Canons  of  Dort.  For  additional  statements  of  feder- 
alism, see  Hodge,  Essays,  49-86,  and  Syst.  Theol.,  2  : 192-204 ;  Bib.  Sac.  21 :  95-107 ;  Cun- 
ningham, Historical  Theology. 

To  the  federal  theory  we  object : 

A.  It  is  extra-Scriptural,  there  being  no  mention  of  such  a  covenant 
with  Adam  in  the  account  of  man's  trial.     The  assumed  allusion  to  Adam's 
apostasy  in  Hosea  6  :  7,  where  the  word  "covenant"  is  used,  is  too  preca- 
rious and  too  obviously  metaphorical  to  afford  the  basis  for  a  scheme  of 
imputation  ( see  Henderson,  Com.  on  Minor  Prophets,  in  loco  ).     In  Heb. 
8  :  8  — "  new  covenant " — there  is  suggested  a  contrast,  not  with  an  Adamic, 
but  with  the  Mosaic  covenant  ( cf.  verse  9 ). 

In  Hosea  6  :  7  — "they  like  Adam  [marg.  'men']  have  transgressed  the  covenant"  (Rev.  Ver.)— the  cor- 
rect translation  is  given  by  Henderson,  Minor  Prophets:  "But they,  like  men  that  break  a  cove- 
nant, there  they  proved  false  to  me."  LXX  :  avrol  Se  e'unv  <!>s  di>#pwiros  irapa$aLvu>v  Siai^/ciji/.  De- 
Wette :  "  Aber  sie  tibertreten  den  Bund  nach  Menschenart;  daselbst  sind  sie  mir  treu- 
los."  Here  the  word  adam,  translated  "  man,"  either  means  "a  man,"  or  "man,"  i.  e., 
generic  man.  "Israel  had  as  little  regard  to  their  covenants  with  God  as  men  of 
unprincipled  character  have  for  ordinary  contracts."  "Like  a  man"  =  as  men  do. 
Compare  Ps.  82  :  7  —"Ye  shall  die  like  men"  ;  Hosea  8  : 1,  2  —  "They  have  transgressed  my  covenant"  —an 
allusion  to  the  Abrahamic  or  Mosaic  covenant.  Heb.  8  :  9  — "Behold  the  days  come,  saith  the 
lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Judah  ;  not  according  to  the  cov- 
enant which  I  made  with  their  fathers  in  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 

B.  It  contradicts  Scripture,  in  making  the  first  result  of  Adam's  sin  to 
be  God's  regarding  and  treating  the  race  as  sinners.     The  Scripture,  on 
the  contrary,  declares  that  Adam's  offence  constituted  us  sinners  (  Rom.  5  : 
19 )      we  are  not  sinners  simply  because  God  regards  and  treats  us  as  such, 
but  God  regards  us  as  sinners  because  we  are  sinners.     Death  is  said  to  have 
"passed  unto  all  men,"  not  because  all  were  regarded  and  treated  as  sinners, 
but  "because  all  sinned  "  (Bom.  5  :  12). 

For  a  f  ull  exegesis  of  the  passage  Rom.  5  : 12-19,  see  note  to  the  discussion  of  the  Theory 
of  Adam's  Natural  Headship,  pages  331-333. 

C.  It  impugns  the  justice  of  God  by  implying  : 

(a)  That  God  holds  men  responsible  for  the  violation  of  a  covenant 
which  they  had  no  part  in  establishing.  The  assumed  covenant  is  only  a 
sovereign  decree  ;  the  assumed  justice,  only  arbitrary  will. 

We  not  only  never  authorized  Adam  to  make  such  a  covenant,  but  there  is  no  evidence 
that  he  ever  made  one  at  all.  It  is  not  even  certain  that  Adam  knew  he  should  have 
posterity.  In  the  case  of  the  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ,  Christ  covenanted  vol- 
untarily to  bear  them,  and  joined  himself  to  our  nature  that  he  might  bear  them.  In 
the  case  of  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  to  us,  we  first  become  one  with 
Christ,  and  upon  the  ground  of  our  union  with  him  are  justified.  But  upon  the  federal 


PLACEAN   THEORY   OF   IMPUTATION.  325 

theory,  we  are  condemned  upon  the  ground  of  a  covenant  which  we  neither  instituted, 
nor  participated  in,  nor  assented  to. 

(6)  That  upon  the  basis  of  this  covenant  God  accounts  men  as  sinners 
who  are  not  sinners.  But  God  judges  according  to  truth.  His  condemna- 
tions do  not  proceed  upon  a  basis  of  legal  fiction.  He  can  regard  as 
responsible  for  Adam's  transgression  only  those  who  in  some  real  sense 
have  been  concerned,  and  have  had  part,  in  that  transgression. 

See  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  544 — "  Here  is  a  sin,  which  is  no  crime,  but  a  mere  condi- 
tion of  being  regarded  and  treated  as  sinners ;  and  a  guilt,  which  is  devoid  of  sinfulness. 
and  which  does  not  imply  moral  demerit  or  turpitude  "  —  that  is,  a  sin  which  is  no  sinT 
and  a  guilt  which  is  no  guilt.  Why  might  not  God  as  justly  reckon  Adam's  sin  to  the 
account  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  punish  them  for  it  ?  Dorner,  System  Doct.,  2 : 351 ;  3  : 53, 
54—"  Hollaz  held  that  God  treats  men  in  accordance  with  what  he  foresaw  all  would  do, 
if  they  were  in  Adam's  place  "  (scientia  media  and  imputatio  metaphysica ).  Birks,  Diffi- 
culties of  Belief,  141 — "Immediate  imputation  is  as  unjust  asimputatio  metaphysica,  i.  e., 
God's  condemning  us  for  what  he  knew  we  would  have  done  in  Adam's  place.  On  such 
a  theory  there  is  no  need  of  a  trial  at  all.  God  might  condemn  half  the  race  at 
once  to  hell  without  probation,  on  the  ground  that  they  would  ultimately  sin  and  come 
thither  at  any  rate."  Justification  can  be  gratuitous,  but  not  condemnation.  "  Like 
the  social-compact  theory  of  government,  the  covenant-theory  of  sin  is  a  mere  legal 
fiction.  It  explains,  only  to  belittle.  The  theory  of  New  England  theology,  which  at- 
tributes to  mere  sovereignty  God's  making  us  sinners  in  consequence  of  Adam's  sin,  is 
more  reasonable  than  the  federal  theory  "  ( Fisher). 

(c)  That,  after  accounting  men  to  be  sinners  who  are  not  sinners,  God 
makes  them  sinners  by  immediately  creating  each  human  soul  with  a  cor- 
rupt nature  such  as  will  correspond  to  his  decree.  This  is  not  only  to 
assume  a  false  view  of  the  origin  of  the  soul,  but  also  to  make  God  directly 
the  author  of  sin.  Imputation  of  sin  cannot  precede  and  account  for  cor- 
ruption ;  on  the  contrary,  corruption  must  precede  and  account  for  imputa- 
tion. 

By  God's  act  we  became  depraved,  as  a  penal  consequence  of  Adam's  act  imputed  to 
us  solely  as  peccatum  alienum.  Dabney,  Theology,  342,  says  the  theory  regards  the  soul 
as  originally  pure  until  imputation.  See  Hodge  on  Rom.  5  : 13 ;  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  203,  210 ; 
Thornwell,  Theology,  1 :  346-349;  Chalmers,  Institutes,  1 :  485,  487.  The  federal  theory 
"makes  sin  in  us  to  be  the  penalty  of  another's  sin,  instead  of  being  the  penalty  of  our 
own  sin,  as  on  the  Augustinian  scheme,  which  regards  depravity  in  us  as  the  punish- 
ment of  our  own  sin  in  Adam It  holds  to  a  sin  which  does  not  bring  eternal  pun- 
ishment, but  for  which  we  are  legally  responsible  as  truly  as  Adam."  It  only  remains 
to  say  that  Dr.  Hodge  always  persistently  refused  to  admit  the  one  added  element  which 
might  have  made  his  view  less  arbitrary  and  mechanical,  namely,  the  traducian  theory 
of  the  origin  of  the  soul.  He  was  a  creationist,  and  to  the  end  maintained  that  God 
immediately  created  the  soul,  and  created  it  depraved.  For  objections  to  the  Federal 
Theory,  see  Fisher,  Discussions,  401  sq. ;  Bib.  Sac.,  20 :  455-162,  577 ;  New  Englander, 
1868  :  551-603 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  305-334,  435-150 ;  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  336 ; 
Dabney,  Theology,  341-351. 

5.  Theory  of  Mediate  Imputation,  or  Theory  of  Condemnation  for 
Depravity. 

This  theory  was  first  maintained  by  Placeus  (1606-1655),  professor  of 
Theology  at  Saumur  in  France.  Placeus  originally  denied  that  Adam's  sin 
was  in  any  sense  imputed  to  his  posterity,  but  after  his  doctrine  was  con- 
demned by  the  Synod  of  the  French  Reformed  Church  at  Charenton  in 
1644,  he  published  the  view  which  now  bears  his  name. 

According  to  this  view,  all  men  are  born  physically  and  morally  depraved  ; 


326  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

this  native  depravity  is  the  source  of  all  actual  sin,  and  is  itself  sin ;  in 
strictness  of  speech,  it  is  this  native  depravity,  and  this  only,  which  God 
imputes  to  men.  So  far  as  man's  physical  nature  is  concerned,  this  inborn 
sinfulness  has  descended  by  natural  laws  of  propagation  from  Adam  to  all 
his  posterity.  The  soul  is  immediately  created  by  God,  but  it  becomes 
actively  corrupt  so  soon  as  it  is  united  to  the  body.  Inborn  sinfulness  is 
the  consequence,  though  not  the  penalty,  of  Adam's  transgression. 

There  is  a  sense,  therefore,  in  which  Adam's  sin  may  be  said  to  be  im- 
puted to  his  descendants — it  is  imputed,  not  immediately,  as  if  they  had 
been  in  Adam  or  were  so  represented  in  him  that  it  could  be  charged 
directly  to  them,  corruption  not  intervening — but  it  is  imputed  mediately, 
through  and  on  account  of  the  intervening  corruption  which  resulted  from 
Adam's  sin.  As  on  the  federal  theory  imputation  is  the  cause  of  depravity, 
so  on  this  theory  depravity  is  the  cause  of  imputation.  In  Eom.  5  :  12, 
"  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned,"  signifies  "  death  physical, 
spiritual,  and  eternal  passed  upon  all  men,  because  all  sinned  by  possessing 
a  depraved  nature. " 

See  Placeus,  De  Imputatione  Primi  Peccati  Adami,  in  Opera,  1 :  709— "The  sensitive 
soul  is  produced  from  the  parent;  the  intellectual  or  rational  soul  is  directly  created. 
The  soul,  on  entering  the  corrupted  physical  nature,  is  not  passively  corrupted,  but 
becomes  corrupt  actively,  accommodating  itself  to  the  other  part  of  human  nature  in 
character."  710 — So  this  soul  "  contracts  from  the  vitiosity  of  the  dispositions  of  the 
body  a  corresponding  vitiosity,  not  so  much  by  the  action  of  the  body  upon  the  soul,  as 
by  that  essential  appetite  of  the  soul  by  which  it  unites  itself  to  the  body  in  a  way 
accommodated  to  the  dispositions  of  the  body,  as  liquid  put  into  a  bowl  accommodates 
itself  to  the  figure  of  the  bowl.  God  was  therefore  neither  the  author  of  Adam's  fall, 
nor  of  the  propagation  of  sin." 

Herzog,  Encyclopsedie,  art. :  Placeus— "In  the  title  of  his  Works  we  read  '  Placaeus' ; 
he  himself,  however,  wrote  '  Placeus,'  which  is  the  more  correct  Latin  form  [of  the 
French  'dela  Place'].  In  Adam's  first  sin,  Placeus  distinguished  between  the  actual 
sinning  and  the  first  habitual  sin  (corrupted  disposition).  The  former  was  transient ; 
the  latter  clung  to  his  person,  and  was  propagated  to  all.  It  is  truly  sin,  and  it  is  imputed 
to  all,  since  it  makes  all  condemnable.  Placeus  believes  in  the  imputation  of  this  cor- 
rupted disposition,  but  not  in  the  imputation  of  the  first  act  of  Adam,  except  mediately, 
through  the  imputation  of  the  inherited  depravity."  Fisher,  Discussions,  389— "  Mere 
native  corruption  is  the  whole  of  original  sin.  Placeus  justifies  his  use  of  the  term 
'  imputation '  by  Rom.  2  :  26—'  If  therefore  the  uncircumcision  keep  the  ordinances  of 
the  law,  shall  not  his  uncircumcision  be  reckoned  (imputed)  for  circumcision?  '  Our 
own  depravity  is  the  necessary  condition  of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  ^sin,  just  as  our 
own  faith  is  the  necessary  condition  of  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness." 

The  two  most  noted  modern  advocates  of  the  theory  of  Mediate  Imputation  are  in 
Great  Britain,  G.  Payne,  in  his  book  entitled :  Original  Sin ;  and  in  America,  H.  B. 
Smith,  in  his  System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  284,  285,  314-323.  The  editor  of  Dr.  Smith's 
work  says :  "  On  the  whole,  he  favored  the  theory  of  Mediate  Imputation.  There  is  a 
note  which  reads  thus :  '  Neither  Mediate  nor  Immediate  Imputation  is  wholly  satisfac- 
tory.' Understand  by  '  Mediate  Imputation '  a  full  statement  of  the  facts  in  the  case, 
and  the  author  accepted  it ;  understand  by  it  a  theory  professing  to  give  the  final  ex- 
planation of  the  facts,  and  it  was  'not  wholly  satisfactory.'  "  Dr.  Smith  himself  says, 
316—"  Original  sin  is  a  doctrine  respecting  the  moral  conditions  of  human  nature  as 
from  Adam— generic :  and  it  is  not  a  doctrine  respecting  personal  liabilities  and  desert. 
For  the  latter,  we  need  more  and  other  circumstances.  Strictly  speaking,  it  is  not 
sin,  which  is  deserving,  but  only  the  sinner.  The  ultimate  distinction  is  here :  There  is 
a  well-grounded  difference  to  be  made  between  personal  desert,  strictly  personal  char- 
acter and  liabilities  (of  each  individual  under  the  divine  law,  as  applied  specifically, 
e.  g.  in  the  last  adjudication),  and  a  generic  moral  condition— the  antecedent  ground  of 
such  personal  character. 

"The  distinction,  however,  is  not  between  what  has  moral  quality  and  what  has  not, 
but  between  the  moral  state  of  each  as  a  member  of  the  race,  and  his  personal  liabilities 


PLACEAN   THEORY    OF    IMPUTATION. 

and  desert  as  an  individual.  This  original  sin  would  wear  to  us  only  the  character  of 
evil,  and  not  of  sinf  ulness,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  we  feel  guilty  in  view  of  our  cor- 
ruption when  it  becomes  known  to  us  in  our  own  acts.  Then  there  is  involved  in  it  not 
merely  a  sense  of  evil  and  misery,  but  also  a  sense  of  guilt ;  moreover,  redemption  is 
.also  necessary  to  remove  it,  which  shows  that  it  is  a  moral  state.  Here  is  the  point  of 
junction  between  the  two  extreme  positions,  that  we  sinned  in  Adam,  and  that  all  sin 
•consists  in  sinning.  The  guilt  of  Adam's  sin  is— this  exposure,  this  liability  on  account 
of  such  native  corruption,  our  having  the  same  nature  in  the  same  moral  bias.  The 
.guilt  of  Adam's  sin  is  not  to  be  separated  from  the  existence  of  this  evil  disposition.  And 
this  guilt  is  what  is  imputed  to  us."  See  art.  on  H.  B.  Smith,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  1881 :  "  He 
<lid  not  fully  acquiesce  in  Placeus's  view,  which  makes  the  corrupt  nature  by  descent 
the  only  ground  of  imputation." 

The  theory  of  mediate  imputation  is  exposed  to  the  following  objections  : 

A.  It  gives  no  explanation  of  man's  responsibility  for  his  inborn  de- 
pravity.    No  explanation  of  this  is  possible,  which  does  not  regard  man's 
depravity  as  having  had  its  origin  in  a  free  personal  act,  either  of  the  indi- 
vidual, or  of  collective  human  nature  in  its  first  father  and  head.     But  this 
participation  of  all  men  in  Adam's  sin  the  theory  expressly  denies. 

The  theory  holds  that  we  are  responsible  for  the  effect,  but  not  for  the  cause—"  post 
Adamum,  non  propter  Adamum."  But,  says  Julius  Miiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  309,  331—"  If 
this  sinful  tendency  be  in  us  solely  through  the  act  of  others,  and  not  through  our  own 
deed,  they,  and  not  we,  are  responsible  for  it— it  is  not  our  guilt,  but  our  misfortune. 
And  even  as  to  actual  sins  which  spring  from  this  inherent  sinful  tendency,  these  are 
not  strictly  our  own,  but  the  acts  of  our  first  parents  through  us.  Why  impute  them  to 
us  as  actual  sins,  for  which  we  are  to  be  condemned  ?  Thus,  if  we  deny  the  existence  of 
guilt,  we  destroy  the  reality  of  sin,  and  vice  versa"  Thornwell,  Theology,  1 :  348,  349— 
This  theory  "  does  not  explain  the  sense  of  guilt,  as  connected  with  depravity  of  nature 
— how  the  feeling  of  ill-desert  can  arise  in  relation  to  a  state  of  mind  of  which  we  have 
fceen  only  passive  recipients.  The  child  does  not  reproach  himself  for  the  afflictions 
which  a  father's  follies  have  brought  upon  him.  But  our  inward  corruption  we  do  feel 
to  be  our  own  fault— it  is  our  crime  as  well  as  our  shame." 

B.  Since  the  origination  of  this  corrupt  nature  cannot  be  charged  to  the 
account  of  man,  man's  inheritance  of  it  must  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  an 
arbitrary  divine  infliction — a  conclusion  which  reflects  upon  the  justice  of 
God.     Man  is  not  only  condemned  for  a  sinfulness  of  which  God  is  the 
author,  but  is  condemned  without  any  real  probation,  either  individual  or 
•collective. 

Dr.  Hovey,  Outlines  of  Theology,  objects  to  the  theory  of  mediate  imputation,  be- 
cause :  "  1.  It  casts  so  faint  a  light  on  the  justice  of  God  in  the  imputation  of  Adam's 
sin  to  adults  who  do  as  he  did.  2.  It  casts  no  light  on  the  justice  of  God  in  bringing 
into  existence  a  race  inclined  to  sin  by  the  fall  of  Adam.  The  inherited  bias  is  still  un- 
explained, and  the  imputation  of  it  is  a  riddle,  or  a  wrong,  to  the  natural  understand- 
ing." It  is  unjust  to  hold  us  guilty  of  the  effect,  if  we  be  not  first  guilty  of  the  cause. 

C.  It  contradicts  those  passages  of  Scripture  which  refer  the  origin  of 
human  condemnation,  as  well  as  of  human  depravity,  to  the  sin  of  our  first 
parents,  and  which  represent  universal  death,  not  as  a  matter  of  divine 
^sovereignty,  but  as  a  judicial  infliction  of  penalty  upon  all  men  for  the  sin 
of  the  race  in  Adam  (  Bom.  5  :  16,  18  ).     It  moreover  does  violence  to  the 
Scripture  in  its  unnatural  interpretation  of  "all  sinned,"  in  Bom.  5 :  12 — 
words  which  imply  the  oneness  of  the  race  with  Adam,  and  the  causative 
relation  of  Adam's  sin  to  our  guilt. 

Certain  passages  which  Dr.  H.  B.  Smith,  System,  317,  quotes  from  Edwards,  as  favoring 
the  theory  of  Mediate  Imputation,  seem  to  us  to  favor  quite  a  different  view.  See 


328  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

Edwards,  2  :  482  sq.— "  The  first  existing  of  a  corrupt  disposition  in  their  hearts  is  not  to- 
be  looked  upon  as  sin  belonging  to  them  distinct  from  their  participation  in  Adam's  first 
sin ;  it  is,  as  it  were,  the  extended  pollution  of  that  sin  through  the  whole  tree,  by  virtue 

of  the  constituted  union  of  the  branches  with  the  root I  am  humbly  of  the  opinion 

that,  if  any  have  supposed  the  children  of  Adam  to  come  into  the  world  with  a  double 
guilt,  one  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin,  another  the  guilt  arising  from  their  having  a  corrupt 
heart,  they  have  not  so  well  considered  the  matter."  And  afterwards :  "  Derivation  of 
evil  disposition  (or  rather  co-existence)  is  in  consequence  of  the  union"— but  "not 
properly  a  consequence  of  the  imputation  of  his  sin ;  nay,  rather  antecedent  to  it,  a& 
it  was  in  Adam  himself.  The  first  depravity  of  heart,  and  the  imputation  of  that  sin, 
are  both  the  consequences  of  that  established  union ;  but  yet  in  such  order,  that  the  evil 
disposition  is  first,  and  the  charge  of  guilt  consequent,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  Adam 
himself." 

Edwards  quotes  Stapf er :  "  The  Reformed  divines  do  not  hold  immediate  and  mediate 
imputation  separately,  but  always  together."  And  still  further,  2  :  493—"  And  therefore 
the  sin  of  the  apostasy  is  not  theirs,  merely  because  God  imputes  it  to  them ;  but  it  is- 
truly  and  properly  theirs,  and  on  that  ground  God  imputes  it  to  them."  It  seems  to  ua 
that  Dr.  Smith  mistakes  the  drift  of  these  passages  from  Edwards,  and  that  in  making 
the  identification  with  Adam  primary,  and  imputation  of  his  sin  secondary,  they  favor 
the  theory  of  Adam's  Natural  Headship  rather  than  the  theory  of  Mediate  Imputation. 
Edwards  regards  the  order  as  (1)  apostasy;  (2)  depravity;  (3)  guilt;— but  in  all 
three,  Adam  and  we  are,  by  divine  constitution,  one.  To  be  guilty  of  the  depravity,, 
therefore,  we  must  first  be  guilty  of  the  apostasy. 

See  Cunningham,  Hist.  Theology,  1 :  496-639;  Princeton  Essays,  1 : 129, 154, 168;  Hodge,. 
Syst.  Theol.,  2:205-214;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  2:158;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  46,  47, 
474-479,  504-507. 

6.     The  Augustinian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Adam's  Natural  Headship* 

This  theory  was  first  elaborated  by  Augustine  (354-430),  the  great  oppo- 
nent of  Pelagius ;  although  its  central  feature  appears  in  the  writings  of 
Tertullian  (died  about  220),  Hilary  (350),  and  Ambrose  (374).  It  is  frequently 
designated  as  the  Augustinian  view  of  sin.  It  was  the  view  held  by  the 
Reformers,  Zwingle  excepted.  Its  principal  advocates  in  this  country  are 
Dr.  Shedd  and  Dr.  Baird. 

It  holds  that  God  imputes  the  sin  of  Adam  immediately  to  all  his  posterity, 
in  virtue  of  that  organic  unity  of  mankind  by  which  the  whole  race  at  the 
time  of  Adam's  transgression  existed,  not  individually,  but  seminally,  in 
him  as  its  head.  The  total  life  of  humanity  was  then  in  Adam  ;  the  race  as 
yet  had  its  being  only  in  him.  Its  essence  was  not  yet  individualized  ;  ite 
forces  were  not  yet  distributed  ;  the  powers  which  now  exist  in  separate  men 
were  then  unified  and  localized  in  Adam ;  Adam's  will  was  yet  the  will  of 
the  species.  In  Adam's  free  act,  the  will  of  the  race  revolted  from  God  and 
the  nature  of  the  race  corrupted  itself.  The  nature  which  we  now  possess 
is  the  same  nature  that  corrupted  itself  in  Adam — "not  the  same  in  kind 
merely,  but  the  same  as  flowing  to  us  continuously  from  him. " 

Adam's  sin  is  imputed  to  us  immediately,  therefore,  not  as  something 
foreign  to  us,  but  because  it  is  ours — we  and  all  other  men  having  existed  as 
one  moral  person,  or  one  moral  whole,  in  him,  and,  as  the  result  of  that 
transgression,  possessing  a  nature  destitute  of  love  to  God  and  prone  to 
evil.  In  Eom.  5:  12— "death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned," 
signifies  :  "death  physical,  spiritual,  and  eternal  passed  unto  all  men,  be- 
cause all  sinned  in  Adam  their  natural  head." 

Augustine,  De  Pec.  Mer.  et  Rem.,  3  :  7—"  In  Adamo  omnes  tune  peccaverunt,  quando 
in  ejus  natvira  adhuc  omnes  ille  unus  fuerunt";  De  Civ.  Dei,  13:14— "Omnes  enim 
fuimus  in  illo  uno,  quando  omnes  fuimus  ille  unus Nondum  erat  nobis  sin- 


AUGUSTINIAN   THEORY    OF    IMPUTATION.  329 

gillatim  creata  et  distributa  forma  in  qua  singuli  viveremus,  sed  jam  natura  erat 
seminalis  ex  qua  propagaremur."  On  Augustine's  view,  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2 : 
43-45  (System  Doct.,  2  :  338,  339)— In  opposition  to  Pelagius  who  made  sin  to  consist  in 
single  acts,  "  Augustine  emphasized  the  sinful  state.  This  was  a  deprivation  of  original 
righteousness  +  inordinate  love.  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Hilarius,  Ambrose  had  advocated 
traducianism,  according  to  which,  without  their  personal  participation,  the  sinf  ulness 
of  all  is  grounded  in  Adam's  free  act.  They  incur  its  consequences  as  an  evil  which  is, 
at  the  same  time,  punishment  of  the  inherited  fault.  But  Irenaeus,  Athanasius,  Gregory 
of  Nyssa,  say  Adam  was  not  simply  a  single  individual  but  the  universal  man.  We  were 
comprehended  in  him,  so  that  in  him  we  sinned.  On  the  first  view,  the  posterity  were 
passive ;  on  the  second,  they  were  active,  in  Adam's  sin.  Augustine  represents  both 
views,  desiring  to  unite  the  universal  sinfulness  involved  in  traducianism  with  the  uni- 
versal will  and  guilt  involved  in  cooperation  with  Adam's  sin.  Adam,  therefore,  to  him, 
is  a  double  conception,  and  —  individual  +  race." 

Mozley  on  Predestination,  402—"  In  Augustine,  some  passages  refer  all  wickedness  to 
original  sin ;  some  account  for  different  degrees  of  evil  by  different  degrees  of  original 
sin  (Op.  imp.  cont.  Julianum,  4 : 128—'  Malitia  naturalis  ....  in  aliis  minor,  in  aliis  major 
est') ;  in  some,  the  individual  seems  to  add  to  original  sin  (De  Correp.  et  Gratia,  c.  13— 
1  Per  liberum  arbitriutn  alia  insuper  addiderunt,  alii  majus,  alii  minus,  sed  omnes  mali.' 
De  Grat.  et  Lib.  Arbit.,  2  : 1— '  Added  to  the  sin  of  their  birth  sins  of  their  own  commis- 
sion ' ;  2  :  4 — '  Neither  denies  our  liberty  of  will,  whether  to  choose  an  evil  or  a  good  life, 
nor  attributes  to  it  so  much  power  that  it  can  avail  anything  without  God's  grace,  or 
that  it  can  change  itself  from  evil  to  good ' )."  These  passages  seem  to  show  that,  side 
by  side  with  the  race-sin  and  its  development,  Augustine  recognized  a  domain  of  free 
personal  decision,  by  which  each  man  could  to  some  extent  modify  his  character,  and 
make  himself  more  or  less  depraved. 

Calvin  was  essentially  Augustinian  and  realistic;  see  his  Institutes,  book  2,  chap.  1-3; 
Hagenbach,  Hist.  Theol.,  1 :  505,  506,  with  the  quotations  and  references.  Zwingle  was 
not  an  Augustinian.  He  held  that  native  vitiosity,  although  it  is  the  uniform  occasion 
of  sin,  is  not  itself  sin :  "  It  is  not  a  crime,  but  a  condition  and  a  disease."  See  Hagen- 
bach, Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  256,  with  references.  The  Reformers,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Zwingle,  were  Augustinians,  and  accounted  for  the  hereditary  guilt  of  mankind,  not  by 
the  fact  that  all  men  were  represented  in  Adam,  but  that  all  men  participated  in  Adam's 
sin. 

The  theory  of  Adam's  natural  headship  regards  humanity  at  large  as  the  outgrowth-of 
one  germ.  Though  the  leaves  of  a  tree  appear  as  disconnected  units  when  we  look  down 
upon  them  from  above,  a  view  from  beneath  will  discern  the  common  connection  with 
the  twigs,  branches,  trunk,  and  will  finally  trace  their  life  to  the  root,  and  to  the  seed 
from  which  it  originally  sprang.  The  race  of  man  is  one,  because  it  sprang  from  one 
head.  Its  members  are  not  to  be  regarded  atomistically,  as  segregated  individuals ;  the 
deeper  truth  is  the  truth  of  organic  unity.  Yet  we  are  not  philosophical  realists ;  we  do 
not  believe  in  the  separate  existence  of  universals.  We  hold  to  "  universalia  in  re,  but 
insist  that  the  universals  must  be  recognized  as  realities,  as  truly  as  the  individuals  are  " 
( H.  B.  Smith,  System,  319,  note).  Our  realism  only  asserts  the  real  historical  connection 
of  each  member  of  the  race  with  its  first  father  and  head,  and  to  such  a  derivation  of 
each  from  him,  as  makes  us  partakers  of  the  character  which  he  formed.  Adam  was 
once  the  race ;  and  when  he  fell,  the  race  fell.  On  realism,  see  Koehler,  Realismus  und 
Nominalismus ;  Neander,  Ch.  Hist.,  4  :  356;  Dorner,  Person  of  Christ,  2  :  377;  Hase,  An- 
selm,  2  :  77 ;  F.  E.  Abbott,  Scientific  Theism,  Introd.,  1-29,  and  in  Mind,  Oct.,  1882  :  476, 
477 ;  Raymond,  Theology,  2  :  30-33. 

The  new  conceptions  of  the  reign  of  law  and  of  the  principle  of  heredity  which  pre- 
vail in  modern  science  are  working  to  the  advantage  of  Christian  theology.  The 
doctrine  of  Adam's  natural  headship  is  only  a  doctrine  of  the  hereditary  transmission 
of  character  from  the  first  father  of  the  race  to  his  descendants.  Hence  we  use  the 
word  "  imputation  "  in  its  proper  sense  —  that  of  a  reckoning  or  charging  to  us  of  that 
which  is  truly  and  properly  ours.  See  Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  :  259-357,  esp. 
328  —  "  The  problem  is :  We  must  allow  that  the  depravity,  which  all  Adam's  descendants 
inherit  by  natural  generation,  nevertheless  involves  personal  guilt ;  and  yet  this  deprav- 
ity, so  far  as  it  is  natural,  wants  the  very  conditions  on  which  guilt  depends.  The  only 
satisfactory  explanation  of  this  difficulty  is  the  Christian  doctrine  of  original  sin.  Here 
alone,  if  its  inner  possibility  can  be  maintained,  can  the  apparently  contradictory  prin- 
ciples be  harmonized,  viz. :  the  universal  and  deep-seated  depravity  of  human  nature, 
as  the  source  of  actual  sin,  and  individual  responsibility  and  guilt."  These  words, 


330  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

though  written  by  one  who  advocates  a  different  theory,  are  nevertheless  a  valuable 
argument  in  corroboration  of  the  theory  of  Adam's  Natural  Headship. 

Thornwell,  Theology,  1:343  — "We  must  contradict  every  Scripture  text  and  every 
Scripture  doctrine  which  makes  hereditary  impurity  hateful  to  God  and  punishable  in 
his  sight,  or  we  must  maintain  that  we  sinned  in  Adam  in  his  first  transgression."  Sec- 
retan,  in  his  Work  on  Liberty,  held  to  a  collective  life  of  the  race  in  Adam.  He  was 
answered  by  Naville,  Problem  of  Evil :  We  existed  in  Adam,  not  individually,  but  sem- 
inally.  Bersier,  The  Oneness  of  the  Race,  in  its  Fall  and  in  its  Future :  "  If  we  are  com- 
manded to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  it  is  because  our  neighbor  is  ourself." 

See  Edwards,  Original  Sin,  part  4,  chap.  3 ;  Shedd,  on  Original  Sin,  in  Discourses  and 
Essays,  218-271,  and  references,  261-263 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  410-435,  451-460,  494 ; 
Schaff,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  5  :  230,  and  in  Lange's  Com.,  on  Rom.  5  : 12;  Auberlen,  Div.  Revela- 
tion, 175-180;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  3  :  28-38,  204-236;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und 
Werk,  1 :  269-400 ;  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  173-183 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases,  262  sq.,  cf. 
101 ;  Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  135 ;  Bp.  Reynolds,  Sinf ulness  of  Sin,  in  Works,  1 :  102- 
350 ;  Mozley  on  Original  Sin,  in  Lectures,  136-152 ;  Kendall,  on  Natural  Heirship,  or  All 
the  World  Akin,  in  Nineteenth  Century,  Oct.,  1885 :  6I4r-626.  Per  contra,  see  Hodge,  Syst. 
Theol.,  2  : 157-164,  227-257  ;  Haven,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  20  :  451-455 ;  Criticism  of  Baird's  doctrine, 
in  Princeton  Rev.,  Apr.,  1860 :  335-376 :  of  Schaff 's  doctrine,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Apr., 
1870  :  239-262. 

We  regard  this  theory  of  the  natural  headship  of  Adam  as  the  most  satis- 
factory of  the  theories  mentioned,  and  as  furnishing  the  most  important 
help  towards  the  understanding  of  the  great  problem  of  original  sin.  In 
its  favor  may  be  urged  the  following  considerations  : 

A.  It  puts  the  most  natural  interpretation  upon  Rom.  5  :  12-21.      In 
verse  12  of  this  passage —  "  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned  " 
— the  great  majority  of    commentators    regard    the    word   "sinned"  as 
describing  a   common   transgression   of    the   race   in   Adam.     The   death 
spoken  of  is,  as  the  whole  context  shows,  mainly  though  not  exclusively 
physical.     It  has  passed  upon  all  —  even  upon  those  who  have  committed 
no  conscious  and  personal  transgression  whereby  to  explain  its  infliction 
(  verse  14  ).     The  legal  phraseology  of  the  passage  shows  that  this  infliction 
is  not  a  matter  of  sovereign  decree,  but  of  judicial  penalty  (verses  13,  14, 
15,  16,  18 — "law,"  "transgression,"  "trespass,"  "judgment.  ...  of  one 
unto  condemnation,"  "act  of  righteousness,"  "justification").     As  the  ex- 
planation of  this  universal  subjection  to  penalty,  we  are  referred  to  Adam's 
sin.     By  that  one  act  (  "so,"  verse  12)  —  the  "trespass  of  the  one"  man 
(  v.  15,  17 ),  the  "  one  trespass  "  (  v.  18 )  —  death  came  to  all  men,  because 
all  [not  '  have  sinned ',  but]  sinned  ( Trdvref  ij^aprov  —  aorist  of  instantaneous 
past  action)  —  that  is,  all  sinned  in  "the  one  trespass"  of   "the  one" 
man.     Compare  1  Cor.  15  :  22  —  "As  in  Adam  all  die"  —  where  the  con- 
trast with  physical  resurrection  shows  that  physical  death  is  meant ;  2  Cor. 
5  : 14  —  "  one  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died."    See  Commentaries  of  Meyer, 
Bengel,  Olshausen,  Philippi,  Wordsworth,  Lange,  Godet,  Shedd. 

B.  It  permits  whatever  of  truth  there  may  be  in  the  federal  theory  and 
in  the  theory  of  mediate  imputation  to  be  combined  with  it,  while  neither 
of  these  latter  theories  can  be  justified  to  reason  unless  they  are  regarded 
as  corollaries  or  accessories  of  the  truth  of  Adam's  natural  headship.    Only 
on  this  supposition  of  natural  headship  could  God  justly  constitute  Adam 
our  representative,  or  hold  us  responsible  for  the  depraved  nature  we  have 
received  from  him.     It  moreover  justifies  God's  ways,  in  postulating  a  real 
and  a  fair  probation  of  our  common  nature  as  preliminary  to  imputation  of 


AUGUSTI^IAtf   THEORY   OF   IMPUTATION".  331 

sin  —  a  truth  which  the  theories  just  mentioned,  in  common  with  that  of 
the  New  School,  virtually  deny, —  while  it  rests  upon  correct  philosophical 
principles  with  regard  to  will,  ability,  law,  and  accepts  the  Scriptural  repre- 
sentations of  the  nature  of  sin,  the  penal  character  of  death,  the  origin  of 
the  soul,  and  the  oneness  of  the  race  in  the  transgression. 

C.  While  its  fundamental  presupposition  —  a  determination  of  the  will 
of  each  member  of  the  race  prior  to  his  individual  consciousness  —  is  an 
hypothesis  difficult  in  itself,  it  is  an  hypothesis  which  furnishes  the  key  to 
many  more  difficulties  than  it  suggests.     Once  allow  that  the  race  was  one 
in  its  first  ancestor  and  fell  in  him,  and  light  is  thrown  on  a  problem  other- 
wise insoluble  —  the  problem  of  our  accountability  for  a  sinful  nature  which 
we  have  not  personally  and  consciously  originated.      Since  we  cannot,  with 
the  three  theories  first  mentioned,  deny  either  of  the  terms  of  this  prob- 
lem—  inborn  depravity  or  accountability  for  it  —  we  accept  this  solution  as 
the  best  attainable. 

D.  We  are  to  remember,  however,  that  while  this  theory  of  the  method 
of  our  union  with  Adam  is  merely  a  valuable  hypothesis,  the  problem  which 
it  seeks  to  explain  is,  in  both  its  terms,  presented  to  us  both  by  conscience 
and  by  Scripture.      In   connection  with  this  problem   a   central  fact  is 
announced  in  Scripture,  which  we  feel  compelled  to  believe  upon  divine 
testimony,  even  though  every  attempted  explanation  should  prove  unsatis- 
factory.    That  central  fact,  which  constitutes  the  substance  of  the  Scripture 
doctrine  of  original  sin,  is  simply  this  :  that  the  sin  of  Adam  is  the  immedi- 
ate cause  and  ground  of  inborn  depravity,  guilt,  and  condemnation  to  the 
whole  human  race. 

Three  things  must  be  received  on  Scripture  testimony:  (1)  inborn  depravity; 
<2)  guilt  and  condemnation  therefor;  (3)  Adam's  sin  the  cause  and  ground  of  both. 
From  these  three  positions  of  Scripture  it  seems  not  only  natural,  but  inevitable,  to  draw 
the  inference  that  we  "all  sinned  "  in  Adam.  The  Augustinian  theory  simply  puts  in  a  link 
•of  connection  between  two  sets  of  facts  which  otherwise  would  be  difficult  to  reconcile. 
But,  in  putting-  in  that  link  of  connection,  it  claims  that  it  is  merely  bringing-  out  into 
clear  light  an  underlying  but  implicit  assumption  of  Paul's  reasoning,  and  this  it  seeks 
to  prove  by  showing  that  upon  no  other  assumption  can  Paul's  reasoning  be  understood 
at  all. 

Philippi,  Com.  on  Rom.,  168  —  Interpret  Rom.  5  : 12  — "one  sinned  for  all,  therefore  all 
•sinned,"  by  2  Cor.  5  : 15  — "one  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died."  Evans,  in  Preab.  Rev.,  1883  :  294  — 
"By  the  trespass  of  the  one  the  many  died,"  "By  the  trespass  of  the  one,  death  reigned  through  the  one,"  "Through 
the  one  man's  disobedience"  —  all  these  phrases,  and  the  phrases  with  respect  to  salvation  which 
•correspond  to  them,  indicate  that  the  fallen  race  and  the  redeemed  race  are  each  re- 
garded as  a  multitude,  a  totality.  So  oi  ndvres  in  2  Cor.  5  : 14  indicates  a  corresponding 
conception  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  race.  Of  r\^aprov  in  Rom.  5  : 12,  Prof.  W.  A.  Stevens 
says :  "  This  might  conceivably  be :  (1 )  the  historical  aorist  proper,  used  in  its  momen- 
tary sense ;  (2)  the  comprehensive  or  collective  aorist,  as  in  SiJjAt»ev  in  the  same  verse ; 
<3)  the  aorist  used  in  the  sense  of  the  English  perfecty.as  in  Rom.  3  :  23  —  ndvres  yap  ^^aprov 
*ai  vo-TepoGcTai.  In  5  : 12,  the  context  determines  with  great  probability  that  the  aorist  is 
used  in  the  first  of  these  senses."  We  may  add  that  interpreters  are  not  wanting  who 
so  take  vj^apTov  in  3  :  23 ;  see  also  margin  of  Rev.  Version.  But  since  the  passage  Rom.  5  : 12- 
19  is  so  important,  we  proceed  to  examine  it  in  greater  detail.  Our  treatment  is  mainly  a 
reproduction  of  the  substance  of  Shedd's  Commentary,  although  we  have  combined 
with  it  remarks  from  Meyer,  Schaff,  Moule,  and  others. 

EXPOSITION  OF  ROM.  5  : 12-19.— Parallel  between  the  salvation  in  Christ  and  the  ruin  that 
has  come  through  Adam,  in  each  case  through  no  personal  act  of  our  own,  neither  by  our 
earning  salvation  in  the  case  of  the  life  received  through  Christ,  nor  by  our  individually 


332 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 


sinning:  in  the  case  of  the  death  received  through  Adam.  The  statement  of  the  parallel 
is  begun  in 

Verse  12 :  "  As  through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin,  and  so  death  passed  unto  all 
men,  for  that  all  sinned,"  so  (as  we  may  complete  the  interrupted  sentence)  by  one  man  right- 
eousness entered  into  the  world,  and  life  by  righteousness,  and  so  life  passed  upon  all 
men,  because  all  became  partakers  of  this  righteousness.  Both  physical  and  spiritual 
death  is  meant.  That  it  is  physical,  is  shown  ( 1 )  from  verse  14 ;  ( 2 )  from  the  allusion 
to  Gen.  3:19;  (3)  from  the  universal  Jewish  and  Christian  assumption  that  physical 
death  was  the  result  of  Adam's  sin.  See  Wisdom  2  :  23,  24 ;  Sirach  25  :  24 ;  2  Esdras  3  :  7, 
21 ;  7  : 11,  46,  48,  118 ;  9  : 19 ;  John  8  :  44 ;  t  Cor.  15  :  21.  That  it  is  spiritual,  is  evident  from  Rom. 
5  : 18,  21,  23,  where  £«»?  is  the  opposite  of  tfafaros,  and  from  2  Tim.  1 : 10,  where  the  same  con- 
trast occurs.  The  OUTU><T  in  verse  12  shows  the  mode  in  which  historically  death  has  come 
to  all,  namely,  that  the  one  sinned,  and  thereby  brought  death  to  all ;  in  other  words, 
death  is  the  effect,  of  which  the  sin  of  the  one  is  the  cause.  By  Adam's  act,  physical  and 
spiritual  death  passed  upon  all  men,  because  all  sinned.  e<f>'  $  =  because,  on  the  ground 
of  the  fact  that,  for  the  reason  that,  all  sinned.  Trai/re?  =  all,  without  exception,  infants 
included,  as  verse  14  teaches. 

rj/u.apTov  mentions  the  particular  reason  why  all  men  died,  viz.,  because  all  men  sinned. 
It  is  the  aorist  of  momentary  past  action— sinned  when,  through  the  one,  sin  entered  into 
the  world.  It  is  as  much  as  to  say,  "  because,  when  Adam  sinned,  all  men  sinned  in  and 
with  him."  This  is  proved  by  the  succeeding  explanatory  context  (  verses  15-19),  in  which 
it  is  reiterated  five  times  in  succession  that  one  and  only  one  sin  is  the  cause  of  the  death 
that  befalls  all  men.  Compare  1  Cor.  15  :  22.  The  senses  "  all  were  sinful,"  "  all  became  sin- 
ful," are  inadmissible,  for  a^apraveiv  is  not  ajuaprwAbi'  yiyvevdai  or  eZvai.  The  sense  "  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  because  all  have  consciously  and  personally  sinned,"  is  contradicted 
( 1)  by  verse  14,  in  which  it  is  asserted  that  certain  persons  who  are  a  part  of  irdvres,  the  sub- 
ject of  rjju.aproi',  and  who  suffer  the  death  which  is  the  penalty  of  sin,  did  not  commit  sins- 
resembling  Adam's  first  sin,  i.  e.,  individual  and  conscious  transgressions;  and  (2)  by 
verses  15-19,  in  which  it  is  asserted  repeatedly  that  only  one  sin,  and  not  millions  of  trans- 
gressions, is  the  cause  of  the  death  of  all  men.  This  sense  would  seem  to  require  e<f>'  $ 
irai/res  a/maprafovo-iv.  Neither  can  T}jw.aprov  have  the  sense  "  were  accounted  and  treated  as 
sinners" ;  for  ( 1 )  there  is  no  other  instance  in  Scripture  where  this  active  verb  has  a 
passive  signification ;  and  ( 2 )  the  passive  makes  r^api-or  to  denote  God's  action,  and  not 
man's.  This  would  not  furnish  the  justification  of  the  infliction  of  death,  which  Paul  is 
seeking. 

Verse  13  begins  a  demonstration  of  the  proposition,  in  verse  12,  that  death  comes  to  all, 
because  all  men  sinned  the  one  sin  of  the  one  man.  The  argument  is  as  follows :  Before 
the  law  sin  existed ;  for  there  was  death,  the  penalty  of  sin.  But  this  sin  was  not  sin 
committed  against  the  Mosaic  law,  because  that  law  was  not  yet  in  existence.  The  death 
in  the  world  prior  to  that  law  proves  that  there  must  have  been  some  other  law,  against 
which  sin  had  been  committed. 

Verse  14.  Nor  could  it  have  been  personal  and  conscious  violation  of  an  umvritten  law, 
for  which  death  was  inflicted ;  for  death  passed  upon  multitudes,  such  as  infants  and 
idiots,  who  did  not  sin  in  their  own  persons,  as  Adam  did,  by  violating  some  known 
commandment.  Infants  are  not  specifically  named  here,  because  the  intention  is  to  in- 
clude others  who,  though  mature  in  years,  have  not  reached  moral  consciousness.  But 
since  death  is  everywhere  and  always  the  penalty  of  sin,  the  death  of  all  must  have  been 
the  penalty  of  the  common  sin  of  the  race,  when  Trai/re?  ^aprov  in  Adam.  The  law  which 
they  violated  was  the  Eden  statute,  Gen.  2  : 17.  The  relation  between  their  sin  and  Adam's 
is  not  that  of  resemblance,  but  of  identity.  Had  the  sin  by  which  death  came  upon  them 
been  one  like  Adam's,  there  would  have  been  as  many  sins,  to  be  the  cause  of  death  and 
to  account  for  it,  as  there  were  individuals.  Death  would  have  come  into  the  world 
through  millions  of  men,  and  not  "through  one  man"  (verse  12),  and  judgment  would  have 
come  upon  all  men  to  condemnation  through  millions  of  trespasses,  and  not  "through  one 
trespass"  (v.  18).  The  object,  then,  of  the  parenthetical  digression  in  verses  13  and  14  is  to 
prevent  the  reader  from  supposing,  from  the  statement  that  "  all  men  sinned,"  that  the 
individual  transgressions  of  all  men  are  meant,  and  to  make  it  clear  that  only  the  one 
first  sin  of  the  one  first  man  is  intended.  Those  who  died  before  Moses  must  have  vio- 
lated some  law.  The  Mosaic  law,  and  the  law  of  conscience,  have  been  ruled  out  of  the 
case.  These  persons  must,  therefore,  have  sinned  against  the  commandment  in  Eden, 
the  probationary  statute  ;  and  their  sin  was  not  similar  ( o/xoiw?)  to  Adam's,  but  Adam's 
identical  sin,  the  very  same  sin  numerically  of  the  "one  man."  They  did  not  sin  like  Adam, 
but  they  "sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him,  in  that  first  transgression  "  (Westminster 
Larger  Catechism,  22). 


AUGUSTINIAN   THEORY   OF    IMPUTATION.  333 

Verses  15-17  show  how  the  work  of  grace  differs  from,  and  surpasses,  the  work  of  sin. 
Over  against  God's  exact  justice  in  punishing  all  for  the  first  sin  which  all  committed  in 
Adam,  is  set  the  gratuitous  justification  of  all  who  are  in  Christ.  Adam's  sin  is  the  act 
of  Adam  and  his  posterity  together ;  hence  the  imputation  to  the  posterity  is  just  and 
merited.  Christ's  obedience  is  the  work  of  Christ  alone ;  hence  the  imputation  of  it  to 
the  elect  is  gracious  and  unmerited.  Here  TOV?  TroAAovs  is  not  of  equal  extent  with  oi 
woAAoi  in  the  first  clause,  because  other  passages  teach  that  "  the  many  "  who  die  in  Adam 
are  not  conterminous  with  "  the  many  "  who  live  in  Christ ;  see  1  Cor.  15  :  22 ;  Mat.  25  :  46 ;  also, 
see  note  on  verse  18,  below.  TOUS  TroAAovs  here  refers  to  the  same  persons  who,  in  verse  17,  are 
said  to  "receive  the  abundance  of  grace  and  of  the  gift  of  righteousness."  Verse  16  notices  a  numerical  dif- 
ference between  the  condemnation  and  the  justification.  Condemnation  results  from 
one  offence;  justification  delivers  from  many  offences.  Verse  17  enforces  and  explains 
verse  16.  If  the  union  with  Adam  in  his  sin  was  certain  to  bring  destruction,  the  union 
with  Christ  in  his  righteousness  is  yet  more  certain  to  bring  salvation. 

Verse  18  resumes  the  parallel  between  Adam  and  Christ  which  was  commenced  in  verse  12, 
but  was  interrupted  by  the  explanatory  parenthesis  in  verses  13-17.  "  As  through  one  trespass  .... 

unto  all  men  to  condemnation ;  even  so  through  one  act  of  righteousness unto  all  men  unto  justification  of 

[necessary  to]  life."  Here  the  "all  men  to  condemnation"  =  the  oi  iroAAoi  in  verse  15*  and  the  "all 
men  unto  justification  of  life "  =  the  TOUS  n-oAAovs  in  verse  15.  There  is  a  totality  in  each  case  ;  but, 
in  the  former  case,  it  is  the  "all  men"  who  derive  their  physical  life  from  Adam, — in  the 
latter  case,  it  is  the  "all  men"  who  derive  their  spiritual  life  from  Christ  (compare  1  Cor 
15  :  22 — "For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive" — in  which  last  clause  Paul  is 
speaking,  as  the  context  shows,  not  of  the  resurrection  of  all  men,  both  saints  and  sin- 
ners, but  only  of  the  blessed  resurrection  of  the  righteous ;  in  other  words,  of  the  resur- 
rection of  those  who  are  one  with  Christ). 

Verse  19.  "  For  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were  constituted  sinners,  even  so  through  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  one  shall  the  many  be  constituted  righteous."  The  many  were  constituted  sinners  because, 
according  to  verse  12,  they  sinned  in  and  with  Adam  in  his  fall.  The  verb  presupposes 
the  fact  of  natural  union  between  those  to  whom  it  relates.  All  men  are  declared  to 
be  sinners  on  the  ground  of  that  "one  trespass,"  because,  when  that  one  trespass  was  com- 
mitted, all  men  were  one  man  —  that  is,  were  one  common  nature  in  the  first  human 
pair.  Sin  is  imputed,  because  it  is  committed.  All  men  are  punished  with  death,  because 
they  literally  sinned  in  Adam,  and  not  because  they  are  metaphorically  reputed  to  have 
done  so,  but  in  fact  did  not.  Oi  jroAAoi  is  used  in  contrast  with  the  one  forefather,  and 
the  atonement  of  Christ  is  designated  as  vnaicori,  in  order  to  contrast  it  with  the  Trapaxorj 
of  Adam. 

KaT<xo-Ta#>jo-oj>Ta<,  has  the  same  signification  as  in  the  first  part  of  the  verse.  AiKauu 
*aTao-Tat!hjo-oi'Tat  means  simply  "  shall  be  justified,"  and  is  used  instead  of  fii/caiw^o-ovTai, 
in  order  to  make  the  antithesis  of  aju-aprwAoi  Kareo-TatfTjo-ai'  more  perfect.  This  being  "  con- 
stituted righteous"  presupposes  the  fact  of  a  union  between  6  el?  and  oi  TroAAot,  i.  e.  between 
Christ  and  believers,  just  as  the  being  "constituted  sinners"  presupposed  the  fact  of  a  union 
between  6  el?  and  oi  n-oAAot,  i.  e.  between  all  men  and  Adam.  The  future  KaraffTa^a-ovrai 
refers  to  the  succession  of  believers ;  the  justification  of  all  was,  ideally,  complete  al- 
ready, but  actually,  it  would  await  the  times  of  individual  believing.  "  The  many  "  who 
shall  be  "constituted  righteous "  =  not  all  mankind,  but  only  "the  many"  to  whom,  in  verse  15, 
grace  abounded,  and  who  are  described,  in  verse  17,  as  "they  that  receive  abundance  of  grace  and  of 
the  gift  of  righteousness." 

"  But  this  union  differs  in  several  important  particulars  from  that  between  Adam  and 
his  posterity.  It  is  not  natural  and  substantial,  but  moral  and  spiritual ;  not  generic 
and  universal,  but  individual  and  by  election ;  not  caused  by  the  creative  act  of  God, 
but  by  his  regenerating  act.  All  men  without  exception  are  one  with  Adam  ;  only  be- 
lieving men  are  one  with  Christ.  The  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  is  not  an  arbitrary  act, 
in  the  sense  that,  if  God  so  pleased,  he  could  reckon  it  to  the  account  of  any  beings 
in  the  universe,  by  a  volition.  The  sin  of  Adam  could  not  be  imputed  to  the  fallen 
angels,  for  example,  and  punished  in  them,  because  they  never  were  one  with  Adam  by 
unity  of  substance  and  nature.  The  fact  that  they  have  committed  actual  transgression 
of  their  own  will  not  justify  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  them,  any  more  than  the 
fact  that  the  posterity  of  Adam  have  committed  actual  transgressions  of  their  own 
would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  imputing  the  first  sin  of  Adam  to  them.  Nothing  but  a 
real  union  of  nature  and  being  can  justify  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin ;  and,  similarly, 
the  obedience  of  Christ  could  no  more  be  imputed  to  an  unbelieving  man  than  to  a  lost 
angel,  .because  neither  of  these  is  morally  and  spiritually  one  with  Christ"  (Shedd). 
For  the  New  School  interpretation,  see  Kendrick,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1885  :  48-72. 


334 


ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 


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OBJECTIONS   TO   THE   AUGUSTINIAN   THEORY.  335 

II. — OBJECTIONS  TO  THE  AUGUSTINIAN  DOCTRINE  or  IMPUTATION. 

The  doctrine  of  imputation,  to  which  we  have  thus  arrived,  is  met  by  its 
opponents  with  the  following  objections.  In  discussing  them,  we  are  to 
remember  that  a  truth  revealed  in  Scripture  may  have  claims  to  our  belief, 
in  spite  of  difficulties  to  us  insoluble.  Yet  it  is  hoped  that  examination  will 
show  the  objections  in  question  to  rest  either  upon  false  philosophical 
principles  or  upon  misconceptions  of  the  doctrine  assailed. 

A.  That  there  can  be  no  sin  apart  from  and  prior  to  consciousness. 

This  we  deny.  The  larger  part  of  men's  evil  dispositions  and  acts  are  im- 
perfectly conscious,  and  of  many  such  dispositions  and  acts  the  evil  quality 
is  not  discerned  at  all.  The  objection  rests  upon  the  assumption  that  law 
is  confined  to  published  statutes  or  to  standards  formally  recognized  by  its 
subjects.  A  profounder  view  of  law  as  identical  with  the  constituent  prin- 
ciples of  being,  as  binding  the  nature  to  conformity  with  the  nature  of  God, 
as  demanding  right  volitions  only  because  these  are  manifestations  of  a 
right  state,  as  having  claims  upon  men  in  their  corporate  capacity,  deprives 
this  objection  of  all  its  force. 

If  our  aim  is  to  find  a  conscious  act  of  transgression  upon  which  to  base  God's  charge 
of  guilt  and  man's  condemnation,  we  can  find  this  more  easily  in  Adam's  sin  than  at 
the  beginning  of  each  man's  personal  history ;  for  no  human  being  can  remember  his 
first  sin.  The  main  question  at  issue  is  therefore  this :  Is  all  sin  personal  ?  We  claim 
that  both  Scripture  and  reason  answer  this  question  in  the  negative.  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  race-sin  and  race-responsibility. 

B.  That  man  cannot  be  responsible  for  a  sinful  nature  which  he  did  not 
personally  originate. 

We  reply  that  the  objection  ignores  the  testimony  of  conscience  and  of 
Scripture.  These  assert  that  we  are  responsible  for  what  we  are.  The  sin- 
ful nature  is  not  something  external  to  us,  but  is  our  inmost  selves.  If  man's 
original  righteousness  and  the  new  affection  implanted  in  regeneration  have 
moral  character,  then  the  inborn  tendency  to  evil  has  moral  character ;  as- 
the  former  are  commendable,  so  the  latter  is  condemnable. 

If  it  be  said  that  sin  is  the  act  of  a  person,  and  not  of  a  nature,  we  reply  that  in  Adam 
the  whole  of  human  nature  once  subsisted  in  the  form  of  a  single  personality,  and  the 
act  of  the  person  could  be  at  the  same  time  the  act  of  the  nature.  That  which  could 
not  be  at  any  subsequent  point  of  time,  could  be  and  was,  at  that  time.  Human  nature 
could  fall  in  Adam,  though  that  fall  could  not  be  repeated  in  the  case  of  any  one  of  his 
descendants.  Hovey,  Outlines,  129—"  Shall  we  say  that  will  is  the  cause  of  sin  in  holy 
beings,  while  wrong  desire  is  the  cause  of  sin  in  unholy  beings?  Augustine  held  this." 
Pepper,  Outlines,  112—"  We  do  not  fall  each  one  by  himself.  We  were  so  on  probation 
in  Adam,  that  his  fall  was  our  fall." 

C.  That  Adam's  sin  cannot  be  imputed  to  us,  since  we  cannot  repent 
of  it. 

The  objection  has  plausibility  only  so  long  as  we  fail  to  distinguish  be- 
tween Adam's  sin  as  the  inward  apostasy  of  the  nature  from  God,  and 
Adam's  sin  as  the  outward  act  of  transgression  which  followed  and  mani- 
fested that  apostasy.  We  cannot  indeed  repent  of  Adam's  sin  as  our  per- 
sonal act  or  as  Adam's  persoDal  act,  but  regarding  his  sin  as  the  apostasy  of 
our  common  nature — an  apostasy  which  manifests  itself  in  our  personal 
transgressions  as  it  did  in  his,  we  can  repent  of  it  and  do  repent  of  it.  In 


336  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

truth  it  is  this  nature,  as  self-corrupted  and  averse  to  God,  for  which  the 
Christian  most  deeply  repents. 

God,  we  know,  has  not  made  our  nature  as  we  find  it.  We  are  conscious  of  our  de- 
pravity and  apostasy  from  God.  We  know  that  God  cannot  be  responsible  for  this ;  we 
know  that  our  nature  is  responsible.  But  this  it  could  not  be,  unless  its  corruption  were 
self-corruption.  For  this  self-corrupted  nature  we  sliould  reptmt,  and  do  repent.  An- 
selm,  De  Concep.  Virg.,  23— "  Adam  sinned  in  one  point  of  view  as  a  person,  in  another 
as  man  ( i.  e.  as  human  nature  which  at  that  time  existed  in  him  alone).  But  since  Adam 
and  humanity  could  not  be  separated,  the  sin  of  the  person  necessarily  affected  the 
nature.  This  nature  is  what  Adam  transmitted  to  his  posterity,  and  transmitted  it  such 
as  his  sin  had  made  it,  burdened  with  a  debt  which  it  could  not  pay,  robbed  of  the  right- 
eousness with  which  God  had  originally  invested  it :  and  in  every  one  of  his  descendants 
this  impaired  nature  makes  the  persons  sinners.  Yet  not  in  the  same  degree  sinners  as 
Adam  was,  for  the  latter  sinned  both  as  human  nature  and  as  a  person,  while  new-born 
infants  sin  only  as  they  possess  the  nature  "—more  briefly,  in  Adam  a  person  made 
nature  sinful ;  in  his  posterity,  nature  makes  persons  sinful. 

D.  That  if  we  be  responsible  for  Adam's  first  sin,  we  must  also  be  re- 
sponsible not  only  for  every  other  sin  of  Adam,  but  for  the  sins  of  our  im- 
mediate ancestors. 

We  reply  that  the  apostasy  of  human  nature  could  occur  but  once.  It 
occurred  in  Adam  before  the  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  revealed 
itself  in  that  eating.  The  subsequent  sins  of  Adam  and  of  our  immediate 
ancestors  are  no  longer  acts  which  determine  or  change  the  nature — they 
only  show  what  the  nature  is.  Here  is  the  truth  and  the  limitation  of  the 
Scripture  declaration  that  "the  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father  " 
(Ez.  18  :  20 ;  e/.  Luke  13  :  2,  3 ;  John  9  :  2,  3).  Man  is  not  responsible 
for  the  specifically  evil  tendencies  communicated  to  him  from  his  immediate 
ancestors,  as  distinct  from  the  nature  he  possesses ;  nor  is  he  responsible  for 
the  sins  of  those  ancestors  which  originated  these  tendencies.  But  he  is 
responsible  for  that  original  apostasy  which  constituted  the  one  and  final 
revolt  of  the  race  from  God,  and  for  the  personal  depravity  and  disobedi- 
ence which  in  his  own  case  has  resulted  therefrom. 

Augustine,  Encheiridion,  46,  47,  leans  toward  an  imputing  of  the  sins  of  immediate 
ancestors,  but  intimates  that,  as  a  matter  of  grace,  this  may  be  limited  to  "  the  third  and 
fourth  generation  "  ( Ex.  20  :  5 ).  Aquinas  thinks  this  last  is  said  by  God,  because  fathers  live  to 
see  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  their  descendants,  and  influence  them  by  their 
example  to  become  voluntarily  like  themselves.  Burgesse,  Original  Sin,  397,  adds  the 
covenant-idea  to  that  of  natural  generation,  in  order  to  prevent  imputation  of  the  sins 
of  immediate  ancestors  as  well  as  those  of  Adam.  So  also  Shedd.  But  Baird,  Elohim 
Revealed,  508,  gives  a  better  explanation,  when  he  distinguishes  between  the  first  sin  of 
nature  when  it  apostatized,  and  those  subsequent  personal  actions  which  merely  mani- 
fest the  nature  but  do  not  change  it.  Imagine  Adam  to  have  remained  innocent,  but 
one  of  his  posterity  to  have  fallen.  Then  the  descendants  of  that  one  would  have  been 
guilty  for  the  change  of  nature  in  him,  but  not  guilty  for  the  sins  of  ancestors  inter- 
vening between  him  and  them. 

We  add  that  man  may  direct  the  course  of  a  lava-stream,  already  flowing  downward, 
into  some  particular  channel,  and  may  even  dig  a  new  channel  for  it  down  the  mountain. 
But  the  stream  is  constant  in  its  quantity  and  quality,  and  is  under  the  same  influence  of 
gravitation  in  all  stages  of  its  progress.  I  am  responsible  for  the  downward  tendency 
which  my  nature  gave  itself  at  the  beginning ;  but  I  am  not  responsible  for  inherited 
and  specifically  evil  tendencies  as  something  apart  from  the  nature— for  they  are  not 
apart  from  it— they  are  forms  or  manifestations  of  it.  These  tendencies  run  out  after  a 
time— not  so  with  sin  of  nature.  The  declaration  of  Ezekiel  (18  :  20),  "the  son  shall  not  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  father,"  like  Christ's  denial  that  blindness  was  due  to  the  blind  man's  indi- 
vidual sins  or  those  of  his  parents  (John  9  :  2,  3),  simply  shows  that  God  does  not  impute 
to  us  the  sins  of  our  immediate  ancestors ;  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  that 


OBJECTIONS   TO   THE    AUGUSTINIAN   THEOEY.  337 

all  the  physical  and  moral  evil  of  the  world  is  the  result  of  a  sin  of  Adam  with  which 
the  whole  race  is  chargeable. 

H.  B.  Smith,  System,  296— "Ezekiel  18  does  not  deny  that  descendants  are  involved  in  the 
evil  results  of  ancestral  sins,  under  God's  moral  government;  but  simply  shows  that 
there  is  opportunity  for  extrication,  in  personal  repentance  and  obedience."  Mozley  on 
Predestination,  179 — "  Augustine  says  that  Ezekiel's  declarations  that  the  son  shall  not 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father  are  not  a  universal  law  of  the  divine  dealings,  but  only 
a  special  prophetical  one,  as  alluding  to  the  divine  mercy  under  the  gospel  dispensation 
and  the  covenant  of  grace,  under  which  the  effect  of  original  sin  and  the  punishment  of 
mankind  for  the  sin  of  their  first  parent  was  removed."  See  also  Dorner,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  2  :  31  (Syst.  Doct.,  2  :  326,  327),  where  God's  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  (Ex.  20  :  5)  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  children  repeat  the  sins  of  the 
parents.  German  proverb :  "  The  apple  does  not  fall  far  from  the  tree." 

E.  That  if  Adam's  sin  and  condemnation  can  be  ours  by  propagation, 
the  righteousness  and  faith  of  the  believer  should  be  propagable  also. 

We  reply  that  no  merely  personal  qualities,  whether  of  guilt  or  righteous- 
ness, are  communicated  by  propagation.  Ordinary  generation  does  not 
transmit  personal  qualities,  but  only  those  qualities  which  belong  to  the 
whole  species.  ' '  Original  sin  is  the  consequent  of  man's  nature,  whereas 
the  parents'  grace  is  a  personal  excellence,  and  cannot  be  transmitted " 


Thornwell,  Selected  Writings,  1  :  543,  says  the  Augustinian  doctrine  would  imply 
that  Adam,  penitent  and  believing,  must  have  begotten  penitent  and  believing  children, 
seeing  that  the  nature  as  it  is  in  the  parent  always  flows  from  parent  to  child.  But  see 
Fisher,  Discussions,  370,  where  Aquinas  holds  that  no  quality  or  guilt  that  is  personal  is 
propagated  (Thomas  Aquinas,  2 : 629 ).  Anselm  ( De  Concept. Virg.  et  Origin.  Peccato,  98 ) 
will  not  decide  the  question.  "The  original  nature  of  the  tree  is  propagated  —  not  the 
nature  of  the  graft"  — when  seed  from  the  graft  is  planted.  Burgess:  "Learned  par- 
ents do  not  convey  learning  to  their  children,  but  they  are  born  in  ignorance  as  others." 
Augustine:  "A  Jew  that  was  circumcised  begat  children  not  circumcised,  but  uncir- 
cumcised ;  and  the  seed  that  was  sown  without  husks,  yet  produced  corn  with  husks." 

F.  That,  if  all  moral  consequences  are  properly  penalties,  sin,  considered 
as  a  sinful  nature,  must  be  the  punishment  of  sin,  considered  as  the  act  of 
our  first  parents. 

But  we  reply  that  the  impropriety  of  punishing  sin  with  sin  vanishes 
when  we  consider  that  the  sin  which  is  punished  is  our  own,  equally  with 
the  sin  with  which  we  are  punished.  The  objection  is  valid  as  against  the 
federal  theory  or  the  theory  of  mediate  imputation,  but  not  as  against  the 
theory  of  ^Adam's  natural  headship.  To  deny  that  God,  through  the  opera- 
tion of  second  causes,  may  punish  the  act  of  transgression  by  the  habit  and 
tendency  which  result  from  it,  is  to  ignore  the  facts  of  every-day  life,  as  well 
as  the  statements  of  Scripture  in  which  sin  is  represented  as  ever  reproduc- 
ing itself,  and  with  each  reproduction  increasing  its  guilt  and  punishment 
( Bom.  6  :  19  ;  James  1 : 15 ). 

Rom.  6  : 19  —  "As  ye  presented  your  members  as  servants  to  uncleanness  and  to  iniquity  unto  iniquity,  even  so 
now  present  your  members  as  servants  to  righteousness  unto  sanctiflcation  "  ;  James  1 : 15 —  "  Then  the  lust,  when 
it  hath  conceived,  beareth  sin:  and  the  sin,  when  it  is  full  grown,  bringeth  forth  death" ;  2  Tim.  3  : 13 —  "  evil  men 
and  impostors  shall  wax  worse  and  worse,  deceiving  and  being  deceived."  See  Meyer  on  Rom.  1 :  24 —  "Where- 
fore God  gave  them  up  in  the  lusts  of  their  hearts  unto  uncleanness."  All  effects  become  in  their  turn 
causes.  Schiller :  "  This  is  the  very  curse  of  evil  deed,  That  of  new  evil  it  becomes  the 
seed."  Tennyson,  Vision  of  Sin :  "  Behold  it  was  a  crime  Of  sense,  avenged  by  sense 
that  wore  with  time.  Another  said :  The  crime  of  sense  became  The  crime  of  malice, 
and  is  equal  blame."  Whiton,  Is  Eternal  Punishment  Endless,  52— "The  punishment 
of  sin  essentially  consists  in  the  wider  spread  and  stronger  hold  of  the  malady  of  the 
soul.  Prov.  5:22  — 'His  own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked.1  The  habit  of  sinning  holds  the 

22 


338  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

wicked  '  with  the  cords  of  his  sin.'     Sin  is  self -perpetuating.     The  sinner  gravitates  from 
worse  to  worse,  in  an  ever  deepening  fall." 

G.  That  the  doctrine  excludes  all  separate  probation  of  individuals  since 
Adam,  by  making  their  moral  life  a  mere  manifestation  of  tendencies  re- 
ceived from  him. 

We  reply  that  the  objection  takes  into  view  only  our  connection  with  the 
race,  and  ignores  the  complementary  and  equally  important  fact  of  each 
man's  personal  will.  That  personal  will  does  more  than  simply  express  the 
nature ;  it  may  to  a  certain  extent  curb  the  nature,  or  it  may  on  the  other 
hand  add  a  sinful  character  and  influence  of  its  own.  There  is,  in  other 
words,  a  remainder  of  freedom,  which  leaves  room  for  personal  probation, 
in  addition  to  the  race-probation  in  Adam. 

Kreibig,  Versohnungslehre,  objects  to  the  Augustinian  view  that  if  personal  sin  pro- 
ceeds from  original,  the  only  thing  men  are  guilty  for  is  Adam's  sin ;  all  subsequent  sin 
is  a  spontaneous  development ;  the  individual  will  can  only  manifest  its  inborn  charac- 
ter. But  we  reply  that  this  is  a  misrepresentation  of  Augustine.  He  does  not  thus  lose 
sight  of  the  remainders  of  freedom  in  man  (see  references  on  page  329,  in  the  state- 
ment of  Augustine's  view,  and  in  the  section  following  this,  on  Ability,  page  345).  He 
says  that  the  corrupt  tree  may  produce  the  wild  fruit  of  morality,  though  not  the  divine- 
fruit  of  grace.  It  is  not  true  that  the  will  is  absolutely  as  the  character.  Though  char- 
acter is  the  surest  index  as  to  what  the  decisions  of  the  will  may  be,  it  is  not  an  infallible 
one.  Adam's  first  sin,  and  the  sins  of  men  after  regeneration,  prove  this.  Irregular,, 
spontaneous,  exceptional  though  these  decisions  are,  they  are  still  acts  of  the  will,  and 
they  show  that  the  agent  is  not  bound  by  motives  nor  by  character. 

Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  316  — "The  merely  organic  theory  of  sin  leads  to  natural- 
ism, which  endangers  not  only  the  doctrine  of  a  final  judgment,  but  that  of  personal 
immortality  generally."  In  preaching,  therefore,  we  should  begin  with  the  known  and 
acknowledged  sins  of  men.  We  should  lay  the  same  stress  upon  our  connection  with 
Adam  that  the  Scripture  does,  to  explain  the  problem  of  universal  and  inveterate  sin- 
ful tendencies,  to  enforce  our  need  of  salvation  from  this  common  ruin,  and  to  illus- 
trate our  connection  with  Christ.  Scripture  does  not,  and  we  need  not,  make  our  respon- 
sibility for  Adam's  sin  the  great  theme  of  preaching. 

H.  That  the  organic  unity  of  the  race  in  the  transgression  is  a  thing  so- 
remote  from  common  experience  that  the  preaching  of  it  neutralizes  all  ap- 
peals to  the  conscience. 

But  whatever  of  truth  there  is  in  this  objection  is  due  to  the  self -isolating 
nature  of  sin.  Men  feel  the  unity  of  the  family,  the  profession,  the  nation  ta 
which  they  belong,  and,  just  in  proportion  to  the  breadth  of  their  sympathies 
and  their  experience  of  divine  grace,  do  they  enter  into  Christ's  feeling  of 
unity  with  the  race  ( cf.  Is.  6  :  5  ;  Lam.  3  :  39-45  ;  Ezra  9:6;  Neh.  1:6). 
The  fact  that  the  self-contained  and  self-seeking  recognize  themselves  a» 
responsible  only  for  their  personal  acts  should  not  prevent  our  pressing 
upon  men's  attention  the  more  searching  standards  of  the  Scriptures.  Only 
thus  can  the  Christian  find  a  solution  for  the  dark  problem  of  a  corruption 
which  is  inborn  yet  condemnable  ;  only  thus  can  the  unregenerate  man  be 
led  to  a  full  knowledge  of  the  depth  of  his  ruin  and  of  his  absolute  de- 
pendence upon  God  for  salvation. 

Identification  of  the  individual  with  the  nation  or  the  race :  Is.  6  :  5  —  "  Woe  is  me !  for  I  am 
undone ;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean  lips  "  ;  Lam.  3  :  42  —  "  ¥» 
have  transgressed  and  rebelled "  ;  Ezra  9:6  —  "I  am  ashamed  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  thee,  my  God :  for  our 
iniquities  are  increased  over  our  head"  ;  Neh.  1  :  6  — "I  confess  the  sins  of  the  children  of  Israel  ...  yea,  I  and  my 
father's  house  have  sinned."  So  God  punishes  all  Israel  for  David's  sin  of  pride ;  so  the  sins  of 
Reuben,  Canaan,  Achan,  Gehazi,  are  visited  on  their  children  or  descendants. 


OBJECTIONS   TO   THE    AUGUSTINIAN   THEORY.  339 

H.  B.  Smith,  System,  296,  297  —  "  Under  the  moral  government  of  God  one  man  may 
justly  suffer  on  account  of  the  sins  of  another.  An  organic  relation  of  men  is  regarded 
in  the  great  judgment  of  God  in  history  . .  .  There  is  evil  which  comes  upon  individuals, 
not  as  punishment  for  their  personal  sins,  but  still  as  suffering  which  comes  under  a 
moral  government Jer.  32  : 18  reasserts  the  declaration  of  the  second  command- 
ment, that  God  visits  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  their  children.  It  may  be  said 
that  all  these  are  merely  *  consequences '  of  family  or  tribal  or  national  or  race  rela- 
tions,— '  Evil  becomes  cosmical  by  reason  of  fastening  on  relations  which  were  origin- 
ally adapted  to  making  good  cosmical : '  but  then  God's  plan  must  be  in  the  consequen- 
ces_a  pian  administered  by  a  moral  being,  over  moral  beings,  according  to  moral 
considerations,  and  for  moral  ends ;  and,  if  that  be  fully  taken  into  view,  the  dispute  as 
to  '  consequences '  or  '  punishment '  becomes  a  merely  verbal  one." 

Pascal:  "It  is  astonishing  that  the  mystery  which  is  furthest  removed  from  our 
knowledge  —  I  mean  the  transmission  of  original  sin  —  should  be  that,  without  which  we 
have  no  true  knowledge  of  ourselves.  It  is  in  this  abyss  that  the  clue  to  our  condition 
takes  its  turnings  and  windings,  insomuch  that  man  is  more  incomprehensible  without 
the  mystery  than  this  mystery  is  incomprehensible  to  man."  Atomism  is  egotistic. 
The  purest  and  noblest  feel  most  strongly  that  humanity  is  not  like  a  heap  of  sand- 
grains  or  a  row  of  bricks  set  on  end,  but  that  it  is  an  organic  unity.  So  the  Christian 
feels  for  the  family  and  for  the  church.  So  Christ,  in  Gethsemane,  felt  for  the  race.  If 
it  be  said  that  the  tendency  of  the  Augustinian  view  is  to  diminish  the  sense  of  guilt 
for  personal  sins,  we  reply  that  only  those  who  recognize  sins  as  rooted  in  sin  can  prop- 
erly recognize  the  evil  of  them.  To  such  they  are  symptoms  of  an  apostasy  from  God 
so  deep-seated  and  universal  that  nothing  but  infinite  grace  can  deliver  us  from  it. 

I.  That  a  constitution  by  which  the  sin  of  one  individual  involves  the 
nature  of  all  men  who  descend  from  him  in  guilt  and  condemnation  is  con- 
trary to  God's  justice. 

We  acknowledge  that  no  human  theory  can  fully  solve  the  mystery  of 
imputation.  But  we  prefer  to  attribute  God's  dealings  to  justice  rather 
than  to  sovereignty.  The  following  considerations,  though  partly  hypo- 
thetical, may  throw  light  upon  the  subject :  (a)  A  probation  of  our  com- 
mon nature  in  Adam,  sinless  as  he  was  and  with  full  knowledge  of  God's 
law,  is  more  consistent  with  divine  justice  than  a  separate  probation  of  each 
individual,  with  inexperience,  inborn  depravity,  and  evil  example,  all  favor- 
ing a  decision  against  God.  (6)  A  constitution  which  made  a  common  fall 
possible  may  have  been  indispensable  to  any  provision  of  a  common  salva- 
tion, (c)  Our  chance  for  salvation  as  sinners  under  grace  may  be  better 
than  it  would  have  been  as  sinless  Adams  under  law.  (d)  A  constitution 
which  permitted  oneness  with  the  first  Adam  in  the  transgression  cannot  be 
unjust,  since  a  like  principle  of  oneness  with  Christ,  the  second  Adam, 
secures  our  salvation.  Our  ruin  and  our  redemption  were  alike  wrought 
out  without  personal  act  of  ours.  As  all  the  natural  life  of  humanity  was  in 
Adam,  so  all  the  spiritual  life  of  humanity  was  in  Christ.  As  our  old  nature 
was  corrupted  in  Adam  and  propagated  to  us  by  physical  generation,  so  our 
new  nature  was  restored  in  Christ  and  communicated  to  us  by  the  regener- 
ating work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  then  we  are  justified  upon  the  ground  of 
our  inbeing  in  Christ,  we  may  in  like  manner  be  condemned  on  the  ground 
of  our  inbeing  in  Adam. 

Stearns,  in  N.  Eng.,  Jan.,  1882  :  95—"  The  silence  of  Scripture  respecting  the  precise 
connection  between  the  first  great  sin  and  the  sins  of  the  millions  of  individuals  who 
have  lived  since  then  is  a  silence  that  neither  science  nor  philosophy  has  been,  or  is,  able 
to  break  with  a  satisfactory  explanation.  Separate  the  twofold  nature  of  man,  corpor- 
ate and  individual.  Recognize  in  the  one  the  region  of  necessity;  in  the  other  the 
region  of  freedom.  The  scientific  law  of  heredity  has  brought  into  new  currency  the 
doctrine  which  the  old  theologians  sought  to  express  under  the  name  of  original  sin,— 


340  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OB   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

a  term  which  had  a  meaning  as  it  was  at  first  used  by  Augustine,  but  which  is  an  awk- 
ward misnomer  if  we  accept  any  other  theory  but  his." 

Dr.  Hovey  claims  that  the  Augustinian  view  breaks  down  when  applied  to  the  connec- 
tion between  the  justification  of  believers  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ ;  for  believers 
were  not  in  Christ,  as  to  the  substance  of  their  souls,  when  he  wrought  out  redemption 
for  them.  But  we  reply  that  the  life  of  Christ  which  makes  us  Christians  is  the  same 
life  which  made  atonement  upon  the  cross  and  which  rose  from  the  grave  for  justifica- 
tion. The  parallel  between  Adam  and  Christ  is  of  the  nature  of  analogy,  not  of  iden- 
tity. With  Adam,  we  have  a  connection  of  physical  life ;  with  Christ,  a  connection  of 
spiritual  life. 

Stahl,  Philosophie  des  Rechts,  quoted  in  Olshausen's  Com.  on  Rom.  5  : 12-21  — "Adam  is 
the  original  matter  of  humanity ;  Christ  is  its  original  idea  in  God ;  both  personally 
living.  Mankind  is  one  in  them.  Therefore  Adam's  sin  became  the  sin  of  all ;  Christ's 
sacrifice  the  atonement  for  all.  Every  leaf  of  a  tree  may  be  green  or  wither  by  itself ; 
but  each  suffers  by  the  disease  of  the  root,  and  recovers  only  by  its  healing.  The  shal- 
lower the  man,  so  much  more  isolated  will  everything  appear  to  him ;  for  upon  the  sur- 
face all  lies  apart.  He  will  see  in  mankind,  in  the  nation,  nay,  even  in  the  family,  mere 
individuals,  where  the  act  of  the  one  has  no  connection  with  that  of  the  other.  The 
profounder  the  man,  the  more  do  these  inward  relations  of  unity,  proceeding  from  the 
very  centre,  force  themselves  upon  him.  Yea,  the  love  of  our  neighbor  is  itself  nothing 
but  the  deep  feeling  of  this  unity;  for  we  love  him  only,  with  whom  we  feel  and 
acknowledge  ourselves  to  be  one.  What  the  Christian  love  of  our  neighbor  is  for  the 
heart,  that  unity  of  race  is  for  the  understanding.  If  sin  through  one,  and  redemption 
through  one,  is  not  possible,  the  command  to  love  our  neighbor  is  also  unintelligible. 
Christian  ethics  and  Christian  faith  are  therefore  in  truth  indissolubly  united.  Christi- 
anity effects  in  history  an  advance  like  that  from  the  animal  kingdom  to  man,  by  its 
revealing  the  essential  unity  of  men,  the  consciousness  of  which  in  the  ancient  world 
had  vanished  when  the  nations  were  separated." 

For  replies  to  the  foregoing  and  other  objections,  see  Schaff ,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  5  : 230 ; 
Shedd,  Sermons  to  the  Nat.  Man,  266-284;  Baird,  Elobim  Revealed,  507-509,  529-544; 
Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  134-188 ;  Edwards,  Original  Sin,  in  Works,  2  :  473-510 ;  Atwa- 
ter,  on  Calvinism  in  Doctrine  and  Life,  in  Princeton  Review,  1875  :  73.  Per  contra,  see 
Moxom,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1881 :  273-287 ;  Park,  Discourses,  210-233. 


SECTION  VI. — CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN  TO   ADAM'S   POSTERITY. 

As  the  result  of  Adam's  transgression,  all  his  posterity  are  born  in  the 
same  state  into  which  he  fell.  But  since  law  is  the  all-comprehending  de- 
mand of  harmony  with  God,  all  moral  consequences  flowing  from  transgres- 
sion are  to  be  regarded  as  sanctions  of  law,  or  expressions  of  the  divine 
displeasure  through  the  constitution  of  things  which  he  has  established. 
Certain  of  these  consequences,  however,  are  earlier  recognized  than  others 
and  are  of  minor  scope  ;  it  will  therefore  be  useful  to  consider  them  under 
the  three  aspects  of  depravity,  guilt,  and  penalty. 

I.     DEPRAVITY. 

By  this  we  mean,  on  the  one  hand,  the  lack  of  original  righteousness  or 
of  holy  affection  toward  God,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  corruption  of  the 
moral  nature,  or  bias  toward  evil.  That  such  depravity  exists  has  been 
abundantly  shown,  both  from  Scripture  and  from  reason,  in  our  considera- 
tion of  the  universality  of  sin.  Two  questions  only  need  detain  us  : 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN   TO    ADAM'S   POSTERITY.  341 

1.     Depravity  partial  or  total  ? 

The  Scriptures  represent  human  nature  as  totally  depraved.  The  phrase 
"  total  depravity,"  however,  is  liable  to  misinterpretation,  and  should  not  be 
used  without  explanation.  By  the  total  depravity  of  universal  humanity 
we  mean  : 

A.  Negatively, — not  that  every  sinner  is  : 

(a)  Destitute  of  conscience, — for  the  existence  of  strong  impulses  to 
right,  and  of  remorse  for  wrong  doing,  show  that  conscience  is  often  keen. 

John  8  :  9 — "And  they,  when  they  heard  it,  went  out  one  by  one,  beginning  from  the  eldest,  even  unto  the  last " 
(John  7  :  53  — 8  : 11,  though  not  written  by  John,  is  a  perfectly  true  narrative,  descended 
from  the  apostolic  age).  This  natural  conscience,  combined  with  the  principle  of  self- 
love,  may  even  prompt  choice  of  the  good,  though  no  love  for  God  is  in  the  choice. 

(6)  Devoid  of  all  qualities  pleasing  to  men,  and  useful  when  judged  by 
a  human  standard, — for  the  existence  of  such  qualities  is  recognized  by 
Christ. 

Mark  10  :  21 — "And  Jesus  looking  upon  him  loved  him." 

(c)  Prone  to  every  form  of  sin, — for  certain  forms  of  sin  exclude  certain 
others. 

Mat.  23  :  23—"  Ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  judgment, 
and  mercy,  and  faith :  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone  "  ;  Rom.  2  : 14—"  When 
Gentiles  that  have  not  the  law  do  by  nature  the  things  of  the  law,  these  not  having  the  law  are  a  law  unto  themselves ; 
in  that  they  shew  the  work  of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  witness  therewith."  The  sin 
of  miserliness  may  exclude  the  sin  of  luxury ;  the  sin  of  pride  may  exclude  the  sin  of 
sensuality. 

(d)  Intense  as  he  can  be  in  his  selfishness  and  opposition  to  God, — for 
he  becomes  worse  every  day. 

Gen.  15  : 16—"  The  iniquity  of  the  Amorite  is  not  yet  full "  ;  2  Tim.  3  : 13—"  Evil  men  and  impostors  shall  wax  worse 
and  worse." 

B.  Positively, — that  every  sinner  is  : 

(a)  Totally  destitute  of  that  love  to  God  which  constitutes  the  funda- 
mental and  all-inclusive  demand  of  the  law. 

John  5  :  42— "But  I  know  you,  that  ye  have  not  the  love  of  God  in  yourselves." 

(6)  Chargeable  with  elevating  some  lower  affection  or  desire  above  re- 
gard for  God  and  his  law. 

2  Tim.  3  :  4— "lovers  of  pleasure  rather  than  lovers  of  God  " ;  c/.  Mai.  1  :  6—"  A  son  honoreth  his  father,  and  a  ser- 
vant his  master :  if  then  I  be  a  father,  where  is  mine  honor  ?  and  if  I  be  a  master,  where  is  my  fear  ?  " 

(c)  Supremely  determined,  in  his  whole  inward  and  outward  life,  by  a 
preference  of  self  to  God. 

2  Tim.  3:  2-"  lovers  of  self." 

(d)  Possessed  of  an  aversion  to  God,  which,  though  sometimes  latent, 
becomes  active  enmity,  so  soon  as  God's  will  comes  into  manifest  conflict 
with  his  own. 

Rom.  8  :  7—"  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity  against  God." 

(e)  Disordered  and  corrupted  in  every  faculty,  through  this  substitu- 
tion of  selfishness  for  supreme  affection  toward  God. 


342  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

Eph.  4  : 18— "darkened  in  their  understanding  .  .  .  hardening  of  their  heart" ;  Tit.  1 : 15— "both  their  mind  and 
their  conscience  are  defiled  " ;  2  Cor.  7  : 1—"  defilement  of  flesh  and  spirit " ;  Heb.  3  : 12—"  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief." 

(/)  Credited  with  no  thought,  emotion,  or  act  of  which  divine  holiness 
can  fully  approve. 

Rom.  3  :  9— "they  are  all  under  sin"  ;  7  : 18— "in  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth  no  good  thing." 

(g)  Subject  to  a  law  of  constant  progress  in  depravity,  which  he  has  no 
recuperative  energy  to  enable  him  successfully  to  resist. 

Rom.  7  : 18— "to  will  is  present  with  me,  but  to  do  that  which  is  good  is  not"  ;  23—"  law  in  my  members,  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  me  into  captivity  under  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my  members." 

Every  sinner  would  prefer  a  milder  law  and  a  different  administration.  But  whoever 
does  not  love  God's  law  does  not  truly  love  God.  The  sinner  seeks  to  secure  his  own 
interests  rather  than  God's.  Even  so  called  religious  acts  he  performs  with  preference 
of  his  own  good  to  God's  glory.  He  disobeys,  and  always  has  disobeyed,  the  funda- 
mental law  of  love. 

H.  B.  Smith,  System,  277—"  By  total  depravity  is  never  meant  that  men  are  as  bad  as 
they  can  be ;  nor  that  they  have  not,  in  their  natural  condition,  certain  amiable  qual- 
ities ;  nor  that  they  may  not  have  virtues  in  a  limited  sense  (justitia  civilis).  But  it  is 
meant  (1)  that  depravity,  or  the  sinful  condition  of  man,  infects  the  whole  man: 
intellect,  feeling,  heart  and  will ;  (2 )  that  in  each  unrenewed  person  some  lower  affec- 
tion is  supreme;  and  (3)  that  each  such  is  destitute  of  love  to  God.  On  these  posi- 
tions :  as  to  ( 1 )  the  power  of  depravity  over  the  whole  man,  we  have  given  proof  from 
Scripture;  as  to  (2)  the  fact  that  ^n  every  unrenewed  man  some  lower  affection  is 
supreme,  experience  may  be  always  appealed  to ;  men  know  that  their  supreme  affec- 
tion is  fixed  on  some  lower  good— intellect,  heart,  and  will  going  together  in  it;  or  that 
some  form  of  selfishness  is  predominant— using  selfish  in  a  general  sense— self  seeks  its 
happiness  in  some  inferior  object,  giving  to  that  its  supreme  affection ;  as  to  (3)  that 
every  unrenewed  person  is  without  supreme  love  to  God,  it  is  the  point  which  is  of 
greatest  force,  and  is  to  be  urged  with  the  strongest  effect,  in  setting  forth  the  depth 
and  '  totality '  of  man's  sinfulness :  unrenewed  men  have  not  that  supreme  love  of  God 
which  is  the  substance  of  the  first  and  great  command."  See  also  Shedd,  Discourses 
and  Essays,  248 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  510-522 ;  Chalmers,  Institutes,  1 :  519-542 ;  Cun- 
ningham, Hist.  Theology,  1 :  516-531 ;  Princeton  Review,  1877  :  470. 

2.     Ability  or  inability  f 

In  opposition  to  the  plenary  ability  taught  by  the  Pelagians,  the  gracious 
ability  of  the  Arminians,  and  the  natural  ability  of  the  New  School  theolo- 
gians, the  Scriptures  declare  the  total  inability  of  the  sinner  to  turn  him- 
self to  God  or  to  do  that  which  is  truly  good  in  God's  sight  ( see  Scripture 
proof  below).  A  proper  conception  also  of  the  law,  as  reflecting  the  holi- 
ness of  God  and  as  expressing  the  ideal  of  human  nature,  leads  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  no  man  whose  powers  are  weakened  by  either  original  or 
actual  sin  can  of  himself  come  up  to  that  perfect  standard.  Yet  there  is  a 
certain  remnant  of  freedom  left  to  man.  The  sinner  can  (  a )  avoid  the  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  ( b )  choose  the  less  sin  rather  than  the  greater ; 
(  c  )  refuse  altogether  to  yield  to  certain  temptations ;  ( d }  do  outwardly 
good  acts,  though  with  imperfect  motives  ;  (  e  )  seek  God  from  motives  of 
self-interest. 

But  on  the  other  hand  the  sinner  cannot  (a)  by  a  single  volition  bring 
Ms  character  and  life  into  complete  conformity  to  God's  law  ;  ( b )  change 
his  fundamental  preference  for  self  and  sin  to  supreme  love  for  God  ;  nor 
( c )  do  any  act,  however  insignificant,  which  shall  meet  with  God's  approval 
or  answer  fully  to  the  demands  of  law. 

So  long,  then,  as  there  are  states  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will  which 


CONSEQUENCES   OF    SIN   TO   ADAM'S    POSTERITY.  343 

man  cannot,  by  any  power  of  volition  or  of  contrary  choice  remaining  to 
liim,  bring  into  subjection  to  God,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  possesses  any 
sufficient  ability  of  himself  to  do  God's  will ;  and  if  a  basis  for  man's 
responsibility  and  guilt  be  sought,  it  must  be  found,  if  at  all,  not  in  his 
plenary  ability,  his  gracious  ability,  or  his  natural  ability,  but  in  his  origi- 
nal ability,  when  he  came,  in  Adam,  from  the  hands  of  his  maker. 

Man's  present  inability  is  natural,  in  the  sense  of  being  inborn  —  it  is 
not  acquired  by  our  personal  act,  but  is  congenital.  It  is  not  natural,  how- 
ever, as  resulting  from  the  original  limitations  of  human  nature,  or  from 
the  subsequent  loss  of  any  essential  faculty  of  that  nature.  Human  nature, 
at  its  first  creation,  was  endowed  with  ability  perfectly  to  keep  the  law  of 
God.  Man  has  not,  even  by  his  sin,  lost  his  essential  faculties  of  intellect, 
affection,  or  will.  He  has  weakened  those  faculties,  however,  so  that  they 
are  now  unable  to  work  up  to  the  normal  measure  of  their  powers.  But 
more  especially  has  man  given  to  every  faculty  a  bent  away  from  God 
which  renders  him  morally  unable  to  render  spiritual  obedience.  The  ina- 
bility to  good  which  now  characterizes  human  nature  is  an  inability  that 
results  from  sin,  and  is  itself  sin. 

We  hold,  therefore,  to  an  inability  which  is  both  natural  and  moral,  — 
moral,  as  having  its  source  in  the  self-corruption  of  man's  moral  nature  and 
the  fundamental  aversion  of  his  will  to  God ;  —  natural,  as  being  inborn, 
.and  as  affecting  with  partial  paralysis  all  his  natural  powers  of  intellect, 
affection,  conscience,  and  will.  For  his  inability,  in  both  these  aspects  of 
it,  man  is  responsible. 

To  the  use  of  the  term  "  natural  ability  "  to  designate  merely  the  sinner's 
possession  of  all  the  constituent  faculties  of  human  nature,  we  object  upon 
the  following  grounds  : 

A.  The  phrase  is  misleading,  since  it  seems  to  imply  that  the  existence 
•of  the  mere  powers  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will  is  a  sufficient  quantitative 
qualification  for  obedience  to  God's  law,  whereas  these  powers  have  been 
weakened  by  sin,   and   are  naturally  unable,  instead  of  naturally  able,  to 
render  back  to  God  with  interest  the  talent  first  bestowed.     Even  if  the 
moral  direction  of  man's  faculties  were  a  normal  one,  the  effect  of  heredi- 
tary and  of  personal  sin  would  render  naturally  impossible  that  large  like- 
ness to  God  which  the  law  of  absolute  perfection  demands.     Man  has  not 
therefore  the  natural  ability  perfectly  to  obey  God.     He  had  it  once,  but 
he  lost  it  with  the  first  sin. 

B.  Since  the  law  of  God  requires  of  men  not  so  much  right  single  voli- 
tions as  conformity  to  God  in  the  whole  inward  state  of  the  affections  and 
will,  the  power  of  contrary  choice  in  single  volitions  does  not  constitute  a 
natural  ability  to  obey  God,  unless  man  can  by  those  single  volitions  change 
the  underlying  state  of  the  affections  and  will.     But  this  power  man  does 
not  possess.     Since  God  judges  all  moral  action  in  connection  with  the 
general  state  of  the  heart  and  life,  natural  ability  to  good  involves  not 
only  a  full  complement  of  faculties  but  also  a  bias  of  the  affections  and 
T\dll  toward  God.     Without  this  bias  there  is  no  possibility  of  right  moral 
action,  and  where  there  is  no  such  possibility,  there  can  be  no  ability  either 
natural  or  moral. 


344  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

C.  In  addition  to  the  psychological  argument  just  mentioned,  we  may 
urge  another  from  experience  and  observation.     These  testify  that  man  is- 
cognizant  of  no  such  ability.     Since  no  man  has  ever  yet,  by  the  exercise  of 
his  natural  powers,  turned  himself  to  God  or  done  an  act  truly  good  in 
God's  sight,  the  existence  of  a  natural  ability  to  good  is  a  pure  assumption. 
There  is  no  scientific  warrant  for  inferring  the  existence  of  an  ability  which 
has  never  manifested  itself  in  a  single  instance  since  history  began. 

D.  The  practical  evil  attending  the  preaching  of  natural  ability  furnishes 
a  strong  argument  against  it.     The  Scriptures,  in  their  declarations  of  the 
sinner's  inability  and  helplessness,  aim  to  shut  him  up  to  sole  dependence 
upon  God  for  salvation.     The  doctrine  of  natural  ability,  assuring  him  that 
he  is  able  at  once  to  repent  and  turn  to  God,  encourages  delay  by  putting 
salvation  at  all  times  within  his  reach.     If  a  single  volition  will  secure  it, 
he  may  be  saved  as  easily  to-morrow  as  to-day.     The  doctrine  of  inability 
presses  men  to  immediate  acceptance  of  God's  offers,  lest  the  day  of  grace 
for  them  pass  by. 

Let  us  repeat,  however,  that  the  denial  to  man  of  all  ability,  whether 
natural  or  moral,  to  turn  himself  to  God  or  to  do  that  which  is  truly  good 
in  God's  sight,  does  not  imply  a  denial  of  man's  power  to  order  his  external 
life  in  many  particulars  conformably  to  moral  rules,  or  even  to  attain  the 
praise  of  men  for  virtue.  Man  has  still  a  range  of  freedom  in  acting  out 
his  nature,  and  he  may  to  a  certain  limited  extent  act  down  upon  that  nature, 
and  modify  it,  by  isolated  volitions  externally  conformed  to  God's  law.  He 
may  choose  higher  or  lower  forms  of  selfish  action,  and  may  pursue  these 
chosen  courses  with  various  degrees  of  selfish  energy.  Freedom  of  choice, 
within  this  limit,  is  by  no  means  incompatible  with  complete  bondage  of 
the  will  in  spiritual  things. 

John  1 : 13  —  "  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God  "  ;  3:5  —  "  Except 
a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God  " ;  6  :  44  —  "No  man  can  come  to  me,  eicept 
the  Father  which  sent  me  draw  him  "  ;  8 : 34  —  "  Every  one  that  committeth  sin  is  the  bondservant  of  sin  "  ;  15  :  4, 5 — 
"  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself. ....  apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing  "  ;  Rom.  7  : 18  —  "  In  me,  that  is,  in  my 
flesh,  dwelleth  no  good  thing ;  for  to  will  is  present  with  me,  but  to  do  that  which  is  good  is  not "  ;  24  —  "  Oh  wretched 
man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  8  :  7,  8  —  "  The  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity 
against  God ;  for  it  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  it  be :  and  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  cannot  please 
God  "  ;  1  Cor.  2  : 14  —  "  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him ; 
and  he  cannot  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  judged  "  ;  2  Cor.  3:5  —  "Not  that  we  are  sufficient  of  ourselves, 
to  account  anything  as  from  ourselves  " ;  Eph.  2:1  —  "  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins  " ;  8-10  —  "  by  grac» 
have  ye  been  saved  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves :  it  is  the  gift  of  God :  not  of  works,  that  no  man  should 
glory.  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works  "  ;  Heb.  11 :  6  —  "without  faith  it  is  im- 
possible to  be  well-pleasing  unto  him." 

Kant's  "I  ought,  therefore  I  can"  is  the  relic  of  man's  original  consciousness  of 
freedom— the  freedom  with  which  man  was  endowed  at  his  creation  —  a  freedom,  now,, 
alas !  destroyed  by  sin.  Or,  it  may  be  the  courage  of  the  soul  in  which  God  is  working 
anew  by  his  Spirit.  Emerson,  in  his  poem  entitled  "  Voluntariness,"  says :  "  So  near  is 
grandeur  to  our  dust,  So  near  is  God  to  man,  When  duty  whispers  low  Thou  must,  The 
youth  replies,  I  can."  But,  apart  from  special  grace,  all  the  ability  which  man  at  present 
possesses  comes  far  short  of  fulfilling  the  spiritual  demands  of  God's  law.  Parental 
and  civil  law  implies  a  certain  kind  of  power.  Puritan  theology  called  man  "  free  among 
the  dead  "  ( Ps.  88  :  5,  A.  V.),  There  was  a  range  of  freedom  inside  of  slavery  —  the  will  was 
"  a  drop  of  water  imprisoned  in  a  solid  crystal "  ( Oliver  Wendell  Holmes ). 

Westminster  Confession,  16  :  7  —  "Man  by  his  fall  into  a  state  of  sin  hath  wholly  lost 
all  ability  of  will  to  any  spiritual  good  accompanying  salvation ;  so,  as  a  natural  man, 
being  altogether  averse  to  that  of  good,  and  dead  in  sin,  he  is  not  able  by  his  own 
strength  to  convert  himself,  or  to  prepare  himself  thereunto."  Hopkins,  Works,  1 :  233- 


CONSEQUENCES    OF    SIN   TO    ADAM  S    POSTEKITY. 


345 


235  —  "  So  long  as  the  sinner's  opposition  of  heart  and  will  continues,  he  cannot  come  to 
Christ.  It  is  impossible,  and  will  continue  so,  until  his  unwilling-ness  and  opposition  be 
removed  by  a  change  and  renovation  of  his  heart  by  divine  grace,  and  he  be  made  will- 
ing in  the  day  of  God's  power."  Hopkins  speaks  of  "  utter  inability  to  obey  the  law  of 
God,  yea,  utter  impossibility."  ^ 

Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  257-277  —  "  Inability  consists,  not  in  the  loss  of  any  faculty  of 
the  soul,  nor  in  the  loss  of  free  agency,  for  the  sinner  determines  his  own  acts,  nor  in 
mere  disinclination  to  what  is  good.  It  arises  from  want  of  spiritual  discerifment,  and 
hence  want  of  proper  affections.  Inability  belongs  only  to  the  things  of  the  Spirit. 
What  man  cannot  do  is  to  repent,  believe,  regenerate  himself.  He  cannot  put  forth 
any  act  which  merits  the  approbation  of  God.  Sin  cleaves  to  all  he  does,  and  from  its' 
dominion  he  cannot  free  himself.  The  distinction  between  natural  and  moral  ability  is 
of  no  value.  Shall  we  say  that  the  uneducated  man  can  understand  and  appreciate  the 
Iliad,  because  he  has  all  the  faculties  that  the  scholar  has  ?  Shall  we  say  that  man  can 
love  God,  if  he  will  ?  This  is  false,  if  will  means  volition.  It  is  a  truism,  if  will  means 
affection.  The  Scriptures  never  thus  address  men  and  tell  them  that  they  have  power 
to  do  all  that  God  requires.  It  is  dangerous  to  teach  a  man  this,  for  until  a  man  feels 
that  he  can  do  nothing,  God  never  saves  him.  Inability  is  involved  in  the  doctrine  of 
original  sin ;  in  the  necessity  of  the  Spirit's  influence  in  regeneration.  Inability  is  con- 
sistent with  obligation,  when  inability  arises  from  sin  and  is  removed  by  the  removal 
of  sin." 

Shedd,  on  the  Bondage  of  Sin,  in  South  Church  Sermons,  33-59  — "The  origin  of  this 
helplessness  lies,  not  in  creation,  but  in  sin.  God  can  demand  the  ten  talents  or  the  five 
which  he  originally  committed  to  us,  together  with  a  diligent  and  faithful  improvement 
of  them.  Because  the  servant  has  lost  the  talents,  is  he  discharged  from  obligation  to 
return  them  with  interest?  Sin  contains  in  itself  the  element  of  servitude.  In  the 
very  act  of  transgressing  the  law  of  God,  there  is  a  reflex  action  of  the  human  will  upon 
itself,  whereby  it  becomes  less  able  than  before  to  keep  that  law.  Sin  is  the  suicidal 
action  of  the  human  will.  To  do  wrong  destroys  the  power  to  do  right.  Total  deprav- 
ity carries  with  it  total  impotence.  The  voluntary  faculty  may  be  ruined  from  within ; 
may  be  made  impotent  to  holiness,  by  its  own  action  ;  may  surrender  itself  to  appetite 
and  selfishness  with  such  an  intensity  and  earnestness,  that  it  becomes  unable  to  con- 
vert itself  and  overcome  its  wrong  inclination." 

For  the  Arminian  'gracious  ability,'  see  Raymond,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  : 130;  McClintock  & 
Strong,  Cyclopaedia,  10  :  990.  Per  contra,  see  Calvin,  Institutes,  bk.  2,  chap.  2  (1 :  282) ; 
Edwards,  Works,  2  :  464  ( Orig.  Sin.,  3:1);  Bennett  Tyler,  Works,  73.  See  also  Baird, 
Elohim  Revealed,  523-528 ;  Cunningham,  Hist.  Theology,  1 :  567-639 ;  Turretin,  10  :  4  : 19 ; 
A.  A.  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  260-269;  Thornwell,  Theology,  1 : 394-399;  Alexan- 
der, Moral  Science,  89-208 ;  Princeton  Essays,  1 : 224-239 ;  Richards,  Lectures  on  Theology. 
On  real  as  distinguished  from  formal  freedom,  see  Julius  Miiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2 : 1-225. 
On  Augustine's  lineamenta  extrema  ( of  the  divine  image  in  man ),  see  Wiggers,  Augus- 
tinism  and  Pelagianism,  119,  note.  See  also  art.  by  A.  H.  Strong,  on  Modified  Calvinism, 
or  Remainders  of  Freedom  in  Man,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1883  :  219-242. 


IE.       GUTLT. 

1.     Nature  of  guilt. 

By  guilt  we  mean  desert  of  punishment,  or  obligation  to  render  satisfac- 
tion to  God's  justice  for  self-determined  violation  of  law. 

Schiller,  Die  Braut  von  Messina :  "  Das  Leben  ist  der  Guter  hb'chstes  nicht ;  Der  Uebel 
grosstes  aber  ist  die  Schuld "— " Lif e  is  not  the  highest  of  possessions;  the  greatest  of 
ills,  however,  is  guilt."  Delitzsch:  "Die  Schamrothe  ist  das  Abendrothe  der  unterge- 
gangenen  Sonne  der  ursprtinglichen  Gerechtigkeit "— "  The  blush  of  shame  is  the  even- 
ing red  after  the  sun  of  original  righteousness  has  gone  down."  E.  G.  Robinson— 
"  Pangs  of  conscience  do  not  arise  from  fear  of  penalty— they  are  the  penalty  itself." 
See  chapter  on  Fig-leaves,  in  Mcllvaine,  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture,  142-154—"  Spiritual 
shame  for  sin  sought  an  outward  symbol,  and  found  it  in  the  nakedness  of  the  lower 
parts  of  the  body." 

The  following  remarks  may  serve  both  for  proof  and  for  explanation  : 
A.     Guilt  is  incurred  only  through  self-determined  transgression  either 


346  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

on  the  part  of  man's  nature  or  person.  We  are  guilty  only  of  that  sin  which 
we  have  originated  or  have  had  part  in  originating.  Guilt  is  not,  therefore, 
mere  liability  to  punishment,  without  participation  in  the  transgression  for 
which  the  punishment  is  inflicted — in  other  words,  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
constructive  guilt  under  the  divine  government.  We  are  accounted  guilty 
only  for  what  we  have  done,  either  personally  or  in  our  first  parents,  and 
for  what  we  are,  in  consequence  of  such  doing. 

Ez.  18  :  20— "the  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father"  =  as  Calvin  says  (Com.  in  toco) :  "The 
son  shall  not  bear  the  father's  iniquity,  since  he  shall  receive  the  reward  due  to  himself, 

and  shall  bear  his  own  burden All  are  guilty  through  their  own  fault Every 

one  perishes  through  his  own  iniquity."  In  other  words,  the  whole  race  fell  in  Adam, 
and  is  punished  for  its  own  sin  in  him,  not  for  the  sins  of  immediate  ancestors,  nor  for 
the  sin  of  Adam  as  a  person  foreign  to  us.  John  9  :  3 — "Neither  did  this  man  sin,  nor  his  parents" 
( that  he  should  be  born  blind )  =  Do  not  attribute  to  any  special  later  sin  what  is  a  con- 
sequence of  the  sin  of  the  race — the  first  sin  which  "  brought  death  into  the  world,  and 
all  our  woe." 

B.  Guilt  is  an  objective  result  of  sin,  and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
subjective  pollution,  or  depravity.  Every  sin,  whether  of  nature  or  person, 
is  an  offense  against  God  (Ps.  51  :  4-6),  an  act  or  state  of  opposition  to  his 
will,  which  has  for  its  effect  God's  personal  wrath  ( Ps.  7:11;  John  3  :  18, 
36),  and  which  must  be  expiated  either  by  punishment  or  by  atonement 
(Heb.  9  :  22).  Not  only  does  sin,  as  unlikeness  to  the  divine  purity,  involve 
pollution, — it  also,  as  antagonism  to  God's  holy  will,  involves  guilt.  This 
guilt,  or  obligation  to  satisfy  the  outraged  holiness  of  God,  is  explained  in 
the  New  Testament  by  the  terms  "  debtor  "  and  "  debt "  (Mat.  6  :  12  ;  Luke 
13  :  4 ;  Mat.  5  :  21 ;  Eom.  3  :  19  ;  6  :  23  ;  Eph.  2:3).  Since  guilt,  the  ob- 
jective result  of  sin,  is  entirely  distinct  from  depravity,  the  subjective  result, 
human  nature  may,  as  in  Christ,  have  the  guilt  without  the  depravity  (2  Cor. 
5  :  21),  or  may,  as  in  the  Christian,  have  the  depravity  without  the  guilt 
(1  John  1  :  7,  8). 

Ps.  51  :  4-6— "Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned  and  done  that  which  is  evil  in  thy  sight:  that  thou  mayest  be 
justified  when  thou  speakest,  and  be  clear  when  thou  judgest " ;  7  : 11—"  God  is  a  righteous  judge,  yea,  a  God  that  hath 
indignation  every  day"  ;  John  3  : 18— "He  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already  "  ;  36— "he  that  obeyeth  not 
the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him  "  ;  Heb.  9  :  22—"  Apart  from  shedding  of  blood  there  is 
no  remission";  Mat.  6  :  12— " debts " ;  Luke  13  :  4  — " offenders "  (marg.  "debtors");  Mat.  5:21— "shall  be  in 

danger  of  [exposed  to]  the  judgment"  ;  Rom.  3  :  19— "that all  the  world  may  be  brought  under  the 

judgment  of  God" ;  6  :  23— "the  wages  of  sin  is  death  "  =  death  in  sin's  desert;  Eph.  2  :  3— "by  nature 
children  of  wrath  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  :  21 — "  Him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf  "  ;  1  John  1 :  7,  8 — "  The 
blood  of  Jesus,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  [Yet]  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  us." 

Sin  brings  in  its  train  not  only  depravity  but  guilt,  not  only  macula  but  reatus.  Scrip- 
ture sets  forth  the  pollution  of  sin  by  its  similes  of  "a  cage  of  unclean  birds"  and  of 
"wounds,  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores"  ;  by  leprosy  and  Levitical  uncleauness,  under 
the  old  dispensation ;  by  death  and  the  corruption  of  the  grave,  under  both  the  old  and 
the  new.  But  Scripture  sets  forth  the  guilt  of  sin,  with  equal  vividness,  in  the  fear  of 
Cain  and  in  the  remorse  of  Judas.  The  revulsion  of  God's  holiness  from  sin,  and  its 
demand  for  satisfaction,  are  reflected  in  the  shame  and  remorse  of  every  awakened 
conscience.  There  is  an  instinctive  feeling  in  the  sinner's  heart  that  sin  will  be  punished, 
and  ought  to  be  punished.  All  great  masters  in  literature  have  recognized  it.  The 
inextinguishable  thirst  for  reparation  constitutes  the  very  essence  of  tragedy.  Mar- 
guerite, in  Goethe's  Faust,  fainting  in  the  great  cathedral  under  the  solemn  reverbera- 
tions of  the  Dies  Irae ;  Dimmesdale,  in  Hawthorne's  Scarlet  Letter,  putting  himself  side 
by  side  with  Hester  Prynne,  his  victim,  in  her  place  of  obloquy ;  Bulwer's  Eugene  Aram, 
coming  forward,  though  unsuspected,  to  confess  the  murder  he  had  committed,  all  these 
are  illustrations  of  the  inner  impulse  that  moves  even  a  sinful  soul  to  satisfy  the  claims 
of  justice  upon  it. 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN   TO   ADAM'S   POSTERITY.  347 

Nor  are  such  scenes  confined  to  the  pages  of  romance.  In  a  recent  trial  at  Syracuse, 
Earl,  the  wife-murderer,  thanked  the  jury  that  had  convicted  him ;  declared  the  verdict 
just,  begged  that  no  one  would  interfere  to  stay  the  course  of  justice;  said  that  the 
greatest  blessing1  that  could  be  conferred  on  him  would  be  to  let  him  suffer  the  penalty 
of  his  crime.  In  Plattsburg,  at  the  close  of  another  trial  in  which  the  accused  was  a  life- 
convict  who  had  struck  down  a  fellow-convict  with  an  axe,  the  jury,  after  being1  out  two 
hours,  came  in  to  ask  the  judge  to  explain  the  difference  between  murder  in  the  first  and 
second  degree.  Suddenly  the  prisoner  rose  and  said  :  "  This  was  not  a  murder  in  the  sec- 
ond degree.  It  was  a  deliberate  and  premeditated  murder.  I  know  that  I  have  done 
wrong,  that  I  ought  to  confess  the  truth,  and  that  I  ought  to  be  hanged."  This  left  the 
jury  nothing  to  do  but  render  their  verdict,  and  the  Judge  sentenced  the  murderer  to  be 
hanged,  as  he  confessed  he  deserved  to  be. 

Such  is  the  movement  and  demand  of  the  enlightened  conscience.  The  lack  of  con- 
viction that  crime  ought  to  be  punished  is  one  of  the  most  certain  signs  of  moral  decay, 
in  either  the  individual  or  the  nation  ( Ps.  97  : 10—"  Ye  that  love  the  Lord,  hate  evil " ;  149  :  6—"  Let  the 
high  praises  of  God  be  in  their  mouth,  And  a  two-edged  sword  in  their  hand" — to  execute  God's  judgment 
upon  iniquity. 

C.  Guilt,  moreover,  as  an  objective  result  of  sin,  is  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  subjective  consciousness  of  guilt  (Lev.  5  :  17).  In  the  condemna- 
tion of  conscience,  God's  condemnation  partially  and  prophetically  mani- 
fests itself  (1  John  3  :  20).  But  guilt  is  primarily  a  relation  to  God,  and 
only  secondarily  a  relation  to  conscience.  Progress  in  sin  is  marked  by 
diminished  sensitiveness  of  moral  insight  and  feeling.  As  "  the  greatest  of 
sins  is  to  be  conscious  of  none,"  so  guilt  may  be  great,  just  in  proportion  to 
to  the  absence  of  consciousness  of  it  (Ps.  19  :  12  ;  51  :  6 ;  Eph.  4 :  18,  19 
— cnrrj'kyTjKd-ec;').  There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  the  voice  of  conscience 
can  be  completely  or  finally  silenced.  The  time  for  repentance  may  pass, 
but  not  the  time  for  remorse.  Progress  in  holiness,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
marked  by  increasing  apprehension  of  the  depth  and  extent  of  our  sinful- 
ness,  while  with  this  apprehension  is  combined,  in  a  normal  Christian  expe- 
rience, the  assurance  that  the  guilt  of  our  sin  has  been  taken,  and  taken 
away,  by  Christ  (John  1  :  29). 

Lev.  5  : 17—"  And  if  any  one  sin,  and  do  any  of  the  things  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded  not  to  be  done,  though 
he  knew  it  not,  yet  is  he  guilty,  and  shall  bear  his  iniquity  "  ;  1  John  3  :  20—"  because  if  our  heart  condemn  us,  God 
is  greater  than  our  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things  "  ;  Ps.  19  : 12—"  Who  can  discern  his  errors  ?  clear  thou  me  from 
hidden  faults"  ;  51 :  6— "Behold,  thou  desirest  truth  in  the  inward  parts :  And  in  the  hidden  part  thou  shalt  make  me 

to  know  wisdom  "  ;  Eph.  4  : 18, 19—"  darkened  in  their  understanding being  past  feeling  " ;  John  1  :  29—"  Behold, 

the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  [marg.  'beareth']  the  sin  of  the  world." 

See,  on  the  nature  of  guilt,  Julius  MUller,  Doct.  Sin,  1 : 193-267 ;  Martensen,  Christian 
Dogmatics,  203-209;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1  :346;  Baird,  Elohim  Re- 
vealed, 461-473 ;  Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psychologic,  121-148 ;  Thornwell,  Theology,  1 :  400-424. 

2.     Degrees  of  guilt. 

The  Scriptures  recognize  different  degrees  of  guilt  as  attaching  to  differ- 
ent kinds  of  sin.  The  variety  of  sacrifices  under  the  Mosaic  law,  and  the 
variety  of  awards  in  the  judgment,  are  to  be  explained  ijpon  this  principle. 

Luke  12  :  47,  48—"  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes  .  .  .  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stnpes  "  ;  Rom.  2  :  6—"  who  will 
render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works."  See  also  John  19  : 11—"  he  that  delivered  me  unto  thee  hath  greater 

sin"  ;  Heb.  2  :  2,  3— if  "every  transgression received  a  just  recompense  of  reward ;  how  shall  we  escape,  if  we 

neglect  so  great  salvation?  "  10  :  28,  29—"  a  man  that  hath  set  at  nought  Moses'  law  dieth  without  compassion  on  the 
word  of  two  or  three  witnesses :  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God?" 

Casuistry,  however,  has  drawn  many  distinctions  which  lack  Scriptural 
foundation.  Such  is  the  distinction  between  venial  sins  and  mortal  sins  in 


348  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

the  Roman  Catholic  Church, — every  sin  unpardoned  being  mortal,  and  all 
sins  being  venial,  since  Christ  has  died  for  all.  Nor  is  the  common  distinc- 
tion between  sins  of  omission  and  sins  of  commission  more  valid,  since  the 
very  omission  is  an  act  of  commission. 

Mat.  25  :  45— "Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of  these  least"  ;  James  4  : 17— "To  him  therefore  that  knoweth  to 
do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin."  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  proceeds  upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  she  can  determine  the  precise  malignity  of  every  offence,  and  assign  its  proper 
penance  at  the  confessional.  Thornwell,  Theology,  1 :  434-441,  says  that  "all  sins  are 
venial  but  one— for  there  is  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,"  yet  "not  one  is  venial  in 
itself— for  the  least  proceeds  from  an  apostate  state  and  nature."  We  shall  see,  how- 
ever, that  the  hindrance  to  pardon,  in  the  case  of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  sub- 
jective rather  than  objective. 

The  following  distinctions  are  indicated  in  Scripture  as  involving  different 
degrees  of  guilt : 

A.  Sin  of  nature  and  personal  transgression. 

Sin  of  nature  involves  guilt,  yet  there  is  greater  guilt  when  this  sin 
of  nature  reasserts  itself  in  personal  transgression ;  for  while  this  latter 
includes  in  itself  the  former,  it  also  adds  to  the  former  a  new  element, 
namely,  the  conscious  exercise  of  the  individual  and  personal  will,  by  virtue 
of  which  a  new  decision  is  made  against  God,  special  evil  habit  is  induced, 
and  the  total  condition  of  the  soul  is  made  more  depraved.  Although  we 
have  emphasized  the  guilt  of  inborn  sin,  because  this  truth  is  most  contested, 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  men  reach  a  conviction  of  their  native  depravity 
only  through  a  conviction  of  their  personal  transgressions.  For  this  reason, 
by  far  the  larger  part  of  our  preaching  upon  sin  should  consist  in  applica- 
tions of  the  law  of  God  to  the  acts  and  dispositions  of  men's  lives. 

Mat.  19  : 14— "to  such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  =  relative  innocence  of  childhood  ;  23  :  32 — 
"  Fill  ye  up  then  the  measure  of  your  fathers  "  =  personal  transgression  added  to  inherited  deprav- 
ity. In  preaching,  we  should  first  treat  individual  transgressions,  and  thence  proceed  to 
heart-sin,  and  race-sin.  Man  is  not  wholly  a  spontaneous  development  of  inborn  ten- 
dencies, a  manifestation  of  original  sin.  Motives  do  not  determine  but  they  persuade  the 
will,  and  every  man  is  guilty  of  conscious  personal  transgressions  which  may,  with  the 
help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  brought  under  the  condemning  judgment  of  conscience. 
Birks,  Difficulties  of  Belief,  169-174—"  Original  sin  does  not  do  away  with  the  significance 
of  personal  transgression.  Adam  was  pardoned ;  but  some  of  his  descendants  are  un- 
pardonable. The  second  death  is  referred,  in  Scripture,  to  our  own  personal  guilt." 

B.  Sins  of  ignorance,  and  sins  of  knowledge. 

Here  guilt  is  measured  by  the  degree  of  light  possessed,  or  in  other  words, 
by  the  opportunities  of  knowledge  men  have  enjoyed,  and  the  powers  with 
which  they  have  been  naturally  endowed.  Genius  and  privilege  increase 
responsibility.  The  heathen  are  guilty,  but  those  to  whom  the  oracles  of 
God  have  been  committed  are  more  guilty  than  they. 

Mat.  10  : 15— "more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  that  city"; 
Luke  12  :  47,  48— "that  servant,  which  knew  his  Lord's  will.  . .  .  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes ;  but  he  that  knew 
not ....  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes"  ;  23  :  34— "Father,  forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do"  = 
complete  knowledge  would  put  them  beyond  the  reach  of  forgiveness.  John  19  : 11— "he 
that  delivered  me  unto  thee  hath  greater  sin";  Acts  17  :  30 — "The  times  of  ignorance  therefore  God  overlooked"  ; 
Rom.  1  :  32—"  who,  knowing  the  ordinance  of  God,  that  they  who  practise  such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only  do 
the  same,  but  also  consent  with  them  that  practise  them"  ;  2  : 12— "for  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law  shall  also 
perish  without  law:  and  as  many  as  have  sinned  under  the  law  shall  be  judged  by  law";  1  Tim.  1 : 13, 15 — "I 
obtained  mercy,  because  I  did  it  ignorantly  in  unbelief." 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN   TO   ADAM'S   POSTEBITY.  349 

C.  Sins  of  infirmity,  and  sins  of  presumption. 

Here  the  guilt  is  measured  by  the  energy  of  the  evil  will.  Sin  may  be 
known  to  be  sin,  yet  may  be  committed  in  haste  or  weakness.  Though 
haste  and  weakness  constitute  a  palliation  of  the  offense  which  springs 
therefrom,  yet  they  are  themselves  sins,  as  revealing  an  unbelieving  and 
disordered  heart.  But  of  far  greater  guilt  are  those  presumptuous  choices 
of  evil  in  which  not  weakness,  but  strength  of  will,  is  manifest. 

Ps.  19  : 12,  13—"  Clear  thou  me  from  hidden  faults.  Keep  back  thy  servant  also  from  presumptuous  sins"  ;  Is.  5  : 
18—"  Woe  to  them  that  draw  iniquity  with  cords  of  vanity,  and  sin  as  it  were  with  a  cart-rope  "  =  not  led  away 
insensibly  by  sin,  but  earnestly,  perseveringly,  and  wilfully  working-  away  at  it;  Gal.  6  : 
1—"  overtaken  in  any  trespass  "  ;  1  Tim.  5  :  24  — "  Some  men's  sins  are  evident,  going  before  unto  judgment ;  and  some 
men  also  they  follow  after"  =  some  men's  sins  are  so  open,  that  they  act  as  officers  to  bring1  to 
justice  those  who  commit  them;  whilst  others  require  after-proof  (An.  Par.  Bible). 
Luther  represents  one  of  the  former  class  as  saying-  to  himself :  "  Esto  peccator,  et 
pecca  fortiter."  On  sins  of  passion  and  of  reflection,  see  Bitting-er,  in  Princeton  Rev., 
1873  : 219. 

D.  Sin  of  incomplete,  and  sin  of  final,  obduracy. 

Here  the  guilt  is  measured,  not  by  the  objective  sufficiency  or  insufficiency 
of  divine  grace,  but  by  the  degree  of  unreceptiveness  into  which  sin  has 
brought  the  soul.  As  the  only  sin  unto  death  which  is  described  in  Scrip- 
ture is  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  here  consider  the  nature  of  that 
sin. 

Mat.  12  :  31— "Every  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men;  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Spirit  shall  not 
be  forgiven  "  ;  32—"  And  whosoever  shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him ;  but  whosoever 
shall  speak  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come  "  ; 
Mark  3  :  29—"  whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the  loly  Spirit  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal 
sin  "  ;  1  John  5  : 16, 17 — "  If  any  man  see  his  brother  sinning  a  sin  not  unto  death,  he  shall  ask,  and  God  will  give  him 
life  for  them  that  sin  not  unto  death.  There  is  a  sin  unto  death :  not  concerning  this  do  I  say  that  he  should  make  re- 
quest. All  unrighteousness  is  sin :  and  there  is  a  sin  not  unto  death  "  ;  Heb.  10  :  26  — "  If  we  sin  wilfully  after  that 
we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  expecta- 
tion of  judgment,  and  a  fierceness  of  fire  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries." 

The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  an  isolated  act, 
but  rather  as  the  external  symptom  of  a  heart  so  radically  and  finally  set 
against  God  that  no  power  which  God  can  consistently  use  will  ever  save 
it.  The  sin,  therefore,  can  be  only  the  culmination  of  a  long  course  of 
self-hardening  and  self-depraving.  He  who  has  committed  it  must  be 
either  profoundly  indifferent  to  his  own  condition,  or  actively  and  bitterly 
hostile  to  God ;  so  that  anxiety  or  fear  on  account  of  one's  condition  are 
evidences  that  it  has  not  been  committed.  The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
cannot  be  forgiven,  simply  because  the  soul  that  has  committed  it  has 
ceased  to  be  receptive  of  divine  influences,  even  when  those  influences  are 
exerted  in  the  utmost  strength  which  God  has  seen  fit  to  employ  in  his 
spiritual  administration. 

The  commission  of  this  sin  is  marked  by  a  loss  of  spiritual  sight ;  the  blind  fish  of  the 
Mammoth  Cave  left  light  for  darkness,  and  so  in  time  lost  their  eyes.  It  is  marked  by  a 
loss  of  religious  sensibility  ;  the  sensitive-plant  loses  its  sensitiveness,  in  proportion  to 
the  frequency  with  which  it  is  touched.  It  is  marked  by  a  loss  of  power  to  will  the 
good;  " the  lava  hardens  after  it  has  broken  from  the  crater,  and  in  that  state  cannot 
return  to  its  source  "  ( Van  Oosterzee ).  The  same  writer  also  remarks  ( Dogmatics,  2  : 
428) :  "  Herod  Antipas,  after  earlier  doubt  and  slavishness,  reached  such  deadness  as  to 
be  able  to  mock  the  Saviour,  at  the  mention  of  whose  name  he  had  not  long  before  trem- 
bled." Julius  Mtiller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  :  425—"  It  is  not  that  divine  grace  is  absolutely 


350  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN". 

refused  to  any  one  who  in  true  penitence  asks  forgiveness  of  this  sin ;  but  he  who  com- 
mits it  never  fulfils  the  subjective  conditions  upon  which  forgiveness  is  possible,  because 
the  aggravation  of  sin  to  this  ultimatum  destroys  in  him  all  susceptibility  of  repentance. 
The  way  of  return  to  God  is  closed  against  no  one  who  does  not  close  it  against  himself ." 
Druminond,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  97-120,  illustrates  the  downward  prog- 
ress of  the  sinner  by  the  law  of  degeneration  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  world :  pigeons, 
roses,  strawberries,  all  tend  to  revert  to  the  primitive  and  wild  type.  "  How  shall  we  escape, 
if  we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ?  "  ( Heb.  2:3). 

Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson :  "  The  unpardonable  sin  is  the  knowing,  wilful,  persistent,  con- 
temptuous, malignant  spurning  of  divine  truth  and  grace,  as  manifested  to  the  soul  by 
the  convincing  and  illuminating  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Dorner  says  that  "there- 
fore this  sin  does  not  belong  to  Old  Testament  times,  or  to  the  mere  revelation  of  law. 
It  implies  the  full  revelation  of  the  grace  in  Christ,  and  the  conscious  rejection  of  it  by 
a  soul  to  which  the  Spirit  has  made  it  manifest"  (Acts  17  :  30— "the  times  of  ignorance,  therefore, 
God  overlooked "  ;  Rom.  3  :  25 — "the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime  " ).  But  was  it  not  under  the 
Old  Testament  that  God  said:  "My  Spirit  shall  not  strive  with  man  forever"  (Gen.  6:3),  and  "Ephraim 
is  joined  to  idols;  let  him  alone"  (Hosea  4  : 17)?  The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  sin  against 
grace,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  limited  to  New  Testament  times. 

It  is  still  true  that  the  unpardonable  sin  is  a  sin  committed  against  the  Holy  Spirit 
rather  than  against  Christ :  Mat.  12  :  32—"  whosoever  shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall  be 
forgiven  him ;  but  whosoever  shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this 
world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come."  Jesus  warns  the  Jews  against  it — he  does  not  say  they  had 
already  committed  it.  They  would  seem  to  have  committed  it  when,  after  Pentecost, 
they  added  to  their  rejection  of  Christ  the  rejection  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  witness  to 
Christ's  resurrection.  See  Schaff,  Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  Lemme,  Stinde  wider  den 
Heiligen  Geist;  Davis,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1882  :  317-326;  Nitzsch,  Christian  Doctrine,  283-289. 
On  the  general  subject  of  kinds  of  sin  and  degrees  of  guilt,  see  Kahnis,  Dogmatik, 
3 : 284,  298. 

HI.     PENALTY. 

1.     Idea  of  penalty. 

By  penalty,  we  mean  that  pain  or  loss  which  is  directly  or  indirectly 
inflicted  by  the  Lawgiver,  in  vindication  of  his  justice  outraged  by  the 
violation  of  law. 

Turretin,  1  :  213  —  "  Justice  necessarily  demands  that  all  sin  be  punished,  but  it  does 
not  equally  demand  that  it  be  punished  in  the  very  person  that  sinned,  or  in  just  such 
time  and  degree."  So  far  as  this  statement  of  the  great  federal  theologian  is  intended 
to  explain  our  guilt  in  Adam  and  our  justification  in  Christ,  we  can  assent  to  his  words ; 
but  we  must  add  that  the  reason,  in  each  case,  why  we  suffer  the  penalty  of  Adam's  sin, 
and  Christ  suffers  the  penalty  of  our  sins,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  covenant-relation, 
but  rather  in  the  fact  that  the  sinner  is  one  with  Adam,  and  Christ  is  one  with  the 
believer —  in  other  words,  not  covenant-unity,  but  life-unity.  The  word  '  penalty,'  like 
'  pain,'  is  derived  from  pcena,  TTOIVIJ,  and  it  implies  the  correlative  notion  of  desert.  As 
under  the  divine  government  there  can  be  no  constructive  guilt,  so  there  can  be  no 
penalty  inflicted  by  legal  fiction.  Christ's  sufferings  were  penalty,  not  arbitrarily 
inflicted,  nor  yet  borne  to  expiate  personal  guilt,  but  as  the  just  due  of  the  human 
nature  with  which  he  had  united  himself,  and  a  part  of  which  he  was. 

In  this  definition  it  is  implied  that : 

A.  The  natural  consequences  of  transgression,  although  they  constitute 
a  part  of  the  penalty  of  sin,  do  not  exhaust  that  penalty.  In  all  penalty 
there  is  a  personal  element  —  the  holy  wrath  of  the  Lawgiver  —  which  nat- 
ural consequences  but  partially  express. 

We  do  not  deny,  but  rather  assert,  that  the  natural  consequences  of  transgression  are 
a  part  of  the  penalty  of  sin.  Sensual  sins  are  punished,  in  the  determination  and  cor- 
ruption of  the  body ;  mental  and  spiritual  sins,  in  the  deterioration  and  corruption  of  the 
soul.  Prov.  5  :  22  —  "  His  own  iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked,  and  he  shall  be  holden  with  the  cords  of  his  sin  "  - 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN   TO   ADAM'S   POSTERITY.  351 

as  the  hunter  is  caught  in  the  toils  which  he  has  devised  for  the  wild  beast.  Sin  is  self- 
detecting  and  self-tormenting.  But  this  is  only  half  the  truth.  Those  who  would  con- 
fine all  penalty  to  the  reaction  of  natural  laws  are  in  danger  of  forgetting  that  God  is 
not  simply  immanent  in  the  universe,  but  is  also  transcendent,  and  that  "  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God  "  ( Heb.  10  :  31 )  is  to  fall  into  the  hands,  not  simply  of  the  law,  but  also  of  the 
Lawgiver. 

B.  The  object  of  penalty  is  not  the  reformation  of  the  offender  or  the 
ensuring  of  social  or  governmental  safety.  These  ends  may  be  incidentally 
secured  through  its  infliction,  but  the  great  end  of  penalty  is  the  vindica- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  Lawgiver.  Penalty  is  essentially  a  necessary 
reaction  of  the  divine  holiness  against  sin.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  wrong 
views  of  the  object  of  penalty  have  so  important  a  bearing  upon  our  future 
studies  of  doctrine,  we  make  fuller  mention  of  the  two  erroneous  theories 
which  have  greatest  currency. 

(a)  Penalty  is  not  essentially  reformatory.  By  this  we  mean  that  the 
reformation  of  the  offender  is  not  its  primary  design — as  penalty,  it  is  not 
intended  to  reform.  Penalty,  in  itself,  proceeds  not  from  the  love  and 
mercy  of  the  Lawgiver,  but  from  his  justice.  Whatever  reforming  influ- 
ences may  in  any  given  instance  be  connected  with  it  are  not  parts  of  the 
penalty,  but  are  mitigations  of  it,  and  they  are  added  not  in  justice  but  in 
grace.  If  reformation  follows  the  infliction  of  penalty,  it  is  not  the  effect 
of  the  penalty,  but  the  effect  of  certain  benevolent  agencies  which  have 
been  provided  to  turn  into  a  means  of  good  what  naturally  would  be  to  the 
offender  only  a  source  of  harm. 

That  the  object  of  penalty  is  not  reformation  appears  from  Scripture, 
where  punishment  is  often  referred  to  God's  justice,  but  never  to  God's 
love  ;  from  the  intrinsic  ill-desert  of  sin,  to  which  penalty  is  correlative ; 
from  the  fact  that  upon  this  theory  punishment  would  not  be  just  when  the 
sinner  was  already  reformed  or  could  not  be  reformed,  so  that  the  greater 
the  sin  the  less  the  punishment  must  be. 

Punishment  is  essentially  different  from  chastisement.  The  latter  proceeds  from  love 
( Jer.  10  :  24—"  Correct  me,  but  with  judgment ;  not  in  thine  anger  " ;  Heb.  12  :  6—"  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasten- 
eth.")  Punishment  proceeds  not  from  love  but  from  justice— see  Bz.  28:22— "I  shall  have 
executed  judgments  in  her,  and  shall  be  sanctified  in  her  "  ;  36  :  21,  22— in  judgment,  "  I  do  not  this  for  your  sake, 
but  for  my  holy  name  "  ;  Heb.  12  :  29—"  Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire  "  ;  Rev.  15  : 1,  4—"  wrath  of  God  ...  thou  only 

art  holy  ....  thy  righteous  acts  have  been  made  manifest "  ;  19  :  5 — "  Righteous  art  thou thou  Holy  One,  because 

thou  didst  thus  judge"  ;  19  :  2 — "true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments;  for  he  hath  judged  the  great  harlot,"  So 
untrue  is  the  saying  of  Sir  Thomas  More's  Utopia :  "  The  end  of  all  punishment  is  the 
destruction  of  vice,  and  the  saving  of  men."  Luther:  "  God  has  two  rods :  one  of  mercy 
and  goodness;  another  of  anger  and  fury."  Chastisement  is  the  former;  penalty  the 
latter. 

If  the  reform-theory  of  penalty  is  correct,  then  to  punish  crime,  without  asking  about 
reformation,  makes  the  state  the  transgressor ;  its  punishments  should  be  proportioned, 
not  to  the  greatness  of  the  crime,  but  to  the  sinner's  state ;  the  death-penalty  should  be 
abolished,  upon  the  ground  that  it  will  preclude  all  hope  of  reformation.  But  the  same 
theory  would  abolish  any  final  judgment,  or  eternal  punishment ;  for,  when  the  soul 
becomes  so  wicked  that  there  is  no  more  hope  of  reform,  there  is  no  longer  any  justice 
in  punishing  it.  The  greater  the  sin,  the  less  the  punishment ;  and  Satan,  the  greatest 
sinner,  should  have  no  punishment  at  all.  See  Julius  Mtiller,  Lehre  von  der  Stinde, 
1 : 334;  Thornton,  Old  Fashioned  Ethics,  70-73;  see  also  references  on  Holiness,  A.  (d) 
page  129. 

(6)  Penalty  is  not  essentially  deterrent  and  preventive. — By  this  we 
mean  that  its  primary  design  is  not  to  protect  society,  by  deterring  men 


352  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

from  the  commission  of  like  offences.  We  grant  that  this  end  is  often  se- 
cured in  connection  with  punishment,  both  in  family  and  civil  government 
and  under  the  government  of  God.  But  we  claim  that  this  is  a  merely 
incidental  result,  which  God's  wisdom  and  goodness  have  connected  with 
the  infliction  of  penalty  —  it  cannot  be  the  reason  and  ground  for  penalty 
itself.  Some  of  the  objections  to  the  preceding  theory  apply  also  to  this. 
But  in  addition  to  what  has  been  said,  we  urge  : 

Penalty  cannot  be  primarily  designed  to  secure  social  and  governmental 
safety,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  never  right  to  punish  the  individual  simply 
for  the  good  of  society.  No  punishment,  moreover,  will  or  can  do  good  to 
others  that  is  not  just  and  right  in  itself.  Punishment  does  good,  only 
when  the  person  punished  deserves  punishment ;  and  that  desert  of  punish- 
ment, and  not  the  good  effects  that  will  follow  it,  must  be  the  ground  and 
reason  why  it  is  inflicted.  The  contrary  theory  would  imply  that  the  crim- 
inal might  go  free  but  for  the  effect  of  his  punishment  on  others,  and  that 
man  might  rightly  commit  crime  if  only  he  were  willing  to  bear  the 
penalty. 

A  certain  English  judge,  in  sentencing  a  criminal,  said  that  he  punished  him,  not  for 
stealing  sheep,  but  that  sheep  might  not  be  stolen.  But  it  is  the  greatest  injustice  to 
punish  a  man  for  the  mere  sake  of  example.  Society  cannot  be  benefited  by  such 
injustice.  The  theory  can  give  no  reason  why  one  should  be  punished  rather  than 
another,  nor  why  a  second  offence  should  be  punished  more  heavily  than  the  first.  On 
this  theory,  moreover,  if  there  were  but  one  creature  in  the  universe,  and  none  existed 
beside  himself  to  be  affected  by  his  suffering,  he  could  not  justly  be  punished,  however 
great  might  be  his  sin.  The  only  principle  that  can  explain  punishment  is  the  principle 
of  desert. 

"Crime  is  most  prevented  by  the  conviction  that  crime  deserves  punishment;  the 
greatest  deterrent  agency  is  conscience."  So  in  the  government  of  God  "there  is  no 
hint  that  future  punishment  works  good  to  the  lost  or  to  the  universe.  The  integrity 
of  the  redeemed  is  not  to  be  maintained  by  subjecting  the  lost  to  a  punishment  they  do 
not  deserve.  The  wrong  merits  punishment,  and  God  is  bound  to  punish  it,  whether 
good  comes  of  it  or  not.  Sin  is  intrinsically  ill-deserving.  Impurity  must  be  banished 
from  God.  God  must  vindicate  himself,  or  cease  to  be  holy  "  ( see  art.  on  the  Philosophy 
of  Punishment,  by  F.  L.  Patton,  in  Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1878  : 126-139). 

F.  W.  Robertson :  "  Does  not  the  element  of  vengeance  exist  in  all  punishment,  and 
does  not  the  feeling  exist,  not  as  a  sinful,  but  as  an  essential,  part  of  human  nature? 
If  so,  there  must  be  wrath  in  God."  Lord  Bacon :  "  Revenge  is  a  wild  sort  of  justice." 
Stephens :  "  Criminal  law  provides  legitimate  satisfaction  of  the  passions  of  revenge." 
Dorner,  Glaubeuslehre,  1 : 287.  Per  contra,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  Apr.,  1881 : 286-302 ;  H.  B. 
Smith,  System  of  Theology,  46,  47. 

2.     The  actual  penalty  of  sin. 

The  one  word  in  Scripture  which  designates  the  total  penalty  of  sin  is 
death.  Death,  however,  is  twofold  : 

A.  Physical  death,  —  or  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body, 
including  all  those  temporal  evils  and  sufferings  which  result  from  disturb- 
ance of  the  original  harmony  between  body  and  soul,  and  which  are  the 
working  of  death  in  us.  That  physical  death  is  a  part  of  the  penalty  of 
sin,  appears  : 

(a)     From  Scripture. 

This  is  the  most  obvious  import  of  the  threatening  in  Gen.  2  : 17 — "  thou 
shalt  surely  die  "  ;  cf.  3  :  19  —  "  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return."  Allusions  to 


CONSEQUENCES   OF   SIN   TO   ADAM'S   POSTERITY.  353 

this  threat  in  the  O.  T.  confirm  this  interpretation  :  Num.  16  :  29 —  "visited 
after  the  visitation  of  all  men,"  where  1p2  =  judicial  visitation,  or  punish- 
ment; 27  :  3  (LXX. — &'  d/napriav  avrov).  The  prayer  of  Moses  in  Ps.  90  : 
7-9,  11,  and  the  prayer  of  Hezekiah  in  Is.  38  :  17,  18,  recognize  plainly  the 
•  penal  nature  of  death.  The  same  doctrine  is  taught  in  the  N.  T.,  as  for 
example,  John  8  :  44 ;  Bom.  5  :  12,  14,  16,  17,  where  the  judicial  phrase- 
ology is  to  be  noted  ( c/.  1  :  32 ) ;  see  6  :  23  also.  In  1  Pet.  4  :  6,  physical 
death  is  spoken  of  as  God's  judgment  against  sin.  In  1  Cor.  15  :  21,  22, 
the  bodily  resurrection  of  all  believers,  in  Christ,  is  contrasted  with  the 
bodily  death  of  all  men,  in  Adam.  Eom.  4  :  24,  25 ;  6  :  9,  10 ;  8:3,  10, 
11 ;  Gal.  3  :  13,  show  that  Christ  submitted  to  physical  death  as  the  penalty 
of  sin,  and  by  his  resurrection  from  the  grave  gave  proof  that  the  penalty 
of  sin  was  exhausted  and  that  humanity  in  him  was  justified.  "As  the 
resurrection  of  the  body  is  a  part  of  the  redemption,  so  the  death  of  the 
body  is  a  part  of  the  penalty." 

Ps.  90  :  7,  9  —  "  We  are  consumed  in  thine  anger.  ...  all  our  days  are  passed  away  in  thy  wrath  "  ;  Is.  38  : 17,  18  — 
"thou  hast  in  love  to  my  soul  delivered  it  from  the  pit ...  thou  hast  cast  my  sins  behind  thy  back  ...  For  the  grave 
•cannot  praise  thee "  ;  John  8  :  44  —  "He  [ Satan ]  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning "  ;  Rom.  5  : 12,  14,  16, 17  — 

"  death  through  sin ...  death  passed  unto  all  men,  for  that  all  sinned  .  .  .  death  reigned even  over  them  that  had 

not  sinned  after  the  likeness  of  Adam's  transgression  ...  the  judgment  came  of  one  [  trespass  ]  unto  condemnation 
...  by  the  trespass  of  the  one,  death  reigned  through  the  one"  ;  cf.  the  legal  phraseology  in  1 :  32  — "who, 
knowing  the  ordinance  of  God,  that  they  which  practise  such  things  are  worthy  of  death."  Rom.  6  :  23  —  "the  wages 
of  sin  is  death  "  =  death  is  sin's  just  due.  1  Pet.  4  :  6  —  "that  they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in  the 
flesh"  =  that  they  might  suffer  physical  death,  which  to  men  in  general  is  the  penalty  of 
Sin.  1  Cor.  15  :  21,  22  —  "  As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  "  ;  Rom.  4  :  24,  25  —  "  raised 
Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who  was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses,  and  was  raised  for  our  justification  "  ;  6  :  9,  10  — 
"  Christ  being  raised  from  the  dead  dieth  no  more ;  death  no  more  hath  dominion  over  him.  For  the  death  that  he  died,  he 
-died  unto  sin  once :  but  the  life  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God  "  ;  8:3, 10,  11  —  "  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the 

likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin  "  ( =  a  corpse, 

on  account  of  sin  — Meyer ;  so  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  291 ) ;  "he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus 
from  the  dead  shall  quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies"  ;  Gal.  3  : 13  — "Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law, 
having  become  a  curse  for  us ;  for  it  is  written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree." 

(6)     From  reason. 

The  universal  prevalence  *of  suffering  and  death  among  rational  creatures 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  divine  justice,  except  upon  the  supposition 
that  it  is  a  judicial  infliction  on  account  of  a  common  sinfulness  of  nature 
belonging  even  to  those  who  have  not  reached  moral  consciousness. 

The  objection  that  death  existed  in  the  animal  creation  before  the  fall 
may  be  answered  by  saying  that,  but  for  the  fact  of  man's  sin,  it  would  not 
have  existed.  We  may  believe  that  God  arranged  even  the  geologic  history 
to  correspond  with  the  foreseen  fact  of  human  apostacy  (  cf.  Bom.  8  :  20-23 
—  where  the  creation  is  said  to  have  been  made  subject  to  vanity  by  reason 
of  man's  sin). 

On  Rom.  8  :  20-23  —  "the  creation  was  subjected  to  vanity,  not  of  its  own  will"  —  see  Meyer's  Com.,  and 
Bap.  Quar.,  1 :  143;  also  Gen.  3  : 17-19  —  "  cursed  is  the  ground  for  thy  sake."  See  also  note  on  the 
Relation  of  Creation  to  the  Holiness  and  Benevolence  of  God,  and  references,  pages 
198, 199.  As  the  vertebral  structure  of  the  first  fish  was  an  "  anticipate  consequence  " 
•of  man,  so  the  suffering  and  death  of  fish  pursued  and  devoured  by  other  fish  were  an 
" anticipative  consequence"  of  man's  foreseen  war  with  God  and  with  himself. 

The  translation  of  Enoch  and  Elijah,  and  of  the  saints  that  remain  at 
Christ's  second  coming,  seems  intended  to  teach  us  that  death  is  not  a  nec- 
essary law  of  organized  being,  and  to  show  what  would  have  happened  to 
23 


354  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   MAN. 

Adam  if  he  had  been  obedient.  He  was  created  a  "natural,"  "earthly" 
body,  but  might  have  attained  a  higher  being,  the  "spiritual,"  "heavenly  '" 
body,  without  the  intervention  of  death.  Sin,  however,  has  turned  the 
normal  condition  of  things  into  the  rare  exception  ( cf.  1  Cor.  15  :  42-50 )  > 
Since  Christ  endured  death  as  the  penalty  of  sin,  death  to  the  Christian 
becomes  the  gateway  through  which  he  enters  into  full  communion  with 
his  Lord  (see  references  below  ). 

Through  physical  death  all  Christians  will  pass,  except  those  few  who  like  Enoch  and 
Elijah  were  translated,  and  those  many  who  shall  be  alive  at  Christ's  second  coming1. 
Nicoll,  Life  of  Christ :  "  We  have  every  one  of  us  to  face  the  last  enemy,  death.  Ever 
since  the  world  began,  all  who  have  entered  it  sooner  or  later  have  had  this  struggle, 
and  the  battle  has  always  ended  in  one  way.  Two  indeed  escaped,  but  they  did  not 
escape  by  meeting  and  mastering  their  foe  ;  they  escaped  by  being  taken  away  from 
the  battle."  But  this  physical  death,  for  the  Christian,  has  been  turned  by  Christ  into  a 
blessing.  A  pardoned  prisoner  may  be  still  kept  in  prison,  as  the  best  possible  benefit 
to  an  exhausted  body ;  so  the  external  fact  of  physical  death  may  remain,  although  it 
has  ceased  to  be  penalty. 

John  14  :  3  —  "  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I 

am,  there  ye  may  be  also  " ;  1  Cor.  15  :  54-57  —  "  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory 0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ? 

The  sting  of  death  is  sin;  and  the  power  of  sin  is  the  law";  i.  e.  the  law's  condemnation,  its  penal 
infliction ;  2  Cor.  5:1-9  —  "  For  we  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  build- 
ing from  God  ...  we  are  of  good  courage,  I  say,  and  are  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  at  home 
with  the  Lord  "  ;  Phil.  1  :  21,  23  —  "  to  die  is  gain  . .  .  having  the  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ ;  for  it  is  very  far 
better."  In  Christ  and  his  bearing  the  penalty  of  sin,  the  Christian  has  broken  through 
the  circle  of  natural  race-connection,  and  is  saved  from  corporate  evil  so  far  as  it  is 
punishment.  The  Christian  may  be  chastised,  but  he  is  never  punished :  Rom.  8:1  —  "  Them 
is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  idea  that  punishment  yet  remains  for  the  Christian  is  "the  bridge  to  the  papal 
doctrine  of  purgatorial  fires."  Browning's  words,  in  The  Ring  and  the  Book,  2  :  60- 
"In  His  face  is  light,  but  in  His  shadow  healing  too,"  are  applicable  to  God's  fatherly 
chastenings,  but  not  to  his  penal  retributions.  On  Acts  7:60  — "he  fell  asleep1'— Arnot 
remarks :  "  When  death  becomes  the  property  of  the  believer,  it  receives  a  new  name,, 
and  isjcalled  sleep."  Another  has  said  :  "  Christ  did  not  send,  but  came  himself  to  save ;. 
The  ransom-price  he  did  not  lend,  but  gave ;  Christ  died,  the  shepherd  for  the  sheep ; 
We  only  /a/1  asleep."  Per  contra,  see  Kreibig,  Versohnungslehre,  375,  and  Hengsten- 
berg,  Ev.  K.-Z.,  1864  : 1065—  "  All  suffering  is  punishment." 

B.  Spiritual  death, — or  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  God,  including 
all  that  pain  of  conscience,  loss  of  peace,  and  sorrow  of  spirit,  which  result 
from  disturbance  of  the  normal  relation  between  the  soul  and  God. 

(a)  Although  physical  death  is  a  part  of  the  penalty  of  sin,  it  is  by  no- 
rneans  the  chief  part.  The  term  « death'  is  frequently  used  in  Scripture  in  a, 
moral  and  spiritual  sense,  as  denoting  the  absence  of  that  which  constitutes 
the  true  life  of  the  soul,  namely,  the  presence  and  favor  of  God. 

Mat.  8  :  22— "Follow  me  ;  and  leave  the  [spiritually]  dead  to  bury  their  own  [physically]  dead "  ;  Luke  15  r 
32— "this  thy  brother  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again  " ;  John  5  :  24— "he  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  him  that 
sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not  into  judgment,  but  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life  " ;  8  :  51—"  If  a  man 
keep  my  word,  he  shall  never  see  death  " ;  Rom.  8  : 13—"  if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  must  die ;  but  if  by  the  Spirit  ye 
put  to  death  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live  "  ;  Eph.  2:1—"  when  ye  were  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins  "  ; 
5  :  14— "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead"  ;  1  Tim.  5  :  6— "she  that  giveth  herself  to  pleasure  is- 
dead  while  she  liveth "  ;  James  5  :  20  —"he  that  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from 
death  "  ;  1  John  3  : 14—"  he  that  loveth  not  abideth  in  death  " ;  Rev.  3  : 1—"  Thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  lives*,  and 
thou  art  dead." 

(6)  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  penalty  denounced  in  the  garden  and 
fallen  upon  the  race  is  primarily  and  mainly  that  death  of  the  soul  which 
consists  in  its  separation  from  God.  In  this  sense  only,  death  was  fully 
visited  upon  Adam  in  the  day  on  which  he  ate  the  forbidden  fruit  ( Gen.  2  : 


THE    SALVATION    OF    INFANTS.  355 

17).  In  this  sense  only,  death  is  escaped  by  the  Christian  (John  11  :  26). 
For  this  reason,  in  the  parallel  between  Adam  and  Christ  (Rom.  5  :  12-21 ), 
the  apostle  passes  from  the  thought  of  mere  physical  death  in  the  early  part 
of  the  passage  to  that  of  both  physical  and  spiritual  death  at  its  close  ( verse 
21 — "  as  sin  reigned  in  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteous- 
ness unto  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  " — where  "  eternal  life  " 
is  more  than  endless  physical  existence,  and  "  death  "  is  more  than  death  of 
the  body ). 

Gen.  2  : 17—"  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die  "  ;  John  11 :  26—"  whosoever  liveth  and  be- 
lieveth  on  me  shall  never  die  "  ;  Rom.  5  : 12-21  — "  justification  of  life  ...  eternal  life  "  ;  contrast  these  with 
"death  reigned  ...  sin  reigned  in  death." 

(c)  Eternal  death  may  be  regarded  as  the  culmination  and  completion  of 
spiritual  death,  and  as  essentially  consisting  in  the  correspondence  of  the 
outward  condition  with  the  inward  state  of  the  evil  soul  (Acts  1  :  25  ).  It 
would  seem  to  be  inaugurated  by  some  peculiar  repellent  energy  of  the 
divine  holiness  ( Mat.  25  :  41 ;  2  Thess.  1:9),  and  to  involve  positive  retri- 
bution visited  by  a  personal  God  upon  both  the  body  and  the  soul  of  the 
evil  doer  ( Mat.  10  :  28 ;  Heb.  10  :  31 ;  Eev.  14  :  11 ). 

Acts  1  :  25— "Judas  fell  away,  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place"  ;  Mat.  25  :  41—"  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into 
the  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels"  ;  2  Thess.  1 :  9 — "who  shall  suffer  punishment,  even 
eternal  destruction  from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  might " ;  Mat.  10  :  28-  "fear  him  which  is  able 
to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell  "  ;  Heb.  10  :  31— "It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God"  ; 
Rev.  14  : 11 — "the  smoke  of  their  torment  goeth  up  for  ever  and  ever." 

Kurtz,  Religionslehre,  67—"  So  long  as  God  is  holy,  he  must  maintain  the  order  of  the 
world,  and  where  this  is  destroyed,  restore  it.  This  however  can  happen  in  no  other 
way  than  this :  the  injury  by  which  the  sinner  has  destroyed  the  order  of  the  world  falls 
back  upon  himself— and  this  is  penalty.  Sin  is  the  negation  of  the  law.  Penalty  is  the 
negation  of  that  negation,  that  is,  the  ree'stablishment  of  the  law.  Sin  is  a  thrust  of 
the  sinner  against  the  law.  Penalty  is  the  adverse  thrust  of  the  elastic  because  living 
law,  which  encounters  the  sinner." 

On  the  general  subject  of  the  penalty  of  sin,  see  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct.  Sin,  1 :  345  sq. ; 
2  : 286-397 ;  Baird,  Elohira  Revealed,  263-279 ;  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural, 
194-219 ;  Krabbe,  Lehre  von  der  Stinde  und  vom  Tode ;  Weisse,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken, 
1836  :  371;  S.  R.  Mason,  Truth  Unfolded,  369-384 ;  Bartlett,  in  New  Englander,  Oct.,  1871 : 
677,  678. 


SECTION   VII. — THE   SALVATION    OF   INFANTS. 

The  views  which  have  been  presented  with  regard  to  inborn  depravity 
and  the  reaction  of  divine  holiness  against  it  suggest  the  question  whether 
infants  dying  before  arriving  at  moral  consciousness  are  saved,  and  if  so,  in 
what  way.  To  this  question  we  reply  as  follows  : 

(a)  Infants  are  in  a  state  of  sin,  need  to  be  regenerated,  and  can  be  saved 
only  through  Christ. 

Job  14  :  4—"  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean?  not  one" ;  Ps.  51 :  5— "Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  in- 
iquity ;  and  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me  " ;  John  3  :  6—"  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  "  ;  Rom.  5 : 14— 
"  Nevertheless  death  reigned  from  Adam  until  Moses,  even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  likeness  of  Adam's 
transgression  "  ;  Eph.  2 : 3—"  by  nature  children  of  wrath  "  ;  1  Cor.  7 : 14—"  else  were  your  children  unclean  "—clearly 
intimates  the  naturally  impure  state  of  infants ;  and  Mat.  19  : 14—"  Suffer  the  little  children,  and 
forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me  "—is  not  only  consistent  with  this  doctrine,  but  strongly  confirms 


356  ANTHROPOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   MAN. 

it ;  for  the  meaning  is :  "  forbid  them  not  to  come  unto  me  "—whom  they  need  as  a  Savior.  "  Com- 
ing to  Christ "  is  always  the  coming  of  a  sinner,  to  him  who  is  the  sacrifice  for  sin. 

(6)  Yet  as  compared  with  those  who  have  personally  transgressed,  they 
are  recognized  as  possessed  of  a  relative  innocence,  and  of  a  submissiveness 
and  trustfulness,  which  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  graces  of  Christian  char- 
acter. 

Deut.  1  :  39—"  Your  little  ones  ...  and  your  children,  which  this  day  have  no  knowledge  of  good  and  evil "  ;  Jonah 
4  : 11 — "Sii  score  thousand  persons  that  cannot  discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand"  ;  Rom.  9  : 11 — 
"for  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  anything  good  or  bad"  ;  Mat.  18  :  3,  4 — "Except  ye  turn, 
and  become  as  little  children,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  'Whosoever  therefore  shall  humble 
himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  See  Julius  Mtiller,  Doct. 
Sin,  2 :  365. 

(c)  For  this  reason,  they  are  the  objects  of  special  divine  compassion  and 
care,  and  through  the  grace  of  Christ  are  certain  of  salvation. 

Mat.  18  :  5,  6, 10,  14—"  Whoso  shall  receive  one  such  little  child  in  my  name  receiveth  me ;  but  whoso  shall  cause  one 
of  these  little  ones  which  believe  on  me  to  stumble,  it  is  profitable  for  him  that  a  great  millstone  should  be  hanged  about 
his  neck,  and  that  he  should  be  sunk  in  the  depth  of  the  sea  ....  See  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones ;  for  I 
say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven  ....  Even  so  it 
is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish  " ;  19  : 14— "Suffer  the  little 
children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me :  for  to  such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of  heaven  " — not  God's  king- 
dom of  nature,  but  his  kingdom  of  grace,  the  kingdom  of  saved  sinners.  On  the  pas- 
sages in  Matthew,  see  Commentaries  of  Bengel,  De  Wette,  Lange ;  also  Neander,  Plant- 
ing and  Training  ( ed.  Robinson ),  407. 

Meyer  refers  these  passages  to  spiritual  infants  only.  So  Dr.  Kendrick,  in  S.  S.  Times : 
*'  To  infants  and  children,  as  such,  the  language  cannot  apply.  It  must  be  taken  figura- 
tively, and  must  refer  to  those  qualities  in  childhood,  its  dependence,  its  trustfulness, 
its  tender  affection,  its  loving  obedience,  which  are  typical  of  the  essential  Christian 
graces  ....  If  asked  after  the  logic  of  our  Savior's  words— how  he  could  assign,  as  a 
reason  for  allowing  literal  little  children  to  be  brought  to  him,  that  spiritual  little  chil- 
dred  have  a  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven— I  reply :  the  persons  that  thus,  as  a  class, 
typify  the  subjects  of  God's  spiritual  kingdom  cannot  be  in  themselves  objects  of  indif- 
ference to  him,  or  be  regarded  otherwise  than  with  intense  interest The  class  that 

in  its  very  nature  thus  shadows  forth  the  brightest  features  of  Christian  excellence 
must  be  subjects  of  God's  special  concern  and  care." 

To  these  remarks  of  Dr.  Kendrick  we  would  add,  that  Jesus'  words  seem  to  us  to  inti- 
mate more  than  special  concern  and  care.  While  these  words  seem  intended  to  exclude 
all  idea  that  infants  are  saved  by  their  natural  holiness,  or  without  application  to  them 
of  the  blessings  of  his  atonement,  they  also  seem  to  us  to  include  infants  among  the 
number  of  those  who  have  the  right  to  these  blessings ;  in  other  words,  Christ's  concern 
and  care  go  so  far  as  to  choose  infants  to  eternal  life,  and  to  make  them  subjects  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  C/.  Mat.  18  : 14—"  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  that  one  of  these 
little  ones  should  perish"  =  those  whom  Christ  has  received  here,  he  will  not  reject  hereafter. 
Of  course  this  is  said  to  infants,  as  infants.  To  those,  therefore,  who  die  before  coming 
to  moral  consciousness,  Christ's  words  assure  salvation.  Personal  transgression,  how- 
ever, involves  the  necessity,  before  death,  of  a  personal  repentance  and  faith,  in  order 
to  salvation. 

(d)  The  descriptions  of  God's  merciful  provision  as  coextensive  with 
the  ruin  of  the  fall  also  lead  us  to  believe  that  those  who  die  in  infancy  re- 
ceive salvation  through  Christ  as  certainly  as  they  inherit  sin  from  Adam. 

John  3  : 16—"  For  God  so  loved  the  world  "  —  includes  infants.  Rom.  5  : 14—"  death  reigned  from  Adam  until 
Moses,  even  over  them  that  had  not  sinned  after  the  likeness  of  Adam's  transgression,  who  is  a  figure  of  him  that  was  to 
come  "  =  there  is  an  application  to  infants  of  the  life  in  Christ,  as  there  was  an  applica- 
tion to  them  of  the  death  in  Adam  ;  19-21—"  For  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedience  the  many  were 
made  sinners,  even  so  through  the  obedience  of  the  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous.  And  the  law  came  in  beside 
that  the  trespass  might  abound ;  but  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did  abound  more  exceedingly :  that,  as  sin  reigned  in 
death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  "  =  as  with- 
out personal  act  of  theirs  infants  inherited  corruption  from  Adam,  so  without  personal 
act  of  theirs  salvation  is  provided  for  them  in  Christ. 


THE    SALVATION"    OF    INFANTS.  357 

(e)  The  condition  of  salvation  for  adults  is  personal  faith.  Infants  are 
incapable  of  fulfilling  this  condition.  Since  Christ  has  died  for  all,  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  provision  is  made  for  their  reception  of  Christ  in  some 
other  way. 

2  Cor.  5  : 15—"  he  died  for  all "  ;  Mark  16  : 16—"  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved :  but  he  that  dis- 
believeth  shall  be  condemned"  (verses  9-20  are  of  canonical  authority,  though  probably  not 
written  by  Mark). 

(/)  At  the  final  judgment,  personal  conduct  is  made  the  test  of  character. 
But  infants  are  incapable  of  personal  transgression.  We  have  reason,  there- 
fore, to  believe  that  they  will  be  among  the  saved,  since  this  rule  of  decision 
will  not  apply  to  them. 

Mat.  25  :  45,  46—"  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of  these  least,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me.  And  these  shall  go  away 
into  eternal  punishment "  ;  Rom.  2  :  5,  6—"  the  day  of  wrath  and  revelation  of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God ;  who 
will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works." 

(g)  Since  there  is  no  evidence  that  children  dying  in  infancy  are  regen- 
erated prior  to  death,  either  with  or  without  the  use  of  external  means,  it 
seems  most  probable  that  the  work  of  regeneration  may  be  performed  by 
the  Spirit  in  connection  with  the  infant  soul's  first  view  of  Christ  in  the 
other  world.  As  the  remains  of  natural  depravity  in  the  Christian  are 
eradicated,  not  by  death,  but  at  death,  through  the  sight  of  Christ  and  union 
with  him,  so  the  first  moment  of  consciousness  for  the  infant  may  be  coin- 
cident with  a  view  of  Christ  the  Savior  which  accomplishes  the  entire 
sanctification  of  its  nature. 

2  Cor.  3  : 18— "But  we  all,  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image,  from 
glory  to  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord,  the  Spirit "  ;  1  John  3  :  2— "  We  know  that,  if  he  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be 
like  him ;  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  If  asked  why  more  is  not  said  upon  this  subject  in  Scrip- 
ture, we  reply :  It  is  according-  to  the  analogy  of  God's  general  method  to  hide  things 
that  are  not  of  immediate  practical  value.  In  some  past  ages,  knowledge  of  the  fact 
that  all  children  dying  in  infancy  are  saved  might  have  seemed  to  make  infanticide  a 
virtue. 

While,  in  the  nature  of  things  and  by  the  express  declarations  of  Scrip- 
ture, we  are  precluded  from  extending  this  doctrine  of  regeneration  at  death 
to  any  who  have  committed  personal  sins,  we  are  nevertheless  warranted  in 
the  conclusion  that,  certain  and  great  as  is  the  guilt  of  original  sin,  no  hu- 
man soul  is  eternally  condemned  solely  for  this  sin  of  nature,  but  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  all  who  have  not  consciously  and  wilfully  transgressed  are 
made  partakers  of  Christ's  salvation. 

See  Prentiss,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  July,  1883  :  548-580—"  Lyman  Beecher  and  Charles  Hodge 
first  made  current  in  this  country  the  doctrine  of  the  salvation  of  all  who  die  in  infancy. 
If  this  doctrine  be  accepted,  then  it  follows:  (1)  that  these  partakers  of  original  sin 
must  be  saved  wholly  through  divine  grace  and  power;  (2)  that  in  the  child  unborn 
there  is  the  promise  and  potency  of  complete  spiritual  manhood  ;  (3)  that  salvation  is 
possible  entirely  apart  from  the  visible  church  and  the  means  of  grace ;  ( 4 )  that  to  a 
full  half  of  the  race  this  life  is  not  in  any  way  a  period  of  probation ;  ( 5 )  that  heathen 
may  be  saved  who  have  never  even  heard  of  the  gospel ;  (6)  that  the  providence  of 
God  includes  in  its  scope  both  infants  and  heathen."  See  also  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  1  : 
26,  27 ;  Ridgeley,  Body  of  Divinity,  1 :  422-425 ;  Calvin,  Institutes,  II,  i,  8 ;  Westminster 
Larger  Catechism,  x,  3 ;  Krauth,  Infant  Salvation  in  the  Calvinistic  System ;  Candlish 
on  Atonement,  part  ii,  chap.  1 ;  Geo.  P.  Fisher,  in  New  Englander,  Apr.,  1868  :  338 ;  J.  F. 
Clarke,  Truths  and  Errors  of  Orthodoxy,  360. 


PAET  VI. 

SOTERIOLOGY,  OE  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  SALVATION  THROUGH 
THE  WORK  OF  CHRIST  AND  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

CHAPTER  I. 
CHRISTOLOGY,  OR  THE  REDEMPTION  WROUGHT  BY  CHRIST. 


SECTION   I. — HISTORICAL   PREPARATION    FOR   REDEMPTION. 

Since  God  had  from  eternity  determined  to  redeem  mankind,  the  history 
of  the  race  from  the  time  of  the  fall  to  the  coming  of  Christ  was  providen- 
tially arranged  to  prepare  the  way  for  this  redemption.  This  preparation 
was  two-fold  : 

I.     NEGATIVE  PREPARATION, — in  the  history  of  the  heathen  world. 

This  showed  ( 1 )  the  true  nature  of  sin,  and  the  depth  of  spiritual  ignor- 
ance and  of  moral  depravity  to  which  the  race,  left  to  itself,  must  fall ;  and 
( 2 )  the  powerlessness  of  human  nature  to  preserve  or  regain  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  God,  or  to  deliver  itself  from  sin  by  philosophy  or  art. 

Why  could  not  Eve  have  been  the  mother  of  the  chosen  seed,  as  she  doubtless  at  the 
first  supposed  that  she  was?  ( Gen.  4  : 1 — "and  she  conceived  and  bare  Cain  [i.  e,  'gotten  ',  or  'ac- 
quired '  ],  and  said  I  have  gotten  a  man,  even  Jehovah  "  ).  Why  was  not  the  cross  set  up  at  the  gates 
of  Eden  ?  Scripture  intimates  that  a  preparation  was  needful  ( Gal.  4  :  4—"  but  when  the  ful- 
ness of  the  time  came,  God  sent  forth  his  Son" ).  Of  the  two  agencies  made  use  of,  we  have  called 
heathenism  the  negative  preparation.  But  it  was  not  wholly  negative ;  it  was  partly 
positive  also.  "Justin  Martyr  spoke  of  a  Adyo?  a-Trep/aaTi/co?  among  the  heathen.  Cle- 
ment of  Alexandria  called  Plato  a  M<oo%  arraKl&v— a  Greek-speaking  Moses.  Notice 
the  priestly  attitude  of  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Plato,  Pindar,  Sophocles.  The  Bible  recog- 
nizes Job,  Balaam,  Melchisedek,  as  instances  of  priesthood,  or  divine  communication, 
outside  the  bounds  of  the  chosen  people.  Heathen  religions  either  were  not  religions, 
or  God  had  a  part  in  them.  Confucius,  Buddha,  Zoroaster,  were  at  least  reformers,  raised 
up  in  God's  providence.  Gal.  4  :  3  classes  Judaism  with  the  "rudiments  of  the  world,"  and  Rom. 
5  :  20  tells  us  that  "the  law  came  in  beside,"  as  a  force  cooperating  with  other  human  factors, 
primitive  revelation,  sin,  etc." 

But  the  positive  element  in  heathenism  was  slight.  Her  altars  and  sacrifices,  her  phi- 
losophy and  art,  roused  cravings  which  she  was  powerless  to  satisfy.  Her  religious  sys- 
tems became  sources  of  deeper  corruption.  There  was  no  hope,  and  no  progress.  "  The 
Sphynx's  moveless  calm  symbolizes  the  monotony  of  Egyptian  civilization."  Classical 
nations  became  more  despairing,  as  they  became  more  cultivated.  To  the  best  minds* 
truth  seemed  impossible  of  attainment,  and  all  hope  of  general  well-being  seemed  a 
dream.  The  Jews  were  the  only  forward-looking  people ;  and  all  our  modern  confidence 


HISTORICA^    PREPARATION    FOR    REDEMPTION.  359 

in  destiny  and  development  conies  from  them.  They,  in  their  turn,  drew  their  hopeful- 
ness solely  from  prophecy.  Not  their  "  genius  for  religion,"  but  special  revelation  from 
<5od,  made  them  what  they  were. 

Although  God  was  in  heathen  history,  yet  so  exceptional  were  the  advantages  of  the 
Jews,  that  we  can  almost  assent  to  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Englander,  Sept.,  1883 :  576— 
"  The  Bible  does  not  recognize  other  revelations.  It  speaks  of  the  '  face  of  the  covering  that  is 
cast  over  all  peoples,  and  the  vail  that  is  spread  over  all  nations '  ( Is.  25 :  7 ) ;  Acts  14 : 16,  17 — '  who  in  the  generations 
gone  by  suffered  all  the  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways.  And  yet  he  left  not  himself  without  witness '  =  not  an 
internal  revelation  in  the  hearts  of  sages,  but  an  external  revelation  in  nature,  'in  that  he 
•did  good,  and  gave  you  from  heaven  rains  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts  with  food  and  gladness.'  The  con- 
victions of  heathen  reformers  with  regard  to  divine  inspiration  were  dim  and  intangi- 
ble, compared  with  the  consciousness  of  prophets  and  apostles  that  God  was  speaking 
through  them  to  his  people." 

On  heathenism  as  a  preparation  for  Christ,  see  Tholuck,  Nature  and  Moral  Influence 
of  Heathenism,  in  Bib.  Repos.,  1833  :  80,  246,  441 ;  Bellinger,  Gentile  and  Jew ;  Pressense, 
Religions  before  Christ ;  Max  Mtiller,  Science  of  Religion,  1-128 ;  Cocker,  Christianity  and 
Greek  Philosophy ;  Ackermann,  Christian  Element  in  Plato ;  Farrar,  Seekers  after  God ; 
Renan,  on  Rome  and  Christianity,  in  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1880. 

II.     POSITIVE  PREPARATION, — in  the  history  of  Israel. 

A  single  people  was  separated  from  all  others,  from  the  time  of  Abraham, 
•and  was  educated  in  three  great  truths  :  ( 1 )  the  majesty  of  God,  in  his  unity, 
omnipotence,  and  holiness  ;  ( 2 )  the  sinf  ulness  of  man,  and  his  moral  help- 
lessness ;  ( 3 )  the  certainty  of  a  coming  salvation.  This  education  from  the 
time  of  Moses  was  conducted  by  the  use  of  three  principal  agencies  : 

A.  Law. — The  Mosaic  legislation,    (a)  by  its  theophanies  and  miracles, 
cultivated  faith  in  a  personal  and  almighty  God  and  Judge  ;    (6)  by  its  com- 
mands and  threatenings,  wakened  the  sense  of  sin  ;    (c)  by  its  priestly  and 
sacrificial  system,  inspired  hope  of  some  way  of  pardon  and  access  to  God. 

The  education  of  the  Jews  was  first  of  all  an  education  by  Law.  In  the  history  of  the 
world,  as  in  the  history  of  the  individual,  law  must  precede  gospel,  John  the  Baptist  must 
.go  before  Christ,  knowledge  of  sin  must  prepare  a  welcome  entrance  for  knowledge  of 
Si  Savior. 

B.  Prophecy. — This  was  of  two  kinds  :    (a)  verbal, — beginning  with  the 
protevangelium  in  the  garden,  and  extending  to  within  four  hundred  years 
of  the  coming  of  Christ ;     (b)  typical, — in  persons,  as  Adam,  Melchisedek, 
Joseph,  Moses,  Joshua,  David,  Solomon,  Jonah ;   and  in  acts,  as  Isaac's 
sacrifice,  and  Moses  lifting  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness. 

Christ  was  the  reality,  to  which  the  types  and  ceremonies  of  Judaism  pointed ;  and  these 
latter  disappeared  when  Christ  had  come,  just  as  the  petals  of  the  blossom  drop  away 
when  the  fruit  appears.  Many  promises  to  the  O.  T.  saints,  which  seemed  to  them 
promises  of  temporal  blessing,  were  fulfilled  in  a  better,  because  a  more  spiritual,  way 
than  they  expected.  Thus  God  cultivated  in  them  a  boundless  trust— a  trust  which  was 
essentially  the  same  thing  with  the  faith  of  the  new  dispensation,  because  it  was  the 
absolute  reliance  of  a  consciously  helpless  sinner  upon  God's  method  of  salvation,  and 
so  was  implicitly,  though  not  explicitly,  a  faith  in  Christ. 

The  protevangelium  (Gen.  3 : 15)  said  "it  [this  promised  seed]  shall  bruise  thy  head."  The 
"it"  was  rendered  in  some  Latin  manuscripts  "ipsa."  Hence  Roman  Catholic  divines 
attributed  the  victory  to  the  Virgin.  Notice  that  Satan  was  cursed,  but  not  Adam  and 
Eve ;  for  they  were  candidates  for  restoration,  The  promise  of  the  Messiah  narrowed 
itself  down  as  the  race  grew  older,  from  Abraham  to  Judah,  David,  Bethlehem,  and  the 
Virgin.  Prophecy  spoke  of  "the  sceptre"  and  of  "the  seventy  weeks."  Haggai  and  Malachi 
foretold  that  the  Lord  should  suddenly  come  to  the  second  temple.  Christ  was  to  be  true 
man  and  true  God ;  prophet,  priest,  and  king ;  humbled  and  exalted.  When  prophecy 
had  become  complete,  a  brief  interval  elapsed,  and  then  he,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law, 
and  the  prophets,  did  write,  actually  came. 


360  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

C.  Judgment. — Eepeated  divine  chastisements  for  idolatry  culminated 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  captivity  of  the  Jews.  The  exile 
had  two  principal  effects  :  (a)  religious, — in  giving  monotheism  firm  root 
in  the  heart  of  the  people,  and  in  leading  to  the  establishment  of  the  syna- 
gogue-system, by  which  monotheism  was  thereafter  preserved  and  propaga- 
ted ;  (6)  civil, — in  converting  the  Jews  from  an  agricultural  to  a  trading 
people,  scattering  them  among  all  nations,  and  finally  imbuing  them  with 
the  spirit  of  Roman  law  and  organization. 

Thus  a  people  was  made  ready  to  receive  the  gospel  and  to  propagate  it 
throughout  the  world,  at  the  very  time  when  the  world  had  become  conscious 
of  its  needs,  and,  through  its  greatest  philosophers  and  poets,  was  express- 
ing its  longings  for  deliverance. 

The  scattering1  of  the  Jews  through  all  lands  had  prepared  a  monotheistic  starting^ 
point  for  the  gospel  in  every  heathen  city.  Jewish  synagogues  had  prepared  places  of 
assembly  for  the  hearing  of  the  gospel.  The  Greek  language— the  universal  literary 
language  of  the  world— had  prepared  a  medium  in  which  that  gospel  could  be  spoken. 
"  Caesar  had  unified  the  Latin  West,  as  Alexander  the  Greek  East " ;  and  universal  peace,, 
together  with  Roman  roads  and  Roman  law,  made  it  possible  for  that  gospel,  when  once 
it  had  got  a  foothold,  to  spread  itself  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  first  dawn  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise  appears  among  the  proselyting  Jews  before  Christ's  time.  Christian- 
ity laid  hold  of  this  proselyting  spirit,  and  sanctified  it,  to  conquer  the  world  to  the  faith 
of  Christ.  In  all  these  preparations,  we  see  many  lines  converging  to  one  result,  in  a 
manner  inexplicable,  unless  we  take  them  as  proofs  of  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God 
preparing  the  way  for  the  kingdom  of  his  Son. 

On  Judaism,  as  a  preparation  for  Christ,  see  Dollinger,  Gentile  and  Jew,  2  : 291-419 ; 
Martensen,  Dogmatics,  224-236 ;  Hengstenberg,  Christology  of  the  O.  T. ;  Smith,  Proph- 
ecy a  Preparation  for  Christ ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  458-485 ;  Fairbairn,  Typology ; 
MacWhorter,  Jahveh  Christ;  Kurtz,  Christliche  Religionslehre,  114;  Edwards,  History 
of  Redemption,  in  Works,  1 :  297-395 ;  Walker,  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation ; 
Conybeare  and  Howson,  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  1 : 1-37 ;  Luthardt,  Fundamental 
Truths,  257-281 ;  Schaff,  Hist.  Christian  Ch.,  1 :  32-49 ;  Butler's  Analogy,  Bohn's  ed.,  228- 
238 ;  Bushnell,  Vicarious  Sac.,  63-66 ;  Max  Mtiller,  Science  of  Language,  2  :  443 ;  Thomas- 
ius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  1 :  463-485 ;  Fisher,  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  47-73. 


SECTION    II. — THE    PERSON   OF   CHRIST. 

The  redemption  of  mankind  from  sin  was  to  be  effected  through  a  Medi- 
ator who  should  unite  in  himself  both  the  human  nature  and  the  divine,  in 
order  that  he  might  reconcile  God  to  man  and  man  to  God.  To  facilitate 
an  understanding  of  the  Scriptural  doctrine  under  consideration,  it  will  be 
desirable  at  the  outset  to  present  a  brief 

I.     HISTORICAL  SURVEY  OF  VIEWS  RESPECTING  THE  PERSON  OF  CHRIST, 

1.  The  Ebionites  (pOK=«poor ' ;  A.  D.  107?)  denied  the  reality  of 
Christ's  divine  nature,  and  held  him  to  be  merely  man,  whether  naturally  or 
supernaturally  conceived.  This  man,  however,  held  a  peculiar  relation  to 
God,  in  that,  from  the  time  of  his  baptism,  an  unmeasured  fulness  of  the 
divine  Spirit  rested  upon  him.  Ebionism  was  simply  Judaism  within  the 
pale  of  the  Christian  church,  and  its  denial  of  Christ's  godhood  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  apparent  incompatibility  of  this  doctrine  with  monotheism. 


THE    PERSON    OF   CHRIST.  361 

Ftirst  ( Heb.  Lexicon )  derives  the  name  '  Ebionite '  from  the  word  signifying  '  poor ' : 
see  Is.  25  :  4 — "thou  hast  been  a  stronghold  to  the  poor  " ;  Mat.  5  :  3 — "Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit."  It  means 
"oppressed,  pious  souls."  Epiphanius  traces  them  back  to  the  Christians  who  took 
refuge,  A.  D.  66,  at  Pella,  just  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  They  lasted  down 
to  the  4th  century.  Corner  can  assign  no  age  for  the  formation  of  the  sect,  nor  any 
historically  ascertained  person  as  its  head.  It  was  not  Judaic  Christianity,  but  only  a 
fraction  of  this.  There  were  two  divisions  of  the  Ebionites : 

(a)  The  Nazareues,  who  held  to  the  supernatural  birth  of  Christ,  while  they  would  not 
go  to  the  length  of  admitting  the  preexisting  hypostasis  of  the  Son.    They  had  the  gos- 
pel of  Matthew,  in  Hebrew. 

(b)  The  Cerinthian  Ebionites,  who  put  the  baptism  of  Christ  in  place  of  his  supernat- 
ural birth,  and  made  the  ethical  sonship  the  cause  of  the  physical.    It  seemed  to  them  a 
heathenish  fable  that  the  Son  of  God  should  be  born  of  the  Virgin.    There  was  no  per- 
sonal union  between  the  divine  and  human  in  Christ.    Christ,  as  distinct  from  Jesus, 
was  not  a  merely  impersonal  power  descending  upon  Jesus,  but  a  preexisting  hypostasis 
above  the  world-creating  powers.    The  Cerinthian  Ebionites,  who  on  the  whole  best 
represent  the  spirit  of  Ebionism,  approximated  to  Pharisaic  Judaism,  and  were  hostile 
to  the  writings  of  Paul.    The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  fact,  is  intended  to  counteract 
an  Ebionitic  tendency  to  overstrain  law  and  to  underrate  Christ.    In  a  complete  view, 
however,  should  also  be  mentioned : 

(c)  The  Gnostic  Ebionism  of  the  pseudo-Clementines,  which  in  order  to  destroy  the 
deity  of  Christ  and  save  the  pure  monotheism,  so-called,  of  primitive  religion,  gave  up 
even  the  best  part  of  the  Old  Testament.    In  all  its  forms,  Ebionism  conceives  of  God 
and  man  as  external  to  each  other.    God  could  not  become  man.    Christ  was  no  more 
than  a  prophet  or  teacher,  who,  as  the  reward  of  his  virtue  was  from  the  time  of  his 
baptism  specially  endowed  with  the  Spirit.    After  his  death  he  was  exalted  to  kingship. 
But  that  would  not  justify  the  worship  which  the  church  paid  him.   A  merely  creaturely 
mediator  would  separate  us  from  God,  instead  of  uniting  us  to  him.    See  Dorner,  Glau- 
benslehre,  2  :  305-307  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  201-204),  and  Hist.  Doct.  Person  Christ,  A.  1 : 187- 
217  ;  Reuss,  Hist.  Christ.  Theol.,  1 : 100-107 ;  Schaff,  Ch.  Hist.,  1 :  212-215. 

2.  The  Docetce  (doKeu — 'to  seem,'  'to  appear  ' ;  A.  D.  70-170),  like  most 
of  the  Gnostics  in  the  second  century  and  the  Manichees  in  the  third,  denied 
the  reality  of  Christ's  human  body.     This  view  was  the  logical  sequence  of 
their  assumption  of  the  inherent  evil  of  matter.     If  matter  is  evil  and  Christ 
was  pure,  then   Christ's  human  body  must  have  been  merely  phantasmal. 
Docetism  was  simply  pagan  philosophy  introduced  into  the  church. 

The  Gnostic  Basilides  held  to  a  real  human  Christ,  with  whom  the  divine  vov<>  became 
united  at  the  baptism ;  but  the  followers  of  Basilides  became  Docetse.  To  them,  the 
body  of  Christ  was  merely  a  seeming  one.  There  was  no  real  life  or  death.  Valentinus 
made  the  ^on,  Christ,  with  a  body  purely  pneumatic  and  worthy  of  himself,  pass 
through  the  body  of  the  Virgin,  as  water  through  a  reed,  taking  up  into  itself  nothing  of 
the  human  nature  through  which  he  passed ;  or  as  a  ray  of  light  through  colored  glass 
which  only  imparts  to  the  light  a  portion  of  its  own  darkness.  Christ's  life  was  simply 
a  theophany.  The  Patripassians  and  Sabellians,  who  are  only  sects  of  the  Docetae, 
denied  all  real  humanity  to  Christ. 

That  Docetism  appeared  so  early,  shows  that  the  impression  Christ  made  was  that  of  a 
superhuman  being.  Among  many  of  the  Gnostics,  the  philosophy  which  lay  at  the  basis 
of  their  Docetism  was  a  pantheistic  apotheosis  of  the  world.  God  did  not  need  to  be- 
come man,  for  man  was  essentially  divine.  This  view,  and  the  opposite  error  of  Juda- 
ism, already  mentioned,  both  showed  their  insufficiency  by  attempts  to  combine  with 
each  other,  as  in  the  Alexandrian  philosophy.  See  Dorner,  Hist.  Doct.  Person  Christ, 
A.  1 :  218-252,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  307-310  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  204-206) ;  Neander,  Ch.  Hist., 
1:387. 

3.  The  Arians  ( Arius,  condemned  at  Nice,  325 )  denied  the  integrity  of 
the  divine  nature  in  Christ.     They  regarded  the  Logos  who  united  himself 
to  humanity  in  Jesus  Christ,  not  as  possessed  of  absolute  godhood,  but  as 
the  first  and  highest  of  created  beings.     This  view  originated  in  a  misinter- 
pretation of  the  Scriptural  accounts  of  Christ's  state  of  humiliation,  and  in 


362  SOTERIOLOGY,    OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

mistaking  temporary  subordination  for  original  and  permanent  inequality. 

Arianism  is  called  by  Dorner  a  reaction  from  Sabellianism.  Sabellius  had  reduced  the 
incarnation  of  Christ  to  a  temporary  phenomenon.  Arius  thought  to  lay  stress  on 
the  hypostasis  of  the  Son,  and  to  give  it  fixity  and  substance.  But,  to  his  mind,  the 
reality  of  Sonship  seemed  to  require  subordination  to  the  Father.  Origen  had  taught  the 
subordination  of  the  Son  to  the  Father,  in  connection  with  his  doctrine  of  eternal  gen- 
eration. Arius  held  to  the  subordination,  and  also  to  the  generation,  but  this  last,  he 
declared,  could  not  be  eternal,  but  must  be  in  time.  See  Dorner,  Person  Christ,  A.  2  : 
327-244,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  307,  312,  313  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  203,  207-210 ) ;  Herzog,  Eneyclo- 
pfidie,  art. :  Arianismus. 

4.  The  Apollinarians  ( Apollinaris,  condemned  at  Constantinople,  381 ) 
denied  the  integrity  of  Christ's  human  nature.     According  to  this  view, 
Christ  had  no  human  vovr  or  Trvevpa,  other  than  that  which  was  furnished 
by  the  divine  nature.     Christ  had  only  the  human  OGJ/J.CI   and  tyvxf) ;    the 
place  of  the  human  vovg  or  Trvevpa  was  filled  by  the  divine  Logos.     Apolli- 
narism  is  an  attempt  to  construe  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  person  in  the  forms 
of  the  Platonic  trichotomy. 

Lest  divinity  should  seem  a  foreign  element,  when  added  to  this  curtailed  manhood, 
Apollinaris  said  that  there  was  an  eternal  tendency  to  the  human  in  the  Logos  himself ; 
that  in  God  was  the  true  manhood ;  that  the  Logos  is  the  eternal,  archetypal  man.  But 
here  is  no  becoming  man— only  a  manifestation  in  flesh  of  what  the  Logos  already  was. 
So  we  have  a  Christ  of  great  head  and  dwarfed  body.  Justin  Martyr  preceded  Apollin- 
aris in  this  view.  In  opposing  it,  the  church  Fathers  said  that  "what  the  Son  of  God 
has  not  taken  to  himself,  he  has  not  sanctified  " — rb  an-poo-A^n-Toi/  *al  aL&epdnevToi>.  See 
Dorner,  Jahrbuch  f .  d.  Theol.,  1  :  397-408—"  The  impossibility,  on  the  Arian  theory,  of 
making  two  finite  souls  into  one,  finally  led  to  the  [Apollinarian]  denial  of  any  human 
soul  in  Christ" ;  see  also,  Dorner,  Person  Christ,  A.  2  :  352-399,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  310 
( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  206,  207) ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doctrine,  1 : 394. 

5.  The  Nestorians   ( Nestorius,  removed  from  the  Patriarchate  of  Con- 
stantinople, 431 )  denied  the  real  union  between  the  divine  and  the  human 
natures  in  Christ,  making  it  rather  a  moral  than  an  organic  one.     They  re- 
fused therefore  to  attribute  to  the  resultant  unity  the  attributes  of  each 
nature,  and  regarded  Christ  as  a  man  in  very  near  relation  to  God.     Thus 
they  virtually  held  to  two  natures  and  two  persons,  instead  of  two  natures 
in  one  person. 

Nestorius  disliked  the  phrase:  "Mary,  mother  of  God."  The  Chalcedon  statement 
asserted  its  truth,  with  the  significant  addition :  "  as  to  his  humanity."  Nestorius  made 
Christ  a  peculiar  temple  of  God.  He  believed  in  av»>a<£eia,  not  ei/wa-is— junction  and  in- 
dwelling, but  not  absolute  union.  He  made  too  much  of  the  analogy  of  the  union  of 
the  believer  with  Christ,  and  separated  as  much  as  possible  the  divine  and  the  human. 
The  two  natures  were,  in  his  view,  aAAo?  KOI  aAAos,  instead  of  being  aAAo  <al  oAAo,  which 
together  constitute  eis— one  personality.  The  union  which  he  accepted  was  a  moral 
union,  which  makes  Christ  simply  God  and  man,  instead  of  the  God-man. 

John  of  Damascus  compared  the  passion  of  Christ  to  the  felling  of  a  tree  on  which  the 
sun  shines.  The  axe  fells  the  tree,  but  does  no  harm  to  the  sunbeams.  So  the  blows 
which  struck  Christ's  humanity  caused  no  harm  to  his  deity;  while  the  flesh  suffered, 
the  deity  remained  impassible.  This  leaves,  however,  no  divine  efficacy  of  the  human 
sufferings,  and  no  personal  union  of  the  human  with  the  divine.  The  error  of  Nestorius 
arose  from  a  philosophic  nominalism,  which  refused  to  conceive  of  nature  without  per- 
sonality. He  believed  in  nothing  more  than  a  local  or  moral  union,  like  the  marriage 
union,  in  which  two  become  one ;  or  like  the  state,  which  is  sometimes  called  a  moral 
person,  because  having  a  unity  composed  of  many  persons.  See  Dorner,  Person  Christ, 
B.  1 :  53-79,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  315,  316  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  211-213) ;  Philippi,  Glaubens- 
lehre, 4  :  210 ;  Wilberforce,  Incarnation,  152-154. 

6.  The  Eutychians  (condemned  at  Chalcedon,  451)  denied  the  distinction 
and  coexistence  of  the  two  natures,  and  held  to  a  mingling  of  both  into  one, 


THE    PERSON"    OF   CHRIST. 


363 


which  constituted  a  tertium  quid,  or  third  nature.  Since  in  this  case  the 
divine  must  overpower  the  human,  it  follows  that  the  human  was  really  ab- 
sorbed into  or  transmuted  into  the  divine,  although  the  divine  was  not  in 
all  respects  the  same,  after  the  union,  that  it  was  before.  Hence  the  Euty- 
chians  were  often  called  Monophysites,  because  they  virtually  reduced  the 
two  natures  to  one. 

They  were  an  Alexandrian  school,  which  included  monks  of  Constantinople  and  Egypt. 
They  used  the  words  a-vyx"o-is,  juerajSoAij  —  confounding1,  transformation— to  describe  the 
union  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ.  Humanity  joined  to  deity  was  as  a  drop  of  honey 
mingled  with  the  ocean.  There  was  a  change  in  either  element,  but  as  when  a  stone 
attracts  the  earth,  or  a  meteorite  the  sun,  or  when  a  small  boat  pulls  a  ship,  all  the 
movement  was  virtually  on  the  part  of  the  smaller  object.  Humanity  was  so  absorbed 
in  deity,  as  to  be  altogether  lost.  The  union  was  illustrated  by  electron,  a  metal  com- 
pounded of  silver  and  gold.  A  more  modern  illustration  would  be  that  of  the  chemical 
union  of  an  acid  and  an  alkali,  to  form  a  salt  unlike  either  of  the  constituents. 

In  effect  this  theory  denied  the  human  element,  and,  with  this,  the  possibility  of  atone- 
ment, on  the  part  of  human  nature,  as  well  as  of  real  union  of  man  with  God.  Such  a 
magical  union  of  the  two  natures  as  Eutyches  described  is  inconsistent  with  any  real 
becoming  man  on  the  part  of  the  Logos — the  manhood  is  well-nigh  as  illusory  as  upon  the 
theory  of  the  Docetae.  See  Dorner,  Person  Christ,  B.  1 :  83-93,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  318, 
319  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  214-216) ;  Guericke,  Ch.  History,  1 :  356-360. 

The  foregoing  survey  would  seem  to  show  that  history  had  exhausted  the 
possibilities  of  heresy,  and  that  the  future  denials  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
person  must  be,  in  essence,  forms  of  the  views  already  mentioned.  All 
controversies  with  regard  to  the  person  of  Christ  must,  of  necessity,  hinge 
upon  one  of  three  points :  first,  the  reality  of  the  two  natures ;  secondly, 
the  integrity  of  the  two  natures  ;  thirdly,  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  one 
person.  Of  these  points,  Ebionism  and  Docetism  deny  the  reality  of  the 
natures  ;  Arianism  and  Apollinarism  deny  their  integrity  ;  while  Nestorian- 
ism  and  Eutychianism  deny  their  proper  union.  In  opposition  to  all  these 
errors, 

7.  The  Orthodox  doctrine  (  promulgated  at  Chalcedon,  451 )  holds  that 
in  the  one  person  Jesus  Christ  there  are  two  natures,  a  human  nature  and  a 
divine  nature,  each  in  its  completeness  and  integrity,  and  that  these  two 
natures  are  organically  and  indissolubly  united,  yet  so  that  no  third  nature 
is  formed  thereby.  In  brief,  to  use  the  antiquated  dictum,  orthodox  doc- 
trine forbids  us  either  to  divide  the  person  or  to  confound  the  natures. 

That  this  doctrine  is  Scriptural  and  rational,  we  have  yet  to  show.  We 
may  most  easily  arrange  our  proofs  by  reducing  the  three  points  mentioned 
to  two,  namely  :  first,  the  reality  and  integrity  of  the  two  natures  ;  secondly, 
the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  one  person. 

The  formula  of  Chalcedon  is  negative,  with  the  exception  of  its  assertion  of  a  iVwo-i? 
viroo-TaTiKTj.  It  proceeds  from  the  natures,  and  regards  the  result  of  the  union  to  be  the 
person.  Each  of  the  two  natures  is  regarded  as  in  movement  toward  the  other.  The 
symbol  says  nothing  of  an  awnotrTaffCa.  of  the  human  nature,  nor  does  it  say  that  the 
Logos  furnishes  the  ego  in  the  personality.  John  of  Damascus,  however,  pushed  for- 
ward to  these  conclusions,  and  his  work,  translated  into  Latin,  was  used  by  Peter  Lom- 
bard, and  determined  the  views  of  the  Western  church  of  the  middle  ages.  Dorner 
regards  this  as  having  given  rise  to  the  Mariolatry,  saint-invocation,  and  transubstantia- 
tion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  See  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  : 189  sq. ;  Dorner, 
Person  Christ,  B.  1 : 93-119,  and  Glaubenslehre,  2 : 320-328  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3 : 216-223 ),  in  which 
last  passage  may  be  found  valuable  matter  with  regard  to  the  changing  uses  of  the  words 

TrpouujTrov,  V7r6<7Taert?,  ovcria,  etc. 


364  SOTERIOLOGY,    OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

II.  THE  TWO  NATURES  OF  CHRIST, — THEIR  EEALITY  AND  INTEGRITY. 

1.  The  Humanity  of  Christ. 

A.  Its  Reality. — This  may  be  shown  as  follows. 

(a)  He  expressly  called  himself ,  and  was  called,  "man." 

John  8  :  40  —  "  ye  seek  to  kill  me,  a  man  that  hath  told  you  the  truth  "  ;  Acts  2  :  22  —  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man 
approved  of  God  unto  you  "  ;  Rom.  5  : 15  —  "  the  one  man,  Jesus  Christ "  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  21  —  "  by  man  came  death,  by 
man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  "  ;  1  Tim.  2  :  5  —  "one  mediator  also  between  God  and  men,  himself  man, 
Christ  Jesus."  Compare  the  genealogies  in  Mat.  1 : 1-17  and  Luke  3  :  23-38,  the  former  of  which 
proves  Jesus  to  be  in  the  royal  line,  and  the  latter  of  which  proves  him  to  be  in  the 
natural  line,  of  succession  from  David  ;  the  former  tracing  back  his  lineage  to  Abra- 
ham, and  the  latter  to  Adam.  Christ  is  therefore  the  son  of  David,  and  of  the  stock  of 
Israel.  Compare  also  the  phrase  "Son  of  man,"  e.  g.  in  Mat.  20  :  28,  which,  however  much  it 
may  mean  in  addition,  certainly  indicates  the  veritable  humanity  of  Jesus.  Compare, 
finally,  the  term  "flesh  "  ( =  human  nature),  applied  to  him  in  John  1 : 14  —  "and  the  Word  became 
flesh,"  and  in  1  John  4  :  2  — "  Every  spirit  which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God." 

(6)  He  possessed  the  essential  elements  of  human  nature  as  at  present 
constituted  —  a  material  body  and  a  rational  soul. 

Mat.  26  :  38  —  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful "  ;  John  11 :  33  —  "  he  groaned  in  the  spirit "  ;  Mat.  26  :  26  —  "  this 
is  my  body  "  ;  28  —  " this  is  my  blood "  ;  Luke  24  : 39  —  "a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  behold  me  hav- 
ing "  ;  Heb.  2  : 14 —  "Since  then  the  children  are  sharers  in  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  in  like  manner  partook  of 
the  sama "  ;  1  John  1:1  —  "  That  which  we  have  heard,  that  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which  we  beheld, 
and  our  hands  handled,  concerning  the  Word  of  life  ";  4:2  —  "  Every  spirit  which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come 
in  the  flesh  is  of  God." 

(c)  He  was  moved  by  the  instinctive  principles,  and  he  exercised  the 
active  powers,  which  belong  to  a  normal  and  developed  humanity  (  hunger, 
thirst,  weariness,  sleep,  love,  compassion,  anger,  anxiety,  fear,  groaning, 
weeping,  prayer). 

Mat.  4  :  2  —  "  he  afterward  hungered  "  ;  John  19  :  28  —  "  I  thirst " ;  4  :  6  —  "  Jesus  therefore,  being  wearied  with  his 
journey,  sat  thus  by  the  well "  ;  Mat.  8  :  24  —  "  the  boat  was  covered  with  the  waves :  but  he  was  asleep  "  ;  Mark 
10  :  21  —  "  Jesus  looking  upon  him  loved  him  "  ;  Mat.  9  :  36  —  "  when  he  saw  the  multitudes,  he  was  moved  with  com- 
passion for  them  " ;  Mark  3:5  —  "  looked  round  about  on  them  with  anger,  being  grieved  at  the  hardening  of  their 
heart"  ;  Heb.  5  :  7  —  " supplications  with  strong  crying  and  tears  unto  him  that  was  able  to  save  him  from  death"  ; 
John  12  :  27  —  "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour  "  ;  11  :  33  —  "  he 
groaned  in  the  spirit " ;  35  —  "  Jesus  wept "  ;  Mat.  14  :  23  —  "he  went  up  into  the  mountain  apart  to  pray." 

(d)  He  was  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  human  development,  both  in 
body  and  soul  ( grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit ;  asked  questions  ;  grew  in 
wisdom  and  stature ;  learned  obedience ;  suffered  being  tempted ;  was  made 
perfect  through  sufferings). 

Luke  2  :  40  —  "  the  child  grew,  and  waied  strong,  filled  with  wisdom  " ;  46  —  "  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors, 
both  hearing  them,  and  asking  them  questions  "  ( here,  at  his  twelfth  year,  he  appears  first  to  become 
fully  conscious  that  he  is  the  Sent  of  God,  the  Son  of  God ;  49  —  "  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  in 
my  Father's  house?"  lit.  '  in  the  things  of  my  Father');  52  —  "  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature  ";  Heb. 
5:8  —  "  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suffered  "  ;  2  : 18  —  "  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted, 

he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted  "  ;  10  —  "  it  became  him to  make  the  author  of  their  salvation  perfect 

through  sufferings." 

(e)  He  suffered  and  died  ( bloody  sweat ;  gave  up  his  spirit ;  pierced  his 
side,  and  straightway  there  came  out  blood  and  water  ). 

Luke  22  :  44  —  "being  in  an  agony  he  prayed  more  earnestly ;  and  his  sweat  became  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood 
falling  down  upon  the  ground";  John  19  :  30  — "he  bowed  his  head,  and  gave  up  his  spirit";  34  — "one  of  the 
soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced  his  side,  and  straightway  there  came  out  blood  and  water"  — held  by  Stroud, 
Physical  Cause  of  our  Lord's  Death,  to  be  proof  that  Jesus  died  of  a  broken  heart. 


THE   TWO    NATURES    OF    CHEIST. 


365 


Anselm,  Cur  Deus  Homo,  1 :  9-19— "The  Lord  is  said  to  have  grown  in  wisdom  and 
favor  with  God,  not  because  it  was  so,  but  because  he  acted  as  if  it  were  so.  So  he  was 
exalted  after  death,  as  if  this  exaltation  were  on  account  of  death."  But  we  may  reply : 
Resolve  all  signs  of  humanity  into  mere  appearance,  and  you  lose  the  divine  nature  as 
well  as  the  human ;  for  God  is  truth  and  cannot  act  a  lie.  The  babe,  the  child,  even  the 
man,  in  certain  respects,  was  ignorant.  Jesus,  the  boy,  was  not  making-  crosses,  as  in 
Overbeck's  picture,  but  rather  yokes  and  plows,  as  Justin  Martyr  relates  —  serving  a 
real  apprenticeship  in  Joseph's  workshop :  Mark  6:3—  "Is  not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary  ? " 

See  Holman  Hunt's  picture,  "The  Shadow  of  the  Cross"  — in  which  not  Jesus,  but 
only  Mary,  sees  the  shadow  of  the  cross  upon  the  wall.  He  lived  a  life  of  faith,  as  well 
as  of  prayer  ( Heb.  12:2  —  "Jesus  the  author  [  captain,  prince  ]  and  perfecter  of  our  faith  " )  dependent 
upon  Scripture,  which  was  much  of  it,  as  Ps.  16  and  118,  and  Is.  49,  50,  61,  written  for  him,  as 
as  well  as  about  him.  See  Park,  Discourses,  297-327;  Deutsch,  Remains,  131— "The 
boldest  transcendental  flight  of  the  Talmud  is  its  saying:  'God  prays.'"  In  Christ's 
humanity,  united  as  it  is  to  deity'  we  have  the  fact  answering  to  this  piece  of  Talmudic 
poetry. 

B.  Its  Integrity. — We  here  use  the  term  'integrity '  to  signify,  not  merely 
completeness,  but  perfection.  That  which  is  perfect  is,  a  fortiori,  complete 
in  all  its  parts.  Christ's  human  nature  was  : 

(a)     Supernaturally  conceived. 

Luke  1 :  35  —  "  And  Mary  said  unto  the  angel,  How  shall  this  be,  seeing  I  know  not  a  man  ?  And  the  angel  answered 
and  said  unto  her,  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee."  The 
"  seed  of  the  woman  "  ( Gen.  3  : 15 )  was  one  who  had  no  earthly  father.  "  Eve "  =  life,  not  only  as 
being  the  source  of  physical  life  to  the  race,  but  also  as  bringing  into  the  world  him 
who  was  to  be  its  spiritual  life.  Julius  Mtiller,  Proof-texts,  29— Jesus  Christ  "had  no 
earthly  father ;  his  birth  was  a  creative  act  of  God,  breaking  through  the  chain  of 
human  generation."  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  447  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  345)  — "The  new 
science  recognizes  manifold  methods  of  propagation,  and  that  too  even  in  one  and  the 
same  species." 

(6)     Free,  both  from  hereditary  depravity,  and  from  actual  sin. 

Luke  1 :  35  — "  Wherefore  also  the  holy  thing  which  is  begotten  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God"  ;  John  8  :  46  — 
"  Which  of  you  convicteth  me  of  sin  ?  "  14  :  30  —  "  the  prince  of  the  world  cometh  :  and  he  hath  nothing  in  me  "  = 
not  the  slightest  evil  inclination  upon  which  his  temptations  can  lay  hold ;  Rom.  8  :  3  —  "in 
the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  "  =  in  flesh,  but  without  the  sin  which,  in  other  men,  clings  to  the 
flesh ;  2  Cor.  5  :  21  —  " him  who  knew  no  sin  " ;  Heb.  4  : 15  —  "in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin  " ; 
7  :  26  — "  holy,  guileless,  undefiled,  separated  from  sinners  "  —  by  the  fact  of  his  immaculate  conception  ; 
9  : 14  —  "  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God  "  ;  1  Pet.  1  : 19  —  "  precious  blood,  as  of 
a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot,  even  the  blood  of  Christ"  ;  2  :  22  —  "who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile 
found  in  his  mouth  "  ;  1  John  3  :  5,  7  —  "in  him  is  no  sin  ...  he  is  righteous." 

Julius  Mtiller,  Proof -texts,  29  — "Had  Christ  been  only  human  nature,  he  could  not 
have  been  without  sin.  But  life  can  draw  out  of  the  putrescent  clod  materials  for  its 
own  living.  Divine  life  appropriates  the  human."  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  446  (  Syst. 
Doct.,  3  :  344)  — "What  with  us  is  regeneration,  is  with  him  the  incarnation  of  God." 
In  this  origin  of  Jesus'  sinlessness  from  his  union  with  God,  we  see  the  absurdity,  both 
doctrinally  and  practically,  of  speaking  of  an  immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin, 
and  of  making  her  sinlessness  precede  that  of  her  Son.  On  the  Roman  Catholic  doctrine 
of  the  immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  System,  389-392.  "  Christ 
took  human  nature,  in  such  a  way  that  this  nature,  without  sin,  bore  the  consequences 
of  sin."  That  portion  of  human  nature  which  the  Logos  took  into  union  with  himself 
was,  in  the  very  instant  and  by  the  fact  of  his  taking  it,  purged  from  all  its  inherent 
depravity. 

But  if  in  Christ  there  was  no  sin,  or  tendency  to  sin,  how  could  he  be  tempted  ?  In 
the  same  way,  we  reply,  that  Adam  was  tempted.  Christ  was  not  omniscient :  Mark  13  :  32 
—  "  of  that  day  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father."  Only 
at  the  close  of  the  first  temptation  does  Jesus  recognize  Satan  as  the  adversary  of  souls ; 
Mat.  4  : 10  —  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan."  Jesus  could  be  tempted,  not  only  because  he  was  not  omni- 
scient, but  also  because  he  had  the  keenest  susceptibility  to  all  the  forms  of  innocent 
desire.  To  these  desires  temptation  may  appeal.  Sin  consists,  not  in  these  desires,  but 
in  the  gratification  of  them  out  of  God's  order,  and  contrary  to  God's  will.  So  Satan 


366  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

appealed  ( Mat.  4  : 1-11 )  to  the  desire  for  food,  for  applause,  for  power ;  to  "  Ueberglaube, 
Aberglaube,  Unglaube  "  ( Kurtz ) ;  ef.  Mat.  26  :  39 ;  27  :  42 ;  26  :  53.  All  temptation  must  be 
addressed  either  to  desire  or  fear;  so  Christ  "was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are"  (Heb. 
4  : 15).  The  first  temptation,  in  the  wilderness,  was  addressed  to  desire ;  the  second,  in  the 
garden,  was  addressed  to  fear.  Satan,  after  the  first,  "  departed  from  him  for  a  season  "  ( Luke  4  : 13 ) ; 
but  he  returned,  in  Gethse  mane  —  "  the  prince  of  the  world  cometh:  and  he  hath  nothing  in  me"  (John. 
14  :  30 )  —  if  possible,  to  deter  Jesus  from  his  work,  by  rousing  within  him  vast  and  agon- 
izing fears  of  the  suffering  and  death  that  lay  before  him.  Yet,  in  spite  of  both  the 
desire  and  the  fear  with  which  his  holy  soul  was  moved,  he  was  "without  sin"  (Heb.  4  : 15). 
Even  in  Gethsemane  and  on  Calvary,  Christ  never  prays  for  forgiveness  —  he  only  im- 
parts it  to  others.  See  Ullman,  Sinlessness  of  Jesus ;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und 
Werk,  2  :  7-17, 126-136,  esp.  135, 136;  Schaff,  Person  of  Christ,  51-72. 

(c)  Ideal  human  nature,  —  furnishing  the  moral  pattern  which  man  is 
progressively  to  realize. 

Psalm  8  :  4-8  —  "  thou  hast  made  him  but  little  lower  than  God,  And  crownest  him  with  glory  and  honor.  Thou  madest 
him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy  hands ;  Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet "  —  a  description  of 
the  ideal  man,  which  finds  its  realization  only  in  Christ.  Heb.  2  :  6-10  —  "  But  now  we  see  not  yet 
all  things  subjected  under  him.  But  we  behold  him  who  hath  been  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  even  Jesus, 

because  of  the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honor."  1  Cor.  15  :  45  —  "  The  first ....  Adam The  last 

Adam"  — implies  that  the  second  Adam  realized  the  full  concept  of  humanity,  which 
failed  to  be  realized  in  the  first  Adam ;  so  verse  49  —  "  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy 
[  man  ],  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly  "  [  man  ].  1  Cor.  3  : 18  —  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord  "  is  the 
pattern,  into  whose  likeness  we  are  to  be  changed.  Phil.  3  :  21 —  "  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body 
of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his  glory  "  ;  Col.  1 : 18  —  "  that  in  all  things  he  might  have 
the  pre-eminence  "  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  21  —  "  Suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps  " ;  1  John. 
3:3  —  "  Every  one  that  hath  this  hope  set  on  him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure." 

The  phrase  "Son  of  man"  (John  5  :  27;  c/.  Dan.  7  : 13,  Com.  of  Pusey,  in  loco,  and  Westcott, 
in  Bible  Com.  on  John,  32-35)  seems  to  intimate  that  Christ  answers  to  the  perfect  idea 
of  humanity,  as  it  at  first  existed  in  the  mind  of  God.  Not  that  he  was  surpassingly 
beautiful  In  physical  form  ;  for  the  only  way  to  reconcile  the  seemingly  conflicting  inti- 
mations is  to  suppose  that  in  all  outward  respects  he  took  our  average  humanity — at 
one  time  appearing  without  form  or  comeliness  (Is.  53  :  2 ),  and  aged  before  his  time  (John 
8  :  57  —  "  Thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old  "  ),  at  another  time  revealing  so  much  of  his  inward  grace 
and  glory  that  men  were  attracted  and  awed  ( Ps.  45  :  2  —  "  Thou  art  fairer  than  the  children  of  men  "  ; 
Luke  4  :  22  —  "the  words  of  grace  which  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth  "  ;  Mark  10  :  32  —  "Jesus  was  going  before  them  : 
and  they  were  amazed ;  and  they  that  followed  were  afraid  " ;  Mat.  17  : 1-8  —  the  account  of  the  transfigu- 
ration ).  Compare  the  Byzantine  pictures  of  Christ  with  those  of  the  Italian  painters. 

But  in  all  spiritual  respects  Christ  was  perfect.  In  him  are  united  all  the  excellences 
of  both  the  sexes,  of  all  temperaments  and  nationalities  and  characters.  He  possesses, 
not  simply  passive  innocence,  but  positive  and  absolute  holiness,  triumphant  through 
temptation.  He  includes  in  himself  all  objects  and  reasons  for  affection  and  worship ; 
so  that,  in  loving  him,  "love  can  never  love  too  much."  Christ's  human  nature,  there- 
fore, and  not  human  nature  as  it  is  in  us,  is  the  true  basis  of  ethics  and  of  theology. 
This  absence  of  narrow  individuality,  this  ideal,  universal  manhood,  could  not  have  been 
secured  by  merely  natural  laws  of  propagation— it  was  secured  by  Christ's  miraculous 
conception ;  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  446  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  344 ). 

On  Christ's  ideal  manhood,  see  F.  W.  Robertson,  Sermon  on  the  Glory  of  the  Divine 
Son ;  Wilberforce,  Incarnation,  22-99;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  2  :  25;  Moorhouse,  Nature  and 
Revelation,  37 ;  Tennyson,  Introduction  to  In  Memoriam ;  Farrar,  Life  of  Christ,  1  : 148- 
154,  and  2 :  excursus  iv ;  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  276-332 ;  Thomas 
Hughes,  The  Manliness  of  Christ ;  Hopkins,  Scriptural  Idea  of  Man,  121-145 ;  Tyler,  in 
Bib.  Sac.,  22  :  51,  620;  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  ,  451  sq. 

(d)  A  human  nature  that  found  its  personality  only  in  union  with  the  di- 
vine nature, — in  other  words,  a  human  nature  impersonal,  in  the  sense  that 
it  had  no  personality  separate  from  the  divine  nature,  and  prior  to  its  union 
therewith. 

By  the  impersonality  of  Christ's  human  nature,  we  mean  only  that  it  had  no  person- 
ality before  Christ  took  it,  no  personality  before  its  union  with  the  divine.  It  was  a 
human  nature  whose  consciousness  and  will  were  developed  only  in  union  with  the 


THE   TWO    NATURES   OF   CHRIST.  367 

personality  of  the  Logos.  The  Fathers  therefore  rejected  the  word  avimoo-Tao-ia,  and 
substituted  the  word  evvirovrao-ia  —  they  favored  not  impersonality  but  inpersonality. 
In  still  plainer  terms,  the  Logos  did  not  take  into  union  with  himself  an  already  devel- 
oped human  person,  such  as  James,  Peter,  or  John,  but  human  nature  before  it  had 
become  personal  or  was  capable  of  receiving  a  name.  It  reached  its  personality  only  in 
union  with  his  own  divine  nature.  Therefore  we  see  in  Christ  not  two  persons— a  human 
person  and  a  divine  person— but  one  person,  and  that  person  possessed  of  a  human  na- 
ture as  well  as  of  a  divine.  For  proof  of  this,  see  note  on  the  Union  of  the  two  Natures 
in  one  Person. 

(e)  A  human  nature  germinal,  and  capable  of  self-communication,  —  so 
constituting  him  the  spiritual  head  and  beginning  of  a  new  race. 

In  Is.  9  :  6,  Christ  is  called  "  Everlasting  Father."  In  Is.  53  : 10,  it  is  said  that  "  he  shall  see  his  seed." 
In  Rev.  22  : 16,  he  calls  himself  "the  root"  as  well  as  "the  offspring  of  David."  See  also  John  5  :  21— 
"the  Son  also  quickeneth  whom  he  will" ;  15  : 1— "I  am  the  true  vine"— whose  roots  are  planted  in 
heaven,  not  on  earth ;  the  vine-man,  from  whom  as  its  stock  the  new  life  of  humanity  is 
to  spring,  and  into  whom  the  half-withered  branches  of  the  old  humanity  are  to  be 
grafted  that  they  may  have  life  divine.  See  Trench,  Sermon  on  Christ,  the  True  Vine, 
in  Hulsean  Lectures.  John  17  :  2—"  thou  gavest  him  authority  over  all  flesh,  that  whatsoever  thou  hast  given 
him,  to  them  he  should  give  eternal  life";  1  Cor.  15:45 — "the  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit"  —  here 
"spirit"  =,  not  the  Holy  Spirit,  nor  Christ's  divine  nature,  but  "  the  ego  of  his  total  divine- 
human  personality." 

Bph.  5  :  23— "Christ  also  is  the  head  of  the  church  "  =  the  head  to  which  all  the  members  are  united, 
and  from  which  they  derive  life  and  power ;  Col.  1 : 18— "who  is -the  beginning,  the  first-born  from  the 
dead  "  ;  in  Heb.  2  : 13,  Christ  says :  "Behold,  I  and  the  children  which  God  hath  given  me."  The  new  race 
is  propagated  after  the  analogy  of  the  old ;  the  first  Adam  is  the  source  of  physical, 
the  second  Adam  of  spiritual,  life;  the  first  Adam  the  source  of  corruption,  the  second 
of  holiness.  Hence  John  12  :  24—"  if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit "  ;  Mat.  10  :  37  and  Luke  14  :  26—"  He  that 
loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me  "  =  none  is  worthy  of  me,  who  prefers  his  old 
natural  ancestry  to  his  new  spiritual  descent  and  relationship.  Thus  Christ  is  not  simply 
the  noblest  embodiment  of  the  old  humanity,  but  also  the  fountain-head  and  beginning 
of  a  new  humanity,  the  new  source  of  life  for  the  race.  See  Wilberforce,  Incarnation, 
227-241 ;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  638-664 ;  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2 :  451  sq.  ( Syst.  Doct.r 
3  :  349  sq. ). 

The  passages  here  alluded  to  abundantly  confute  the  Docetic  denial  of 
Christ's  veritable  human  body,  and  the  Apollinarian  denial  of  Christ's  ver- 
itable human  soul.  More  than  this,  they  establish  the  reality  and  integrity 
of  Christ's  human  nature,  as  possessed  of  all  the  elements,  faculties,  and 
powers  essential  to  humanity. 

2.     The  Deity  of  Christ. 

The  reality  and  integrity  of  Christ's  divine  nature  have  been  sufficiently 
proved  in  a  former  chapter  of  these  lectures  (see  pages  145-150).  We  need 
only  refer  to  the  evidence  there  given,  that,  during  his  earthly  ministry, 
Christ : 

(a)     Possessed  a  knowledge  of  his  own  deity. 

John  3  : 13— "the  Son  of  man,  which  is  in  heaven"— a  passage  which  clearly  indicates  Christ's  con- 
sciousness, at  certain  times  in  his  earthly  life  at  least,  that  he  was  not  confined  to  earth, 
but  was  also  in  heaven  [here,  however,  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  X  and  B,  omit  6  S>v  iv  r<s 
oupaixi]  ;  8  :  58— "Before  Abraham  was  born,  I  am  "—here  Jesus  declares  that  there  is  a  respect  in 
which  the  idea  of  birth  and  beginning  does  not  apply  to  him,  but  in  which  he  can  apply 
to  himself  the  name  "I  am"  of  the  eternal  God;  14  :  9, 10— "Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and 
dost  thou  not  know  me,  Philip  ?  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father ;  how  sayest  thou,  Shew  us  the  Father  ?  Be- 
lievest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me  ?  " 

(6)     Exercised  divine  attributes  and  prerogatives. 

John  2  :  24,  25— "But  Jesus  did  not  trust  himself  unto  them,  for  that  he  knew  all  men,  and  because  he  needed  not  that 


368 


SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 


any  one  should  bear  witness  concerning  man ;  for  he  himself  knew  what  was  in  man"  ;  Mark  4  :  39— "He  awoke,  and 
rebuked  the  wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea,  Peace,  be  still.  And  the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was  a  great  calm  "  ;  Mat.  9  :  6 
— "but  that  ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  authority  on  earth  to  forgive  sins  ( then  saith  he  to  the  sick  of  the 
palsy ),  Arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed,  and  go  unto  thy  house "  ;  Mark  2  :  7—"  Why  doth  this  man  thus  speak  ?  he  blas- 
phemeth :  who  can  forgive  sins  but  one,  even  God." 

But  this  is  to  say,  in  other  words,  that  there  were,  in  Christ,  a  knowledge 
and  a  power  such  as  belong  only  to  God.  The  passages  cited  furnish  a 
refutation  of  both  the  Ebionite  denial  of  the  reality,  and  the  Arian  denial 
of  the  integrity,  of  the  divine  nature  in  Christ. 

Napoleon  to  Count  Montholon  ( Bertrand's  Memoirs) :  "  I  think  I  understand  somewhat 
of  human  nature,  and  I  tell  you  all  these  [heroes  of  antiquity]  were  men,  and  I  am  a 
man ;  but  not  one  is  like  him :  Jesus  Christ  was  more  than  man."  See  other  testimonies 
in  Schaff,  Person  of  Christ.  Even  Channing1  speaks  of  Christ  as  more  than  a  human 
being:— as  having-  exhibited  a  spotless  purity  which  is  the  highest  distinction  of  heaven. 
F.  W.  Robertson  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  phrase  "Son  of  man"  (John  5  :  27; 
cf.  Dan.  7  : 13 )  itself  implies  that  Christ  was  more  than  man ;  it  would  have  been  an  im- 
pertinence for  him  to  have  proclaimed  himself  Son  of  man,  unless  he  had  claimed  to  be 
something1  more ;  could  not  every  human  being:  call  himself  the  same?  When  one  takes 
this  for  his  characteristic  designation,  as  Jesus  did,  he  implies  that  there  is  something1 
strange  in  his  being  Son  of  man ;  that  this  is  not  his  original  condition  and  dignity ;  in 
other  words,  that  he  is  also  Son  of  God. 

It  corroborates  the  argument  from  Scripture,  to  find  that  Christian  experience  instinct- 
ively recognizes  Christ's  Godhead,  and  that  Christian  history  shows  a  new  conception  of 
the  dignity  of  childhood  and  of  womanhood,  of  the  sacredness  of  human  life,  and  of  the 
value  of  a  human  soul— all  arising  from  the  belief  that,  in  Christ,  the  Godhead  honored 
human  nature  by  taking  it  into  perpetual  union  with  itself,  by  bearing  its  guilt  and 
punishment,  and  by  raising  it  up  from  the  dishonors  of  the  grave  to  the  glory  of  heaven. 
We  need  both  the  humanity  and  the  deity  of  Christ:  the  humanity — for,  as  Michael 
Angelo's  Last  Judgment  witnesses,  the  ages  that  neglect  Christ's  humanity  must  have 
some  human  advocate  and  Savior,  and  find  a  poor  substitute  for  the  ever-present  Christ 
in  Mariolatry,  the  invocation  of  the  saints,  and  the  '  real  presence '  of  the  wafer  and  the 
mass ;  the  deity— for,  unless  Christ  is  God,  he  cannot  offer  an  infinite  atonement  for  us, 
nor  bring  about  a  real  union  between  our  souls  and  the  Father.  Corner,  Glaubenslehre, 
2  :  325-327  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  231-323)—"  Mary  and  the  saints  took  Christ's  place  as  interces- 
sors in  heaven ;  transubstantiation  furnished  a  present  Christ  on  earth").  See  also  Shedd, 
Hist.  Doctrine,  1 :  262,  351 ;  Liddon,  Our  Lord's  Divinity,  127,  207,  458 ;  Thomasius,  Christi 
Person  und  Werk,  1 ;  61-64 ;  Hovey,  God  with  Us,  17-23 ;  Bengel  on  John  10  :  30. 


ITT.     THE  UNION  or  THE  TWO  NATURES  IN  ONE  PERSON. 

Distinctly  as  the  Scriptures  represent  Jesus  Christ  to  have  been  possessed 
of  a  divine  nature  and  of  a  human  nature,  each  unaltered  in  essence  and 
undivested  of  its  normal  attributes  and  powers,  they  with  equal  distinctness 
represent  Jesus  Christ  as  a  single  undivided  personality  in  whom  these  two 
natures  are  vitally  and  inseparably  united,  so  that  he  is  properly,  not  God 
and  man,  but  the  God-man.  The  two  natures  are  bound  together,  not  by 
the  moral  tie  of  friendship,  nor  by  the  spiritual  tie  which  links  the  believer 
to  his  Lord,  but  by  a  bond  unique  and  inscrutable,  which  constitutes  them 
one  person  with  a  single  consciousness  and  will — this  consciousness  and  will 
including  within  their  possible  range  both  the  human  nature  and  the  divine. 

1.     Proof  of  this  Union. 

(a)  Christ  uniformly  speaks  of  himself,  and  is  spoken  of,  as  a  single 
person.  There  is  no  interchange  of  '  I '  and  *  thou '  between  the  human 
and  the  divine  natures,  such  as  we  find  between  the  persons  of  the  Trinity 


THE   TWO    NATURES    IN    ONE    PERSON.  369 

(John  17  :  23).  Christ  never  uses  the  plural  number  in  referring  to  himself, 
unless  it  be  in  John  3  :  11 — "we  speak  that  we  do  know,"  and  even  here 
•"we"  is  more  probably  used  as  inclusive  of  the  disciples.  1  John  4  :  2 — 
41  is  come  in  the  flesh  " — is  supplemented  by  John  1  :  14 — "  became  flesh  " ; 
and  these  texts  together  assure  us  that  Christ  so  came  in  human  nature  as 
to  make  that  nature  an  element  in  his  single  personality. 

John  17  :  23—"  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfected  into  one ;  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou 
•didst  send  me,  and  lovedst  them,  even  as  thou  lovedst  me  "  ;  3  : 11—"  We  speak  that  we  do  know,  and  bear  witness  of 
that  we  have  seen ;  and  ye  receive  not  our  witness  " ;  1  John  4  :  2—"  Every  spirit  which  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God  "  ;  John  1  :  14 — •"  and  the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  "  =  he  so  came  in 
human  nature  that  human  nature  and  himself  formed,  not  two  persons,  but  one  person. 

(6)  The  attributes  and  powers  of  both  natures  are  ascribed  to  the  one 
Christ,  and  conversely  the  works  and  dignities  of  the  one  Christ  are  ascribed 
to  either  of  the  natures,  in  a  way  inexplicable,  except  upon  the  principle 
that  these  two  natures  are  organically  and  indissolubly  united  in  a  single 
person  (  examples  of  the  former  usage  are  Rom.  1  :  3  and  1  Pet.  3  :  18  ;  of 
the  latter,  1  Tim.  2  :  5  and  Heb.  1  :  2,  3).  Hence  we  can  say,  on  the  one 
hand,  that  the  God-man  existed  before  Abraham,  yet  was  born  in  the  reign 
of  Augustus  Caesar,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  wept,  was  weary,  suffered,  died, 
yet  is  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever ;  on  the  other  hand,  that  a 
divine  Savior  redeemed  us  upon  the  cross,  and  that  the  human  Christ  is 
present  with  his  people  even  to  the  end  of  the  world  ( Eph.  1  :  23  ;  4:10; 
Mat.  28  :20). 

Rom.  1 :  3—"  his  Son,  who  was  born  of  the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh  "  ;    1  Pet.  3  :  18—"  Christ  also  suffered 

for  sins  once being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  spirit" ;    1  Tim.  2  :  5— "one  Mediator  also 

between  God  and  men,  himself  man,  Christ  Jesus" ;    Heb.  1  :  2,  3— "his  Son,  whom  he  appointed  heir  of  all  things 

who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory when  he  had  made  purification  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand 

of  the  Majesty  on  high"  ;  Eph.  1  :  22,  23— "put  all  things  in  subjection  under  Ms  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over 
all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  illeth  all  in  all "  ;  4  :  10—"  he  that  descended  is  the 
same  also  that  ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens,  that  he  might  fill  all  things"  ;  Mat.  28  :  20— "lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

(c)  The  constant  Scriptural  representations  of   the  infinite  value   of 
•Christ's  atonement  and  of  the  union  of  the  human  race  with  God  which  has 
been  secured  in  him  are  intelligible  only  when  Christ  is  regarded,  not  as  a 
man  of  God,  but  as  the  God-man,  in  whom  the  two  natures  are  so  united 
that  what  each  does  has  the  value  of  both. 

1  John  2  :  2 — "He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world  "  ;  Eph.  2  : 
16-18 — "  might  reconcile  them  both  [  Jew  and  Gentile  ]  in  one  body  unto  God  through  the  cross,  having  slain  the 
enmity  thereby ;  and  he  came  and  preached  peace  to  you  that  were  far  off,  and  peace  to  them  that  were  nigh :  for  through 
him  we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father"  ;  21 :  22 — "in  whom  each  several  building,  fitly  framed 
together,  groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord ;  in  whom  ye  also  are  builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God  in  the 
Spirit"  ;  2  Pet.  1 :  4— "that  through  these  [promises]  ye  may  become  partakers  of  the  divine  nature." 

(d)  It  corroborates  this  view  to  remember  that  the  universal  Christian 
consciousness  recognizes  in  Christ  a  single  and  undivided  personality,  and 
expresses  this  recognition  in  its  services  of  song  and  prayer. 

The  foregoing  proof  of  the  union  of  a  perfect  human  nature  and  of  a 
perfect  divine  nature  in  the  single  person  of  Jesus  Christ  suffices  to  refute 
both  the  Nestorian  separation  of  the  natures  and  the  Eutychian  confound- 
ing of  them.  Certain  modern  forms  of  stating  the  doctrine  of  this  union, 
however  —  forms  of  statement  into  which  there  enter  some  of  the  miscon- 
24 


370  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

ceptions  already  noticed  —  need  a  brief  examination,  before  we  proceed  to- 
our  own  attempt  at  elucidation. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  403-411  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  300-308 )  — "  Three  ideas  are  included 
in  incarnation  :  (1)  assumption  of  human  nature  on  the  part  of  the  Logos  (Heb.  2  : 14  — 

'  partook  of flesh  and  blood ' ;  2  Cor.  5  : 19—'  God  was  in  Christ ' ;  Col.  2  :  9— '  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of 

the  Godhead  bodily' ) ;  (2)  new  creation  of  the  second  Adam,  by  the  Holy  Ghost  and  power 
of  the  Highest  ( Rom.  5  : 14—'  Adam's  transgression,  who  is  a  figure  of  him  that  was  to  come ' ;  1  Cor.  15  :  22—'  As. 
in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive ' ;  15  :  45—'  the  first  man  Adam  became  a  living  soul.  The 
last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit ' ;  Luke  1 :  35—'  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the 
Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee ' ;  Mat.  1 :  20—'  that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost ' ) ;  ( 3 )  becom- 
ing1 flesh,  without  contraction  of  deity  or  humanity  ( 1  Tim.  3  : 16—'  who  was  manifested  in  the 
flesh ' ;  1  John  4  :  2—'  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh ' ;  John  6  :  41,  51—'  I  am  the  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven  ...  I  am  the  living  bread ' ;  2  John  7— 'Jesus  Christ  cometh  in  the  flesh ' ;  John  1 : 14— 'the  Word  became 
flesh.'  This  last  text  cannot  mean :  The  Logos  ceased  to  be  what  he  was,  and  began  to 
be  only  man.  Nor  can  it  be  a  mere  theophany,  in  human  form.  The  reality  of  the 
Jhumanity  is  intimated,  as  well  as  the  reality  of  the  Logos." 

The  Lutherans  hold  to  a  communion  of  the  natures,  as  well  as  to  an  impartation  of 
their  properties :  ( 1 )  genus  idiomaticum  =  impartation  of  attributes  of  both  natures 
to  the  one  person  ;  (2)  genus  apotelesmaticum  ( from  ajroreAeoa,  '  that  which  is  finished 
or  completed,'  i.  e.  Jesus'  work )  =  attributes  of  the  one  person  imparted  to  each  of  the 
constituent  natures.  Hence  Mary  may  be  called  "  the  mother  of  God,"  as  the  Chalcedon 
symbol  declares,  "  as  to  his  humanity,"  and  what  each  nature  did  has  the  value  of  both ; 
(3)  genus  majestaticum  =  attributes  of  one  nature  imparted  to  the  other,  yet  so  that  the 
divine  nature  imparts  to  the  human,  not  the  human  to  the  divine.  The  Lutherans  do 
not  believe  in  a  genus  tapeinoticon,  i.  e.,  that  the  human  elements  communicated  them- 
selves to  the  divine.  The  only  communication  of  the  human  was  to  the  person,  not  to 
the  divine  nature,  of  the  God-man.  Examples  of  this  third  genus  majestaticum  are  found 
in  John  3:3  —  "No  man  hath  ascended  into  heaven,  but  he  that  descended  out  of  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man,  which 
is  in  heaven"  [here,  however,  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  X  and  B,  omit  6  u>v  ev  r<Z  ovpa^] ; 
5  :  27  —  "he  gave  him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man."  Of  the  explanation  that 
this  is  the  figure  of  speech  called  "allveosis,"  Luther  says:  "Allwosis  est  larva  qusedam 
diaboli,  secundum  cujus  rationes  ego  certe  nolim  esse  Christianus." 

The  genus  majestaticum  is  denied  by  the  Reformed  Church,  on  the  ground  that  it  does 
not  permit  a  clear  distinction  of  the  natures.  And  this  is  one  great  difference  between  it 
and  the  Lutheran  church.  So  Hooker,  in  commenting  upon  the  Son  of  man's  "  ascend- 
ing up  where  he  was  before,"  says :  "  By  the  'Son  of  man'  must  be  meant  the  whole  per- 
son of  Christ,  who,  being  man  upon  earth,  filled  heaven  with  his  glorious  presence; 
but  not  according  to  that  nature  for  which  the  title  of  man  is  given  him."  For  the 
Lutheran  view  of  this  union  and  its  results  in  the  communion  of  natures,  see  Hase,. 
Hutterus  Redivivus,  llth  ed.,  195-197 ;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  2  :  24,  25. 
For  Reformed  view,  see  Turretin,  loc.  13,  quaest.  8;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2:387-397, 
407-418. 

2.     Modern  misrepresentations  of  this  union. 

A.  The  theory  of  Gess  and  Beecher,  that  the  humanity  in  Christ  is  & 
contracted  and  metamorphosed  deity. 

The  advocates  of  this  view  maintain  that  the  divine  Logos  reduced  him- 
self to  the  condition  and  limits  of  human  nature,  and  thus  literally  became  a 
human  soul.  The  theory  differs  from  Apollinarism,  in  that  it  does  not  nec- 
essarily presuppose  a  trichotomous  view  of  man's  nature.  While  Apollin- 
arism, however,  denied  the  human  origin  only  of  Christ's  Trveiy/a,  this  theory 
extends  the  denial  to  .his  entire  immaterial  being  —  his  body  alone  being" 
derived  from  the  Virgin.  It  is  held,  in  slightly  varying  forms,  by  the  Ger- 
mans, Hofmann  and  Ebrard,  as  well  as  by  Gess ;  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher 
is  its  chief  representative  in  America. 

Gess  holds  that  Christ  gave  up  his  eternal  holiness  and  divine  self-consciousness,  to 
become  man,  so  that  he  never  during  his  earthlv  life  thought,  spoke,  or  wrought  as  God, 


THE   TWO    MATURES    IN    ONE    PERSON.  371 

but  was  at  all  times  destitute  of  divine  attributes.  See  Gess,  Scripture  Doctrine  of  the 
Person  of  Christ;  and  synopsis  of  his  view,  by  Reubelt,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1870 : 1-32;  Hof- 
mann,  Schriftbeweis,  1 :  234-241,  and  2  :  20;  Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  2  : 144-151,  and  in  Herzog, 
Encyclopedic,  art. :  Jesus  Christ,  der  Gottmensch ;  also  Liebner,  Christliche  Dogmatik, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  in  his  Life  of  Jesus  the  Christ,  chap.  3,  emphasizes  the  word 
"flesh,"  in  John  1 : 14,  and  declares  the  passage  to  mean  that  the  divine  Spirit  enveloped  him- 
self in  a  human  body,  and  in  that  condition  was  subject  to  the  indispensable  limitations 
of  material  laws.  All  these  advocates  of  the  view  hold  that  Deity  was  dormant,  or 
paralyzed,  in  Christ  during  his  earthly  life.  Its  essence  is  there,  but  not  its  efficiency  at 
any  time. 

Against  this  theory  we  urge  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  It  rests  upon  a  false  interpretation  of  the  passage  John  1  :  14 — 
6  %6-/uc  cap!-  kyevtro.  The  word  mzpf  here  has  its  common  New  Testament 
meaning.  It  designates  neither  soul  nor  body  alone,  but  human  nature  in 
its  totality  ( cf.  John  3  :  6  —  TO  yeyEvyrifjLevov  £K  rrjQ  aapKo^  nap%  iariv  ;  Rom.  7  : 
8  —  OVK  oiKel  ev  kfjioi,  TOVT'  eoriv  kv  rrf  oapKi  /J-ov,  aya&6v  ).  That  kyivero  does  not 
imply  a  transmutation  of  the  A<5yof  into  human  nature,  or  into  a  human  soul, 
is  evident  from  kcKrjvuaev  which  follows  —  an  allusion  to  the  Shechinah  of  the 
Mosaic  tabernacle  ;  and  from  the  parallel  passage  1  John  4  :  2  —  kv  uapid 
£/l7?/ltn9<5ra — where  we  are  taught  not  only  the  oneness  of  Christ's  person,  but 
the  distinctness  of  the  constituent  natures. 

John  1 : 14— "the  Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  [tabernacled]  among  us,  and  we  beheld  his  glory"  ;  3  :  6— 
"  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  "  ;  Rom.  7  :  18—"  in  me,  that  is,  in  my  flesh,  dwelleth  no  good  thing  "  ;  1  John 
4  :  2— "Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh."  Since  "flesh,"  in  Scriptural  usage,  denotes  human  nature 
in  its  entirety,  there  is  as  little  reason  to  infer  from  these  passages  a  change  of  the 
Logos  into  a  human  body,  as  a  change  of  the  Logos  into  a  human  soul. 

(6)  It  contradicts  the  two  great  classes  of  Scripture  passages  already 
referred  to,  which  assert  on  the  one  hand  the  divine  knowledge  and  power 
of  Christ  and  his  consciousness  of  oneness  with  the  Father,  and  on  the 
other  hand  the  completeness  of  his  human  nature  and  its  derivation  from 
the  stock  of  Israel  and  the  seed  of  Abraham  (Mat.  1  :  1-16  ;  Heb.  2  :  16). 
Thus  it  denies  both  the  true  humanity,  and  the  true  deity,  of  Christ. 

See  the  Scripture  passages  cited  in  proof  of  the  Deity  of  Christ,  pages  145-150.  Gess 
himself  acknowledges  that,  if  the  passages  in  which  Jesus  avers  his  divine  knowledge 
and  power  and  his  consciousness  of  oneness  with  the  Father  refer  to  his  earthly  life, 
his  theory  is  overthrown.  "  Apollinarism  had  a  certain  sort  of  grotesque  grandeur,  in 
giving  to  the  human  body  and  soul  of  Christ  an  infinite,  divine  Tn/eG/ua.  It  maintained 
at  least  the  divine  side  of  Christ's  person.  But  the  theory  before  us  denies  both  sides." 
While  it  so  curtails  deity  that  it  is  no  proper  deity,  it  takes  away  from  humanity  all 
that  is  valuable  in  humanity ;  for  a  manhood  that  consists  only  in  body  is  no  proper 
manhood.  Such  manhood  is  like  the  "half-length"  portrait  which  depicted  only  the 
lower  half  of  the  man.  Mat.  1 : 1-16,  the  genealogy  of  Jesus,  and  Heb.  2  : 16— "taketh  hold  of  the 
seed  of  Abraham  "—intimate  that  Christ  took  all  that  belonged  to  human  nature. 

(c)  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  Scriptural  representations  of  God's  immu- 
tability, in  maintaining  that  the  Logos  gives  up  the  attributes  of  godhead, 
and  his  place  and  office  as  second  person  of  the  Trinity,  in  order  to  contract 
himself  into  the  limits  of  humanity.  Since  attributes  and  substance  are 
correlative  terms,  it  is  impossible  to  hold  that  the  substance  of  God  is  in 
Christ,  so  long  as  he  does  not  possess  divine  attributes.  The  only  exit 
from  this  difficulty  is  through  the  pantheistic  hypothesis  that  God  and  man 
are  not  two,  but  one,  in  essence.  To  pantheism,  therefore,  this  theory 
actually  tends. 


372  SOTERIOLOGY,    OK   THE   DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

See  Dorner,  UnverKnderlichkeit  Gottes,  in  Jahrbuch  fur  deutsche  Theologie,  1 :  361 ; 
2  :  440 ;  3  :  579 ;  esp.  1 :  390-412—"  Gess  holds  that,  during  the  thirty-three  years  of  Jesus' 
earthly  life,  the  Trinity  was  altered;  the  Father  no  more  poured  his  fulness  into  the 
Son  ;  the  Son  no  more,  with  the  Father,  sent  forth  the  Holy  Spirit ;  the  world  was  up- 
held and  governed  by  Father  and  Spirit  alone,  without  the  mediation  of  the  Son ;  the 
Father  ceased  to  beget  the  Son.  He  says  the  Father  alone  has  aseity ;  he  is  the  only 
Monas.  The  Trinity  is  a  family,  whose  head  is  the  Father,  but  whose  number  and  con- 
dition is  variable.  To  Gess,  it  is  indifferent  whether  the  Trinity  consists  of  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  or  ( as  during  Jesus'  life )  of  only  one.  But  this  is  a  Trinity  in  which  two 
members  are  accidental.  A  Trinity  that  can  get  along  without  one  of  its  members  is  not 
the  Scriptural  Trinity.  The  Father  depends  on  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit  depends  on  the 
Son,  as  much  as  the  Son  depends  on  the  Father.  To  take  away  the  Son  is  to  take  away 
the  Father  and  the  Spirit.  This  giving  up  of  the  actuality  of  his  attributes,  even  of  his 
holiness,  on  the  part  of  the  Logos,  is  in  order  to  make  it  possible  for  Christ  to  sin.  But 
can  we  ascribe  the  possibility  of  sin  to  a  being  who  is  really  God?  The  reality  of  temp- 
tation requires  us  to  postulate  a  veritable  human  soul." 

That  the  theory  naturally  tends  to  pantheism,  can  be  seen  in  Goodwin,  Christ  and 
Humanity,  who  takes  the  ground  that  man  and  God  are  of  the  same  essence.  Beecher, 
too,  says  that  man  and  God  are  of  the  same  nature,  and  that  man  is  to  become  divine. 
So  Gess  calls  the  human  soul  a  spark  of  the  divine  flame.  But  we  cannot  believe 
either  in  a  man  changed  to  a  God,  or  in  a  God  changed  to  a  man.  In  the  one  case  God 
ceases  to  be  God,  in  the  other  man  ceases  to  be  man.  If  God's  Spirit  constitutes  Christ's 
human  soul,  and  in  like  manner  every  other  human  soul  also,  then  there  is  no  difference 
between  Christ  and  us  but  one  of  degree,  and  we  may  justify  William  Blake's  blasphe- 
mous saying  to  Crabbe  Robinson :  "Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  God,  and  so  am  I,  and  so  are 
you." 

(d)  It  is  destructive  of  the  whole  Scriptural  scheme  of  salvation,  in  that 
it  renders  impossible  any  experience  of  human  nature  on  the  part  of  the 
divine,  —  for  when  God  becomes  man  he  ceases  to  be  God  ;  in  that  it  renders 
impossible  any  sufficient  atonement  on  the  part  of  human  nature,  —  for 
mere  humanity,  even  though  its  essence  be  a  contracted  and  dormant  deity, 
is  not  capable  of  a  suffering  which  shall  have  infinite  value ;  in  that  it 
renders  impossible  any  proper  union  of  the  human  race  with  God  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ,  —  for  where  true  deity  and  true  humanity  are  both 
absent,  there  can  be  no  union  between  the  two. 

See  Dorner,  Jahrbuch  f .  d.  Theologie,  1 :  390—"  Upon  this  theory  only  an  exhibitory 
atonement  can  be  maintained.  There  is  no  real  humanity  that,  in  the  strength  of  divin- 
ity, can  bring  a  sacrifice  to  God.  Not  substitution,  therefore,  but  obedience,  on  this  view, 
reconciles  us  to  God.  Even  if  it  is  said  that  God's  Spirit  is  the  real  soul  in  all  men,  this 
Avill  not  help  the  matter ;  for  we  should  then  have  to  make  an  essential  distinction  be- 
tween the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  in  the  unregenerate,  the  regenerate,  and  Christ, 
respectively.  But  in  that  case  we  lose  the  likeness  between  Christ's  nature  and  our 
own—Christ's  being  preexistent,  and  ours  not.  Without  this  pantheistic  doctrine,  Christ's 
unlikeness  to  us  is  yet  greater ;  for  he  is  really  a  wandering  God,  clothed  in  a  human 
T)ody,  and  cannot  properly  be  called  a  human  soul.  We  have  then  no  middle-point  be- 
tween the  body  and  the  Godhead ;  and  in  the  state  of  exaltation,  we  have  no  manhood  at 
all— only  the  infinite  Logos,  in  a  glorified  body  as  his  garment." 

Isaac  Watts's  theory  of  a  pree'xistent  humanity  in  like  manner  implies  that  humanity 
is  originally  in  deity ;  it  does  not  proceed  from  a  human  stock,  but  from  a  divine ; 
between  the  human  and  the  divine  there  is  no  proper  distinction ;  hence  there  can  be  no 
proper  redeeming  of  humanity ;  see  Bib.  Sac.,  1875  :  421.  On  the  theory  in  general,  see 
Hovey,  God  with  Us,  62-69 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  430-440 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4 : 
386-408 ;  Biedermann,  Christliche  Dogmatik,  356-359 ;  Bruce,  Humiliation  of  Christ,  187, 
230. 

f 

B.  Theory  of  Dorner  and  Eothe,  that  the  union  between  the  divine  and 
the  human  natures  is  not  completed  by  the  incarnating  act.  ' 

The  advocates  of  this  view  maintain  that  the  union  between  the  two  na- 


THE    TWO    NATURES    IN    ONE    PERSON.  373 

tures  is  accomplished  by  a  gradual  communication  of  the  fulness  of  the 
divine  Logos  to  the  man  Christ  Jesus.  This  communication  is  mediated 
by  the  human  consciousness  of  Jesus.  Before  the  human  consciousness 
begins,  the  personality  of  the  Logos  is  not  yet  divine-human.  The  personal 
union  completes  itself  only  gradually,  as  the  human  consciousness  is  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  appropriate  the  divine. 

Corner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  660  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 125 )  — "  In  order  that  Christ  might  show 
his  high-priestly  love  by  suffering  and  death,  the  different  sides  of  his  personality  yet 
stood  to  one  another  in  relative  separableness.  The  divine-human  union  in  him,  accord- 
ingly, was  before  his  death  not  yet  completely  actualized,  although  its  completion  was 
from  the  beginning  divinely  assured."  2  :  431  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  328 )— "  In  spite  of  this  be- 
coming, inside  of  the  Unio,  the  Logos  is  from  the  beginning  united  with  Jesus  in  the 
deepest  foundation  of  his  being,  and  Jesus'  life  has  ever  been  a  divine-human  one,  in  that 

a  present  receptivity  for  the  Godhead  has  never  remained  without  its  satisfaction 

Even  the  unconscious  humanity  of  the  babe  turns  receptively  to  the  Logos,  as  the 
plant  turns  toward  the  light.  The  initial  union  makes  Christ  already  the  God-man, 
but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  a  subsequent  becoming ;  for  surely  he  did  become 
omniscient  and  incapable  of  death,  as  he  was  not  at  the  beginning." 

2  :  464  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  363)—"  The  actual  life  of  God,  as  the  Logos,  reaches  beyond  the 
beginnings  of  the  divine-human  life.  For  if  the  Unio  is  to  complete  itself  by  growth, 
the  relation  of  impartation  and  reception  must  continue.  In  his  personal  conscious- 
ness, there  was  a  distinction  between  duty  and  being.  The  will  had  to  take  up  prac- 
tically, and  turn  into  action,  each  new  revelation  or  perception  of  God's  will  on  the 
part  of  intellect  or  conscience.  He  had  to  maintain,  with  his  will,  each  revelation  of 
his  nature  and  work.  In  his  twelfth  year,  he  says :  '  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  bus- 
iness.' To  Satan's  temptation:  'Art  thou  God's  Son?  '  he  must  reply  with  an  affirma- 
tion that  suppresses  all  doubt,  though  he  will  not  prove  it  by  miracle.  This  moral 
growth,  as  it  was  the  will  of  the  Father,  was  his  task.  He  hears  from  his  Father,  and 
obeys.  In  him,  imperfect  knowledge  was  never  the  same  with  false  conception.  In  us, 
ignorance  has  error  for  its  obverse  side.  But  this  was  never  the  case  with  him,  though 
he  grew  in  knowledge  unto  the  end."  Dorner's  view  of  the  Person  of  Christ  may 
be  found  in  his  Hist.  Doct.  Person  Christ,  5  :  248-2U1 ;  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  347-474  ( Syst. 
Doct.,  3:243-373). 

A  summary  of  his  views  is  also  given  in  Princeton  Rev.,  1873  :  71-87  —  Dorner  illus- 
trates the  relation  between  the  humanity  and  the  deity  of  Christ  by  the  relation 
between  God  and  man,  in  conscience,  and  in  the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  "  So  far  as  the 
human  element  was  immature  or  incomplete,  so  far  the  Logos  was  not  present.  Knowl- 
edge advanced  to  unity  with  the  Logos,  and  the  human  will  afterwards  confirmed  the 
best  and  highest  knowledge.  A  resignation  of  both  the  Logos  and  the  human  nature  to 
the  union  is  involved  in  the  incarnation.  The  growth  continues  until  the  idea,  and  the 
reality,  of  divine  humanity  perfectly  coincide.  The  assumption  of  unity  was  gradual, 
in  the  life  of  Christ.  His  exaltation  began  with  the  perfection  of  this  development." 
Rothe's  statement  of  the  theory  can  be  found  in  his  Dogmatik,  2  :  49-182 ;  and  in  Bib . 
Sac.,  27  :  386. 

It  is  objectionable  for  the  following  reasons  : 

(a)  The  Scripture  plainly  teaches  that  that  which  was  born  of  Mary  was 
as  completely  Son  of  God  as  Son  of  man  (  Luke  1  :  35 )  ;  and  that  in  the  in- 
carnating act,  and  not  at  his  resurrection,  Jesus  Christ  became  the  God- 
man  ( Phil.  2:7).  But  this  theory  virtually  teaches  the  birth  of  a  man 
who  subsequently  and  gradually  became  the  God-man,  by  consciously 
appropriating  the  Logos  to  whom  he  sustained  ethical  relations — relations 
with  regard  to  which  the  Scripture  is  entirely  silent. 

In  Luke  1  :  35—  "the  holy  thing  which  is  begotten  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God"— and  Phil.  2  :  7  — "emptied 
himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men  "—we  have  evidence  that  Christ  was 
both  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  man  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  earthly  life.  But, 
according  to  Dorner,  before  there  was  any  human  consciousness,  the  personality  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  not  divine-human. 


374  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

(6)  Since  consciousness  and  will  belong  to  personality,  as  distinguished 
from  nature,  the  hypothesis  of  a  mutual,  conscious,  and  voluntary  appropri- 
ation of  divinity  by  humanity  and  of  humanity  by  divinity,  during  the 
earthly  life  of  Christ,  is  but  a  more  subtle  form  of  the  Nestorian  doctrine 
of  a  double  personality.  It  follows,  moreover,  that  as  these  two  person- 
alities do  not  become  absolutely  one  until  the  resurrection,  the  death  of  the 
man  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  the  Logos  has  not  yet  fully  united  himself,  can- 
not possess  an  infinite  atoning  efficacy. 

Thoniasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  2  :  68-70,  objects  to  Dorner's  view,  that  it  "  leads 
us  to  a  man  who  is  in  intimate  communion  with  God— a  man  of  God,  but  not  a  man  who 
is  God."  He  maintains,  against  Dorner,  that  the  union  between  the  divine  and  human 
in  Christ  exists  before  the  consciousness  of  it."  193-195  —  Dorner's  view  "makes  each 
element,  the  divine  and  the  human,  long  for  the  other,  and  reach  its  truth  and 
reality  only  in  the  other.  This,  so  far  as  the  divine  is  concerned,  is  very  like  pantheism. 
Two  willing  personalities  are  presupposed,  with  ethical  relation  to  each  other— two 
persons,  at  least  at  the  first.  Says  Dorner :  '  So  long-  as  the  manhood  is  yet  unconscious, 
the  person  of  the  Logos  is  not  yet  the  central  ego  of  this  man.  At  the  beginning,  the 
Logos  does  not  impart  himself,  so  far  as  he  is  person  or  self -consciousness.  He  keeps 
apart  by  himself,  just  in  proportion  as  the  manhood  fails  in  power  of  perception.'  At 
the  beginning,  then,  this  man  is  not  yet  the  God-man  ;  the  Logos  only  works  in  him, 
and  on  him.  'The  unio  personalis  grows  and  completes  itself —becomes  ever  more  all- 
sided  and  complete.  Till  the  resurrection,  there  is  a  relative  separability  still.'  Thus 
Dorner.  But  the  Scripture  knows  nothing  of  an  ethical  relation'of  the  divine  to  the 
human  in  Christ's  person.  It  knows  only  of  one  divine-human  subject."  See  also 
Thomasius,  2 :  80-92. 

(c)  While  this  theory  asserts  a  final  complete  union  of  God  and  man  in 
Jesus  Christ,  it  renders  this  union  far  more  difficult  to  reason,  by  holding  it 
to  be  a  merging  of  two  persons  in  one,  rather  than  a  union  of  two  natures 
in  one  person.  We  have  seen,  moreover,  that  the  Scripture  gives  no  coun- 
tenance to  the  doctrine  of  a  double  personality  during  the  earthly  life  of 
Christ.  The  God-man  never  says  :  "I  and  the  Logos  are  one  "  ;  "he  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Logos  "  ;  "the  Logos  is  greater  than  I "  ;  "  I  go 
to  the  Logos. "  In  the  absence  of  all  Scripture  evidence  in  favor  of  this 
theory,  we  must  regard  the  rational  and  dogmatic  arguments  against  it  as 
conclusive. 

Liebner,  in  Jahrbuch  f .  d.  Theologie,  3  :  349-366,  urges,  against  Dorner,  that  there  is  no 
sign  in  Scripture  of  such  communion  between  the  two  natures  of  Christ  as  exists 
between  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity.  Philippi  also  objects  to  Dorner's  view  : 
(1)  that  it  implies  a  pantheistic  identity  of  essence  in  both  God  and  man  ;  (2)  that  it 
makes  the  resurrection,  not  the  birth,  the  time  when  the  Word  became  flesh ;  ( 3 )  that  it 
does  not  explain  how  two  personalities  can  become  one :  see  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  : 
364-380.  The  merging  of  two  personalities  in  one  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  made  easier  by 
the  pantheistic  assumption  that  God  and  man  are  essentially  one ;  and  Dorner,  though 
strenuously  denying  that  he  is  a  pantheist,  is  quoted  as  saying :  "  The  unity  of  essence 
of  God  and  man  is  the  great  discovery  of  this  age."  He  doubtless  thinks  that  he 
excludes  pantheism  by  his  earnest  assertion  of  personality.  But  not  only  is  one  nature 
and  two  persons  the  direct  opposite  of  the  Scripture  doctrine ;  but  it  is  difficult,  upon 
the  assumption  of  a  single  essence,  to  see  how  there  can  be  any  such  thing  as  distinct 
personalities  at  all.  See  also  Biedermann,  Dogmatik,  351-353;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol., 
2  :  428-430. 

3.     The  real  nature  of  this  union. 

(a)  Its  great  importance. — While  the  Scriptures  represent  the  person 
of  Christ  as  the  crowning  mystery  of  the  Christian  scheme  (Matt.  11  :  27 ; 
Col.  1  :  27 ;  2:2;  1  Tim.  3  :  16 ),  they  also  incite  us  to  its  study  (John 


THE   TWO    NATURES   IN   ONE    PERSON.  375 

17  :  3  ;  20  :  27  ;  Luke  24  :  39  ;  Phil.  3:8,  10 ).  This  is  the  more  needful, 
since  Christ  is  not  only  the  central  point  of  Christianity,  but  is  Christianity 
itself — the  embodied  reconciliation  and  union  between  man  and  God.  The 
following  remarks  are  offered,  not  as  fully  explaining,  but  only  as  in  some 
respects  relieving,  the  difficulties  of  the  problem. 

Mat.  11  :  27  —  "  No  one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father ;  neither  doth  any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to 
whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  him."  Here  it  seems  to  be  intimated  that  the  mystery  of  the 
nature  of  the  Son  is  even  greater  than  that  of  the  Father.  Shedd,  Hist.  Doct.,  1 :  408  — 
The  Person  of  Christ  is  in  some  respects  more  baffling-  to  reason  than  the  Trinity.  Yet 
there  is  a  profane  neglect,  as  well  as  a  profane  curiosity :  Col.  1 :  27  —  "the  riches  of  the  glory  of 
this  mystery  .  .  .  which  is  Christ  in  you  the  hope  of  glory  " ;  2:2  —  "the  mystery  of  God,  even  Christ,  in  whom  are 
all  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  hidden  "  ;  1  Tim.  3  : 16  —  "  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness ;  he  who  was 
manifested  in  the  flesh  "  —  here  the  Vulgate,  the  Latin  Fathers,  and  Buttrnann  make  /xvo-Trjptov 
the  antecedent  of  os,  the,  relative  taking  the  natural  gender  of  its  antecedent,  and 
Mverrrjpiov  referring  to  Christ ;  Heb.  2  : 11  —  "  both  he  that  sanctifieth  and  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of 
one  [  not  father,  but  race  ]  "  ( cf.  Acts  17  :  26  —  "  he  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  "  )—  an  allusion  to 
the  solidarity  of  the  race  and  Christ's  participation  in  all  that  belongs  to  us. 

John  17  :  3  —  "  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  him  whom  thou  didst  send,  even 
Jesus  Christ"  ;  20  :  27  —  "Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  see  my  hands ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  put  it  into  my 
.side :  and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing  "  ;  Luke  24  :  39  —  "  See  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself :  handle 
me  and  see ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see  me  having  "  ;  Phil.  3  :  8,  10  —  "  I  count  all  things  to  be 
loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord  .  .  .  that  I  may  know  him"  ;  1  John  1  : 1  — "that 
which  we  have  heard,  that  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which  we  beheld,  and  our  hands  handled,  concerning 
the  Word  of  life." 

The  chief  problems  with  regard  to  the  person  of  Christ  are :  ( 1 )  one  personality  and 
two  natures;  (2)  human  nature  without  personality;  (3)  relation  of  the  Logos  to  the 
humanity  during  the  earthly  life  of  Christ;  (4)  relation  of  the  humanity  to  the  Logos 
•during  the  heavenly  life  of  Christ.  Luther  said  that  we  should  need  "  new  tongues  " 
before  we  could  properly  set  forth  this  doctrine  — particularly,  a  new  language  with 
regard  to  the  nature  of  man. 

(6)  Reason  for  mystery. —  The  union  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ's  person 
is  necessarily  inscrutable,  because  there  are  no  analogies  to  it  in  our  ex- 
perience. Attempts  to  illustrate  it  on  the  one  hand  from  the  union  and  yet 
the  distinctness  of  soul  and  body,  of  iron  and  heat,  and  on  the  other  hand 
from  the  union  and  yet  the  distinctness  of  Christ  and  the  believer,  of  the 
divine  Son  and  the  Father,  are  one-sided  and  become  utterly  misleading,  if 
they  are  regarded  as  furnishing  a  rationale  of  the  union  and  not  simply  a 
means  of  repelling  objection.  The  first  two  illustrations  mentioned  above 
lack  the  essential  element  of  two  natures  to  make  them  complete  :  soul  and 
body  are  not  two  natures,  but  one,  nor  are  iron  and  heat  two  substances. 
The  last  two  illustrations  mentioned  above  lack  the  element  of  single  per- 
sonality :  Christ  and  the  believer  are  two  persons,  not  one,  even  as  the  Son 
and  the  Father  are  not  one  person,  but  two. 

The  two  illustrations  most  commonly  employed  are  the  union  of  soul  and  body,  and 
the  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ.  Each  of  these  illustrates  one  side  of  the  great 
doctrine,  but  each  must  be  complemented  by  the  other.  The  former,  taken  by  itself, 
would  be  Eutychian ;  the  latter,  taken  by  itself,  would  be  Nestorian.  Like  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity,  the  Person  of  Christ  is  an  absolutely  unique  fact,  for  which  we  can  find 
no  complete  analogies.  See  Blunt,  Diet.  Doct.  and  Hist.  Theol.,  art. :  Hypostasis ; 
Sartor  ius,  Person  and  Work  of  Christ,  27-65 ;  Wilberforce,  Incarnation,  39-77 ;  Luthardt, 
Fund.  Truths,  281-334. 

(c)  Ground  of  possibility. —  The  possibility  of  the  union  of  deity  and 
humanity  in  one  person  is  grounded  in  the  original  creation  of  man  in 
the  divine  image.  Man's  kinship  to  God,  in  other  words,  his  possession  of 
a  rational  and  spiritual  nature,  is  the  condition  of  incarnation.  Brute-life  is 


376  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

incapable  of  union  with  God.  But  human  nature  is  capable  of  the  divine,. 
in  the  sense  not  only  that  it  lives,  moves,  and  has  its  being  in  God,  but  that 
God  may  unite  himself  indissolubly  to  it  and  endue  it  with  divine  powers, 
while  yet  it  remains  all  the  more  truly  human.  Since  the  moral  image  of 
God  in  human  nature  has  been  lost  by  sin,  Christ,  the  perfect  image  of 
God  after  which  man  was  originally  made,  restores  that  lost  image  by 
uniting  himself  to  humanity  and  filling  it  with  his  divine  life  and  love. 

2  Pet.  1:4  —  "  partakers  of  the  divine  nature."  Creation  and  providence  do  not  furnish  the  last 
limit  of  God's  indwelling.  Beyond  these,  there  is  the  spiritual  union  between  the  believer 
and  Christ,  and  even  beyond  this,  there  is  the  unity  of  God  and  man  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  283  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  : 180 )  —  "  Humanity  in  Christ 
is  related  to  divinity,  as  woman  to  man  in  marriage.  It  is  receptive,  but  it  is  exalted  by 
receiving.  Christ  is  the  offspring  of  the  [  marriage]  covenan  ^between  God  and  Israel." 

Ib.,  2  :  403-411  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  301-308 )  —  "  The  question  is :  How  can  Christ  be  both 
Creator  and  creature  ?  The  Logos,  as  such,  stands  over  against  the  creature  as  a  dis- 
tinct object.  How  can  he  become,  and  be,  that  which  exists  only  as  object  of  his  activ- 
ity and  inworking?  Can  the  cause  become  its  own  effect?  The  problem  is  solved, 
only  by  remembering  that  the  divine  and  human,  though  distinct  from  each  other,  are 
not  to  be  thought  of  as  foreign  to  each  other  and  mutually  exclusive.  The  very  thing 
that  distinguishes  them  binds  them  together.  Their  essential  distinction  is  that  God  haa 
aseity,  while  man  has  simply  dependence.  'Deep  calleth  unto  deep'  (Ps.  42  :  7)  —the  deep  of 
the  divine  riches,  and  the  deep  of  human  poverty,  call  to  each  other.  God's  infinite 
resources  and  man's  infinite  need,  God's  measureless  supply  and  man's  boundless  recep- 
tivity, attract  each  other,  until  they  unite  in  him  in  whom  dwells  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily.  The  mutual  attraction  is  of  an  ethical  sort,  but  the  divine  love  ha& 
'first  loved'  (1  John  4: 19). 

"  The  new  second  creation  is  therefore  not  merely,  like  the  first  creation,  one  that  dis- 
tinguishes from  God,  —  it  is  one  that  unites  with  God.  Nature  is  distinct  from  God,  yet 
God  moves  and  works  in  nature.  Much  more  does  human  nature  find  its  only  true  real- 
ity, or  realization,  in  union  with  God.  God's  uniting  act  does  not  violate  or  unmake  it,, 
but  rather  first  causes  it  to  be  what,  in  God's  idea,  it  was  meant  to  be."  Incarnation  is 
therefore  the  very  fulfilment  of  the  idea  of  humanity.  The  supernatural  assumption 
of  humanity  is  the  most  natural  of  all  things.  Man  is  not  a  mere  tangent  to  God,  but 
an  empty  vessel  to  be  filled  from  the  infinite  fountain.  Natura  humana  in  Christo 
capax  divinse.  See  Talbot,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1868 : 129 ;  Martensen,  Christian  Dogmatics,  270. 

(d)  No  double  personality. —  This  possession  of  two  natures  does  not 
involve  a  double  personality  in  the  God-man,  for  the  reason  that  the  Logos 
takes  into  union  with  himself,  not  an  individual  man  with  already  devel- 
oped personality,  but  human  nature  which  has  had  no  separate  existence 
before  its  union  with  the  divine.  Christ's  human  nature  is  impersonal,  in 
the  sense  that  it  attains  self-consciousness  and  self-determination  only  in  the 
personality  of  the  God-man.  Here  it  is  important  to  mark  the  distinction 
between  nature  and  person.  Nature  is  substance  possessed  in  common ; 
the  persons  of  the  Trinity  have  one  nature  ;  there  is  a  common  nature  of 
mankind.  Person  is  nature  separately  subsisting,  with  powers  of  con- 
sciousness and  will.  Since  the  human  nature  of  Christ  has  not  and  never 
had  a  separate  subsistence,  it  is  impersonal,  and  in  the  God-man  the  Logos 
furnishes  the  principle  of  personality.  It  is  equally  important  to  observe 
that  self-consciousness  and  self-determination  do  not  belong  to  nature  as 
such,  but  only  to  personality.  For  this  reason,  Christ  has  not  two  con- 
sciousnesses and  two  wills,  but  a  single  consciousness  and  a  single  will. 
This  consciousness  and  will,  moreover,  is  never  simply  human,  but  is  always 
theanthropic  —  an  activity  of  the  one  personality  which  unites  in  itself  the 
human  and  the  divine  ( Mark  13  :  32  ;  Luke  22  :  42 ). 


THE   TWO    NATURES    IN    ONE    PERSON.  377 

The  theory  of  two  consciousnesses  and  two  wills,  first  elaborated  by  John  of  Damas- 
cus, was  an  unwarranted  addition  to  the  Orthodox  doctrine  propounded  at  Chalcedon. 
Although  the  view  of  John  of  Damascus  was  sanctioned  by  the  Council  of  Constantino- 
ple (681),  "this  Council  has  never  been  regarded  by  the  Greek  Church  as  secumenical, 
and  its  composition  and  spirit  deprive  its  decisions  of  all  value  as  indicating-  the  true 
sense  of  Scripture  " ;  see  Bruce,  Humiliation  of  Christ,  90.  Nature  has  consciousness 
and  will,  only  as  it  is  manifested  in  person.  The  one  person  has  a  single  consciousness 
and  will,  which  embraces  within  its  scope  at  all  times  a  human  nature,  and  sometimes  a 
divine. 

Sartorius  uses  the  illustration  of  two  concentric  circles  :  the  one  ego  of  personality 
in  Christ  is  at  the  same  time  the  centre  of  both  circles,  the  human  nature  and  the 
divine.  Or,  still  better,  illustrate  by  a  smaller  vessel  of  air  inverted  and  sunk,  sometimes 
below  its  centre,  sometimes  above,  in  a  far  larger  vessel  of  water.  See  Mark  13  :  32—  "Of 
that  day  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son  "  ;  Luke  22  :  42  —  "  Father,  if  thou 
be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  me  :  nevertheless  not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done."  To  say  that,  although  in 
his  capacity  as  man  he  was  ignorant,  yet  at  that  same  moment  in  his  capacity  as  God  he 
was  omniscient,  is  to  accuse  Christ  of  unveracity.  Whenever  Christ  spoke,  it  was  not 
one  of  the  natures  that  spoke,  but  the  person  in  whom  both  natures  were  united. 

We  subjoin  various  definitions  of  personality  :  Boethius,  quoted  in  Dorner,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  2:415  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  313 )  —  "  Persona  est  animse  rationalis  individua  substan- 
tia";  F.  W.  Robertson,  Lect.  on  Gen.,  p.  3—  "Personality  =  self-consciousness,  will, 
character";  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  626  —  "  Personality  =  distinct  subsistence,  either 
actually  or  latently  self-conscious  and  self-determining";  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of 
Theism,  408—  "  Person  =  being,  conscious  of  self,  subsisting  in  indivuality  and  identity, 
and  endowed  with  intuitive  reason,  rational  sensibility,  and  free-will."  Dr.  E.  G.  Rob- 
inson defines  "nature"  as  "that  substratum  or  condition  of  being  which  determines 
the  kind  and  attributes  of  the  person,  but  which  is  clearly  distinguishable  from  the 
person  itself."  For  the  theory  of  two  consciousnesses  and  two  wills,  see  Philippi,  Glau- 
benslehre,  4  : 129,  234  ;  Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  2  :  314 ;  Ridgeley,  Body  of  Divinity,  1 :  476 ; 
Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  378-391.  Per  contra,  see  Hovey,  God  with  Us,  66 ;  Schaff,  Church 
Hist.,  1:757,  and  3:751;  Calderwood.  Moral  Philosophy,  12-14;  Wilberforce,  Incarna- 
tion, 148-169 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  512-518. 

(e)  Effect  upon  the  human. — The  union  of  the  divine  and  the  human 
natures  makes  the  latter  possessed  of  the  powers  belonging  to  the  former  ; 
in  other  words,  the  attributes  of  the  divine  nature  are  imparted  to  the 
human  without  passing  over  into  its  essence  —  so  that  the  human  Christ 
even  on  earth  had  power  to  be,  to  know,  and  to  do,  as  God.  That  this 
power  was  latent,  or  was  only  rarely  manifested,  was  the  result  of  the  self- 
chosen  state  of  humiliation  upon  which  the  God-man  had  entered.  In 
this  state  of  humiliation,  the  communication  of  the  contents  of  his  divine 
nature  to  the  human  was  mediated  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  God-man,  in 
his  servant-form,  knew  and  taught  and  performed  only  what  the  Spirit  per- 
mitted and  directed  ( Mat.  3  :  16  ;  John  3  :  34 ;  Acts  1  :  2 ;  10  :  38  ;  Heb. 
9  : 14 ).  But  when  thus  permitted,  he  knew,  taught,  and  performed,  not,  like 
the  prophets,  by  power  communicated  from  without,  but  by  virtue  of  his 
own  inner  divine  energy  ( Mat.  17  :  2  ;  Mark  5  :  41 ;  Luke  5  :  20,  21 ;  6  : 
19  ;  John  2  :  11,  24,  25 ;  3  :  13  ;  20  :  19). 

Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  2nd  ed.,  2  :  77  — "Human  nature  does  not  become  divine,  but  (as 
Chemnitz  has  said )  only  the  medium  of  the  divine ;  as  the  moon  has  not  a  light  of  her 
own,  but  only  shines  in  the  light  of  the  sun.  So  human  nature  may  derivatively  exer- 
cise divine  attributes,  because  it  is  united  to  the  divine  in  one  person." 

Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  : 131  —  "  The  union  exalts  the  human,  as  light  brightens  the 
air,  heat  gives  glow  to  the  iron,  spirit  exalts  the  body,  the  Holy  Spirit  hallows  the 
believer  by  union  with  his  soul.  Fire  gives  to  iron  its  own  properties  o'f  lighting  and 
burning ;  yet  the  iron  does  not  become  fire.  Soul  gives  to  body  its  life-energy ;  yet  the 
body  does  not  become  soul.  The  Holy  Spirit  sanctifies  the  believer,  but  the  believer 
does  not  become  divine ;  for  the  divine  principle  is  the  determining  one.  We  do  not 
speak  of  airy  light,  of  iron  heat,  or  of  a  bodily  soul.  So  human  nature  possesses  the 


378  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

divine  only  derivatively.  In  this  sense  it  is  our  destiny  to  become  'partakers  of  the  divine 
nature'  (2  Pet.  1 :  4)."  Even  in  his  earthly  life,  when  he  wished  to  be,  or  more  correctly, 
when  the  Spirit  permitted,  he  was  omnipotent,  omniscient,  omnipresent,  could  walk 
the  sea,  or  pass  through  closed  doors.  But,  in  his  state  of  humiliation,  he  was  subject 
to  the  Holy  Spirit. 

In  Mat.  3  : 16,  the  anointing  of  the  Spirit  at  his  baptism  was  not  the  descent  of  a  mate- 
rial dove  ("as a  dove").  The  dove-like  appearance  was  only  the  outward  sign  of  the 
coming  forth  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  depths  of  his  being  and  pouring  itself  like  a 
flood  into  his  divine-human  consciousness.  John  3  :  34  —  "for  he  giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure"  ; 
Acts  1 :  2  — "after  that  he  had  given  commandment  through  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  the  apostles"  ;  10  :  38  —  "Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  how  that  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power :  who  went  about  doing  good  and  healing  all 
that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with  him  "  ;  Heb.  9  : 14  —  "  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal 
Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God." 

When  permitted  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  knew,  taught,  and  wrought  as  God :  Mat.  17  :  2 
—  "  he  was  transfigured  before  them  "  ;  Mark  5  :  41  —  "  Damsel,  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise  " ;  Luke  5  :  20,  21  —  "  Man,  thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee ....  Who  can  forgive  sins,  but  God  alone?"  Luke  6  : 19 — "power  came  forth  from  him, 
and  healed  them  all "  ;  John  2  :  11  —  "  This  beginning  of  signs  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  manifested  his  glory  "  ; 

24, 25  —  "  he  knew  all  men he  himself  knew  what  was  in  man  "  ;  3  : 13  —  "  the  Son  of  man,  which  is  in  heaven  " 

[here,  however,  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  X  and  B,  omit  6  <av  ev  r<Z  oupai/ip]  ;  20  :  19  —  "when 
the  doors  were  shut ....  Jesus  came  and  stood  in  the  midst." 

Christ  is  the  "servant  of  Jehovah  "  (Is.  42  : 1-7;  49  : 1-12;  52  : 13 ;  53  : 12 )  and  the  meaning  of  n-cu? 
<  Acts  3  : 13,  26 ;  4  :  27,  30 )  is  not  "  child  "  or  "  Son  "  ;  it  is  "  servant,"  as  in  the  Revised  Version. 
But,  in  the  state  of  exaltation,  Christ  is  the  "Lord  of  the  Spirit"  (2  Cor.  3  : 18  — Meyer),  giving 
the  Spirit  ( John  16  :  7  —  "  I  will  send  him  unto  you  " ),  present  in  the  Spirit  ( John  14  : 18  —  "  I  come  unto 
you  " ;  Mat.  28  :  20  —  "  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  " ),  and  working  through  the 
Spirit  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  45  —  "  the  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit "  ;  2  Cor.  3  : 17  —  "  Now  the  Lord  is  the  Spirit " ). 
On  Christ's  relation  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  see  John  Owen,  Works,  382-397 ;  Robins,  in  Bib. 
Sac.,  Oct.,  1874  :  615;  Wilberforce,  Incarnation,  308-341. 

(/)  Effect  upon  the  divine.  —  This  communion  of  the  natures  was  such 
that,  although  the  divine  nature  in  itself  is  incapable  of  ignorance,  weak- 
ness, temptation,  suffering,  or  death,  the  one  person  Jesus  Christ  was  capa- 
ble of  these  b.y  virtue  of  the  union  of  the  divine  nature  with  a  human  nature 
in  him.  As  the  human  Savior  can  exercise  divine  attributes,  not  in  virtue 
of  his  humanity  alone,  but  derivatively,  by  virtue  of  his  possession  of  a 
divine  nature,  so  the  divine  Savior  can  suffer  and  be  ignorant  as  man,  not 
in  his  divine  nature,  but  derivatively,  by  virtue  of  his  possession  of  a  human 
nature.  We  may  illustrate  this  from  the  connection  between  body  and 
soul.  The  soul  suffers  pain  from  its  union  with  the  body,  of  which  apart 
from  the  body  it  would  be  incapable.  So  the  God-man,  although  in  his 
divine  nature  impassible,  was  capable,  through  his  union  with  humanity,  of 
absolutely  infinite  suffering. 

Just  as  my  soul  could  never  suffer  the  pains  of  fire  if  it  were  only  soul,  but  can  suffer 
those  pains  in  union  with  the  body,  so  the  otherwise  impassible  God  can  suffer  mortal 
pangs  through  his  union  with  humanity,  which  he  never  could  suffer  if  he  had  not 
joined  himself  to  my  nature.  The  union  between  the  humanity  and  the  deity  is  so  close, 
that  deity  itself  is  brought  under  the  curse  and  penalty  of  the  law.  Because  Christ  was 
God,  did  he  pass  unscorched  through  the  fires  of  Gethsemane  and  Calvary  ?  Rather  let 
us  say,  because  Christ  was  God,  he  underwent  a  suffering  that  was  absolutely  infinite. 
Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  :  300  sq. ;  Lawrence,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  34  :  41;  Schoberlein,  in  Jahr- 
buch  f  Ur  deutsche  Theologie,  1871  :  459-501. 

(g)  Necessity  of  the  union. — The  union  of  two  natures  in  one  person 
is  necessary  to  constitute  Jesus  Christ  a  proper  mediator  between  man  and 
God.  His  two-fold  nature  gives  him  fellowship  with  both  parties,  since  it 
involves  an  equal  dignity  with  God,  and  at  the  same  time  a  perfect  sympa- 
thy with  man  ( Heb.  2  :  17,  18  ;  4  :  15,  16 ).  This  two-fold  nature,  moreover, 
enables  him  to  present  to  both  God  and  man  proper  terms  of  reconcilia- 


THE   TWO   NATURES   IN   ONE   PERSON.  379 

tion  :  being  man,  he  can  make  atonement  for  man  ;  being  God,  his  atone- 
ment has  infinite  value  ;  while  both  his  divinity  and  his  humanity  combine 
to  move  the  hearts  of  offenders  and  constrain  them  to  submission  and  love 
<  I  Tim.  2:5;  Heb.  7  :  25 ). 

Heb.  2  : 17, 18  —  "  Wherefore  it  behoved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  become 
a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  For  in 
that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted"  ;  4  : 15, 16 —  "For  we  have 
not  an  high  priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but  one  that  hath  been  in  all  points 
tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  Let  us  therefore  draw  near  with  boldness  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we 
may  receive  mercy,  and  may  find  grace  to  help  us  in  time  of  need  "  ;  1  Tim.  2:5  —  "One  God,  one  mediator  also  between 
God  and  men,  himself  man,  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  Heb.  7  :  25  —  "  Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that 
draw  near  unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them." 

Because  Christ  is  man,  he  can  make  atonement  for  man  and  can  sympathize  with  man. 
Because  Christ  is  God,  his  atonement  has  infinite  value,  and  the  union  which  he  effects 
with  God  is  complete.  A  merely  human  Savior  could  never  reconcile  or  reunite  us  to 
God.  But  a  divine-human  Savior  meets  all  our  needs.  See  Wilberforce,  Incarnation, 
170-208. 

(h]  The  union  eternal.  —  The  union  of  humanity  with  deity  in  the  per- 
son of  Christ  is  indissoluble  and  eternal.  Unlike  the  avatars  of  the  East, 
the  incarnation  was  a  permanent  assumption  of  human  nature  by  the  sec- 
ond person  of  the  Trinity.  In  the  ascension  of  Christ,  glorified  humanity 
has  attained  the  throne  of  the  universe.  By  his  Spirit,  this  same  divine- 
human  Savior  is  omnipresent  to  secure  the  progress  of  his  kingdom.  The 
final  subjection  of  the  Son  to  the  Father,  alluded  to  in  1  Cor.  15  :  28,  can- 
not be  other  than  the  complete  return  of  the  Son  to  his  original  relation 
to  the  Father ;  since,  according  to  John  17  :  5,  Christ  is  again  to  possess 
the  glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was  (  cf.  Heb. 
1  :8;  7  :  24,  25). 

1  Cor.  15  :  28  — "And  when  all  things  have  been  subjected  unto  him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subjected  to 
him  that  did  subject  all  things  unto  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all "  ;  John  17  :  5  —  "  0  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with 
thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was"  ;  Heb.  1  :  8—  "of  the  Son  he  saith,  Thy 
throne,  0  God,  is  forever  and  ever";  7:24  —  "he,  because  he  abideth  forever,  hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable." 
Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  281-283  (  Syst.  Doct.,  3  : 177-179),  holds  that  there  is  a  present 
and  relative  distinction  between  the  Son's  will,  as  mediator,  and  that  of  the  Father  (Mat. 
26  :  39  —  "not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt"  )  — a  distinction  which  shall  cease  when  Christ  becomes 
Judge  ( John  16  :  26  —  "  in  that  day  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name :  and  I  say  not  unto  you,  that  I  will  pray  the  Father 
for  you").  If  Christ's  reign  ceased,  he  would  be  inferior  to  the  saints,  who  are  them- 
selves to  reig-n.  But  they  are  to  reign  only  in  and  with  Christ,  their  head. 

The  best  illustration  of  the  possible  meaning  of  Christ's  giving  up  the  kingdom  is 
found  in  the  Governor  of  the  East  India  Company  giving  up  his  authority  to  the  Queen 
and  merging  it  in  that  of  the  home  government,  he  himself,  however,  at  the  same  time 
becoming  Secretary  of  State  for  India.  So  Christ  will  give  up  his  vicegerency,  but 
not  his  mediatorship.  Now  he  reigns  by  delegated  authority ;  then  he  will  reign  in 
union  with  the  Father. 

Melancthon :  "  Christ  will  finish  his  work  as  Mediator,  and  then  will  reign  as  God, 
immediately  revealing  to  us  the  Deity."  Quenstedt,  quoted  in  Schmid,  Dogmatik,  293, 
thinks  the  giving  up  of  the  kingdom  will  be  only  an  exchange  of  outward  administra- 
tion for  inward  —  not  a  surrender  of  all  power  and  authority,  but  only  of  one  mode  of 
exercising  it.  Hanna,  on  Resurrection,  lect.  4  —  "  It  is  not  a  giving  up  of  his  mediatorial 
authority  —  that  throne  is  to  endure  forever  —  but  it  is  a  simple  public  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  God  is  all  in  all,  that  Christ  is  God's  medium  of  accomplishing  all."  An. 
Par.  Bible,  on  1  Cor.  15  :  28  —  "  Not  his  mediatorial  relation  to  his  own  people  shall  be  given 
up ;  much  less  his  personal  relation  to  the  Godhead,  as  the  divine  Word  ;  but  only  his 
mediatorial  relation  to  the  world  at  large."  See  also  Edwards,  Observations  on  the 
Trinity,  85  sq. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  402  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  297-299 )  —  "  We  are  not  to  imagine  incar- 
nations of  Christ  in  the  angel-world,  or  in  other  spheres.  This  would  make  incarnation 


380  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

only  the  change  of  a  garment,  a  passing  theophany ;  and  Christ's  relation  to  humanity 
would  be  merely  an  external  one."  On  the  general  subject  of  this  union,  see  Herzog, 
Encyclopedic,  art. :  Christologie ;  Barrows,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  10  :  765;  26  :  83;  also,  Bib.  Sac., 
17  :  535 ;  John  Owen,  Person  of  Christ,  in  Works,  1  :  233 ;  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polity,  book  v  : 
chap.  51-56 ;  Boyce,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1870  :  385 ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doct.,  1 :  403  sq. ;  Hovey,  God 
with  Us,  61-88 ;  Plumptre,  Christ  and  Christendom,  appendix. 


SECTION    III. — THE   TWO    STATES   OF   CHRIST. 

I.     THE  STATE  OF  HUMILIATION. 

1.     The  nature  of  this  humiliation. 

We  may  dismiss,  as  unworthy  of  serious  notice,  the  views  that  it  consisted 
essentially  either  in  the  union  of  the  Logos  with  human  nature, —  for  thin 
union  with  human  nature  continues  in  the  state  of  exaltation ;  or  in  the 
outward  trials  and  privations  of  Christ's  human  life, —  for  this  view  casts 
reproach  upon  poverty,  and  ignores  the  power  of  the  soul  to  rise  superior 
to  its  outward  circumstances. 

We  may  devote  more  attention  to  the 

A.  Theory  of  Thomasius,  Delitzsch,  and  Crosby,  that  the  humiliation 
consisted  in  the  surrender  of  the  relative  divine  attributes. 

This  theory  holds  that  the  Logos,  although  retaining  his  divine  self-con- 
sciousness and  his  immanent  attributes  of  holiness,  love,  and  truth,  surren- 
dered his  relative  attributes  of  omniscience,  omnipotence,  and  omnipresence, 
in  order  to  take  to  himself  veritable  human  nature.  According  to  this  view, 
there  are,  indeed,  two  natures  in  Christ,  but  neither  of  these  natures  is  in- 
finite. Thomasius  and  Delitzsch  are  the  chief  advocates  of  this  theory  in 
Germany.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby  has  maintained  a  similar  view  in  America. 

The  theory  of  Thomasius,  Delitzsch,  and  Crosby  has  been,  though  improperly,  called 
the  theory  of  the  Kenosis  (from  e/ce'vtoaei/ — "emptied  himself" — in  Phil.  2:7),  and  its  advocates 
are  often  called  Kenotic  theologians.  There  is  a  Kenosis  of  the  Logos,  but  it  is  of  a  differ- 
ent sort  from  that  which  this  theory  supposes.  For  statements  of  this  theory,  see  Thom- 
asius, Christi  Person  und  Werk,  2  :  233-255,  542-550 ;  Delitzsch,  Biblische  Psychologic,  323- 
333 ;  Howard  Crosby,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1870  :  350-363— a  discourse  subsequently  published  in 
a  separate  volume,  with  the  title :  The  True  Humanity  of  Christ,  and  reviewed  by 
Shedd,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  April,  1881  :  429-431.  Crosby  emphasizes  the  word  "became,"  in  John  1 : 
14— "and  the  Word  became  flesh"— and  gives  the  word  "flesh"  the  sense  of  "man,"  or"  human." 
Crosby,  then,  should  logically  deny,  though  he  does  not  deny,  that  Christ's  body  was 
derived  from  the  Virgin. 

We  object  to  this  view  that : 

(a)  It  contradicts  the  Scriptures  already  referred  to,  in  which  Christ  as- 
serts his  divine  knowledge  and  power.  Divinity,  it  is  said,  can  give  up  its 
world-functions,  for  it  existed  without  these  before  creation.  But  to  give 
up  divine  attributes  is  to  give  up  the  substance  of  Godhead.  Nor  is  it  a 
sufficient  reply  to  say  that  only  the  relative  attributes  are  given  up,  while 
the  immanent  attributes,  which  chiefly  characterize  the  Godhead,  are  re- 


THE    STATE    OF   HUMILIATION.  381 

tained ;  for  the  immanent  necessarily  involve  the  relative,  as  the  greater 
involve  the  less. 

Liebner,  Jahrbuch  f.  d.  Theol.,  3  :  349-356— "Is  the  Logos  here?  But  wherein  does  he 
show  his  presence,  that  it  may  be  known?"  Hase,  Hutterus  Redivivus,  llth  ed.,  217, 
note. 

(6)  Since  the  Logos,  in  uniting  himself  to  a  human  soul,  reduces  himself 
to  the  condition  and  limitations  of  a  human  soul,  the  theory  is  virtually  a 
theory  of  the  coexistence  of  two  human  souls  in  Christ.  But  the  union  of 
two  finite  souls  is  more  difficult  to  explain  than  the  union  of  a  finite  and  an 
infinite, — since  there  can  be  in' the  former  case  no  intelligent  guidance  and 
control  of  the  human  element  by  the  divine. 

Dorner,  Jahrbuch  f .  d.  Theol.,  1 :  397-408—"  The  impossibility  of  making  two  finite 
souls  into  one  finally  drove  Arianism  to  the  denial  of  any  human  soul  in  Christ " 
( Apollinarianism ).  This  statement  of  Dorner,  which  we  have  already  quoted  in  our 
account  of  Apollinarianism,  illustrates  the  similar  impossibility,  upon  the  theory  of 
Thomasius,  of  constructing  out  of  two  finite  souls  the  person  of  Christ.  See  also 
Hovey,  God  with  Us,  68. 

(c)  This  theory  fails  to  secure  its  end,  that  of  making  comprehensible  the 
human  development  of  Jesus, — for  even  though  divested  of  the  relative  at- 
tributes of  Godhood,  the  Logos  still  retains  his  divine  self-consciousness, 
together  with  his  immanent  attributes  of  holiness,  love,  and  truth.  This  is 
as  difficult  to  reconcile  with  a  purely  natural  human  development  as  the 
possession  of  the  relative  divine  attributes  would  be.  The  theory  logically 
leads  to  a  further  denial  of  the  possession  of  any  divine  attributes,  or  of  any 
divine  consciousness  at  all,  on  the  part  of  Christ,  and  merges  itself  in  the 
view  of  Gess  and  Beecher,  that  the  Godhead  of  the  Logos  is  actually  trans- 
formed into  a  human  soul. 

Kahnis,  Dogmatik,  3  :  343—"  The  old  theology  conceived  of  Christ  as  in  full  and  un- 
broken use  of  the  divine  self-consciousness,  the  divine  attributes,  and  the  divine  world- 
functions,  from  the  conception  until  death.  Though  Jesus,  as  foetus,  child,  boy,  was 
not  almighty  and  omnipresent  according  to  his  human  nature,  yet  he  was  so,  as  to  his 
divine  nature,  which  constituted  one  ego  with  his  human.  Thomasius,  however,  de- 
clared that  the  Logos  gave  up  his  relative  attributes,  during  his  sojourn  in  flesh.  Dor- 
ner's  objection  to  this,  on  the  ground  of  the  divine  unchangeableness,  overshoots  the 
mark,  because  it  makes  any  becoming  impossible. 

"  But  some  things  in  Thomasius'  doctrine  are  still  difficult :  1st,  divinity  can  cer- 
tainly give  up  its  world-functions,  for  it  has  existed  without  these  before  the  world 
was.  In  the  nature  of  an  absolute  personality,  however,  lies  an  absolute  knowing, 
willing,  feeling,  which  it  cannot  give  up.  Hence  Phil.  2  :  6-11  speaks  of  a  giving-up  of 
divine  glory,  but  not  of  a  giving-up  of  divine  attributes  or  nature.  2nd,  little  is  gained 
by  such  an  assumption  of  the  giving  up  of  relative  attributes,  since  the  Logos,  even 
while  divested  of  a  part  of  his  attributes,  still  has  full  possession  of  his  divine  self -con- 
sciousness, which  must  make  a  purely  human  development  no  less  difficult.  3rd,  the 
expressions  of  divine  self-consciousness,  the  works  of  divine  power,  the  words  of 
divine  wisdom,  prove  that  Jesus  was  in  possession  of  his  divine  self-consciousness  and 
attributes. 

"The  essential  thing  which  the  Kenotics  aim  at,  however,  stands  fast;  namely,  that 
the  divine  personality  of  the  Logos  divested  itself  of  its  glory  (John  17  :  5),  riches  (2  Cor. 
8:6),  divine  form  (Phil.  2:6).  This  divesting  is  the  becoming  man.  The  humiliation, 
then,  was  a  giving-up  of  the  use,  not  of  the  possession,  of  the  divine  nature  and  attri- 
butes. That  man  can  thus  give  up  self-consciousness  and  powers,  we  see  every  day  in 
sleep.  But  man  does  not,  thereby,  cease  to  be  man.  So  we  maintain  that  the  Logos, 
when  he  became  man,  did  not  divest  himself  of  his  divine  person  and  nature,  which  was 
impossible ;  but  only  divested  himself  of  the  use  and  exercise  of  these— these  being  latent 
in  him— in  order  to  unfold  themselves  to  use  in  the  measure  to  which  his  human  nature 


382  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION". 

developed  itself— a  use  which  found  its  completion  in  the  condition  of  exaltation." 
This  statement  of  Kahnis,  although  approaching  correctness,  is  still  neither  quite  cor- 
rect nor  quite  complete. 

B.  Theory  that  the  humiliation  consisted  in  the  surrender  of  the  inde- 
pendent exercise  of  the  divine  attributes. 

This  theory,  which  we  regard  as  the  most  satisfactory  of  all,  may  be  more 
fully  set  forth  as  follows.  The  humiliation,  as  the  Scriptures  seem  to  show, 
consisted  : 

(a)  In  that  act  of  the  preexistent  Logos  by  which  he  gave  up  his  divine 
glory  with  the  Father,  in  order  to  take  a  servant  form.  In  this  act,  he  re- 
signed not  the  possession,  nor  yet  entirely  the  use,  but  rather  the  indepen- 
dent exercise,  of  the  divine  attributes. 

John  17  : 5—"  Glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was "  ; 
Phil.  2  :  6,  7—"  who,  existing  in  the  form  of  God,  counted  not  the  being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped, 
but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men"  ;  2  Cor.  8  :  9 — "For  ye  know 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through  his  pov- 
erty might  become  rich." 

(6)  In  the  submission  of  the  Logos  to  the  control  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
the  limitations  of  his  Messianic  mission,  in  his  communication  of  the  divine 
fulness  to  the  human  nature  which  he  had  taken  into  union  with  himself. 

Acts  1  :  2— Jesus,  "  after  that  he  had  given  commandment  through  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  the  apostles  whom  he  had 
chosen "  ;  10  :  38— "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how  that  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power  " ;  Heb.  9  : 14 
— "the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God." 

(c)  In  the  continuous  surrender,  on  the  part  of  the  God-man,  so  far  as 
his  human  nature  was  concerned,  of  the  exercise  of  those  divine  powers 
with  which  it  was  endowed  by  virtue  of  its  union  with  the  divine,  and  in 
the  voluntary  acceptance,  which  followed  upon  this,  of  temptation,  suffering, 
and  death. 

Mat.  26  :  53—"  Thinkest  thou  that  I  cannot  beseech  my  Father,  and  he  shall  even  now  send  me  more  than  twelve  legions 
of  angels "  ;  John  10  : 17, 18—"  Therefore  doth  my  Father  love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my  life,  that  I  may  take  it  again. 
No  one  taketh  it  away  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down  and  I  have  power  to  take  it 
again"  ;  Phil.  2  :  8 — "and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  becoming  obedient  even  unto  death, 
yea,  the  death  of  the  cross." 

Each  of  these  elements  of  the  doctrine  has  its  own  Scriptural  support. 
We  must  therefore  regard  the  humiliation  of  Christ,  not  as  consisting  in  a 
single  act,  but  as  involving  a  continuous  self-renunciation,  which  began 
with  the  Kenosis  of  the  Logos  in  becoming  man,  and  which  culminated  in 
the  self -subjection  of  the  God-man  to  the  death  of  the  cross. 

Our  doctrine  of  Christ's  humiliation  will  be  better  understood,  if  we  put  it  midway 
between  two  pairs  of  erroneous  views,  making  it  the  third  of  five.  The  list  would  be  as 
follows:  (1)  Gess:  The  Logos  gave  up  all  divine  attributes;  (2)  Thomasius:  The 
Logos  gave  up  relative  attributes  only;  (3)  True  View:  The  Logos  gave  up  the  inde- 
pendent exercise  of  divine  attributes ;  ( 4 )  Old  Orthodoxy  :  Christ  gave  up  the  use  of 
divine  attributes ;  ( 5 )  Anselm :  Christ  acted  as  if  he  did  not  possess  divine  attributes. 
The  full  exposition  of  the  classical  passage  with  reference  to  the  humiliation,  namely, 
Phil.  2  :  5-9,  we  give  below,  under  the  next  paragraph. 

2.     The  stages  of  Christ's  humiliation. 

We  may  distinguish  :  (a)  That  act  of  the  preincarnate  Logos  by  which, 
in  becoming  man,  he  gave  up  the  independent  exercise  of  the  divine  attri- 


THE    STATE    OF    HUMILIATION".  383 

butes.  (6)  His  submission  to  the  common  laws  which  regulate  the  origin 
of  souls  from  a  preexisting  sinful  stock,  in  taking  his  human  nature  from 
the  virgin — a  human  nature  which  only  the  miraculous  conception  rendered 
pure,  (c)  His  subjection  to  the  limitations  involved  in  a  human  growth 
and  development — reaching  the  consciousness  of  his  sonship  at  his  twelfth 
year,  and  working  no  miracles  till  after  the  baptism,  (d)  The  subordina- 
tion of  himself,  in  state,  knowledge,  teaching,  and  acts,  to  the  control  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — so  living,  not  independently,  but  as  a  servant,  (e)  His  sub- 
jection, as  connected  with  a  sinful  race,  to  temptation  and  suffering,  and 
finally  to  the  death  which  constituted  the  penalty  of  the  law. 

Peter  Lombard  asked  whether  God  could  know  more  than  he  was  aware  of?  It  is 
only  another  way  of  putting  the  question  whether,  during  the  earthly  life  of  Christ,  the 
Logos  existed  outside  of  the  flesh  of  Jesus.  We  must  answer  in  the  affirmative.  Other- 
wise the  number  of  the  persons  in  the  Trinity  would  be  variable,  and  the  universe  could 
do  without  him  who  is  ever  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power  "  ( Heb.  1:3),  and  in  whom 
"all  things  consist"  (Col.  1 : 17).  Let  us  recall  the  nature  of  God's  omnipresence  (see  pages 
132,  133 ).  Omnipi'esence  is  nothing  less  than  the  presence  of  the  whole  of  God  in  every 
place.  From  this  it  follows,  that  the  whole  Christ  can  be  present  in  every  believer  as 
fully  as  if  that  believer  were  the  only  one  to  receive  of  his  fulness,  and  that  the  whole 
Logos  can  be  united  to  and  be  present  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  fills  and  governs  the  universe.  By  virtue  of  this  omnipresence,  therefore,  the  whole 
Logos  can  suffer  on  earth,  while  yet  the  whole  Logos  reigns  in  heaven.  The  Logos  out- 
side of  Christ  has  the  perpetual  consciousness  of  his  Godhead,  while  yet  the  Logos,  as 
united  to  humanity  in  Christ,  is  subject  to  ignorance,  weakness,  and  death. 

How  the  independent  exercise  of  the  attributes  of  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and 
omnipresence  can  be  surrendered,  even  for  a  time,  would  be  inconceivable,  if  we  were 
regarding  the  Logos  as  he  is  in  himself,  seated  upon  the  throne  of  the  universe.  The  mat- 
ter is  somewhat  easier,  when  we  remember  that  it  was  not  the  Logos  per  se,  but  rather 
the  God-man,  Christ  Jesus,  in  whom  the  Logos  submitted  to  this  humiliation.  South,. 
Sermons,  2  :  9— "Be  the  fountain  never  so  full,  yet  if  it  communicate  itself  by  a  little 
pipe,  the  stream  can  be  but  small  and  inconsiderable,  and  equal  to  the  measure  of  its 
conveyance."  Sartorius,  Person  and  Work  of  Christ,  39—"  The  human  eye,  when  open, 
sees  heaven  and  earth  ;  but  when  shut,  it  sees  little  or  nothing.  Yet  its  inherent  capacity 
does  not  change.  So  divinity  does  not  change  its  nature,  when  it  drops  the  curtain  of 
humanity  before  the  eyes  of  the  God-man." 

The  divine  in  Christ,  during  most  of  his  earthly  life,  is  latent,  or  only  now  and  then  pres- 
ent to  his  consciousness,  or  manifested  to  others.  Illustrate  from  second  childhood, 
where  the  mind  itself  exists,  but  is  not  capable  of  use ;  or  from  first  childhood,  where  even 
a  Newton  or  a  Humboldt,  if  brought  back  to  earth  and  made  to  occupy  an  infant  body 
and  brain,  would  develop  as  an  infant,  with  infantile  powers.  There  is  more  in  memory 
than  we  can  at  this  moment  recall  —  memory  is  greater  than  recollection.  There  is  more 
of  us  at  all  times  than  we  know  — only  the  sudden  emergency  reveals  the  largeness  of 
our  resources  of  mind  and  heart  and  will.  The  new  nature,  in  the  regenerate,  is  greater 
than  it  appears :  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  children  of  God,  and  it  is  not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall  be.  We 
know  that,  if  he  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  him  "  ( 1  John  3:2).  So  in  Christ  there  was  an  ocean- 
like  f  ulness-of  resource,  of  which  only  now  and  then  the  Spirit  permitted  the  conscious- 
ness and  the  exercise. 

Without  denying  (with  Dorner)  the  completeness,  even  from  the  moment  of  the  con- 
ception, of  the  union  between  the  deity  and  the  humanity,  we  may  still  say  with  Kahnis : 
"  The  human  nature  of  Christ,  according  to  the  measure  of  its  development,  appropriates 
more  and  more  to  its  conscious  use  the  latent  fulness  of  the  divine  nature."  So  we  take 
the  middle  ground  between  two  opposite  extremes.  On  the  one  hand,  the  Kenosis  was 
not  the  extinction  of  the  Logos.  Nor,  on  the  other  hand,  did  Christ  hunger  and  sleep 
by  miracle  — this  is  Docetism.  We  must  not  minimize  Christ's  humiliation,  for  this  was 
his  glory.  There  was  no  limit  to  his  descent,  except  that  arising  from  his  sinlessness. 
His  humiliation  was  not  merely  the  giving-up  of  the  appearance  of  Godhead.  Baird^ 
Elohim  Revealed,  585—"  Should  any  one  aim  to  celebrate  the  condescension  of  the  em- 
peror Charles  the  Fifth,  by  dwelling  on  the  fact  that  he  laid  aside  the  robes  of  royalty 
and  assumed  the  style  of  a  subject,  and  altogether  ignore  the  more  important  matter 
that  he  actually  became  a  private  person,  it  would  be  very  weak  and  absurd."  Inas- 


384  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

much,  however,  as  the  passage  Phil.  2  :  6-8  is  the  chief  basis  and  support  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ's  humiliation,  we  here  subjoin  a  more  detailed  examination  of  it. 

EXPOSITION  or  PHILIPPIANS,  2  :  5-9.  The  passage  reads :  "  Who,  existing  in  the  form  of  God, 
counted  not  the  being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped,  but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant, 
being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  he  humbled  himself,  becoming  obedient  even 
unto  death,  yea,  the  death  of  the  cross." 

The  subject  of  the  sentence  is  at  first  (verses  6,  7)  Christ  Jesus,  regarded  as  the  pree'xist- 
ent  Logos ;  subsequently  ( verse  8 ),  this  same  Christ  Jesus,  regarded  as  incarnate.  This 
change  in  the  subject  is  indicated  by  the  contrast  between  Mop<f>??  deov  ( verse  6 )  and  ^op^v 
^ouAov  ( verse  7 ),  as  well  as  by  the  participles  Aaj3o6»/  and  -yei/o^o/os  ( verse  7 )  and  evpedeis  ( verse  8  ). 
It  is  asserted,  then,  that  the  pree'xistent  Logos,  "  although  subsisting  in  the  form  of  God, 
did  not  regard  his  equality  with  God  as  a  thing  to  be  forcibly  retained,  but  emptied  him- 
self by  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  ( that  is, )  by  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men. 
And  being  found  in  outward  condition  as  a  man,  he  ( the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  yet 
further)  humbled  himself,  by  becoming  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross"  (verse  8). 

Here  notice  that  what  the  Logos  divested  himself  of,  in  becoming  man,  is  not  the  sub- 
stance of  his  Godhead,  but  the  "form  of  God"  in  which  this  substance  was  manifested. 
This  "form  of  God"  can  be  only  that  independent  exercise  of  the  powers  and  prerogatives 
of  Deity  which  constitutes  his  "  equality  with  God."  This  he  surrenders,  in  the  act  of  "  taking 
the  form  of  a  servant"— or  becoming  subordinate,  as  man.  ( Here  other  Scriptures  complete 
the  view,  by  their  representations  of  the  controlling  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
earthly  life  of  Christ.)  The  phrases  "made  in  the  likeness  of  men"  and  "found  in  fashion  as  a  man" 
are  used  to  intimate,  not  that  Jesus  Christ  was  not  really  man,  but  that  he  was  God 
as  well  as  man,  and  therefore  free  from  the  sin  which  clings  to  man  ( cf.  Rom.  8  :  3  —  ev 
o/Lioiio/utari  o-apxb?  d/xaprias  —  Meyer).  Finally,  this  one  person,  now  God  and  man  united, 
submits  himself,  consciously  and  voluntarily,  to  the  humiliation  of  an  ignominious 
death. 

See  Lightfoot  on  Phil.  2:8—"  Christ  divested  himself,  not  of  his  divine  nature,  for  that 
was  impossible,  but  of  the  glories  and  prerogatives  of  deity.  This  he  did  by  taking  the 
form  of  a  servant."  Evans,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  1883 :  287—"  Two  stages  in  Christ's  humilia- 
tion, each  represented  by  a  finite  verb  denning  the  central  act  of  the  particular  stage, 
accompanied  by  two  modal  participles.  1st  stage  indicated  in  v.  7.  Its  central  act  is : 
'  He  emptied  himself.'  Its  two  modalities  are :  (1)  '  taking  the  form  of  servant ';  (2)  '  being  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men.'  Here  we  have  the  humiliation  of  the  Kenosis,— that  by  which  Christ  became 
man.  2nd  stage,  indicated  in  v.  8.  Its  central  act  is :  'He  humbled  himself.'  Its  two  modali- 
ties are :  ( 1 )  '  being  found  in  fashion  as  a  man ' ;  ( 2 )  '  becoming  obedient  unto  death,  yea,  the  death  of  the 
cross.'  Here  we  have  the  humiliation  of  his  obedience  and  death,— that  by  which,  in  hu- 
manity, he  became  a  sacrifice  for  our  sins." 

Meyer  refers  Eph.  5 :  31  exclusively  to  Christ  and  the  church,  making  the  completed 
union  future,  however,  i.  e.,  at  the  time  of  the  Parousia.  "  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his 
father  and  mother "  =  "in  the  incarnation,  Christ  leaves  father  and  mother  (his  seat  at  the 
right  hand  of  God),  and  cleaves  to  his  wife  (the  church),  and  then  the  two  (the  de- 
scended Christ  and  the  church )  become  one  flesh  ( one  ethical  person,  as  the  married 
pair  become  one  by  physical  union).  The  Fathers,  however  (Jerome,  Theodoret, 
Chrysostom),  referred  it  to  the  incarnation."  On  the  interpretation  of  Phil.  2 :  6-11,  see 
Comm.  of  Neander,  Meyer,  Lange,  Ellicott. 

On  the  general  subject  of  the  Kenosis  of  the  Logos,  see  Bruce,  Humiliation  of  Christ; 
Robins,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1874  :  615 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4:138-150,  386-475;  Pope, 
Person  of  Christ,  23 ;  Boderaeyer,  Lehre  von  der  Kenosis ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  3  :  610-625. 
On  the  question  whether  Christ  would  have  become  man,  had  there  been  no  sin,  see 
Julius  Miiller,  Dogmat.  Abhandlungen,  66-126 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  512-526,  543- 
558. 

II.     THE  STATE  OF  EXALTATION. 
I.     The  nature  of  this  exaltation. 

It  consisted  essentially  in  :  (a)  A  resumption,  on  the  part  of  the  Logos, 
of  his  independent  exercise  of  divine  attributes.  (6)  The  withdrawal,  on 
the  part  of  the  Logos,  of  all  limitations  in  his  communication  of  the  divine 


THE    STATE    OF    EXALTATION.  385 

fulness  to  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  (c)  The  corresponding  exercise,  on 
the  part  of  the  human  nature,  of  those  powers  which  belonged  to  it  by  vir- 
tue of  its  union  with  the  divine. 

The  eighth  Psalm,  with  its  account  of  the  glory  of  human  nature,  is  at  present  ful- 
filled only  in  Christ  (see  Heb.  2  :  8—  "but  we  behold Jesus  "  ).  Heb.  2:7—  ^AdrTworas  O.VTOV 

/3paxv  n  nap'  ayyeAov?  —  may  be  translated,  as  in  the  margin  of  the  Rev,  Vers.,  "  Thou  madest 
him  /or  a  little  while  lower  than  the  angels."  Christ's  human  body  was  not  necessarily  subject 
to  death ;  only  by  outward  compulsion  or  voluntary  surrender  could  he  die.  Hence 
resurrection  was  a  natural  necessity  (Acts  2 :  23  — "whom  God  raised  up,  having  loosed  the  pangs  of 
death:  because  it  was  not  possible  that  he  should  be  holden  of  it"  ;  31  —  "neither  was  he  left  in  Hades,  nor  did  his 
flesh  see  corruption" ).  This  exaltation,  which  then  affected  humanity  only  in  its  head,  is  to 
be  the  experience  also  of  the  members.  Our  bodies  also  are  to  be  delivered  from  the 
bondage  of  corruption,  and  we  are  to  sit  with  Christ  upon  his  throne. 

2.     The  stages  of  Christ's  exaltation. 

(a]     The  quickening  and  resurrection. 

Both  Lutherans  and  Romanists  distinguish  between  these  two,  making 
the  former  precede,  and  the  latter  follow,  Christ's  "preaching  to  the  spirits 
in  prison."  These  views  rest  upon  a  misinterpretation  of  1  Pet.  3  :  18-20. 
Lutherans  teach  that  Christ  descended  into  hell,  to  proclaim  his  triumph  to 
evil  spirits.  But  this  is  to  give  kKrjpv^ev  the  unusual  sense  of  proclaiming 
his  triumph,  instead  of  his  gospel.  Eomanists  teach  that  Christ  entered 
the  underworld  to  preach  to  Old  Testament  saints,  that  they  might  be 
saved.  But  the  passage  speaks  only  of  the  disobedient ;  it  cannot  be 
pressed  into  the  support  of  a  sacramental  theory  of  the  salvation  of  Old 
Testament  believers.  The  passage  does  not  assert  a  descent  of  Christ  into 
the  world  of  spirits,  but  only  a  work  of  the  preincarnate  Logos  in  offering 
salvation,  through  Noah,  to  the  world  then  about  to  perish. 

Calvin  taught  that  Christ  descended  into  the  underworld  and  suffered  the  pains  of  the 
lost.  But  not  all  Calvinists  hold  with  him  here ;  see  Princeton  Essays,  1 : 153.  Meyer, 
on  Rom.  10  :  7,  regard^the  question — "  who  shall  descend  into  the  abyss  ?  ( that  is,  to  bring  up  Christ  from  the 
dead)"— as  an  allusion  to,  and  so  indirectly  a  proof -text  for,  Christ's  descent  into  the 
underworld. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  662  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 127),  thinks  "  Christ's  descent  into  Hades 
marks  a  new  era  of  his  pneumatic  life,  in  which  he  shows  himself  free  from  the  limita- 
tions of  time  and  space."  He  rejects  "  Luther's  notion  of  a  merely  triumphal  progress 
and  proclamation  of  Christ.  Before  Christ,"  he  says,  "  there  was  no  abode  peopled  by 
the  damned.  The  descent  was  an  application  of  the  benefit  of  the  atonement  ( implied 
in  KTjpvo-o-eii').  The  work  was  prophetic,  not  high-priestly  nor  kingly.  Going  to  the 
spirits  in  prison  is  spoken  of  as  a  spontaneous  act,  not  one  of  physical  necessity.  No 
power  of  Hades  led  him  over  into  Hades.  Deliverance  from  the  limitations  of  a  mortal 
body  is  already  an  indication  of  a  higher  stage  of  existence.  Christ's  soul  is  bodiless 
for  a  time  — TTveO/oia  only —  as  the  departed  were. 

"  The  ceasing  of  this  preaching  is  neither  recorded,  nor  reasonably  to  be  supposed 
—indeed  the  ancient  church  supposed  it  carried  on  through  the  apostles.  It  expresses 
the  universal  significance  of  Christ  for  former  generations  and  for  the  entire  kingdom 
of  the  dead.  No  physical  power  is  a  limit  to  him.  The  gates  of  hell,  or  Hades,  shall  not 
prevail  over  or  against  him.  The  intermediate  state  is  one  of  blessedness  for  him,  and 
he  can  admit  the  penitent  thief  into  it.  Even  those  who  were  not  laid  hold  of  by 
Christ's  historic  manifestation  in  this  earthly  life  still  must,  and  may,  be  brought  into 
relation  with  him,  in  order  to  be  able  to  accept  or  to  reject  him.  And  thus  the  univer- 
sal relation  of  Christ  to  humanity  and  the  absoluteness  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
confirmed."  So  Dorner,  for  substance. 

All  this  versus  Strauss,  who  thought  that  the  dying  of  vast  masses  of  men,  before  and 
after  Christ,  who  had  not  been  brought  into  relation  to  Christ,  proves  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  not  necessary  to  salvation,  because  not  universal.  For  advocacy  of  Christ's 
25 


386  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

preaching-  to  the  dead,  see  also  Jahrbuch  f  iir  d.  Theol.,  23  : 177-228 ;  W.  W.  Patton,  in  N. 
Eng.,  July,  1882  :  460-478  ;  John  Miller,  Problems  suggested  by  the  Bible,  part  1 :  93-98; 
part  2  :  38  ;  Plumptre,  The  Spirits  in  Prison. 

For  the  opposite  view,  see  "  No  Preaching  to  the  Dead,"  in  Princeton  Rev.,  March, 
1875  :  197  ;  1878  :  451-491 ;  Hovey,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  4  :  486  sq. ;  Love,  Christ's  Preaching  to 
the  Spirits  in  Prison;  Cowles,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1875  :  401  ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 :  616-622; 
Salmond,  in  Popular  Commentary,  in  loco.  So  Augustine,  Thomas  Aquinas,  and 
Bishop  Pearson.  See  also  Wright,  Relation  of  Death  to  Probation,  22-28  — "If  Christ 
preached  to  spirits  in  Hades,  it  may  have  been  to  demonstrate  the  hopelessness  of  adding- 
in  the  other  world  to  the  privileges  enjoyed  in  this.  We  do  not  read  that  it  had  any 
favorable  effect  upon  the  hearers.  If  men  will  not  hear  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  then 
they  will  not  hear  one  risen  from  the  dead.  '  To  day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise ' 
was  not  comforting,  if  Christ  was  going  that  day  to  the  realm  of  lost  spirits.  The  ante- 
diluvians, however,  were  specially  favored  with  Noah's  preaching,  and  were  specially 
wicked." 

For  full  statement  of  the  view  presented  in  the  text,  that  the  preaching  referred  to 
was  the  preaching  of  Christ  as  preexisting  Logos  to  the  spirits,  now  in  prison,  when 
once  they  were  disobedient  in  the  days  of  Noah,  see  Bartlett,  in  New  Englander,  Oct., 
1872  :  601  sq.,  and  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Apr.,  1883  :  333-373.  Before  giving  the  substance  of  Bart- 
lett's  exposition,  we  transcribe  in  full  the  passage  in  question,  1  Pet.  3  : 18-20  —  "  Because  Christ 
also  suffered  for  sins  once,  the  righteous  for  the  unrighteous,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God ;  being  put  to  death  in  the 
flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  spirit ;  in  which  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison,  which  aforetime  were 
disobedient,  when  the  longsuffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah." 

Bartlett  expounds  as  follows:  '"In  which'  (nvevnan,  divine  nature)  'he  went  and 
preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison  when  once  they  disobeyed.1  airei6ri<Ta<T(.v  is  circumstantial  aorist,  indicat- 
ing the  time  of  the  preaching  as  a  definite  past.  It  is  an  anarthous  dative,  as  in  Luke 
8  :  27 ;  Mat.  8  :  23 ;  Acts  15  :  25 ;  22  : 17.  It  is  an  appositi ve,  or  predicative,  participle.  [  That  the 
aorist  participle  does  not  necessarily  describe  an  action  preliminary  to  that  of  the  prin- 
cipal verb,  appears  from  its  use  in  verse  18  ( tWai-w^eis ),  in  1  Thess.  1 :  6  (Sefi/uei/ot),  and  in  Col- 
2  : 11, 13].  The  connection  of  thought  is :  Peter  exhorts  his  readers  to  endure  suffering 
bravely,  because  Christ  did  so  — in  his  lower  nature  being  put  to  death,  in  his  higher 
nature  enduring  the  opposition  of  sinners  before  the  flood.  Sinners  of  that  time  only 
are  mentioned,  because  this  permits  an  introduction  of  the  subsequent  reference  to 
baptism.  Cf.  Gen.  6  :  3 ;  1  Pet.  1  :  10,  11 ;  2  Pet,  2  :  4,  5." 

(b)     The  ascension  and  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God. 

As  the  resurrection  proclaimed  Christ  to  men  as  the  perfected  and  glori- 
fied man,  the  conqueror  of  sin  and  lord  of  death,  the  ascension  proclaimed 
him  to  the  universe  as  the  reinstated  God,  the  possessor  of  universal 
dominion,  the  omnipresent  object  of  worship  and  hearer  of  prayer.  Dextra 
Dei  ubique  est. 

Mat.  28  :  18,  20  —  "  All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ....  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  "  ;  Mark  16  : 19  —  "  So  then  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  he  had  spoken  unto  them,  was  received 
up  into  heaven,  and  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  God  "  ;  Acts  7  :  55  —  "  But  he,  being  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  looked 
up  stedfastly  into  heaven,  and  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jssus  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God "  ;  2  Cor.  13  :  4  —  "he 
was  crucified  through  weakness,  yet  he  liveth  through  the  power  of  God  "  ;  Eph.  1 : 22,  23  —  "he  put  all  things  in  sub- 
j  action  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that 
filleth  all  in  all "  ;  4  : 10  —  "  He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens,  that  he  might 
fill  all  things."  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  : 184-189  —  "  Before  the  resurrection,  Christ  was 
the  God-mom ;  since  the  resurrection,  he  is  the  God-man He  ate  with  his  disci- 
ples, not  to  show  the  quality,  but  the  reality,  of  his  human  body."  Nicoll,  Life  of  Christ : 
"It  was  hard  for  Elijah  to  ascend"  — it  required  chariot  and  horses  of  fire  — "but  it 
was  easier  for  Christ  to  ascend,  than  to  descend  "  —  there  was  a  gravitation  upwards. 

We  are  compelled  here  to  consider  the  problem  of  the  relation  of  the  humanity  to  the 
Logos  in  the  state  of  exaltation.  The  Lutherans  maintain  the  ubiquity  of  Christ's 
human  body,  and  they  make  it  the  basis  of  their  doctrine  of  the  sacraments.  Dorner, 
Glaubenslehre,  2  :  674-676  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 138-142),  holds  to  "  a  presence,  not  simply  of 
the  Logos,  but  of  the  whole  God-man,  with  all  his  people,  but  not  necessarily  likewise  a 
similar  presence  in  the  world ;  in  other  words,  his  presence  is  morally  conditioned  by 
men's  receptivity."  The  old  theologians  said  that  Christ  is  not  in  heaven,  quasi  earcere. 
Calvin,  Institutes,  2  : 15  —  he  is  "incarnate,  but  not  incarcerated."  He  has  gone  into 


THE    OFFICES    OF    CHKIST.  387 

heaven,  the  place  of  spirits,  and  he  manifests  himself  there ;  but  he  has  also  gone  far 
above  all  heavens,  that  he  may  fyi  all  things.  He  is  with  his  people  alway.  All  power 
is  given  into  his  hand.  The  church  is  the  fulness  of  him  that  fllleth  all  in  all.  So  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  speak  constantly  of  the  Son  of  man,  of  the  man  Jesus  as  God,  ever 
present,  the  object  of  worship,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  having  all  the  powers 
and  prerogatives  of  Deity. 

Who  and  what  is  this  Christ,  who  is  present  with  his  people  when  they  pray  ?  It  is  not 
enough  to  say,  He  is  simply  the  Holy  Spirit ;  for  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  "  Spirit  of  Christ "  ( Rom. 
8:9),  and  in  having  the  Holy  Spirit  we  have  Christ  himself  (John  16  :  7  — "I  will  send  him 
[  the  Comforter  ]  unto  you  " ;  14  : 18  —  "  I  come  unto  you  "  ).  The  Christ,  who  is  thus  present  with 
us  when  we  pray,  is  not  simply  the  Logos,  or  the  divine  nature  of  Christ  — his  humanity 
being  separated  from  the  divinity  and  being  localized  in  heaven.  This  would  be  incon- 
sistent with  his  promise  " Lo,  I  am  with  you,"  in  which  the  "I"  that  spoke  was  not  simply 
Deity,  but  Deity  and  humanity  inseparably  united ;  and  it  would  deny  the  real  and 
indissoluble  union  of  the  two  natures.  The  elder  brother  and  sympathizing  Savior  who 
is  with  us  when  we  pray  is  man,  as  well  as  God.  This  manhood  is  therefore  ubiquitous 
by  virtue  of  its  union  with  the  Godhead. 

But  this  is  not  to  say  that  Christ's  human  body  is  everywhere  present.  It  would  seem 
that  body  must  exist  in  spatial  relations,  and  be  confined  to  place.  We  do  not  know  that 
this  is  so  with  regard  to  soul.  Heaven  would  seem  to  be  a  place,  because  Christ's  body 
is  there ;  and  a  spiritual  body  is  not  a  body  which  is  spirit,  but  a  body  which  is  suited  to 
the  uses  of  the  spirit.  But  even  though  Christ  may  manifest  himself,  in  a  glorified 
human  body,  only  in  heaven,  his  human  soul,  by  virtue  of  its  union  with  the  divine 
nature,  can  at  the  same  moment  be  with  all  his  scattered  people  over  the  whole  earth. 
As,  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  his  humanity  was  confined  to  place,  while  as  to  his  Deity  he 
could  speak  of  the  Son  of  man  which  is  in  heaven,  so  now,  although  his  human  body  may 
be  confined  to  place,  his  human  soul  is  ubiquitous.  Humanity  can  exist  without  body ; 
for  during  the  three  days  in  the  sepulchre,  Christ's  body  was  on  earth,  but  his  soul  was 
in  the  other  world ;  and  in  like  manner  there  is,  during  the  intermediate  state,  a  separa- 
tion of  the  soul  and  the  body  of  believers.  But  humanity  cannot  exist  without  soul ; 
and  if  the  human  Savior  is  with  us,  then  his  humanity,  at  least  so  far  as  respects  its  im- 
material part,  must  be  everywhere  present.  Since  Christ's  human  nature  has  deriva- 
tively become  possessed  of  divine  attributes,  there  is  no  validity  in  the  notion  of  a 
progressiveness  in  that  nature,  now  that  it  has  ascended  to  the  right  hand  of  God. 
See  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  4  : 131 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  558,  576. 


SECTION    IV. —THE    OFFICES    OF   CHRIST. 

The  Scriptures  represent  Christ's  offices  as  three  in  number,  —  prophetic, 
priestly,  and  kingly.  Although  these  terms  are  derived  from  concrete  human 
relations,  they  express  perfectly  distinct  ideas.  The  prophet,  the  priest, 
and  the  king,  of  the  Old  Testament,  were  detached  but  designed  prefigu- 
rations  of  him  who  should  combine  all  these  various  activities  in  himself, 
and  should  furnish  the  ideal  reality,  of  which  they  were  the  imperfect 
symbols. 

1  Cor.  1 :  30 —  "of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God,  and  righteousness  and  sanc- 
tification  and  redemption."  Here  "wisdom"  seems  to  indicate  the  prophetic,  "righteousness"  (or 
"  justification "  )  the  priestly,  and  " sanctification  and  redemption"  the  kingly  work  of  Christ.  Deno- 
van :  "  Three  oflBces  are  necessary.  Christ  must  be  a  prophet,  to  save  us  from  the  igno- 
rance of  sin ;  a  priest,  to  save  us  from  its  guilt;  a  king,  to  save  us  from  its  dominion  in 
our  flesh.  Our  faith  cannot  have  firm  basis  in  any  one  of  these  alone,  any  more  than  a 
stool  can  stand  on  less  than  three  legs."  See  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  583-586 ;  Archer 
Butler,  Sermons,  1 :  314. 


388  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

I.     THE  PROPHETIC  OFFICE  or  CHRIST. 

1.  The  nature  of  Christ's  prophetic  work. 

(a)  Here  we  must  avoid  the  narrow  interpretation  which  would  make  the 
prophet  a  mere  foreteller  of  future  events.  He  was  rather  an  inspired 
interpreter  or  revealer  of  the  divine  will,  a  medium  of  communication 
between  God  and  men  (  irpo^rrj^  =  not  foreteller,  but  forteller,  or  forthteller. 
Cf.  Gen.  20  :  7,  —  of  Abraham ;  Ps.  105  :  15,— of  the  patriarchs ;  Mat.  11  :  9, 

—  of  John  the  Baptist;    1  Cor.  12  :  28,  Eph.  2  :  20,  and  3  :  5,  —  of  N.  T. 
expounders  of  Scripture). 

Gen.  20  :  7  —  "  Restore  the  man's  wife ;  for  he  is  a  prophet "  —  spoken  of  Abraham ;  Ps.  105  :  15  —  "  Touch 
not  mine  anointed  ones,  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm"  — spoken  of  the  patriarchs;  Mat.  11  :  9  — "But 
•wherefore  went  ye  out?  to  see  a  prophet?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  and  much  more  than  a  prophet"  —  spoken  of 
John  the  Baptist,  from  whom  we  have  no  recorded  predictions,  and  whose  pointing  to 
Jesus  as  the  "  Lamb  of  God  "  (John  1 :  29 )  was  apparently  but  an  echo  of  Isaiah  53.  1  Cor.  12 : 28  — 
"  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets  "  ;  Eph.  2  :  20  —  "  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets  "  ;  3:5 

—  "  revealed  unto  his  holy  apostles  and  prophets  in  the  Spirit"  —  all  these  latter  texts  speaking-  of  New 
Testament  expounders  of  Scripture. 

Any  organ  of  divine  revelation,  or  medium  of  divine  communication,  is  a  prophet. 
"Hence,"  says  Philippi,  "the books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings  are  called 
'Prophetoe  priores,'  or  'the  earlier  prophets.'  Bernard's  Respice,  Aspice,  Prosptee 
describes  the  work  of  the  prophet ;  for  the  prophet  might  see  and  might  disclose  things 
in  the  past,  things  in  the  present,  or  things  in  the  future.  Daniel  was  a  prophet,  in 
telling  Nebuchadnezzar  what  his  dream  had  been,  as  well  as  in  telling  its  interpretation 
<  Dan.  2  :  28,  36 ).  The  woman  of  Samaria  rightly  called  Christ  a  prophet,  when  he  told 
her  all  things  that  ever  she  did  (John  4  :  29)."  On  the  work  of  the  prophet,  see  Stanley, 
Jewish  Church,  1 :  491. 

(6)     The  prophet  commonly  united  three  methods  of  fulfilling  his  office, 

—  those  of  teaching,  predicting,  and  miracle-working.    In  all  these  respects, 
Jesus  Christ  did  the  work  of  a  prophet  ( Deut.  18  :  15 ;    cf.  Acts  3  :  22. 
Mat.  13  :  57;    Luke  13  :  33;    John  6  :  14).      He  taught   (Mat.  5-7),  he 
uttered  predictions  (  Mat.  24  and  25  ),  he  wrought  miracles  ( Mat.  8  and  9), 
while  in  his  person,  his  life,  his  work,  and  his  death,  he  revealed  the  Father 
(JohnS  :26:  14  :  9 ;  17  :  8). 

Deut.  18  : 15  — "The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  prophet,  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like 
unto  me ;  unto  him  shall  ye  hearken  "  ;  cf.  Acts  3  :  22  —  where  this  prophecy  is  said  to  be  fulfilled  in 
Christ.  Jesus  calls  himself  a  prophet  in  Mat.  13  :  56  —  "A.  prophet  is  not  without  honor,  save  in  his  own 
country,  and  in  his  own  house  " ;  Luke  13  :  33—  "  Howbeit  I  must  go  on  my  way  to-day  and  to-morrow  and  the  day 
following :  for  it  cannot  be  that  a  prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem."  He  was  called  a  prophet :  "  When  there- 
fore the  people  saw  the  sign  which  he  did,  they  said,  This  is  of  a  truth  the  prophet  that  cometh  into  the  world."  John 
8  :  26  —  "  the  things  which  I  heard  from  him  [  the  Father  ],  these  speak  I  unto  the  world  "  ;  14  :  9  —  "  he  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father  "  ;  17  :  8  —  "  the  words  which  thou  gavest  me,  I  have  given  unto  them." 

Denovan :  "  Christ  teaches  us  by  his  word,  his  Spirit,  his  example."  Christ's  miracles 
were  mainly  miracles  of  healing.  "  Only  sickness  is  contagious  with  us.  But  Christ 
was  an  example  of  perfect  health,  and  his  health  was  contagious.  By  its  overflow,  he 
healed  others.  Only  a  '  touch '  ( Mat.  9 :  21 )  was  necessary." 

2.  The  stages  of  Christ's  prophetic  work. 
These  are  four,  namely  : 

(a)  The  preparatory  work  of  the  Logos,  in  enlightening  mankind  before 
the  time  of  Christ's  advent  in  the  flesh.  —  All  preliminary  religious  knowl- 
edge, whether  within  or  without  the  bounds  of  the  chosen  people,  is  from 
Christ,  the  revealer  of  God. 


THE   PROPHETIC   OFFICE   OF   CHRIST.  389 

Christ's  prophetic  work  began  before  he  came  in  the  flesh.  John  1 :  9—  "There  was  the  true 
light,  even  the  light  which  lighteth  every  man,  coming  into  the  world  "  =  all  the  natural  light  of  con- 
science, science,  philosophy,  art,  civilization,  is  the  light  of  Christ.  Tennyson :  "  Our  little 
systems  have  their  day,  They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be;  They  are  but  broken 
lights  of  thee,  And  thou,  O  Lord,  art  more  than  they."  Heb.  12  :  24,  26— "See  that  ye  refuse 

not  him  that  speaketh whose  voice  then  [  at  Sinai  ]  shook  the  earth :  but  now  he  hath  promised,  saying,  Yet 

once  more  will  I  make  to  tremble  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  the  heaven  "  ;  Luke  11  :  49  —  "  Therefore  said  the  wisdom 
of  God,  I  will  send  unto  them  prophets  and  apostles  "  ;  cf.  Mat.  23  :  34  —  "  behold,  I  send  unto  you  prophets,  and  wise 
men,  and  scribes:  some  of  them  shall  ye  kill  and  crucify"  —  which  shows  that  Jesus  was  referring 
to  his  own  teachings,  as  well  as  to  those  of  the  earlier  prophets. 

(6)  The  earthly  ministry  of  Christ  incarnate.  — In  his  earthly  ministry, 
Christ  showed  himself  the  prophet  par  excellence.  While  he  submitted, 
like  the  Old  Testament  prophets,  to  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  unlike 
them,  he  found  the  sources  of  all  knowledge  and  power  within  himself. 
The  word  of  God  did  not  come  to  him  —  he  was  himself  the  Word. 

Luke  6  : 19  — "ind  all  the  multitude  sought  to  touch  him:  for  power  came  forth  from  him,  and  healed  them  all"; 
John  2  : 11  —  "  This  beginning  of  his  signs  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  and  manifested  his  glory  "  ;  8  :  38,  58  —  "I 
speak  of  the  things  which  I  have  seen  with  my  Father  ....  Before  Abraham  was  born,  I  am "  ;  cf.  Jer.  2:1  —  "the 
word  of  the  Lord  came  to  me "  ;  John  1:1  —  "In  the  beginning  was  the  "Word."  Mat.  26  :  53  —  " twelve  legions 
of  angels  "  ;  John  10  : 18  —  of  his  life :  "  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again  "  ;  34  —  "Is 

it  not  written  in  your  law,  I  said,  Ye  are  gods  ?    If  he  called  them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of  God  came 

say  ye  of  him  whom  the  Father  sanctified  and  sent  into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest,  because  I  said,  I  am  the  Son  of 
God?"  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  295-301,  says  of  Jesus'  teaching  that  " its  source  was  not 
inspiration,  but  incarnation."  Jesus  was  not  inspired  — he  was  the  Inspirer.  There- 
tore  he  is  the  true  "  Master  of  those  who  know."  His  disciples  act  in  his  name ;  he  acts 
in  his  own  name. 

(c)  The  guidance  and  teaching  of  his  church  on  earth,  since  his  ascen- 
sion.— Christ's  prophetic  activity  is  continued  through  the  preaching  of  his 
apostles  and  ministers,  and  by  the  enlightening  influences  of  his   Holy 
Spirit  (John  16  :  12,  13  ;  Acts  1:1).     The  apostles  unfolded  the  germs  of 
doctrine  put  into  their  hands  by  Christ.     The  church  is,  in  a  derivative 
sense,  a  prophetic  institution,  established  to  teach  the  world  by  its  preach- 
ing and  its  ordinances.     But  Christians  are  prophets,  only  as  being  pro- 
claimers  of  Christ's  teaching  ( Num.  11  :  29  ;  Joel  2  :  28  ). 

John  16  : 12-14  —  "  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit  when  he,  the 

Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you  into  all  the  truth He  shall  glorify  me ;  for  he  shall  take  of  mine  and 

shall  declare  it  unto  you"  ;  Acts  1 : 1  — "The  former  treatise  I  made,  0  Theophilus,  concerning  all  that  Jesus  began 
both  to  do  and  to  teach  "  =  Christ's  prophetic  work  was  only  begun,  during  his  earthly  min- 
istry ;  it  is  continued  since  his  ascension.  The  inspiration  of  the  apostles,  the  illumi- 
nation of  all  preachers  and  Christians  to  understand  and  to  unfold  the  meaning  of 
the  word  they  wrote,  the  conviction  of  sinners,  and  the  sanctification  of  believers  —  all 
these  are  parts  of  Christ's  prophetic  work,  performed  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

By  virtue  of  their  union  with  Christ  and  participation  in  Christ's  Spirit,  all  Christians 
are  made  in  a  secondary  sense  prophets.  Num.  11 :  29  —  "  Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were 
prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put  his  spirit  upon  them  "  ;  Joel  2  :  28  —  "  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all  flesh  ; 
and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy."  All  modern  prophecy  that  is  true,  however,  is 
but  the  republication  of  Christ's  message  — the  proclamation  and  expounding  of  truth 
already  revealed  in  Scripture.  "  All  so-called  new  prophecy,  from  Montanus  to  Sweden- 
borg,  proves  its  own  falsity  by  its  lack  of  attesting  miracles." 

(d)  Christ's  final  revelation  of  the  Father  to  his  saints  in  glory  ( John 
16  :  25  ;    17  :  24,  26  ;   cf.  Is.  64  :  4  ;   1  Cor.  13  :  12 ).— Thus  Christ's  pro- 
phetic work  will  be  an  endless  one,  as  the  Father  whom  he  reveals  is 
infinite. 


John  16  :  25  —  "  The  hour  cometh,  when  I  shall  no  more  speak  unto  you  in  dark  sayings,  but  shall  tell  you  plainly  of 
the  Father  " ;    17  :  24  —  "  I  desire  that  where  I  am,  they  also  may  be  with  me ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which 


390  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

thou  hast  given  me  "  ;  26  —  "  I  made  known  unto  them  thy  name,  and  will  make  it  known."  The  revelation  of 
his  own  glory  will  be  the  revelation  of  the  Father,  in  the  Son.  Is.  64  :  4  —  "  For  from  of  old  men 
have  not  heard,  nor  perceived  by  the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen  a  God  beside  thee,  which  worketh  for  him  that  waiteth 
for  him  "  ;  1  Cor.  13  : 13  —  "  Now  wa  see  in  a  mirror,  darkly  ;  but  then  face  to  face :  now  I  know  in  part ;  but  then 
shall  I  know  fully,  even  as  also  I  was  fully  known." 

See,  on  the  whole  subject  of  Christ's  prophetic  office,  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  : 
24-27;  Bruce,  Humiliation  of  Christ,  330-330. 

II.     THE  PKIESTLY  OFFICE  OF  CHRIST. 

The  priest  was  a  person  divinely  appointed  to  transact  with  God  on  man's 
behalf.  He  fulfilled  his  office,  first  by  offering  sacrifice,  and  secondly  by 
making  intercession.  In  both  these  respects  Christ  is  priest  (Heb.  7  : 
24-28). 

1.     Christ's  Sacrificial  Work,  or  the  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement. 

The  Scriptures  teach  that  Christ  obeyed  and  suffered  in  our  stead,  to 
satisfy  an  immanent  demand  of  the  divine  holiness,  and  thus  remove  an  ob- 
stacle in  the  divine  mind  to  the  pardon  and  restoration  of  the  guilty.  This 
statement  may  be  expanded  as  follows  : 

(a)  The  holiness  of  God  ( or  his  justice,  which  is  transitive  holiness ) 
requires  the  punishment  of  sin.  Sin  is  intrinsically  ill-deserving,  and  God's 
justice  is  as  much  bound  to  punish  sin,  as  sin  is  bound  to  be  punished. 

(6)  The  love  of  God,  which  desires  the  salvation  of  the  sinner,  can  secure 
this  end  only  by  satisfying  the  holiness  of  which  penalty  is  the  necessary 
expression. 

(c)  This  satisfaction  can  be  rendered  only  by  one  who  unites  with  a 
human  nature   responsible  to  law,  yet  personally  pure,  that  same  divine 
holiness  that  needs  to  be  satisfied ;  in  other  words,  the  satisfaction  must  be 
by  a  substitution  as  respects  man,  and  by  a  self -oblation  as  respects  God. 

(d)  Christ,  the  God-man,  meets  this  demand  of  God's  holiness,  and  ful- 
fils this  impulse  of  God's  love,  by  voluntarily  enduring  the  penalty  of  the 
law,  as  our  substitute,  and,  in  virtue  of  his  divine  nature,  undergoing  death 
without  being  destroyed  by  it. 

(e)  Having  thus  satisfied  the  claims  of  justice  against  humanity,  by  bear- 
ing the  physical  and  spiritual  death  which  is  the  penalty  of  sin,  Christ  has 
removed  all  obstacles  to  the  pardon  of  sinners  which  exist  in  the  mind  of 
God,  apart  from  their  own  subjective  impenitence  and  rebellion. 

(/)  Being  in  himself  the  embodied  reconciliation  and  union  of  man  and 
God,  Christ  offers  the  salvation  he  has  wrought  to  all  who  will  ratify  his 
work  and  accept  him  as  their  Savior ;  and  for  all  such,  his  atonement  is  a 
complete  deliverance  from  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  a  security  for  their 
gradual  emancipation  from  its  power. 

A.     Scripture  Methods  of  Representing  the  Atonement. 
We  may  classify  the  Scripture  representations  according  as  they  conform 
to  moral,  commercial,  legal,  or  sacrificial  analogies. 

(a)     MOBAL. — The  atonement  is  described  as 

A  provision  originating  in  God's  love,  and  manifesting  this  love  to  the 
universe. 


THE    PRIESTLY   OFFICE    OF    CHRIST.  391 

John  3  :  16—  "For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son"  ;  Rom.  5  :  8  --"God  commendeth  his 
own  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us  "  ;  John  4:9—"  Herein  was  the  love  of  God 
manifested  in  us,  that  God  hath  sent  his  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live  through  him." 

An  example  of  disinterested  love,  to  secure  our  deliverance  from  selfish- 
ness. —  in  these  latter  passages,  Christ's  death  is  referred  to  as  a  source 
of  moral  stimulus  to  men. 

Luke  9  :  22-24  —  "The  Son  of  man  must  suffer  .  .  .  and  be  killed  ...  If  any  man  would  come  after  me,  let  him  .  .  . 
take  up  his  cross  daily,  and  follow  me  ----  Whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  the  same  shall  save  it  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 
15—  "he  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  no  longer  live  unto  themselves"  ;  Gal.  1  :  4—  "gave  himself  for  our 
sins,  that  he  might  deliver  us  out  of  this  present  evil  world"  ;  Eph.  5  :  25-27  —  "Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave 
himself  up  for  it;  that  he-  might  sanctify  it"  ;  Col.  1  :  21,  22  —  "  reconciled  in  the  body  of  his  flesh  through  death,  to 
present  you  holy  "  ;  Titus  2  :  14  —"gave  himself  for  us,  that  he  might  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and  purify  "  ;  1  Pet. 
2  :  21-24—"  Christ  also  suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps  :  who  did  no  sin  .... 
"who  his  own  self  bore  our  sins  in  his  own  body  upon  the  tree,  that  we,  having  died  unto  sins,  might  live  unto  righteous- 
ness." 

(6)     COMMERCIAL.  —  The  atonement  is  described  as 

A  ransom,  paid  to  free  us  from  the  bondage  of  sin  (note  in  these  passages 
the  use  of  avri,  the  preposition  of  price,  bargain,  exchange).  —  In  these  pas- 
sages, Christ's  death  is  represented  as  the  price  of  our  deliverance  from  sin 
and  death. 

Mat.  20  :  28,  and  Mark  10  :  45  —  "to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many  "—  \vrpov  avr\  no\\u>v.  1  Tim.  2  :  6— 
"  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all  "  —  avri\vrpov.  av-rL  (  "  for,"  in  the  sense  of  "  instead  of  "  )  is  never 
•confounded  with  vnep  ("for,"  in  the  sense  of  "in  behalf  of,"  "for  the  the  benefit  of  "). 
avrl  is  the  preposition  of  price,  bargain,  exchange  ;  and  this  signification  is  traceable  in 
•every  passage  where  it  occurs  in  the  N.  T.  See  Mat.  2  :  22  —  "  Archelaus  was  reigning  over  Judea  in 
the  room  of  [  avri  ]  his  father  Herod  "  ;  Luke  11  :  11  —  "shall  his  son  ask  ....  a  fish,  and  he  for  [  avri  ]  a  fish  give  him 
A  serpent?  "  Heb.  12  :  2—  "Jesus  the  author  and  perfecter  of  our  faith,  who  for  [  avri  =  as  the  price  of  ]  the  joy 
that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross"  ;  16  —  "Esau,  who  for  [  avri  =  in  exchange  for  ]  one  mess  of  meat 
.sold  his  own  birthright."  See  also  Mat.  16  :  26  —  "  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  (  avra^Xay^a  )  his  life  "— 
=  how  shall  he  buy  it  back,  when  once  he  has  lost  it  ? 

Meyer,  on  Mat.  20  :  28  —  "  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many  "  —  "  The  ^vx~n  is  conceived  of  as  Aurpov, 
.a  ransom,  for,  through  the  shedding  of  the  blood,  it  becomes  the  TC./U.TJ  (  price  )  of  redemp- 
tion." See  also  1  Cor.  6  :  20;  7  :  23—  "ye  were  bought  with  a  price"  ;  and  2  Pet.  2  :  1  —"denying  even  the 
Master  that  bought  them."  The  word  "redemption,"  indeed,  means  simply  "repurchase,"  or 
•"  the  state  of  being  repurchased  "—  i.  e.,  delivered  by  the  payment  of  a  price.  Rev.  5:9— 
"thou  wast  slain,  and  didst  purchase  unto  God  with  thy  blood  men  of  every  tribe."  Winer,  N.  T.  Grammar, 
£58—  "In  Greek,  avri  is  the  preposition  of  price."  Buttmann,  N.  T.  Grammar,  321—  "In 
the  signification  of  the  preposition  avri  (instead  of,  for),  no  deviation  occurs  from  ordi- 
nary usage."  See  Grimm's  Wilke,  Lexicon  Graeco-Lat.  :  "  avri,  in  vicem,  anstatt  "  ;  also 
€remer,  N.  T.  Lex.,  on  a 


(c)     LEGAL.  —  The  atonement  is  described  as 

An  act  of  obedience  to  the  law  which  sinners  had  violated. 

Gal.  4  :  4  —  "born  of  a  woman,  born  under  the  law,  that  he  might  redeem  them  which  were  unden  the  law  "  ;  Mat 
3  :15—  "thusitbecomethusto  fulfil  all  righteousness  "—  Christ's  baptism  prefigured  his  death,  and 
was  a  consecration  to  death  ;  c/.  Mark  10  :  38  —  "  Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  drink  ?  or  to  be  bap- 
tized with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ?  "  Luke  12  :  50  —  "  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how  am 
I  straightened  till  it  be  accomplished  !  "  Mat.  26  :  39  —  "  0  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  away  from  me  : 
nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt"  ;  5  :  17—  "Think  not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets:  I 
came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil"  ;  Phil.  2  :  8—  "becoming  obedient  even  unto  death"  ;  Rom.  5  :  19—  "through  the 
obedience  of  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous"  ;  10  :  4  —  "Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  unto  righteousness  to  every 
one  that  believeth." 

A  penalty,  borne  in  order  to  rescue  the  guilty. 

Rom.  4  :  25—"  who  was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses,  and  was  raised  for  our  justification  "  ;  8:3—"  God,  sending 
his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  :  21  —  "  Him  who  knew  no 
sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf"—  here  "  sin  "=  a  sinner,  an  accursed  one  (Meyer)  ;  Gal.  1:4—  "gave 


392  SOTERIOLOGY,    OB   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

himself  for  our  sins  " ;  3  : 13  — "  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us :  for  it  is 
written,  Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a  tree  "  ;  cf.  Deut.  21 :  23  — "  he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God."  Heb. 
9  :  28 — "  Christ  also,  having  been  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many  "  ;  cf.  Lev.  5  : 17 — "if  any  one  sin  ....  yet  is 
he  guilty,  and  shall  bear  his  iniquity"  ;  Num.  14  :  34 — "for  every  day  a  year,  shall  bear  your  iniquities,  even  forty 
years  "  ;  Lam.  5  :  7  — "  Our  fathers  have  sinned,  and  are  not ;  and  we  have  borne  their  iniquities." 

An  exhibition  of  God's  righteousness,  necessary  to  the  vindication  of  hia 
procedure  in  the  pardon  and  restoration  of  sinners. — In  these  passages  the 
death  of  Christ  is  represented  as  demanded  by  God's  law  and  government. 

Rom,  3  :  25,  26— "whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith,  in  his  blood,  to  shew  his  righteousness,  be- 
cause of  the  passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime,  in  the  forbearance  of  God  "  ;  cf.  fieb.  9  : 15— "a  death  having- 
taken  place  for  the  redemption  of  the  transgressions  that  were  under  the  first  covenant." 

(d)     SACRIFICIAL. — The  atonement  is  described  as 

A  work  of  priestly  mediation,  which  reconciles  God  to  men. — Notice 
here  that  the  term  '  reconciliation '  has  its  usual  sense  of  removing  enmity, 
not  from  the  offending,  but  from  the  offended  party. 

Heb.  9  : 11, 12  — "  Christ  having  come  a  high  priest ....  nor  yet  through  the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,  but  through 
his  own  blood,  entered  in  once  for  all  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemption"  ;  Rom.  5  : 10 — "while 
we  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  through  the  death  of  his  Son"  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 18, 19 — "All  things  are  of  God,, 
who  reconciled  us  to  himself  through  Christ ....  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  reckoning 
unto  them  their  trespasses"  ;  Eph.  2  : 16— "might  reconcile  them  both  in  one  body  unto  God  through  the  cross,  having- 
slain  the  enmity  thereby  "  ;  cf.  12,  13, 19  — "  strangers  from  the  covenants  of  the  promise  ...  far  off  ...  no  more 
strangers  and  sojourners,  but  ye  are  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God  " ;  Col.  1 :  20  — "  through 
him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself,  having  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross." 

On  all  these  passages,  see  Meyer,  who  shows  $he  meaning1  of  the  apostle  to  be,  that  "  we 
were  'enemies,'  not  actively,  as  hostile  to  God,  but  passively,  as  those  with  whom  God  was 
angry."  The  epistle  to  the  Romans  begins  with  the  revelation  of  wrath  against  Gentile 
and  Jew  alike  (Rom.  1 : 18).  "While  we  were  enemies"  (Rom.  5  : 10)  =  "when  God  was  hostile  to 
us."  "  Reconciliation  "  is  therefore  the  removal  of  God's  wrath  toward  man.  Meyer, 
on  this  last  passage,  says  that  Christ's  death  does  not  remove  man's  wrath  toward  God 
[this  is  not  the  work  of  Christ,  but  of  the  Holy  Spirit].  The  offender  reconciles  the 
person  offended,  not  himself. 

Cf.  Num.  25  : 13,  where  Phinehas,  by  slaying  Zimri,  is  said  to  have  "  made  atonement  for  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel."  Surely,  the  "atonement"  here  cannot  be  a  reconciliation  of  Israel.  The  action 
terminates,  not  on  the  subject,  but  on  the  object  —  God.  So,  1  Sam.  29 :  4  — "  wherewith  should  this, 
fellow  reconcile  himself  unto  his  Lord  ?  should  it  not  be  with  the  heads  of  these  men  ?  "  Mat.  5  : 23,  24  — "  If  therefore 
thou  art  offering  thy  gift  at  the  altar,  and  there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee,  leave  there  thy 
gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way,  first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother  [£.  e.,  remove  his  enmity,  not  thine 
own],  and  then  come  and  offer  thy  gift." 

A  sin-offering,  presented  on  behalf  of  transgressors. 

John  1  :  29— "Behold,  the  Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world"— here  alpuv  means  to  take 
away  by  taking  or  bearing ;  to  take,  and  so  take  away.  It  is  an  allusion  to  the  sin-offer- 
ing of  Isaiah  53  :  7-12  — "  when  thou  shalt  make  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin  ...  as  a  lamb  that  is  led  to  the  slaughter 
...  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  Mat.  26  :  28  — "  this  is  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  shei 
for  many  unto  remission  of  sins  "  ;  cf.  Ps.  50  :  5  — "  made  a  covenant  with  me  by  sacrifice."  1  John  1  :  7  — "  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his*Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin  "=  not  sanctification,  but  justification;  1  Cor.  5  :  7  — 
"our  passover  also  hath  been  sacrificed,  even  Christ"  ;  cf.  Deut.  16  :  2-6 — "Thou  shalt  sacrifice  the  passover  unto  the 
Lord  thy  God."  Eph.  5:2—"  gave  himself  up  for  us,  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  an  odor  of  a  sweet  smell "  ; 
Heb.  9  : 14— "the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered  himself  without  blemish  unto  God"  ;  22,  26  — 
"  apart  from  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  . .  .  now  once  in  the  end  of  the  !%es  hath  he  been  manifested  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself"  ;  1  Pet.  1 : 18, 19— "redeemed  . . .  with  precious  blood,  as  of  a  lamb  without 
blemish  and  without  spot,  even  the  blood  of  Christ." 

A  propitiation,  which  satisfies  the  demands  of  violated  holiness. 

Rom.  3  :  25-26— "whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith,  in  his  blood that  he  might  himself  be 

just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus."  A  full  and  critical  exposition  of  this  passage  is- 
reserved  for  our  examination  of  the  ethical  theory  of  the  atonement.  Here  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  it  shows :  ( 1 )  that  Christ's  death  is  a  propitiatory  sacrifice ;  ( 2 )  that 


THE    INSTITUTION    OF   SACRIFICE.  393 

its  first  and  main  effect  is  upon  God  ;  (  3  )  that  the  particular  attribute  in  God  which 
demands  the  atonement  is  his  justice,  or  holiness;  (4)  that  the  satisfaction  of  this 
holiness  is  the  necessary  condition  of  God's  justifying  the  believer. 

Compare  Luke  18  :  13,  marg.  —  "God  be  merciful  unto  me  the  sinner"  ;  lit.  :  "God  be  propitiated  toward  me 
the  sinner"—  by  the  sacrifice,  whose  smoke  was  ascending  before  the  publican,  even  while 
he  prayed.  Heb.  2  :  17  —  "a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for 
the  sins  of  the  people  "  ;  1  John  2:2  —  "  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins  ;  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the 
whole  world  "  ;  4  :  10  —  "  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that  he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins  "  ;  cf.  Gen.  32  :  20,  LXX.—  "  I  will  appease  [e£iAaero;uai,  '  propitiate  ']  him  with  the 
present  that  goeth  before  me  "  ;  Prov.  16  :  14,  i,xx.  —  "  The  wrath  of  a  king  is  as  messengers  of  death  ;  but  a  wise  man 
will  pacify  it  "  [/^lAdo-erai,  '  propitiate  it']. 


A  substitution,  of  Christ's  obedience  and  sufferings  for  ours.  —  These  pas- 
sages, taken  together,  show  that  Christ's  death  is  demanded  by  God's 
attribute  of  justice,  or  holiness,  if  sinners  are  to  be  saved. 

Luke  22  :  37  —  "  He  was  reckoned  with  transgressors  "  ;  cf.  Lev.  16  :  21  —  "  And  Aaron  shall  lay  both  his  hands  upon 
the  head  of  the  live  goat,  and  confess  over  him  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of  Israel  ....  he  shall  put  them  upon  the 
head  of  the  goat  ....  and  the  goat  shall  bear  upon  him  all  their  iniquities  unto  a  solitary  land  "  ;  Is.  53  :  5,  6  —  "  He 
was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him  ; 
and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  All  we  like  sheep  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way  ; 
and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all."  John  10  :  11  —  "  The  good  shepherd  layeth  down  his  life  for  the 
sheep  "  ;  Rom.  5  :  6-8  —  "  While  we  were  yet  weak,  in  due  season  Christ  died  for  the  ungodly.  For  scarcely  for  a  right- 
eous man  will  one  die  :  for  peradventure  for  the  good  man  some  one  would  even  dare  to  die.  But  God  commendeth  his  lovft 
toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us  "  ;  1  Pet.  3  :  18  —  "Christ  also  suffered  for  sins  once, 
the  righteous  for  the  unrighteous,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." 

To  these  texts  we  must  add  all  those  mentioned  under  (b)  above,  in  which  Christ's 
death  is  described  as  a  ransom.  Besides  Meyer's  comment,  there  quoted,  on  Mat.  20  :  28  — 
"to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many,"  Avrpov  aim  TroAAwv  —  Meyer  also  says  :  "  aim  denotes  substi- 
tution. That  which  is  given  as  a  ransom  takes  the  place  of,  is  given  instead  of,  those  who 
are  to  be  set  free  in  consideration  thereof,  aim  can  only  be  understood  in  the  sense  of 
substitution  in  the  act  of  which  the  ransom  is  presented  as  an  equivalent,  to  secure  the 
deliverance  of  those  on  whose  behalf  the  ransom  is  paid  —  a  view  which  is  only  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that,  in  other  parts  of  the  N.  T.,  this  ransom  is  usually  spoken  of  as  an 
expiatory  sacrifice.  That  which  they  [those  for  whom  the  ransom  is  paid]  are  redeemed 
from,  is  the  eternal  an-uiAeia  in  which,  as  having  the  wrath  of  God  abiding  upon  them, 
they  would  remain  imprisoned,  as  in  a  state  of  hopeless  bondage,  unless  the  guilt  of  their 
sins  were  expiated." 

Cremer,  N.  T.  Lex.,  says  that  "  in  both  the  N.  T.  texts,  Mat.  16  :  26  and  Mark  8  :  37,  the  word 
avTdAAayju.a,  like  Avrpov,  is  akin  to  the  conception  of  atonement  ;  cf.  Is.  43  :  3,  4  ;  49  :  8  ;  Amos. 
5  :  12.  This  is  a  confirmation  of  the  fact  that  satisfaction  and  substitution  essentially 
belong  to  the  idea  of  atonement."  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  515  (Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  414)— 
"  Mat.  20  :  28  contains  the  thought  of  a  substitution.  While  the  whole  world  is  not  of  equal 
worth  with  the  soul,  and  could  not  purchase  it,  Christ's  death  and  work  are  so  valuable, 
that  they  can  serve  as  a  ransom." 

On  the  Scripture  proofs,  see  Crawford,  Atonement,  1  :  1-193  ;  Dale,  Atonement,  65-256  ; 
Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  :  243-342  ;  Smeaton,  Our  Lord's  and  the  Apostles'  Doc- 
trine of  Atonement. 

An  examination  of  the  passages  referred  to  shows  that,  while  the  forms  in 
which  the  atoning  work  of  Christ  is  described  are  in  part  derived  from 
moral,  commercial,  and  legal  relations,  the  prevailing  language  is  that  of 
sacrifice.  A  correct  view  of  the  atonement  must  therefore  be  grounded 
upon  a  proper  interpretation  of  the  institution  of  sacrifice,  especially  as 
found  in  the  Mosaic  system. 

B.     The  Institution  of  Sacrifice,  especially  as  found  in  the  Mosaic  system. 

(a)  We  may  dismiss  as  untenable,  on  the  one  hand,  the  theory  that  sac- 
rifice is  essentially  the  presentation  of  a  gift  (  Hofmann,  Baring-Gould  )  or  a 
feast  (  Spencer)  to  the  Deity  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  the  theory  that  sacrifice 


394  SOTERIOLOGY,    OB   THE   DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

is  a  symbol  of  renewed  fellowship  ( Keil ),  or  of  the  grateful  offering  to  God 
of  the  whole  life  and  being  of  the  worshiper  (Bahr).  Neither  of  these 
theories  can  explain  the  fact  that  the  sacrifice  is  a  bloody  offering,  involving 
the  suffering  and  death  of  the  victim,  and  brought,  not  by  the  simply  grate- 
ful, but  by  the  conscience-stricken  soul. 

For  the  views  of  sacrifice  here  mentioned,  see  Hofmann,  Schriftbeweis,  n.  1 :  214-294  ; 
Baring-Gould,  Origin  and  Devel.  of  Relig.  Belief,  368-390;  Spencer,  DeLegibus  Hebrse- 
orum ;  Keil,  Bib.  Archaologie,  sec.  43,  47 ;  Biihr,  Symbolik  des  Mosaischen  Cultus,  2  : 196, 
269 ;  also,  synopsis  of  BUhr's  view,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1870  :  593 ;  Jan.,  1871 : 171.  Per  contra, 
see  Crawford,  Atonement,  228-240. 

(6)  The  true  import  of  the  sacrifice,  as  is  abundantly  evident  from  both 
heathen  and  Jewish  sources,  embraced  two  elements, — first,  that  of  satisfac- 
tion to  offended  Deity,  or  propitiation  offered  to  violated  holiness;  and 
secondly,  that  of  substitution  of  suffering  and  death  on  the  part  of  the  in- 
nocent, for  the  deserved  punishment  of  the  guilty.  Combining  these  two 
ideas,  we  have  as  the  total  import  of  the  sacrifice  :  satisfaction  by  substitu- 
tion. The  bloody  sacrifice  among  the  heathen  expressed  the  consciousness 
that  sin  involved  guilt ;  that  guilt  exposed  man  to  the  righteous  wrath  of 
God  ;  that  without  expiation  of  that  guilt,  there  was  no  forgiveness. 

Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  170,  quotes  from  NHgelsbach,  Nachhomerische 
Theologie,  338 sq.— "The  essence  of  punishment  is  retribution  ( Vergeltung),  and  retri- 
bution is  a  fundamental  law  of  the  world-order.  In  retribution  lies  the  atoning  power 
of  punishment.  This  consciousness  that  the  nature  of  sin  demands  retribution,  in  other 
words,  this  certainty  that  there  is  in  Deity  a  righteousness  that  punishes  sin,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  consciousness  of  personal  transgression,  awakens  the  longing  for 
atonement " — which  is  expressed  in  the  sacrifice  of  a  slaughtered  beast.  The  Greeks 
recognized  representative  expiation,  not  only  in  the  sacrifice  of  beasts,  but  in  human 
sacrifices.  See  Virgil,  ^Eneid,  5  :  815—"  Unurn  pro  multis  dabitur  caput."  Ovid,  Fasti, 
vi — "  Cor  pro  corde,  precor ;  pro  fibris  sumite  fibras.  Hanc  animam  vobis  pro  nieliore 
damus." 

Stahl,  Christliche  Philosophie,  146—"  Every  unperverted  conscience  declares  the  eternal 
law  of  righteousness  that  punishment  shall  follow  inevitably  on  sin.  In  the  moral  realm, 
there  is  another  way  of  satisfying  righteousness  —  that  of  atonement.  This  differs  from 
punishment  in  its  effect,  that  is,  reconciliation  — the  moral  authority  asserting  itself ,  not 
fcy  the  destruction  of  the  offender,  but  by  taking  him  up  into  itself  and  uniting  itself  to 
him.  But  the  offender  cannot  offer  his  own  sacrifice  —  that  must  be  done  by  the  priest." 
In  the  Prometheus  Bound,  of  ^Eschylus,  Hermes  says  to  Prometheus :  "  Hope  not  for 
an  end  to  such  oppression,  until  a  god  appears  as  thy  substitute  in  torment,  ready  to 
descend  for  thee  into  the  unillumined  realm  of  Hades  and  the  dark  abyss  of  Tartarus." 
And  this  is  done  by  Chiron,  the  wisest  and  most  just  of  the  Centaurs,  the  son  of  Chronos, 
sacrificing  himself  for  Prometheus,  while  Hercules  kills  the  eagle  at  his  breast  and  so 
delivers  him  from  torment.  This  legend  of  ^Eschylus  is  almost  a  prediction  of  the  true 
Redeemer. 

(c)  In  considering  the  exact  purport  and  efficacy  of  the  Mosaic  sacrifices, 
we  must  distinguish  between  their  theocratical,  and  their  spiritual,  offices. 
They  were,  on  the  one  hand,  the  appointed  means  whereby  the  offender 
could  be  restored  to  the  outward  place  and  privileges,  as  member  of  the  the- 
ocracy, which  he  had  forfeited  by  neglect  or  transgression  ;  and  they  accom- 
plished this  purpose  irrespectively  of  the  temper  and  spirit  with  which  they 
were  offered.  On  the  other  hand,  they  were  symbolic  of  the  vicarious  suf- 
ferings and  death  of  Christ,  and  obtained  forgiveness  and  acceptance  with 
God,  only  as  they  were  offered  in  true  penitence,  and  with  faith  in  God's 
method  of  salvation. 

Heb.  9  : 13,  14  — "  For  if  the  blood  of  goats  and  bulls,  and  the  ashes  of  a  heifer  sprinkling  them  that  have  been  denied, 


THE    INSTITUTION    OF   SACRIFICE.  395 

sanctify  unto  the  cleanness  of  the  flesh :  how  much  more  shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who  through  the  eternal  Spirit  offered 
himself  without  blemish  unto  God,  cleanse  your  conscience  from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  "  10  :  3,  4 — "But 
in  those  sacrifices  there  is  a  remembrance  made  of  sins  year  by  year.  For  it  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
goats  should  take  away  sins." 

(d)  Thus  the  Old  Testament  sacrifices,  when  rightly  offered,  involved  a 
consciousness  of  sin  on  the  part  of  the  worshiper,  the  bringing  of  a  victim 
to  atone  for  the  sin,  the  laying  of  the  hand  of  the  offerer  upon  the  victim's 
head,  the  confession  of  sin  by  the  offerer,  the  slaying  of  the  beast,  the 
sprinkling  or  pouring-out  of  the  blood  upon  the  altar,  and  the  consequent 
forgiveness  of  the  sin  and  acceptance  of  the  worshiper.  The  sin-offering 
and  the  scape-goat  of  the  great  day  of  atonement  symbolized  yet  more  dis- 
tinctly the  two  elementary  ideas  of  sacrifice,  namely,  satisfaction  and  substi- 
tution, together  with  the  consequent  removal  of  guilt  from  those  on  whose 
behalf  the  sacrifice  was  offered. 

Lev.  1 :  4  — "  And  he  shall  lay  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  burnt-offering ;  and  it  shall  be  accepted  for  him,  to  make 
atonement  for  him"  ;  4  :  20— "Thus  shall  he  do  with  the  bullock;  as  he  did  with  the  bullock  of  the  sin-offering,  so 
shall  he  do  with  this :  and  the  priest  shall  make  atonement  for  them,  and  it  shall  be  forgiven  "  ;  so  31  and  35  — "  and 
the  priest  shall  make  atonement  as  touching  his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned,  and  he  shall  be  forgiven  "  ;  so  5  :  10,  16  ; 
6  :  7.  Lev.  17  : 11—"  For  the  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood :  and  I  have  given  it  to  you  upon  the  altar,  to  make  atone- 
ment for  your  souls :  for  it  is  the  blood  that  maketh  atonement  by  reason  of  the  life." 

The  patriarchal  sacrifices  were  sin-offerings,  as  the  sacrifice  of  Job  for  his  friends  wit- 
nesses :  Job  42  :  7,  9  — "  My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee  [  Eliphaz  ] Therefore,  take  unto  you  seven  bullocks 

«...  and  offer  up  for  yourselves  a  burnt-offering"  ;  c/.  33  :  24 — "Then  he  is  gracious  unto  him,  and  saith,  Deliver 
him  from  going  down  into  the  pit,  I  have  found  a  ransom  "  ;  1 :  5  —  Job  offered  burnt-offerings  for  his 
sons,  for  he  said,  "  It  may  be  that  my  sons  have  sinned  and  renounced  God  in  their  hearts  "  ;  Gen.  8  :  20  —  Noah 
"  offered  burnt-offerings  on  the  altar  "  ;  21  — "  and  the  Lord  smelled  the  sweet  savor ;  and  the  Lord  said  in  his  heart,  I 
will  not  again  curse  the  ground  any  more  for  man's  sake." 

That  vicarious  suffering  is  intended  in  all  these  sacrifices,  is  plain  from  Lev.  16  : 1-34  — the 
account  of  the  sin-offering  and  the  scape-goat  of  the  great  day  of  atonement,  the  full 
meaning  of  which  we  give  below;  also  from  Gen.  22  : 13— "Abraham  went  and  took  the  ram,  and 
offered  him  up  for  a  burnt-offering  in  the  stead  of  his  son  "  ;  Ex.  32 :  30-32  —  where  Moses  says :  "  Ye  have  sinned 
a  great  sin :  and  now  I  will  go  up  unto  the  Lord ;  peradventure  I  shall  make  atonement  for  your  sin.  And  Moses 
returned  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  Oh,  this  people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made  them  gods  of  gold.  Yet  now, 
if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin  — ;  and  if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  thy  book  which  thou  hast  written."  See  also 
Deut.  21 : 1-9  —  the  expiation  of  an  uncertain  murder,  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  heifer —  where 
Oehler,  O.  T.  Theology,  1 :  389,  says :  "  Evidently  the  punishment  of  death  incurred  by  the 
manslayer  is  executed  symbolically  upon  the  heifer."  In  Is.  53  : 1-12— "All  we  like  sheep  have 
gone  astray ;  we  have  turned  every  one  to  his  own  way ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all  ...  stripes 
offering  for  sin"-  the  ideas  of  both  satisfaction  and  substitution  are  still  more  plain. 

Wallace,  Representative  Responsibility:  "The  animals  offered  in  sacrifice  must  be 
animals  brought  into  direct  relation  to  man,  subject  to  him,  his  property.  They  could 
not  be  spoils  of  the  chase.  They  must  bear  the  mark  and  impress  of  humanity.  Upon 
the  sacrifice  human  hands  must  be  laid  — the  hands  of  the  offerer  and  the  hands  of  the 
priest.  The  offering  is  the  substitute  of  the  offerer.  The  priest  is  the  substitute  of  the 
offerer.  The  priest  and  the  sacrifice  were  one  symbol.  [Hence,  in  the  new  dispensation, 
the  priest  and  the  sacrifice  are  one  — both  are  found  in  Christ].  The  high  priest  must 
enter  the  holy  of  holies  with  his  own  finger  dipped  in  blood :  the  blood  must  be  in  con- 
tact with  his  own  person  —  another  indication  of  the  identification  of  the  two.  Life  is 
nourished  and  sustained  by  life.  All  life  lower  than  man  may  be  sacrificed  for  the  good 
of  man.  The  blood  must  be  spilled  on  the  ground.  'In  the  blood  is  the  life.'  The  life  is 
reserved  by  God.  It  is  given  for  man,  but  not  to  him.  Life  for  life  is  the  law  of  the 
creation.  So  the  life  of  Christ,  also,  for  our  life.  —  Adam  was  originally  priest  of  the 
family  and  of  the  race.  But  he  lost  his  representative  character  by  the  one  act  of  dis- 
obedience, and  his  redemption  was  that  of  the  individual,  not  that  of  the  race.  The  race 
ceased  to  have  a  representative.  The  subjects  of  the  divine  government  were  hence- 
forth to  be,  not  the  natural  offspring  of  Adam  as  such,  but  the  redeemed.  That  the  body 
and  the  blood  are  both  required,  indicates  the  demand  that  the  death  should  be  by  a  vio- 
lence that  sheds  blood.  The  sacrifices  showed  forth,  not  Christ  himself  [  his  character, 
his  life],  but  Christ's  death." 


396  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

The  following  is  a  tentative  scheme  of  the  JEWISH  SACRIFICES.  The  general  reason 
for  sacrifice  is  expressed  in  Lev.  17 : 11  ( quoted  above ).  I.  For  the  individual:  1.  The  sin- 
offering1  =  sacrifice  to  expiate  sins  of  ignorance  (thoughtlessness  and  plausible  tempta- 
tion): Lev.  4  : 14,  20,  31.  2.  The  trespass-offering  =  sacrifice  to  expiate  sins  of  omission: 
Lev.  5  :  5,  6.  3.  The  burnt-offering  =  sacrifice  to  expiate  general  sinf ulness :  Lev.  1 :  3  ( the 
offering  of  Mary,  Luke  2  :  24).  II.  For  the  family:  The  Passover:  Ex.  12  :  27.  III.  For  the 
people:  1.  The  daily  morning  and  evening  sacrifice  :  Ex.  29  :  38-46.  2.  The  offering  of  the 
great  day  of  atonement :  Lev.  16  :  6-10.  In  this  last,  two  victims  were  employed,  one  to 
represent  the  means  — death,  and  the  other  to  represent  the  result  — forgiveness.  One 
victim  could  not  represent  both  the  atonement  — by  shedding  of  blood,  and  the  justifi- 
cation—by putting  away  sin. 

On  the  Jewish  sacrifices,  see  Fairbairn,  Typology,  1 :  209-223 ;  Wtlnsche,  Die  Leiden  des 

Messias;  Jukes,  O.  T.  Sacrifices;  Smeaton,  Apostles'  Doctrine  of  Atonement,  25-53; 

Kurtz,  Sacrificial  Worship  of  O.  T.,  120 ;  Bible  Com.,  1 :  502-508,  and  Introd.  to  Leviticus ; 

Candlish  on  Atonement,  123-143 ;  Weber,  Vom  Zorne  Gottes,  161-180.    On  passages  in  Le- 

'  viticus,  see  Com.  of  Knobel,  in  Exeg.  Handb.  d.  Alt.  Test. 

(e)  It  is  not  essential  to  this  view  to  maintain  that  a  formal  divine  insti- 
tution of  the  rite  of  sacrifice,  at  man's  expulsion  from  Eden,  can  be  proved 
from  Scripture.  Like  the  family  and  the  state,  sacrifice  may,  without  such 
formal  inculcation,  possess  divine  sanction,  and  be  ordained  of  God.  The 
well-nigh  universal  prevalence  of  sacrifice,  however,  together  with  the  fact 
that  its  nature,  as  a  bloody  offering,  seems  to  preclude  man's  own  invention 
of  it,  combines  with  certain  Scripture  intimations  to  favor  the  view  that  it 
was  a  primitive  divine  appointment.  From  the  time  of  Moses,  there  can  be 
no  question  as  to  its  divine  authority. 

Compare  the  origin  of  prayer  and  worship,  for  which  we  find  no  formal  divine  injunc- 
tions at  the  beginnings  of  history.  Heb.  11 :  4  —  "By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacrifice 
than  Cain,  through  which  he  had  witness  borne  to  him  that  he  was  righteous,  God  bearing  witness  in  respect  of  his 
gifts"— here  it  may  be  argued  that  since  Abel's  faith  was  not  presumption,  it  must  have 
had  some  injunction  and  promise  of  God  to  base  itself  upon.  Gen.  4  :  3,  4  —  "  Cain  brought  of 
the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord.  And  Abel,  he  also  brought  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  and  of  the  fat 
thereof.  And  the  Lord  had  respect  unto  Abel  and  to  his  offering,  but  unto  Cain  and  to  his  offering  he  had  not  respect." 

It  has  been  urged,  in  corroboration  of  this  view,  that  the  previous  existence  of  sacri- 
fice  is  intimated  in  Gen.  3  :  21  —  "  And  the  Lord  God  made  for  Adam,  and  for  his  wife  coats  of  skins,  and  clothed 
them."  Since  the  killing  of  animals  for  food  was  not  permitted  until  long  afterwards 
( Gen.  9:3  —  to  Noah :  "  Every  moving  thing  that  liveth  shall  be  food  for  you  "  ),  the  inference  has  been 
drawn,  that  the  skins  with  which  God  clothed  our  first  parents  were  the  skins  of  animals 
slain  for  sacrifice,—  this  clothing  furnishing  a  type  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ  which 
secures  our  restoration  to  God's  favor,  as  the  death  of  the  victims  furnished  a  type  of 
the  suffering  of  Christ  which  secures  for  us  remission  of  punishment.  We  must  regard 
this,  however,  as  a  pleasing  and  possibly  correct  hypothesis,  rather  than  as  a  demonstra- 
ted truth  of  Scripture.  Since  the  unperverted  instincts  of  human  nature  are  an  expres- 
sion of  God's  will,  Abel's  faith  may  have  consisted  in  trusting  these,  rather  than  the 
promptings  of  selfishness  and  self-righteousness.  On  the  divine  appointment  of  sacri- 
fice, see  Park,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1876  : 102-132. 

On  Gen.  4  :  3,  4,  see  C.  H.  M.— "  The  entire  difference  between  Cain  and  Abel  lay,  not  in 
their  natures,  but  in  their  sacrifices.  Cain  brought  to  God  the  sin-stained  fruit  of  a 
cursed  earth.  Here  was  no  recognition  of  the  fact  that  he  was  a  sinner,  condemned  to 
death.  All  his  toil  could  not  satisfy  God's  holiness,  or  remove  the  penalty.  But  Abel 
recognized  his  sin,  condemnation,  helplessness,  death,  and  brought  the  bloody  sacrifice— 
the  sacrifice  of  another— the  sacrifice  provided  by  God,  to  meet  the  claims  of  God.  He 
found  a  substitute,  and  he  presented  it  in  faith  —  the  faith  that  looks  away  from  self  to 
Christ,  or  God's  appointed  way  of  salvation.  The  difference  was  not  in  their  persons, 
but  in  their  gifts.  Of  Abel  it  is  said,  that  God  '  bore  witness  in  respect  of  his  gifts '  ( Heb.  11 :  4 ).  To 
Cain  it  is  said,  '  if  thou  doest  well  (LXX.:  6p#u>s  npo<ret>fyicri<;  — '  if  thou  offerest  correctly')  shalt  thou  not 
be  accepted  ? '  But  Cain  desired  to  get  away  from  God  and  from  God's  way,  and  to  lose 
himself  in  the  world.  This  is  'the  way  of  Cain'  (Jude  11)."  Per  contra,  see  Crawford,  Atone- 
ment, 259 — "Both  in  Levitical  and  patriarchal  times,  we  have  no  formal  institution  of 
sacrifice,  but  the  regulation  of  sacrifice  already  existing.  But  Abel's  faith  may  have 
had  respect,  not  to  a  revelation  with  regard  to  sacrificial  worship,  but  with  regard  to 


SOCINIAN   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMEKT.  397 

the  promised  Redeemer ;  and  his  sacrifice  may  have  expressed  that  faith.  If  so,  God's 
acceptance  of  it  gave  a  divine  warrant  to  future  sacrifices.  It  was  not  will-worship, 
because  it  was  not  substituted  for  some  other  worship  which  God  had  previously  insti- 
tuted. It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  God  gave  an  express  command.  Abel  may 
have  been  moved  by  some  inward  divine  monition.  Thus  Adam  said  to  Eve,  '  This  is  now 
bone  of  my  bones . . . '  ( Gen.  2  :  23 ),  before  any  divine  command  of  marriage.  No  fruits  were 
presented  during  the  patriarchal  dispensation.  Heathen  sacrifices  were  corruptions  of 
primitive  sacrifice." 

(/)  The  New  Testament  assumes  and  presupposes  the  Old  Testament 
doctrine  of  sacrifice.  The  sacrificial  language  in  which  its  descriptions  of 
Christ's  wor£  are  clothed  cannot  be  explained  as  an  accommodation  to 
Jewish  methods  of  thought,  since  this  terminology  was  in  large  part  in  com- 
mon use  among  the  heathen,  and  Paul  used  it  more  than  any  other  of  the 
apostles  in  dealing  with  the  Gentiles.  To  deny  to  it  its  Old  Testament 
meaning,  when  used  by  New  Testament  writers  to  describe  the  work  of 
Christ,  is  to  deny  any  proper  inspiration  both  in  the  Mosaic  appointment  of 
sacrifices  and  in  the  apostolic  interpretations  of  them.  We  must  therefore 
maintain,  as  the  result  of  a  simple  induction  of  Scripture  facts,  that  the 
death  of  Christ  is  a  vicarious  offering,  provided  by  God's  love  for  the  pur- 
pose of  satisfying  an  internal  demand  of  the  divine  holiness,  and  of  remov- 
ing an  obstacle  in  the  divine  mind  to  the  renewal  and  pardon  of  sinners. 

"  The  epistle  of  James  makes  no  allusion  to  sacrifice.  But  he  would  not  have  failed  to 
allude  to  it,  if  he  had  held  the  moral  view  of  the  atonement ;  for  it  would  then  have  been 
an  obvious  help  to  his  argument  against  merely  formal  service.  Christ  protested  against 
washing  hands  and  keeping  Sabbath  days.  If  sacrifice  had  been  a  piece  of  human  for- 
mality, how  indignantly  would  he  have  inveighed  against  it !  But  instead  of  this  he 
received  from  John  the  Baptist,  without  rebuke,  the  words :  '  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world.'  " 

For  denial  that  Christ's  death  is  to  be  interpreted  by  heathen  or  Jewish  sacrifices,  see 
Maurice  on  Sac.,  154  —  "The  heathen  signification  of  words,  when  applied  to  a  Christian 
use,  must  be  not  merely  modified,  but  inverted" ;  Jowett,  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  2  :  479— 
"  The  heathen  and  Jewish  sacrifices  rather  show  us  what  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  not, 
than  what  it  was."  Bushnell  and  Young  do  not  doubt  the  expiatory  nature  of  heathen 
sacrifices.  But  the  main  terms  which  the  N.  T.  uses  to  describe  Christ's  sacrifice  are 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  sacrificial  ritual,  e.  g.  dvo-ia,  jrpoo^opa,  iAao>i6?,  ayia£a>,  »ca#aipa>, 
iAaa-Kojmai.  To  deny  that  these  terms,  when  applied  to  Christ,  imply  expiation  and  sub- 
stitution, is  to  deny  the  inspiration  of  those  who  used  them.  See  Cave,  Scripture  Doc- 
trine of  Sacrifice ;  art.  on  Sacrifice,  in  Smith's  Bible  Dictionary. 

C.     Theories  of  the  Atonement. 

1st.     The  Socinian,  or  Example  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

This  theory  holds  that  subjective  sinfulness  is  the  sole  barrier  between 
man  and  God.  Not  God,  but  only  man,  needs  to  be  reconciled.  The  only 
method  of  reconciliation  is  to  better  man's  moral  condition.  This  can  be 
effected  by  man's  own  will,  through  repentance  and  reformation.  The  death 
of  Christ  is  but  the  death  of  a  noble  martyr.  He  redeems  us,  only  as  his 
human  example  of  faithfulness  to  truth  and  duty  has  a  powerful  influence 
upon  our  moral  improvement.  This  fact  the  apostles,  either  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  clothed  in  the  language  of  the  Greek  and  Jewish  sacrifices. 
This  theory  was  fully  elaborated  by  Lselius  Socinus  and  Faustus  Socinus 
of  Poland,  in  the  16th  century.  Its  modern  advocates  are  found  in  the 
Unitarian  body. 

The  Socinian  theory  may  be  found  stated,  or  advocated,  in  Bibliotheca  Fratrum  Polo- 


398  SOTERIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

norum,  1 :  566-600;  Martineau,  Studies  of  Christianity,  83-176;  J.  F.  Clarke,  Orthodoxy, 
Its  Truths  and  Errors,  235-265 ;  Ellis,  Unitarianism  and  Orthodoxy ;  Sheldon,  Sin  and 
Redemption,  146-210.  The  text  which  at  first  sight  most  seems  to  favor  this  view  is  1  Pet. 
2  :  31  — "Christ  also  suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps."  But  see  under 

(e)  below. 

t 

To  this  theory  we  make  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  It  is  based  upon  false  philosophical  principles,  —  as,  for  example, 
that  will  is  merely  the  faculty  of  volitions  ;  that  the  foundation  of  virtue  is 
in  utility  ;  that  law  is  an  expression  of  arbitrary  will ;  that  penalty  is  a 
means  of  reforming  the  offender  ;  that  righteousness,  in  either  God  or  man, 
is  only  a  manifestation  of  benevolence. 

If  the  will  is  simply  the  faculty  of  volitions,  and  not  also  the  fundamental  determina- 
tion of  the  being  to  an  ultimate  end,  then  man  can,  by  a  single  volition,  effect  his  own 
reformation  and  reconciliation  to  God.  If  the  foundation  of  virtue  is  in  utility,  then 
there  is  nothing  in  the  divine  being  that  prevents  pardon  —  the  good  of  the  creature,  and 
not  the  demands  of  God's  holiness,  being  the  reason  for  Christ's  suffering.  If  law  is  an 
expression  of  arbitrary  will,  instead  of  being  a  transcript  of  the  divine  nature,  it  may 
at  any  time  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  sinner  may  be  pardoned  on  mere  repentance.  If 
penalty  is  merely  a  means  of  reforming  the  offender,  then  sin  does  not  involve  objective 
guilt,  or  obligation  to  suffer,  and  sin  may  be  forgiven,  at  any  moment,  to  all  who  forsake 
it  — indeed,  must  be  forgiven,  since  punishment  is  out  of  place  when  the  sinner  is 
reformed.  If  righteousness  is  only  a  form  or  manifestation  of  benevolence,  then  God 
can  show  his  benevolence  as  easily  through  pardon  as  through  penalty,  and  Christ's 
death  is  only  intended  to  attract  us  toward  the  good  by  the  force  of  a  noble  example. 

(6)  It  is  a  natural  outgrowth  from  the  Pelagian  view  of  sin,  and  logically 
necessitates  a  curtailment  or  surrender  of  every  other  characteristic  doctrine 
of  Christianity  —  inspiration,  sin,  the  deity  of  Christ,  justification,  regene- 
ration, and  eternal  retribution. 

The  Socinian  theory  requires  a  surrender  of  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  ;  for  the  idea 
of  vicarious  and  expiatory  sacrifice  is  woven  into  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments.  It  requires  an  abandonment  of  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  sin  ;  for 
in  it  all  idea  of  sin  as  perversion  of  nature  rendering  the  sinner  unable  to  save  himself, 
and  as  objective  guilt  demanding  satisfaction  to  the  divine  holiness,  is  denied.  It 
requires  us  to  give  up  the  deity  of  Christ ;  for  if  sin  is  a  slight  evil,  and  man  can  save 
himself  from  its  penalty  and  power,  then  there  is  no  longer  need  of  either  an  infinite 
suffering  or  an  infinite  Savior,  and  a  human  Christ  is  as  good  as  a  divine.  It  requires  us 
to  give  up  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  justification,  as  God's  act  of  declaring  the  sinner 
just  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  solely  on  account  of  the  righteousness  and  death  of  Christ 
to  whom  he  is  united  by  faith ;  for  the  Socinian  theory  cannot  permit  the  counting  to  a 
man  of  any  other  righteousness  than  his  own.  It  requires  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  of 
regeneration ;  for  this  is  no  longer  the  work  of  God,  but  the  work  of  the  sinner :  it  is  no 
longer  a  change  of  the  affections  below  consciousness,  but  a  self-reforming  volition  of 
the  sinner  himself.  It  requires  a  denial  of  eternal  retribution ;  for  this  is  no  longer 
appropriate  to  finite  transgression  of  arbitrary  law,  and  to  superficial  sinning  that  does 
not  involve  nature. 

(c)  It  contradicts  the  Scripture  teachings,  that  sin  involves  objective 
guilt  as  well  as  subjective  defilement ;  that  the  holiness  of  God  must  punish 
sin  ;  that  the  atonement  was  a  bearing  of  the  punishment  of  sin  for  men  ; 
and  that  this  vicarious  bearing  of  punishment  was  necessary,  on  the  part  of 
God,  to  make  possible  the  showing  of  favor  to  the  guilty. 

The  Scriptures  do  not  make  the  main  object  of  the  atonement  to  be  man's  subjective 
moral  improvement.  It  is  to  God  that  the  sacrifice  is  offered,  and  the  object  of  it  is  to 
satisfy  the  divine  holiness,  and  to  remove  from  the  divine  mind  an  obstacle  to  the  show- 
ing of  favor  to  the  guilty.  It  was  something  external  to  man,  and  his  happiness  or 
virtue,  that  required  that  Christ  should  suffer.  What  Emerson  has  said  of  the  martyr 


SOCINIAN   THEORY    OF   THE   ATONEMENT.  399 

is  yet  more  true  of  Christ:  "Though  love  repine,  and  reason  chafe,  There  comes  a 
voice  without  reply,  'Tis  man's  perdition  to  be  safe,  When  for  the  truth  he  ought  to 
die."  The  truth  for  which  Christ  died  was  truth  internal  to  the  nature  of  God ;  not  sim- 
ply truth  externalized  and  published  among1  men.  What  the  truth  of  God  required, 
that  Christ  rendered  —  full  satisfaction  to  violated  justice.  "Jesus  paid  it  all " ;  and  no- 
obedience  or  righteousness  of  ours  can  be  added  to  his  work,  as  a  ground  of  our  salva- 
tion. 

(d)  It  furnishes  no  proper  explanation  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ.     The  unmartyrlike  anguish  cannot  be  accounted  for,  and  the  for- 
saking by  the  Father  cannot  be  justified,  upon  the  hypothesis  that  Christ 
died  as  a  mere  witness  to  truth.     If  Christ's  sufferings  were  not  propitia- 
tory, they  neither  furnish  us  with  a  perfect  example,  nor  constitute  a  mani- 
festation of  the  love  of  God. 

Compare  Jesus'  feeling1,  in  view  of  death,  with  that  of  Paul:  " Having  the  desire  to  depart " 
( Phil.  1 :  23 ).  Jesus  was  filled  with  anguish :  "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father, 
save  me  from  this  hour"  (John  12  :  27).  If  Christ  was  simply  a  martyr,  then  he  is  not  a  perfect 
example ;  for  many  a  martyr  has  shown  greater  courage  in  prospect  of  death,  and  in 
the  final  agony  has  been  able  to  say  that  the  fire  that  consumed  him  was  "  a  bed  of 
roses."  Gethsemane,  with  its  mental  anguish,  is  apparently  recorded  in  order  to  indi- 
cate that  Christ's  sufferings  even  on  the  cross  were  not  mainly  physical  sufferings. 

Stroud,  in  his  Physical  Cause  of  our  Lord's  Death,  has  made  it  probable  that  Jesus 
died  of  a  broken  heart,  and  that  this  alone  explains  John  19  :  34  — "  one  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear 
pierced  his  side,  and  straightway  there  came  out  blood  and  water"—!  e.,  the  heart  had  already  been 
ruptured  by  grief.  That  grief  was  grief  at  the  forsaking  of  the  Father  ( Mat.  27  :  46  — "  My 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  " ),  and  the  resulting  death  shows  that  that  forsaking  was  no 
imaginary  one.  Did  God  make  the  holiest  man  of  all  to  be  the  greatest  sufferer  of  all 
the  ages?  This  heart  broken  by  the  forsaking  of  the  Father  means  more  than  martyr- 
dom. If  Christ's  death  is  not  propitiatory,  it  fills  me  with  terror  and  despair ;  for  it  pre- 
sents me  not  only  with  a  very  imperfect  example  in  Christ,  but  with  a  proof  of  meas- 
ureless injustice  on  the  part  of  God. 

(e)  The  influence  of   Christ's  example  is  neither  declared  in  Scripture, 
nor  found  in  Christian  experience,  to  be  the  chief  result  secured  by -his 
death.     Mere  example  is  but  a  new  preaching  of  the  law,  which  repels  and 
condemns.     The  cross  has  power  to  lead  men  to  holiness,  only  as  it  first 
shows  a  satisfaction  made  for  their  sins.     Accordingly,  most  of  the  passages 
which  represent  Christ  as  an  example  also  contain  references  to  his  propi- 
tiatory work. 

There  is  no  virtue  in  simply  setting  an  example.  Christ  did  nothing,  simply  for  the 
sake  of  example.  The  apostle's  exhortation  is  not  "  abstain  from  all  appearance  of 
evil "  ( 1  Thes.  5  :  22,  A.  Vers.),  but  "  abstain  from  every  form  of  evil "  ( Rev.  Vers.).  Christ's  death  is 
the  payment  of  a  real  debt  due  to  God ;  and  the  convicted  sinner  needs  first  to  see  the 
debt  which  he  owes  to  the  divine  justice  paid  by  Christ,  before  he  can  think  hopefully  of 
reforming  his  life.  The  hymns  of  the  church :  "  I  lay  my  sins  on  Jesus,"  and  "Not  all 
the  blood  of  beasts,"  represent  the  view  of  Christ's  sufferings  which  Christians  have 
derived  from  the  Scriptures.  When  the  sinner  sees  that  the  mortgage  is  cancelled,  that 
the  penalty  has  been  borne,  he  can  devote  himself  freely  to  the  service  of  his  Redeemer, 
The  very  text  upon  which  Socinians  most  rely,  when  it  is  taken  in  connection  with  the 
context,  proves  their  theory  to  be  a  misrepresentation  of  Scripture.  1  Pet.  2  :  21— "Christ 
also  suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  his  steps  "—is  succeeded  by  verse  24  — "  who  his 
own  self  bare  our  sins  in  his  own  body  upon  the  tree,  that  we,  having  died  unto  sins,  might  live  unto  righteousness  ;  by 
whose  stripes  ye  were  healed"— the  latter  words  being  a  direct  quotation  from  Isaiah's  descrip- 
tion of  the  substitutionary  sufferings  of  the  Messiah  (Is.  53  :  5). 

(/)  This  theory  contradicts  the  whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament,  in 
making  the  life,  and  not  the  death,  of  Christ  the  most  significant  and  import- 
ant feature  of  his  work.  The  constant  allusions  to  the  death  of  Christ  as 


400  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

the  source  of  our  salvation,  as  well  as  the  symbolism  of  the  ordinances, 
cannot  be  explained  upon  a  theory  which  regards  Christ  as  a  mere  example, 
and  considers  his  sufferings  as  incidents,  rather  than  essentials,  of  his  work. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Hackett  frequently  called  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  recording1  in  the 
gospel  of  only  three  years  of  Jesus'  life,  and  the  prominence  given  in  the  record  to  the 
closing-  scenes  of  that  life,  are  evidence  that  not  his  life,  but  his  death,  was  the  great 
work  of  our  Lord.  Christ's  death,  and  not  his  life,  is  the  central  truth  of  Christianity. 
The  cross  is  par  excellence  the  Christian  symbol.  In  both  the  ordinances  —  in  Baptism 
as  well  as  in  the  Lord's  Supper  —  it  is  the  death  of  Christ  that  is  primarily  set  forth. 
Neither  Christ's  example,  nor  his  teaching-,  reveals  God  as  does  his  death.  It  is  the 
death  of  Christ  that  links  tog-ether  all  Christian  doctrines.  The  mark  of  Christ's  blood 
is  upon  them  all,  as  the  scarlet  thread  running-  throug-h  every  cord  and  rope  of  the  Brit- 
ish navy  gives  sign  that  it  is  the  property  of  the  crown. 

On  the  Socinian  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  see  Crawford,  Atonement,  279-296 ;  Shedd, 
History  of  Doctrine,  2  :  376-386 ;  Doctrines  of  the  Early  Socinians,  in  Princeton  Essays, 
1 : 194-211;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  :  J56-180;  Fock,  Socinianismus. 

2nd.     The  Bushnellian,  or  Moral-influence  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

This  holds,  like  the  Socinian,  that  there  is  no  principle  of  the  divine 
nature  which  is  propitiated  by  Christ's  death  ;  but  that  this  death  is  a  mani- 
festation of  the  love  of  God,  suffering  in  and  with  the  sins  of  his  creatures. 
Christ's  atonement,  therefore,  is  the  merely  natural  consequence  of  his 
taking  human  nature  upon  him  ;  and  is  a  suffering,  not  of  penalty  in  man's 
stead,  but  of  the  combined  woes  and  griefs  which  the  living  of  a  human  life 
involves.  This  atonement  has  effect,  not  to  satisfy  divine  justice,  but  so  to 
reveal  divine  love  as  to  soften  human  hearts  and  lead  them  to  repentance  ; 
in  other  words,  Christ's  sufferings  were  necessary,  not  in  order  to  remove 
an  obstacle  to  the  pardon  of  sinners  which  exists  in  the  mind  of  God,  but 
in  order  to  convince  sinners  that  there  exists  no  such  obstacle.  This  theory, 
for  substance,  has  been  advocated  by  Bushnell,  in  America ;  by  Robertson, 
Maurice,  Campbell,  and  Young,  in  Great  Britain ;  and  by  Eitschl,  in 
Germany. 

Origen  and  Abelard  are  earlier  representatives  of  this  view.  It  may  be  found  stated 
in  Bushnell's  Vicarious  Sacrifice.  Bushnell's  later  work,  Forgiveness  and  Law,  contains 
a  modification  of  his  earlier  doctrine,  to  which  he  was  driven  by  the  criticisms  upon  his 
Vicarious  Sacrifice.  In  the  later  work,  he  acknowledges  what  he  had  so  strenuously 
denied  in  the  earlier,  namely,  that  Christ's  death  has  effect  upon  God,  as  well  as  upon 
man,  and  that  God  cannot  forgive,  without  thus  "making  cost  to  himself."  Even  in 
Forgiveness  and  Law,  however,  there  is  no  recognition  of  the  true  principle  and  ground 
of  the  Atonement  in  God's  punitive  holiness.  Since  the  original  form  of  Bushnell's 
doctrine  is  the  only  one  which  has  met  with  wide  acceptance,  we  direct  our  objections 
mainly  to  this. 

F.  W.  Robertson,  Sermons,  1 : 163-178,  holds  that  Christ's  sufferings  were  the  necessary 
result  of  the  position  in  which  he  had  placed  himself  of  conflict  or  collision  with  the 
evil  that  is  in  the  world.  He  came  in  contact  with  the  whirling  wheel,  and  was  crushed 
by  it ;  he  planted  his  heel  upon  the  cockatrice's  den,  and  was  pierced  by  its  fang. 
Maurice  on  Sacrifice,  209,  and  Theol.  Essays,  141,  228,  regards  Christ's  sufferings  as  an 
illustration,  given  by  the  ideal  man,  of  the  self-sacrifice  due  to  God  from  the  humanity 
of  which  he  is  the  root  and  head,  all  men  being  redeemed  in  him,  irrespective  of  their 
faith,  and  needing  only  to  have  brought  to  them  the  news  of  this  redemption. 

Campbell,  Atonement,  129-191,  quotes  from  Edwards,  to  show  that  infinite  justice 
might  be  satisfied  in  either  one  of  two  ways:  (1)  by  an  infinite  punishment;  (2)  by 
an  adequate  repentance.  This  last,  which  Edwards  passed  by  as  impracticable,  Camp- 
bell declares  to  have  been  the  real  atonement  offered  by  Christ,  who  stands  as  the  great 
Penitent,  confessing  the  sins  of  the  world.  For  objections  to  this  view,  see  on  ( c )  below. 
Young,  Life  and  Light  of  Men,  283-313,  holds  a  view  essentially  the  same  with  Robert- 


BUSHNELLIAN   THEORY    OF    THE   ATONEMENT.  401 

•son's.  Christ's  death  is  the  necessary  result  of  his  collision  with  evil,  and  his  sufferings 
•extirpate  sin,  simply  by  manifesting-  God's  self-sacrificing  love.  Ritschl,  Rechtfertigung 
und  Versohnung,  is  the  most  recent  and  learned  representative  of  this  general  view  in 
Germany.  For  statement  and  criticism  of  these  forms  of  the  Moral-influence  theory, 
.see  Crawford,  Atonement,  297-366. 

To  this  theory  we  object  as  follows  : 

(a)  While  it  embraces  a  valuable  element  of  truth,  namely,  the  moral 
influence  upon  men  of  the  sufferings  of  the  God-man,  it  is  false  by  defect, 
in  that  it  substitutes  a  subordinate  effect  of  the  atonement  for  its  chief  aim, 
And  yet  unfairly  appropriates  the  name  'vicarious,'  which  belongs  only  to 
the  latter.  Suffering  with  the  sinner  is  by  no  means  suffering  in  his  stead. 

Dale,  Atonement,  137,  illustrates  Bushnell's  view  by  the  loyal  wife,  who  suffers  exile 
or  imprisonment  with  her  husband ;  by  the  philanthropist,  who  suffers  the  privations 
and  hardships  of  a  savage  people,  whom  he  can  civilize  only  by  enduring  the  miseries 
from  which  he  would  rescue  them  ;  by  the  Moravian  missionary,  who  enters  for  life  the 
lepers'  enclosure,  that  he  may  convert  its  inmates.  So  Potwin  says  that  suffering  and 
-death  are  the  cost  of  the  atonement,  not  the  atonement  itself. 

But  we  reply  that  such  sufferings  as  these  do  not  make  Christ's  sacrifice  vicarious. 
The  word  '  vicarious '  ( from  vix,  vicis )  implies  substitution,  which  this  theory  denies. 
A  vice-president  is  one  who  acts  in  place  of  the  president;  'A.  B.,  appointed  consul, 
vice  C.  D.,  resigned,'  implies  that  A.  B.  is  now  to  serve  in  the  stead  of  C.  D.  If  Christ  is 
a  '  vicarious  sacrifice,'  then  he  makes  atonement  to  God  in  the  place  and  stead  of  sin- 
ners. Christ's  suffering  in  and  with  sinners,  though  it  is  a  most  important  and  affecting 
fact,  is  not  the  suffering  in  their  stead  in  which  the  atonement  consists.  Though  it  may 
be  in  part  the  medium  through  which  Christ  was  enabled  to  endure  God's  wrath  against 
sin,  it  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  reason  why  God  lays  this  suffering  upon  him  ; 
nor  should  it  blind  us  to  the  fact  that  this  reason  is  his  standing  in  the  sinner's  place  to 
answer  for  sin  to  the  retributive  holiness  of  God. 

(6)  It  rests  upon  false  philosophical  principles,  —  as  that  righteousness 
is  identical  with  benevolence,  instead  of  conditioning  it ;  that  God  is  sub- 
ject to  an  eternal  law  of  love,  instead  of  being  himself  the  source  of  all  law  ; 
that  the  aim  of  penalty  is  the  reformation  of  the  offender. 

Hovey,  God  with  Us,  181-271,  has  given  one  of  the  best  replies  to  Bushnell.  He  shows 
that  if  God  is  subject  to  an  eternal  law  of  love,  then  God  is  necessarily  a  Savior ;  that  he 
must  have  created  man  as  soon  as  he  could ;  that  he  makes  men  holy,  as  fast  as  possible  ; 
that  he  does  all  the  good  he  can ;  that  he  is  no  better  than  he  should  be.  But  this  is  to 
deny  the  transcendence  of  God,  and  reduce  omnipotence  to  a  mere  nature-power.  The 
conception  of  God  as  subject  to  law  imperils  God's  self-sufficiency  and  freedom.  For 
Bushnell's  statements  with  regard  to  the  identity  of  righteousness  and  love,  and  for 
criticisms  upon  them,  see  our  treatment  of  the  attribute  of  holiness,  page  129,  note  (d). 

(c)  It  contradicts  the  plain  teachings  of  Scripture,  that  the  atonement  is 
necessary,  not'  simply  to  reveal  God's  love,  but  to  satisfy  his  justice  ;  that 
•Christ's  sufferings  are  propitiatory  and  penal ;  and  that  the  human  con- 
science needs  to  be  propitiated  by  Christ's  sacrifice,  before  it  can  feel  the 
moral  influence  of  his  sufferings. 

That  the  atonement  is  primarily  an  offering  to  God,  and  not  to  the  sinner,  appears  from 
Eph.  5:2  —  "  gave  himself  up  for  us,  an  offering  and  sacrifice  to  God  "  ;  Heb.  9  : 14  —  "  offered  himself  without  blemish 
unto  God."  Conscience,  the  reflection  of  God's  holiness,  can  be  propitiated  only  by  propitia- 
ting holiness  itself.  Mere  love  and  sympathy  are  maudlin,  and  powerless  to  move, 
unless  there  is  a  background  of  righteousness.  Spear :  "  An  appeal  to  man,  without 
anything  back  of  it  to  emphasize  and  enforce  the  appeal,  will  never  touch  the  heart. 
The  mere  appearance  of  an  atonement  has  no  moral  influence."  Crawford,  Atonement, 
358-367  —  "  Instead  of  delivering  us  from  penalty,  in  order  to  deliver  us  from  sin,  this 
theory  makes  Christ  to  deliver  us  from  sin,  in  order  that  He  may  deliver  us  from  penalty. 
But  this  reverses  the  order  of  Scripture.  And  Dr.  Bushnell  concedes,  in  the  end,  that 
26 


402  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

the  moral  view  of  the  atonement  is  morally  powerless ;  and  that  the  objective  view  he 
condemns  is,  after  all,  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  sinners." 

(d)  It  can  be  maintained,  only  by  wresting  from  their  obvious  meaning 
those  passages  of  Scripture  which  speak  of  Christ  as  suffering  for  our  sins  ; 
which  represent  his  blood  as  accomplishing  something  for  us  in  heaven, 
when  presented  there  by  our  intercessor ;  which  declare  forgiveness  to  be  a 
remitting  of  past  offenses  upon  the  ground  of  Christ's  death ;  and  which 
describe  justification  as  a  pronouncing,  not  a  making,  just. 

We  have  seen  that  the  forms  in  which  the  Scriptures  describe  Christ's  death  arc- 
mainly  drawn  from  sacrifice.  Notice  Bushnell's  acknowledgment  that  these  "altar- 
forms"  are  the  most  vivid  and  effective  methods  of  presenting  Christ's  work,  and  that 
the  preacher  cannot  dispense  with  them.  Why  he  should  not  dispense  with  them,  if 
the  meaning  has  gone  out  of  them,  is  not  so  clear. 

In  his  latter  work,  entitled  Forgiveness  and  Law,  Bushnell  appears  to  recognize  thi& 
inconsistency,  and  represents  God  as  affected  by  the  atonement,  after  all ;  in  other 
words,  the  atonement  has  an  objective  as  well  as  a  subjective  influence.  God  can  for- 
give, only  by  "  making  cost  to  himself."  He  "  works  down  his  resentment,  by  suffering 
for  us."  This  verges  toward  the  true  view,  but  it  does  not  recognize  the  demand  of 
divine  holiness  for  satisfaction ;  and  it  attributes  passion,  weakness,  and  imperfection  to 
God.  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2:591  (Syst.  Doct.,  4:59,69),  objects  to  this  modified 
moral-influence  theory,  that  the  love  that  can  do  good  to  an  enemy  is  already  forgiving 
love ;  so  that  the  benefit  to  the  enemy  cannot  be,  as  Bushnell  supposes,  a  condition  of  the 
forgiveness. 

To  Campbell's  view,  that  Christ  is  the  great  Penitent,  and  that  his  atonement  consists 
essentially  in  his  confessing  the  sins  of  the  world,  we  reply,  that  no  confession  or  peni- 
tence is  possible  without  responsibility.  If  Christ  had  no  substitutionary  office,  the 
ordering  of  his  sufferings  on  the  part  of  God  was  manifest  injustice.  Such  sufferings, 
moreover,  are  impossible  upon  grounds  of  mere  sympathy.  The  Scripture  explains 
them  by  declaring  that  he  bore  our  curse,  and  became  a  ransom  in  our  place.  There 
was  more  therefore  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ  than  "  a  perfect  Amen  in  humanity  to 
the  judgment  of  God  on  the  sin  of  man."  Not  Phinehas's  zeal  for  God,  but  his  execu- 
tion of  judgment,  made  an  atonement  (Ps.  106  :  30  — "  executed  judgment "—  LXX.  :  e£ lAacraro, 
"  made  propitiation  ")  and  turned  away  the  wrath  of  God.  Observe  here  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  priestly  atonement  of  Aaron,  who  stood  between  the  living  and  the  dead,  and 
the  judicial  atonement  of  Phinehas,  who  executed  righteous  judgment,  and  so  turned 
away  wrath.  In  neither  case  did  mere  confession  suffice  to  take  away  sin. 

Bushnell  regards  Mat.  8  : 17—  "Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bare  our  diseases"— as  indicating  the 
nature  of  his  atoning  work.  The  meaning  then  would  be,  that  he  sympathized  so  fully 
with  all  human  ills  that  he  made  them  his  own.  Hovey,  however,  has  given  a  more 
complete  and  correct  explanation.  The  words  mean  rather :  "  His  deep  sympathy  with 
these  effects  of  sin  so  moved  him,  that  it  typified  his  final  bearing  of  the  sins  themselves, 
or  constituted  a  preliminary  and  partial  endurance  of  the  suffering  which  was  to  ex- 
piate the  sins  of  men." 

(e)  This  theory  would  confine  the  influence  of  the  atonement  to  those 
who  have  heard  of  it, —  thus  excluding  patriarchs  and  heathen.     But  the 
Scriptures  represent  Christ  as  being  the  Savior  of  all  men,  in  the  sense  of 
securing  them  grace,  which,  but  for  his  atoning  work,  could  never  have 
been  bestowed,  consistently  with  the  divine  holiness. 

Hovey :  "  The  manward  influence  of  the  atonement  is  far  more  extensive  than  the 
moral  influence  of  it."  Christ  is  Advocate,  not  with  the  sinner,  but  with  the  Father. 
While  the  Spirit's  work  has  moral  influence  over  the  hearts  of  men,  the  Son  secures, 
through  the  presentation  of  his  blood,  in  heaven,  the  pardon  which  can  come  only  from 

God  ( 1  John  2:1—"  We  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous :  and  he  is  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins").  Hence  1  :9— "If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  [God]  is  faithful  and  righteous  [faithful  to  his 
promise  and  righteous  to  Christ]  to  forgive  us  our  sins."  Hence  the  publican  does  not  first 
pray  for  change  of  heart,  but  for  mercy  upon  the  ground  of  sacrifice  ( Luke  18  : 13,  Rev. 
Vers.— "God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  but  literally  :  "&od  be  propitiated  toward  me  the  sinner  "  ).  See 


GROTIAN    THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  403 

Balfour,  in  Brit,  and  For.  Ev.  Rev.,  Apr.,  1884 : 330-254 ;  Martin,  Atonement,  216-237 ; 
Theol.  Eclectic,  4  :  364-409. 

3rd.     The  Grotian,  or  Governmental  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

This  theory  holds  that  the  atonement  is  a  satisfaction,  not  to  any  internal 
principle  of  the  divine  nature,  but  to  the  necessities  of  government.  God's 
government  of  the  universe  cannot  be  maintained,  nor  can  the  divine  law 
preserve  its  authority  over  its  subjects,  unless  the  pardon  of  offenders  is 
accompanied  by  some  exhibition  of  the  high  estimate  which  God  sets  upon 
his  law,  and  the  heinous  guilt  of  violating  it.  Such  an  exhibition  of  divine 
regard  for  the  law  is  furnished  in  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ.  Christ 
does  not  suffer  the  precise  penalty  of  the  law,  but  God  graciously  accepts 
his  suffering  as  a  substitute  for  the  penalty.  This  bearing  of  substituted 
suffering  on  the  part  of  Christ  gives  the  divine  law  such  hold  upon  the 
consciences  and  hearts  of  men,  that  God  can  pardon  the  guilty  upon  their 
repentance,  without  detriment  to  the  interests  of  his  government.  The 
author  of  this  theory  was  Hugo  Grotius,  the  Dutch  jurist  and  theologian 
(1583-1645).  The  theory  is  characteristic  of  the  New  England  theology, 
and  is  generally  held  by  those  who  accept  the  New  School  view  of  sin. 

Grotius,  the  jurist,  conceived  of  law  as  a  mere  matter  of  political  expediency  —  a 
device  to  secure  practical  governmental  results.  The  text  most  frequently  quoted  in 
support  of  the  theory,  is  Is.  42  :  21  —  "  It  pleased  the  Lord  for  his  righteousness'  sake  to  magnify  the  law,  and 
make  it  honorable."  Strangely  enough,  the  explanation  is  added :  "  Even  when  its  demands 
are  unfulfilled."  Park :  "  Christ  satisfied  the  law,  by  making  it  desirable  and  consistent 
for  God  not  to  come  up  to  the  demands  of  the  law.  Christ  suffers  a  divine  chastisement 
in  consequence  of  our  sins.  Christ  was  cursed  for  Adam's  sin,  just  as  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  were  cursed  for  Adam's  sin  —  that  is,  he  bore  pains  and  sufferings  on  account 
of  it." 

Grotius  used  the  word  acceptttatio,  by  which  he  meant  God's  sovereign  provision  of  a 
suffering  which  was  not  itself  penalty,  but  which  he  had  determined  to  accept  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  penalty.  Here  we  have  a  virtual  denial  that  there  is  anything  in  God's 
nature  that  requires  Christ  to  suffer ;  for  if  penalty  may  be  remitted  in  part,  it  may  be 
remitted  in  whole,  and  the  reason  why  Christ  suffers  at  all  is  to  be  found,  not  in  any 
demand  of  God's  holiness,  but  solely  in  the  beneficial  influence  of  these  sufferings  upon 
man  ;  so  that  in  principle  this  theory  is  allied  to  the  Example  theory  and  the  Moral-influ- 
ence theory,  already  mentioned. 

Notice  the  difference  between  holding  to  a  substitute  for  penalty,  as  Grotius  did,  and 
holding  to  an  equivalent  substituted  penalty,  as  the  Scriptures  do.  Grotius's  own  state- 
ment of  his  view  may  be  found  In  his  Defensio  Fidei  Catholicas  de  Satisfactione  ( Works, 
4  :  297-338).  More  modern  statements  of  it  are  those  of  Wardlaw,  in  his  Systematic  The- 
ology, 2  :  358-395,  and  of  Albert  Barnes,  on  the  Atonement.  The  history  of  New  England 
thought  upon  the  subject  is  given  in  Discourses  and  Treatises  on  the  Atonement,  edited 
by  Prof.  Park,  of  Andover.  President  Woolsey :  "  Christ's  suffering  was  due  to  a  deep 
and  awful  sense  of  responsibility,  a  conception  of  the  supreme  importance  to  man  of  his 
standing  firm  at  this  crisis.  He  bore,  not  the  wrath  of  God,  but  suffering,  as  the  only 
way  of  redemption  so  far  as  men's  own  feeling  of  sin  was  concerned,  and  so  far  as  the 
government  of  God  was  concerned."  This  unites  the  Governmental  and  the  Moral-in- 
fluence theories. 

To  this  theory  we  urge  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  While  it  contains  a  valuable  element  of  truth,  namely,  that  the  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  Christ  secure  the  interests  of  God's  government,  it  is 
false  by  defect,  in  substituting  for  the  chief  aim  of  the  atonement  one 
which  is  only  subordinate  and  incidental. 

In  our  discussion  of  Penalty  (pages  351,  353),  we  have  seen  that  the  object  of  punish- 
ment is  not  primarily  the  security  of  government.  It  is  not  right  to  punish  a  man  for 


404  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

the  benefit  of  society.  Ill-desert  must  go  before  punishment,  or  the  punishment  can 
have  no  beneficial  effect  on  society.  No  punishment  can  work  good  to  society,  that  is 
not  just  and  right  in  itself. 

(6)  It  rests  upon  false  philosophical  principles, — as  that  utility  is  the 
ground  of  moral  obligation  ;  that  law  is  an  expression  of  the  will,  rather 
than  of  the  nature,  of  God ;  that  the  aim  of  penalty  is  to  deter  from  the 
commission  of  offences ;  and  that  righteousness  is  resolvable  into  benevo- 
lence. 

Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  573-581 ;  3  : 188, 189—"  For  God  to  take  that  as  satisfaction  which 
is  not  really  such,  is  to  say  that  there  is  no  truth  in  anything.  God  may  take  a  part 
for  the  whole,  error  for  truth,  wrong  for  right.  The  theory  really  denies  the  necessity 
for  the  work  of  Christ.  If  every  created  thing  offered  to  God  is  worth  just  so  much  as 
God  accepts  it  for,  then  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats  might  take  away  sins,  and  Christ 
is  dead  in  vain."  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  570,  571  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  :  38-40 )  —"Acceptilatfo 
implies  that  nothing  is  good  and  right  in  itself.  God  is  indifferent  to  good  or  evil. 
Man  is  bound  by  authority  and  force  alone.  There  is  no  necessity  of  punishment  or 
atonement.  The  doctrine  of  indulgences  and  of  supererogation  logically  follows." 

(c)  It  ignores  and  virtually  denies  that  immanent  holiness  of  God  of 
which  the  law  with  threatened  penalties,  and  the  human  conscience  with 
its  demand  for  punishment,  are  only  finite  reflections.     There  is  something 
back  of  government ;  if  the  atonement  satisfies  government,  it  must  be  by 
satisfying  that  justice  of  God  of  which  government  is  an  expression. 

No  deeply  convicted  sinner  feels  that  his  controversy  is  with  government.  Undone 
and  polluted,  he  feels  himself  in  antagonism  to  the  purity  of  a  personal  God.  Govern- 
ment is  not  greater  than  God,  but  less.  What  satisfies  God  must  satisfy  government. 
Hence  the  sinner  prays:  "Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned"  ( Ps.  51 :  4) ;  "God  be  propitiated  toward 
me  the  sinner  "  ( literal  translation  of  Luke  18  : 13 ). 

(d)  It  makes  that  to  be  an  exhibition  of  justice  which  is  not  an  exercise 
of  justice  ;  the  atonement  being,  according  to  this  theory,  not  an  execution 
of  law,  but  an  exhibition  of  regard  for  law,  which  will  make  it  safe  to  par- 
don the  violators  of  law.     Such  a  merely  scenic  representation  can  inspire 
respect  for  law,  only  so  long  as  the  essential  unreality  of  it  is  unsuspected. 

To  teach  that  sin  will  be  punished,  there  must  be  punishment.  Potwin  :  "  How  the 
exhibition  of  what  sin  deserves,  but  does  not  get,  can  satisfy  justice,  is  hard  to  see." 
The  Socinian  view  of  Christ  as  an  example  of  virtue  is  more  intelligible  than  the 
Grotian  view  of  Christ  as  an  example  of  chastisement. 

(e)  The  intensity  of  Christ's  sufferings  in  the  garden  and  on  the  cross 
is  inexplicable  upon  the  theory  that  the  atonement  was  a  histrionic  exhibi- 
tion of  God's  regard  for  his  government,  and  can  be  explained  only  upon 
the  view  that  Christ  actually  endured  the  wrath  of  God  against  human  sin. 

The  cry  of  Christ :  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  "  ( Mat.  27  :  46 ),  was  not  an  ejacula- 
tion of  thoughtless  or  delirious  suffering.  It  expressed  the  deepest  meaning  of  the 
crucifixion.  The  darkening  of  the  heavens  was  only  the  outward  symbol  of  the  hiding 
of  the  countenance  of  God  from  him  who  was  "made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf"  (2  Cor.  5  :  21 ).  In 
the  case  of  Christ,  above  that  of  all  others,  finis  coronal,  and  dying  words  are  undying 
words.  "  The  tongues  of  dying  men  Enforce  attention  like  deep  harmony ;  When  words 
are  scarce  they're  seldom  spent  in  vain,  For  they  breathe  truth  that  breathe  their  words 
in  pain."  Versus  Park,  Discourses,  328-355. 

(/)  The  actual  power  of  the  atonement  over  the  human  conscience  and 
heart  is  due,  not  to  its  exhibiting  God's  regard  for  law,  but  to  its  exhibiting 
an  actual  execution  of  law,  and  an  actual  satisfaction  of  violated  holiness 
made  by  Christ  in  the  sinner's  stead. 


IKVINGIAN   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  405 

Matthew  Henry :  "  Nothing  can  satisfy  an  offended  conscience  but  that  which  satisfied 
an  offended  God."  C.  J.  Baldwin  :  "  The  lake  spread  out  has  no  moving:  power ;  it  turns 
the  mill-wheel  only  when  contracted  into  the  narrow  stream  and  pouring  over  the  fall. 
So  the  wide  love  of  God  moves  men,  only  when  it  is  concentrated  into  the  sacrifice  of 
the  cross." 

(g)  The  theory  contradicts  all  those  passages  of  Scripture  which  repre- 
sent the  atonement  as  necessary  ;  as  propitiating  God  himself  ;  as  being  a 
revelation  of  God's  righteousness  ;  as  being  an  execution  of  the  penalty  of 
the  law  ;  as  making  salvation  a  matter  of  debt  to  the  believer,  on  the  ground 
of  what  Christ  has  done ;  as  actually  purging  our  sins,  instead  of  making 
that  purging  possible  ;  as  not  simply  assuring  the  sinner  that  God  may  now 
pardon  him  on  account  of  what  Christ  has  done,  but  that  Christ  has  actually 
wrought  out  a  complete  salvation,  and  will  bestow  it  upon  all  who  come  to 
him. 

John  Bunyan,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  chapter  vi— "  Upon  that  place  stood  a  Cross,  and  a 
little  below,  in  the  bottom,  a  Sepulchre.  So  I  saw  in  my  dream,  that  just  as  Christian 
came  up  with  the  Cross,  his  burden  loosed  from  off  his  shoulders,  and  fell  from  off 
his  back,  and  began  to  tumble,  and  so  continued  to  do,  till  it  came  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Sepulchre,  where  it  fell  in,  and  I  saw  it  no  more.  Then  was  Christian  glad  and 
lightsome,  and  said  with  a  merry  heart,  He  hath  given  me  rest  by  his  sorrow,  and  life  by 
his  death.  Then  he  stood  still  awhile  to  look  and  wonder ;  for  it  was  very  surprising  to 
him  that  the  sight  of  the  Cross  should  thus  ease  him  of  his  burden." 

John  Bunyan's  story  is  truer  to  Christian  experience  than  is  the  Governmental  theory. 
The  sinner  finds  peace,  not  by  coming  to  God  with  a  distant  respect  to  Christ,  but  by 
coming  directly  to  the  "Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world"  (John  1 :  29).  Christ's 
words  to  every  such  sinner  are  simply :  "Come  unto  me"  (Mat.  11 :  28).  Upon  the  ground  of 
what  Christ  has  done,  salvation  is  a  matter  of  debt  to  the  believer.  1  John  1:9—"  If  we 
confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive  us  our  sins  "—  faithful  to  his  promise,  and  righteous 
to  Christ.  The  Governmental  theory,  on  the  other  hand,  tends  to  discourage  the  sin- 
ner's direct  access  to  Christ,  and  to  render  the  way  to  conscious  acceptance  with  God 
more  circuitous  and  less  certain.  For  criticism  of  the  Grotian  theory,  see  Shedd,  Hist. 
Doctrine,  2  :  347-369 ;  Crawford,  Atonement,  367 ;  Cunningham,  Hist.  Theol.,  2  :  355 ; 
Princeton  Essays,  1 :  259-292 ;  Essay  on  Atonement,  by  Abp.  Thomson,  in  Aids  to  Faith ; 
Mcllvaine,  Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture,  194-196 ;  S.  H.  Tyng,  Christian  Pastor. 

4th.  The  Irvingian  Theory,  or  Theory  of  Gradually  Extirpated  De- 
pravity. 

This  holds  that,  in  his  incarnation,  Christ  took  human  nature  as  it  was  in 
Adam,  not  before  the  fall  but  after  the  fall, — human  nature,  therefore,  with 
its  inborn  corruption  and  predisposition  to  moral  evil ;  that,  notwithstand- 
ing the  possession  of  this  tainted  and  depraved  nature,  Christ,  through  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  of  his  divine  nature,  not  only  kept  his  human 
nature  from  manifesting  itself  in  any  actual  or  personal  sin,  but  gradually 
purified  it,  through  struggle  and  suffering,  until  in  his  death  he  completely 
extirpated  its  original  depravity,  and  reunited  it  to  God.  This  subjective 
purification  of  human  nature  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  constitutes  his 
atonement,  and  men  are  saved,  not  by  any  objective  propitiation,  but  only  by 
becoming  through  faith  partakers  of  Christ's  new  humanity.  This  theory- 
was  elaborated  by  Edward  Irving,  of  London  (1792-1834),  and  it  has  been 
held,  in  substance,  by  Menken  and  Dippel  in  Germany. 

Irving  was  in  this  preceded  by  Felix  of  Urgella,  in  Spain  (t  818 ),  whom  Alcuin  opposed. 
Felix  said  that  the  Logos  united  with  human  nature,  without  sanctifying  it  beforehand. 
Edward  Irving,  in  his  early  life  colleague  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  at  Glasgow,  was  in  his  later 
years  a  preacher,  in  London,  of  the  National  Church  of  Scotland.  For  his  own  state- 
ment of  his  view  of  the  atonement,  see  his  Collected  Works,  5  :  9-398.  See  also  Life  of 


406 


SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTKINE    OF    SALVATION. 


Irving,  by  Mrs.  Oliphant ;  Menken,  Schriften,  3  : 279-404 ;  6  :  351  sq. ;  Guericke,  in  Studien 
und  Kritiken,  1843  :  Heft  2.  For  other  references,  see  Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  496-498. 

Irving's  followers  differ  in  their  representation  of  his  views.  Says  Miller,  Hist,  and 
Doct.  of  Irvingism,  1  :  85—"  If  indeed  we  made  Christ  a  sinner,  then  indeed  all  creeds  are 
at  an  end  and  we  are  worthy  to  die  the  death  of  blasphemers The  miraculous  con- 
ception depriveth  him  of  human  personality,  and  it  also  depriveth  him  of  original  sin 
and  guilt  needing  to  be  atoned  for  by  another,  but  it  doth  not  deprive  him  of  the  sub- 
stance of  sinful  flesh  and  blood  — that  is,  flesh  and  blood  the  same  with  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  his  brethren."  2  : 14  — Freer  says:  "So  that,  despite  it  was  fallen  flesh  he  had 
assumed,  he  was,  though  the  Eternal  Spirit,  born  into  the  world  'the  Holy  Thing'.  "  11-15, 
282-305 --"Unf alien  humanity  needed  not  redemption,  therefore  Jesus  did  not  take  it. 
He  took  fallen  humanity,  but  purged  it  in  the  act  of  taking  it.  The  nature  of  which  he 
took  part  was  sinful  in  the  lump,  but  in  his  person  most  holy." 

So,  says  an  Irvingian  tract,  "  being  part  of  the  very  nature  that  had  incurred  the  pen- 
alty of  sin,  though  in  his  person  never  having  committed  or  even  thought  it,  part  of 
the  common  humanity  could  suffer  that  penalty,  and  did  so  suffer,  to  make  atonement 
for  that  nature,  though  he  who  took  it  knew  no  sin."  Dr.  Curry,  quoted  in  McClintock 
and  Strong,  Encyclopaedia,  4:663,  664— "The  Godhead  came  into  vital  union  with  hu- 
manity fallen  and  under  the  law.  The  last  thought  carried,  to  Irving's  realistic  mode  of 
thinking,  the  notion  of  Christ's  participation  in  the  fallen  character  of  humanity,  which 
he  designated  by  terms  that  implied  a  real  sinf  ulness  in  Christ.  He  attempted  to  get  rid 
of  the  odiousness  of  that  idea,  by  saying  that  this  was  overborne,  and  at  length  wholly 
expelled,  by  the  indwelling  Godhead." 

We  must  regard  the  later  expounders  of  Irvingian  doctrine  as  having  softened  down, 
if  they  have  not  wholly  expunged,  its  most  characteristic  feature,  as  the  following  quo- 
tation from  Irving's  own  words  will  show :  Works,  5  : 115—"  That  Christ  took  our  fallen 
nature,  is  most  manifest,  because  there  was  no  other  in  existence  to  take."  123— "The 
human  nature  is  thoroughly  fallen ;  the  mere  apprehension  of  it  by  the  Son  doth  not 
make  it  holy."  128—"  His  soul  did  mourn  and  grieve  and  pray  to  God  continually,  that 
it  might  be  delivered  from  the  mortality,  corruption,  and  temptation  which  it  felt  in  its 
fleshly  tabernacle."  152— "These  sufferings  came  not  by  imputation  merely,  but  by 
actual  participation  of  the  sinful  and  cursed  thing."  Irving  frequently  quoted  Heb.  2  : 10 
— "make  the  author  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings." 

Irving's  followers  deny  Christ's  sinfulness,  only  by  assuming  that  inborn  infirmity  and 
congenital  tendencies  to  evil  are  not  sin,— in  other  words,  that  not  native  depravity,  but 
only  actual  transgression,  is  to  be  denominated  sin.  Irving,  in  our  judgment,  was  rightly 
charged  with  asserting  the  sinfulness  of  Christ's  human  nature,  and  it  was  upon  this 
charge  that  he  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  by  the  Presbytery  in  Scotland. 

To  this  theory  we  offer  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  While  it  embraces  an  important  element  of  truth,  namely,  the  fact 
of  a  new  humanity  in  Christ  of  which  all  believers  become  partakers,  it  is 
chargeable  with  serious  error  in  denying  the  objective  atonement  which 
makes  the  subjective  application  possible. 

Bruce,  in  his  Humiliation  of  Christ,  calls  this  a  theory  of  "  redemption  by  sample."  It 
is  a  purely  subjective  atonement,  which  Irving  has  in  mind.  Deliverance  from  sin,  in 
order  to  deliverance  from  penalty,  is  an  exact  reversal  of  the  Scripture  order. 

(6)  It  rests  upon  false  fundamental  principles, — as  that  law  is  identical 
with  the  natural  order  of  the  universe,  and  as  such,  is  an  exhaustive  expres- 
sion of  the  will  and  nature  of  God  ;  that  sin  is  merely  a  power  of  moral  evil 
within  the  soul,  instead  of  also  involving  an  objective  guilt  and  desert  of 
punishment ;  that  penalty  is  the  mere  reaction  of  law  against  the  transgres- 
sor, instead  of  being  also  the  revelation  of  a  personal  wrath  against  sin  ;  that 
the  evil  taint  of  human  nature  can  be  extirpated  by  suffering  its  natural  con- 
sequences —  penalty  in  this  way  reforming  the  transgressor. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  463  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  361,  362)—"  On  Irving's  theory,  evil  incli- 
nations are  not  sinful.  Sinfulness  belongs  only  to  evil  acts.  The  loose  connection  be- 
tween the  Logos  and  humanity  savors  of  Nestorianism.  It  is  the  work  of  the  person  to 


ANSELMIC   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  407 

rid  itself  of  something-  in  the  humanity  which  does  not  render  it  really  sinful.  If  Jesus' 
sinf ulness  of  nature  did  not  render  his  person  sinful,  this  must  be  true  of  us  —  which  is 
a  Pelagian  element,  revealed  also  in  the  denial  that  for  our  redemption  we  need  Christ 
as  an  atoning  sacrifice.  It  is  not  necessary  to  a  complete  incarnation,  for  Christ  to  take 
a  sinful  nature,  unless  sin  is  essential  to  human  nature.  In  Irving's  view,  the  death  of 
Christ's  body  works  the  regeneration  of  his  sinful  nature.  But  this  is  to  make  sin  a 
merely  physical  thing1,  and  the  body  the  only  part  of  man  needing1  redemption."  Pen- 
alty would  thus  become  a  reformer,  and  death  a  Savior. 

(c)  It  contradicts  the  express  and  implicit  representations  of  Scripture, 
with  regard  to  Christ's  freedom  from  all  taint  of  hereditary  depravity  ;  mis- 
represents his  life  as  a  growing  consciousness  of  the  underlying  corruption 
of  his  human  nature,  which  culminated  at  Gethsemane  and  Calvary ;  and 
denies  the  truth  of  his  own  statements,  when  it  declares  that  he  must  have 
died  on  account  of  his  own  depravity,  even  though  none  were  to  be  saved 
thereby. 

Nicoll,  Life  of  Christ,  183—"  All  others,  as  they  grow  in  holiness,  grow  in  their  sense  of 
sin.  But  when  Christ  is  forsaken  of  the  Father,  he  asks  '  Why  ? '  well  knowing  that  the 
reason  is  not  in  his  sin.  He  never  makes  confession  of  sin.  In  his  longest  prayer,  the 
preface  is  an  assertion  of  righteousness  :  '  I  glorified  thee '  ( John  17  :  4 ).  His  last  utterance 
from  the  cross  is  a  quotation  from  Ps.  31 :  5  — 'Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit'  ( Luke  23  : 
46),  but  he  does  not  add,  as  the  Psalm  does,  'thou  hast  redeemed  me,  0  Lord  God  of  truth,'  for  he 
needed  no  redemption,  being  himself  the  Redeemer." 

(d)  It  makes  the  active  obedience  of  Christ,  and  the  subjective  purifica- 
tion of  his  human  nature,  to  be  the  chief  features  of  his  work,  while  the 
Scriptures  make  his  death  and  passive  bearing  of  penalty  the  centre  of  all, 
and  ever  regard  him  as  one  who  is  personally  pure  and  who  vicariously  bears 
the  punishment  of  the  guilty. 

In  Irving's  theory  there  is  no  imputation,  or  representation,  or  substitution.  His  only 
idea  of  sacrifice  is  that  sin  itself  shall  be  sacrificed,  or  annihilated.  The  many  subjective 
theories  of  the  atonement  show  that  the  offence  of  the  cross  has  not  ceased  ( Gal.  5 : 11  — 
"then  hath  the  stumbling-block  of  the  cross  been  done  away" ).  Christ  crucified  is  still  a  stumbling- 
block  to  modern  speculation.  Yet  it  is,  as  of  old,  "the  power  of  God  unto  salvation"  (Rom.  1 : 16; 
cf.  1  Cor.  1 :  23,  24  — "  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block  and  unto  Gentiles  foolishness ;  but 
unto  them  that  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  " ). 

(e)  It  necessitates  the  surrender  of  the  doctrine  of  justification  as  a 
merely  declaratory  act  of  God  ;  and  requires  such  a  view  of  the  divine  holi- 
ness, expressed  only  through  the  order  of  nature,  as  can  be  maintained  only 
upon  principles  of  pantheism. 

Thomas  Aquinas  inquired  whether  Christ  was  slain  by  himself,  or  by  another.  The 
question  suggests  a  larger  one  —  whether  God  has  constituted  other  forces  than  his  own, 
personal  and  impersonal,  in  the  universe,  over  against  which  he  stands  in  his  transcend- 
ence ;  or  whether  all  his  activity  is  merged  in,  and  identical  with,  the  activity  of  the 
creature.  The  theory  of  a  merely  subjective  atonement  is  more  consistent  with  the 
latter  view  than  with  the  former.  For  criticism  of  Irvingian  doctrine,  see  Studien  und 
Kritiken,  1845  :  319;  1877  :  354-374;  Princeton  Rev.,  April,  1863  :  207;  Christian  Rev.,  38  : 
234  sq. ;  Ullmann,  Sinlessness  of  Christ,  219-233. 

5th.     The  Anselmic,  or  Commercial  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

This  theory  holds  that  sin  is  a  violation  of  the  divine  honor  or  majesty, 
and,  as  committed  against  an  infinite  being,  deserves  an  infinite  punishment ; 
that  the  majesty  of  God  requires  him  to  execute  punishment,  while  the  love 
of  God  pleads  for  the  sparing  of  the  guilty ;  that  this  conflict  of  divine 
attributes  is  eternally  reconciled  by  the  voluntary  sacrifice  of  the  God-man, 


408  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

who  bears  by  virtue  of  the  dignity  of  his  person  the  intensively  infinite 
punishment  of  sin,  which  must  have  been  otherwise  suffered  extensively 
and  eternally  by  sinners ;  that  this  suffering  of  the  God-man  presents  to 
the  divine  majesty  an  exact  equivalent  for  the  deserved  sufferings  of  the 
elect ;  and  that  as  the  result  of  this  satisfaction  of  the  divine  claims,  the 
elect  sinners  are  pardoned  and  regenerated.  This  view  was  first  broached 
by  Anselm  of  Canterbury  ( 1033-1109 )  as  a  substitute  for  the  earlier  patris- 
tic view  that  Christ's  death  was  a  ransom  paid  to  Satan,  to  deliver  sinners- 
from  his  power.  It  is  held  by  many  Scotch  theologians,  and,  in  this  country, 
by  the  Princeton  School. 

The  old  patristic  theory,  which  the  Anselmic  view  superseded,  has  been  called  the 
military  theory  of  the  Atonement.  Satan,  as  a  captor  in  war,  had  a  right  to  his  captives,, 
which  could  be  bought  off  only  by  ransom.  It  was  Justin  Martyr  who  first  propounded 
this  view  that  Christ  paid  a  ransom  to  Satan.  Gregory  of  Nyssa  added  that  Christ's 
humanity  was  the  bait  with  which  Satan  was  attracted  to  the  hidden  book  of  Christ's 
deity,  and  so  was  caught  by  artifice.  Peter  Lombard,  Sent.,  3:19— "What  did  the 
Redeemer  to  our  captor  ?  He  held  out  to  him  his  cross  as  a  mouse-trap ;  in  it  he  set,  as  a 
bait,  his  blood."  Even  Luther  compares  Satan  to  the  crocodile  which  swallows  the 
ichneumon,  only  to  find  that  the  little  animal  eats  its  insides  out. 

These  metaphors  show  this,  at  least,  that  no  age  of  the  church  has  believed  in  a  merely 
subjective  atonement.  Nor  was  this  relation  to  Satan  the  only  aspect  in  which  the- 
atonement  was  regarded  even  by  the  early  church.  So  early  as  the  fourth  century,  we 
find  a  great  church  Father  maintaining  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  required  by  the 
truth  and  goodness  of  God.  See  Crippen,  History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  129— "  Athan- 
asius  (325-373)  held  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  the  payment  of  a  debt  due  to  God, 
His  argument  is  briefly  this :  God,  having  threatened  death  as  the  punishment  of  sin,, 
would  be  untrue  if  he  did  not  fulfil  his  threatening.  But  it  would  be  equally  unworthy 
of  the  divine  goodness  to  permit  rational  beings,  to  whom  he  had  imparted  bis  own 
Spirit,  to  incur  this  death  in  consequence  of  an  imposition  practiced  on  them  by  the 
devil.  Seeing  then  that  nothing  but  death  could  solve  this  dilemma,  the  Word,  who- 
could  not  die,  assumed  a  mortal  body,  and,  offering  his  human  nature  a  sacrifice  for  all,, 
fulfilled  the  law  by  his  death."  Gregory  Nazianzen  (390)  "  retained  the  figure  of  a  ran- 
som, but,  clearly  perceiving  that  the  analogy  was  incomplete,  he  explained  the  death 
of  Christ  as  an  expedient  to  reconcile  the  divine  attributes." 

But,  although  many  theologians  had  recognized  a  relation  of  atonement  to  God,  none 
before  Anselm  had  given  any  clear  account  of  the  nature  of  this  relation.  Anselm'a 
acute,  brief,  and  beautiful  treatise  entitled  "Cur  Deus  Homo"  constitutes  the  greatest 
single  contribution  to  the  discussion  of  this  doctrine.  He  shows  that  "  whatever  man 

owes,  he  owes  to  God,  not  to  the  devil He  who  does  not  yield  due  honor  to  God,. 

withholds  from  him  what  is  his,  and  dishonors  him  ;  and  this  is  sin It  is  necessary 

that  either  the  stolen  honor  be  restored,  or  that  punishment  follow."  Man,  because  of 
original  sin,  cannot  make  satisfaction  for  the  dishonor  done  to  God—"  a  sinner  cannot 
justify  a  sinner."  Neither  could  an  angel  make  this  satisfaction.  None  can  make  it 
but  God.  "  If  then  none  can  make  it  but  God,  and  none  owes  it  but  man,  it  must  needs 
be  wrought  out  by  God,  made  man."  The  God-man,  to  make  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  all  mankind,  must  "give  to  God,  of  his  own,  something  that  is  more  valuable  than  all 
that  is  under  God."  Such  a  gift  of  infinite  value  was  his  death.  The  reward  of  hi» 
sacrifice  turns  to  the  advantage  of  man,  and  thus  the  justice  and  love  of  God  are  recon- 
ciled. 

The  foregoing  synopsis  is  mainly  taken  from  Crippen,  Hist.  Christ.  Doct.,  134, 136. 
The  Cur  Deus  Homo  of  Anselm  is  translated  in  Bib.  Sac.,  11 :  739 ;  12  :  52.  A  synopsis  of 
it  is  given  in  Lichtenberger's  Encyclopedic  des  Sciences  Religieuses,  Vol.  1,  art. :  Anselm. 
The  treatises  on  the  Atonement  by  Symington,  Candlish,  Martin,  Smeaton,  in  Great 
Britain,  advocate  for  substance  the  view  of  Anselm,  as  indeed  it  was  held  by  Calvin 
before  them.  In  America,  the  theory  is  represented  by  Nathanael  Emmons,  A.  A.  Alex- 
ander, and  Charles  Hodge  ( Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  470-540). 

To  this  theory  we  make  the  following  objections  : 

(a)     While  it  contains  a  valuable  element  of  truth,  in  its  representation 


ETHICAL   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT. 


409 


of  the  atonement  as  satisfying  a  principle  of  the  divine  nature,  it  con 
of  this  principle  in  too  formal  and  external  a  manner,— making  the 
the  divine  honor  or  majesty  more  prominent  than  that  of  the  divine  h 
in  which  the  divine  honor  and  majesty  are  grounded. 

The  theory  has  been  called  the  "Criminal  theory  "  of  the  Atonement,  as  the  old  pa- 
tristic theory  of  a  ransom  paid  to  Satan  has  been  called  the  "  Military  theory."  It  had 
its  origin  in  a  time  when  exaggerated  ideas  prevailed  respecting  the  authority  of  popes 
and  emperors,  and  when  dishonor  done  to  their  majesty  (crimen  Icexce  majestatis)  was  the 
highest  offence  known  to  law.  See  article  by  Cramer,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1880  :  7, 
on  Wurzeln  des  Anselm'schen  Satisfactionsbegriffes. 

(6)  In  its  eagerness  to  maintain  the  atoning  efficacy  of  Christ's  passive 
obedience,  the  active  obedience,  quite  as  clearly  expressed  in  Scripture,  is 
well-nigh  lost  sight  of. 

Neither  Christ's  active  obedience  alone,  nor  Christ's  obedient  passion  alone,  can  save 
us.  As  we  shall  see  in  our  examination  of  the  doctrine  of  justification,  the  latter  was 
needed  as  the  ground  upon  which  our  penalty  could  be  remitted ;  the  former  as  the 
ground  upon  which  we  might  be  admitted  to  the  divine  favor. 

(c)  It  allows  disproportionate  weight  to  those  passages  of   Scripture 
which  represent  the  atonement  under  commercial  analogies,  as  the  payment 
of  a  debt  or  ransom,   to  the  exclusion  of  those  which  describe    it  as  an 
ethical  fact,  whose  value  is  to  be  estimated  not  quantitatively,  but  quali- 
tatively. 

Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  3  :  209-212-  "  Die  he,  or  justice  must,  Unless  for  him  some  other, 
able  and  as  willing,  Pay  the  rigid  satisfaction,  death  for  death."  The  main  text  relied 
upon  by  the  advocates  of  the  Commercial  theory  is  Mat.  20  :  28— "give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

(d)  It  represents  the  atonement  as  having  reference  only  to  the  elect, 
and  ignores  the  Scripture  declarations  that  Christ  died  for  all. 

Anselm,  like  Augustine,  limited  the  atonement  to  the  elect.  Yet  Leo  the  Great,  in 
461,  had  affirmed  that  "so  precious  is  the  shedding  of  Christ's  blood  for  the  unjust,  that 
if  the  whole  universe  of  captives  would  believe  in  the  Redeemer,  no  chain  of  the  devil 
could  hold  them  "  ( Crippen,  132). 

(e)  It  is  defective  in  holding  to  a  merely  external  transfer  of  the  merit 
of  Christ's  work,  while  it  does  not  clearly  state  the  internal  ground  of  that 
transfer,  in  the  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ. 

This  needed  supplement,  namely,  the  doctrine  of  the  union  of  the  believer  with 
Christ,  was  furnished  by  Thomas  Aquinas,  Summa,  pars  3,  quass.  8.  The  Anselmic 
theory  is  Romanist  in  its  tendency,  as  the  theory  next  to  be  mentioned  is  Protestant  in 
its  tendency.  For  criticisms  on  Anselm's  view,  see  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und 
Werk,  in.  2  :  230-241 ;  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  :  70  sq. ;  Baur,  Dogmengeschichte, 
2  :  416,  SQ.  ;  Shedd,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  273-286 ;  Dale,  Atonement,  279-292 ;  Mcllvaine,  Wisdom 
of  H.  Scrip.,  196-199 ;  Kreibig,  Versohnungslehre,  176-178. 

6th.     The  Ethical  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

In  propounding  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  true  theory  of  the  atone- 
ment, it  seems  desirable  to  divide  our  treatment  into  two  parts.  No  theory 
can  be  satisfactory  which  does  not  furnish  a  solution  of  two  problems  : 
1.  What  did  the  atonement  accomplish  ?  or,  in  other  words,  what  was  the 
object  of  Christ's  death  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  must  be  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  atonement  in  its  relation  to  holiness  in  God.  2.  What  were  the 
means  used?  or,  in  other  words,  how  could  Christ  justly  die?  The 


.i. 


410  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

answer  to  this  question  must  be  a  description  of  the  atonement  as  arising 
from  Christ's  relation  to  humanity.  We  take  up  these  two  parts  of  the  sub- 
ject in  order. 

Edwards,  Works,  1 :  609,  says  that  two  things  make  Christ's  sufferings  a  satisfaction  for 
human  guilt:  (1)  their  equality  or  equivalence  to  the  punishment  that  the  sinner  de- 
serves ;  (2)  the  union  between  him  and  them,  or  the  propriety  of  his  being  accepted,  in 
suffering,  as  the  representative  of  the  sinner.  Christ  bore  God's  wrath:  (1)  by  the 
sight  of  sin  and  punishment;  (2)  by  enduring  the  effects  of  wrath  ordered  by  God. 
See  also  Edwards,  Sermon  on  the  Satisfaction  of  Christ.  These  statements  of  Edwards 
suggest  the  two  points  of  view  from  which  we  regard  the  Atonement ;  but  they  come 
short  of  the  Scriptural  declarations,  in  that  they  do  not  distinctly  assert  Christ's  endur- 
ance of  penalty  itself.  Thus  they  leave  the  way  open  for  the  New  School  theories  of 
the  atonement,  propounded  by  the  successors  of  Edwards. 

First, —  the  Atonement  as  related  to  Holiness  in  God. 

The  ethical  theory  holds  that  the  necessity  of  the  atonement  is  grounded 
in  the  holiness  of  God,  of  which  conscience  in  man  is  a  finite  reflection. 
There  is  an  ethical  principle  in  the  divine  nature,  which  demands  that  sin 
shall  be  punished.  Aside  from  its  results,  sin  is  essentially  ill-deserving. 
As  we  who  are  made  in  God's  image  mark  our  growth  in  purity  by  the  in- 
creasing quickness  with  which  we  detect  impurity,  and  by  the  increasing 
hatred  which  we  feel  toward  it,  so  infinite  purity  is  a  consuming  fire  to  all 
iniquity.  As  there  is  an  ethical  demand  in  our  natures  that  not  only  others' 
wickedness,  but  our  own  wickedness,  be  visited  with  punishment,  and  a  keen 
conscience  cannot  rest  till  it  has  made  satisfaction  to  justice  for  its  mis- 
deeds, so  there  is  an  ethical  demand  of  God's  nature  that  penalty  follow  sin. 

Punishment  is  the  constitutional  reaction  of  God's  being  against  moral 
evil  —  the  self-assertion  of  infinite  holiness  against  its  antagonist  and  would- 
be  destroyer.  In  God  this  demand  is  devoid  of  all  passion,  and  is  consist- 
ent with  infinite  benevolence.  It  is  a  demand  that  cannot  be  evaded,  since 
the  holiness  from  which  it  springs  is  unchanging.  The  atonement  is  there- 
fore a  satisfaction  of  the  ethical  demand  of  the  divine  nature,  by  the  substi- 
tution of  Christ's  penal  sufferings  for  the  punishment  of  the  guilty. 

This  substitution  is  unknown  to  mere  law,  and  above  and  beyond  the 
powers  of  law.  It  is  an  operation  of  grace.  Grace,  however,  does  not  vio- 
late or  suspend  law,  but  takes  it  up  into  itself  and  fulfils  it.  The  righteous- 
ness of  law  is  maintained,  in  that  the  source  of  all  law,  the  judge  and 
punisher,  himself  voluntary  submits  to  bear  the  penalty,  and  bears  it  in  the 
human  nature  that  has  sinned. 

Thus  the  atonement  answers  the  ethical  demand  of  the  divine  nature  that 
sin  be  punished  if  the  offender  is,  to  go  free.  The  interests  of  the  divine 
government  are  secured  as  a  first  subordinate  result  of  this  satisfaction  to 
God  himself,  of  whose  nature  the  government  is  an  expression  ;  while,  as  a 
second  subordinate  result,  provision  is  made  for  the  needs  of  human  nature 
—  on  the  one  hand  the  need  of  an  objective  satisfaction  to  its  ethical  de- 
mand of  punishment  for  sin,  and  on  the  other  the  need  of  a  manifestation 
of  divine  love  and  mercy  that  will  affect  the  heart  and  move  it  to  repent- 
ance. 

The  great  classical  passage  with  reference  to  the  atonement  is  Rom.  3  :  25,  26  ( Rev.  Vers.) 
— "  whom  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation,  through  faith,  by  his  blood,  to  shew  his  righteousness,  because  of  the  pass- 
ing over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime,  in  the  forbearance  of  God ;  for  the  showing,  I  say,  of  his  righteousness  at  this  present 


ETHICAL   THEORY    OF   THE   ATONEMENT.  411 

season :  that  he  might  himself  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus."  Or,  somewhat  more 
freely  translated,  the  passage  would  read  :  — "  whom  God  hath  set  forth  in  his  blood  as  a  propitiatory 
sacrifice,  through  faith,  to  show  forth  his  righteousness  on  account  of  the  pretermission  of  past  offenses  in  the  forbear- 
ance of  God ;  to  declare  his  righteousness  in  the  time  now  present,  so  that  he  may  be  just  and  yet  may  justify  him  who 
belie veth  in  Jesus." 

EXPOSITION  OF  ROM.  3  :  25,  26.  These  verses  are  an  expanded  statement  of  the  sub- 
ject of  the  epistle  —  the  revelation  of  the  " righteousness  of  God"  (  =  the  righteousness  which 
God  provides  and  which  God  accepts )  —  which  had  been  mentioned  in  1 : 17,  but  which 
now  has  new  light  thrown  upon  it  by  the  demonstration,  in  1 : 18  — 3  :  20,  that  both  Gen- 
tiles and  Jews  are  under  condemnation,  and  are  alike  shut  up  for  salvation  to  some  other 
method  than  that  of  works.  We  subjoin  the  substance  of  Meyer's  comments  upon  this 


"  Verse  25.  '  God  has  set  forth  Christ  as  an  effectual  propitiatory  offering,  through  faith,  by  means  of  his  blood,'  i.  e., 
in  that  he  caused  him  to  shed  his  blood,  ev  ™  avrov  ai/man  belongs  to  Trpoedero,  not  to 

Tri<rreu>?.     The  purpose  Of  this  Setting  forth  in  his  blOOd  is   eis  eVfiei£ti/  TTJ?  Si/caioo-vVrjs   avrov, 

4  for  the  display  of  his  [judicial  and  punitive]  righteousness,'  which  received  its  satisfaction  in 
the  death  of  Christ  as  a  propitiatory  offering,  and  was  thereby  practically  demonstrated 
and  exhibited.  '  On  account  of  the  passing-by  of  sins  that  had  previously  taken  place,'  i.  e.,  because  he  had 
allowed  the  pre-Christian  sins  to  go  without  punishment,  whereby  his  righteousness 
had  been  lost  sight  of  and  obscured,  and  had  come  to  need  an  ei/fiei^ts,  or  exhibition  to 
men.  Omittanee  is  not  acquittance.  Trapecn?,  passing-by,  is  intermediate  between  par- 
don and  punishment.  'In  virtue  of  the  forbearance  of  God'  expresses  the  motive  of  the  Trapeo-is. 

"Verse  26.  eis  TO  eli/eu  is  not  epexegetical  of  «is  eVSeifti/,  but  presents  the  teleology  of  the 
iAao-Trjpiois  the  final  aim  of  the  whole  affirmation  from  bv  7rpoe#eTo  to  *a<.pa> — namely, 
first,  God's  being  just,  and  secondly,  his  appearing  just  in  consequence  of  this.  Justus 
et  justificans,  instead  of  Justus  et  condemnans,  this  is  the  summum  paradoxon  evangeli- 
cum.  Of  this  revelation  of  righteousness,  not  through  condemnation,  but  through 
atonement,  grace  is  the  determining  ground." 

We  repeat  what  was  said  on  pages  392,  393,  with  regard  to  the  teaching  of  the  passage, 
namely,  that  it  shows :  ( 1 )  that  Christ's  death  is  a  propitiatory  sacrifice ;  ( 2 )  that  its 
first  and  main  effect  is  upon  God;  (3)  that  the  particular  attribute  in  God  which 
demands  the  atonement  is  his  justice,  or  holiness;  (4)  that  the  satisfaction  of  this 
holiness  is  the  necessary  condition  of  God's  justifying  the  believer.  It  is  only  inciden- 
tally and  subordinately  that  the  atonement  is  a  necessity  to  man ;  Paul  speaks  of  it 
here  mainly  as  a  necessity  to  God.  Christ  suffers,  indeed,  that  God  may  appear  righte- 
ous ;  but  behind  the  appearance  lies  the  reality :  the  main  object  of  Christ's  suffering 
is  that  God  may  be  righteous,  while  he  pardons  the  believing  sinner;  in  other  words, 
the  ground  of  the  atonement  is  something  internal  to  God  himself.  See  Heb.  2:10  — it 
"became"  God  to  make  Christ  suffer;  c/.  Zech.  6  :  8— "They  that  go  toward  the  north  country  have  quieted 
my  spirit  in  the  north  country  "=  the  judgments  inflicted  on  Babylon  have  satisfied  my  justice. 

Charnock :  u  He  who  once  'quenched  the  violence  of  fire'  for  those  Hebrew  children,  has  also 
quenched  the  fires  of  God's  anger  against  the  sinner,  hotter  than  furnace  heated  seven 
times."  The  same  God  who  is  a  God  of  holiness,  and  who  in  virtue  of  his  holiness  must 
punish  human  sin,  is  also  a  God  of  mercy,  and  in  virtue  of  his  mercy  himself  bears  the 
punishment  of  human  sin.  Dorner,  Gesch.  Prot.  Theologie,  93— "Christ  is  not  only 
mediator  between  God  and  man,  but  between  the  just  God  and  the  merciful  God  " 
—  c/.  Ps.  85  : 10 — "Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together;  righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other." 

Simon,  in  Expositor,  6  :  321-334  (for  substance)—"  As  in  prayer  we  ask  God  to  ener- 
gize us  and  enable  us  to  obey  his  law,  and  he  answers  by  entering  our  hearts  and  obey- 
ing in  us  and  for  us;  as  we  pray  for  strength  in  affliction,  and  find  him  helping  us  by 
putting  his  Spirit  into  us,  and  suffering  in  us  and  for  us ;  so  in  atonement,  Christ,  the 
manifested  God,  obeys  and  suffers  in  our  stead.  Even  the  moral  theory  implies  substi- 
tution also.  God  in  us  obeys  his  own  law  and  bears  the  sorrows  that  sin  has  caused. 
Why  can  he  not,  in  human  nature,  also  endure  the  penalty  of  sin?  The  possibility  of 
this  cannot  be  consistently  denied  by  any  who  believe  in  divine  help  granted  in  answer 
to  prayer.  The  doctrine  of  the  atonement  and  the  doctrine  of  prayer  stand  or  fall 
together." 

See,  on  the  whole  subject,  Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  272-324,  and  Philosophy  of 
History,  65-69;  Magee,  Atonement  and  Sacrifice,  27,  53,  253;  Edwards's  Works,  4: 140 
sq. ;  Weber,  Vom  Zorne  Gottes,  214-334;  Owen,  on  Divine  Justice,  in  Works,  10  :  500-512; 
Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2:27-114;  Hopkins,  Works,  1:319-363;  Schoberlein,  in 
Studien  und  Kritiken,  1845  : 267-318,  and  1847  :  7-70,  also  in  Herzog,  EncyclopSdie,  art. : 
Versohnung.  Jahrbuch  f.  d.  Theol.,  3  :  713,  and  8  :  213;  Macdonnell,  Atonement,  115-214 ; 


412  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

Luthardt,  Saving  Truths,  114-138 :  Baird,  Elohira  Revealed,  605-637 ;  Lawrence,  in  Bib. 
Sac.,  20  :  332-339;  Kreibiff,  Versohnungslehre  ;  Waffle,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1882  :  263-286  ;  Dor- 
ner,  Glaubensiehre,  2  :  641-«62  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 107-124). 

Secondly, —  the  Atonement  as  related  to  Humanity  in  Christ. 

The  ethical  theory  of  the  atonement  holds  that  Christ  stands  in  such  a 
relation  to  humanity,  that  what  God's  holiness  demands  Christ  is  under 
obligation  to  pay,  longs  to  pay,  inevitably  does  pay,  and  pays  so  fully,  in 
virtue  of  his  twofold  nature,  that  every  claim  of  justice  is  satisfied,  and  the 
sinner  who  accepts  what  Christ  has  done  in  his  behalf  is  saved. 

We  have  seen  how  God  can  justly  demand  satisfaction  ;  we  now  show 
how  Christ  can  justly  make  it ;  or,  in  other  words,  how  the  innocent  can 
justly  suffer  for  the  guilty.  The  solution  of  the  problem  lies  in  Christ's 
union  with  humanity.  The  first  result  of  that  union  is  obligation  to  suffer 
for  men  ;  since,  being  one  with  the  race,  Christ  had  a  share  in  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  race  to  the  law  and  the  justice  of  God  —  a  responsibility  not 
destroyed  by  his  purification  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin.  In  virtue  of  the 
organic  unity  of  the  race,  each  member  of  the  race  since  Adam  has  been 
born  into  the  same  state  into  which  Adam  fell.  The  consequences  of 
Adam's  sin,  both  to  himself  and  to  his  posterity,  are  :  ( 1 )  depravity,  or  the 
corruption  of  human  nature  ;  (  2 )  guilt,  or  obligation  to  make  satisfaction 
for  sin  to  the  divine  holiness  ;  ( 3 )  penalty,  or  actual  endurance  of  loss  or 
suffering  visited  by  that  holiness  upon  the  guilty. 

If  Christ  had  been  born  into  world  by  ordinary  generation,  he  too  would 
have  had  depravity,  guilt,  penalty.  But  he  was  not  so  born.  In  the  womb 
of  the  Virgin,  the  human  nature  which  he  took  was  purged  from  its  deprav- 
ity. But  this  purging  away  of  depravity  did  not  take  away  guilt,  or  penalty. 
There  was  still  left  the  just  exposure  to  the  penalty  of  violated  law. 
Although  Christ's  nature  was  purified,  his  obligation  to  suffer  yet  remained. 
He  might  have  declined  to  join  himself  to  humanity,  and  then  he  need  not 
have  suffered.  He  might  have  sundered  his  connection  with  the  race,  and 
then  he  need  not  have  suffered.  But  once  born  of  the  Virgin,  once  pos- 
sessed of  the  human  nature  that  was  under  the  curse,  he  was  bound  to 
suffer.  The  whole  mass  and  weight  of  God's  displeasure  against  the  race 
fell  on  him,  when  once  he  became  a  member  of  the  race. 

Notice,  however,  that  this  guilt  which  Christ  took  upon  himself  by  his 
union  with  humanity  was  :  ( 1 )  not  the  guilt  of  personal  sin  —  such  guilt 
as  belongs  to  every  adult  member  of  the  race  ;  ( 2  )  not  even  the  guilt  of 
inherited  depravity  —  such  guilt  as  belongs  to  infants,  and  to  those  who  have 
not  come  to  moral  consciousness  ;  but  (  3  )  solely  the  guilt  of  Adam's  sin, 
which  belongs,  prior  to  personal  transgression,  and  apart  from  inherited 
depravity,  to  every  member  of  the  race  wbp  has  derived  his  life  from  Adam. 
This  original  sin  and  inherited  guilt,  but  without  the  depravity  that  ordina- 
rily accompanies  them,  Christ  takes,  and  so  takes  away.  He  can  justly  bear 
penalty,  because  he  inherits  guilt.  And  since  this  guilt  is  not  his  personal 
guilt,  but  the  guilt  of  that  one  sin  in  which  "all  sinned" — the  guilt  of  the 
common  transgression  of  the  race  in  Adam,  the  guilt  of  the  root-sin  from 
which  all  other  sins  have  sprung  —  he  who  is  personally  pure  can  vicariously 
bear  the  penalty  due  to  the  sin  of  all. 


ETHICAL   THEORY   OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  413 

If  it  be  asked  whether  this  is  not  simply  a  suffering  for  his  own  sin,  or 
rather  for  his  own  share  of  the  sin  of  the  race,  we  reply  that  his  own  share 
in  the  sin  of  the  race  is  not  the  sole  reason  why  he  suffers ;  it  furnishes 
only  the  subjective  reason  and  ground  for  the  proper  laying  upon  him  of 
the  sin  of  all.  His  participation  in  the  guilt  of  the  race  is  the  link  of  con- 
nection between  his  personal  innocence  and  the  bearing  of  the  sins  of  the 
world.  As  in  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  us  there  is  a  real  union  be- 
tween us  and  Adam,  and  as  in  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  to 
us  there  is  a  real  union  between  us  and  Christ,  so  in  the  imputation  of  our 
sins  to  Christ  there  is  a  real  union  between  Christ  and  humanity,  which 
delivers  that  imputation  from  the  charge  of  being  a  merely  arbitrary  and 
formal  one,  and  explains  both  Christ's  longing  to  suffer  and  the  actual  suf- 
fering which  he  endured. 

Our  treatment  is  intended  to  meet  the  chief  modern  objection  to  the  atonement. 
Greg-,  Creed  of  Christendom,  243,  speaks  of  "  the  strangely  inconsistent  doctrine  that  God 
is  so  just  that  he  could  not  let  sin  go  unpunished,  yet  so  unjust  that  he  could  punish  it 

in  the  person  of  the  innocent It  is  for  orthodox  dialectics  to  explain  how  the  divine 

justice  can  be  impugned  by  pardoning-  the  guilty,  and  yet  vindicated  by  punishing  the 
innocent "  ( quoted  in  Lias,  Atonement,  16 ).  In  order  to  meet  this  difficulty,  the  follow- 
ing accounts  of  Christ's  identification  with  humanity  have  been  given : 

1.  That  of  Isaac  Watts  (see  Bib.  Sac.,  1875  : 421).    This  holds  that  the  humanity  of 
Christ,  both  in  body  and  soul,  pree'xisted  before  the  incarnation,  and  was  manifested  to 
the  patriarchs.    We  reply  that  Christ's  human  nature  is  declared  to  be  derived  from  the 
Virgin. 

2.  That  of  R.  W.  Dale  ( Atonement,  265-440 ).    This  holds  that  Christ  is  responsible  for 
human  sin  because,  as  the  Upholder  and  Life  of  all,  he  is  naturally  one  with  all  men,  and 
is  spiritually  one  with  all  believers  (Acts  17  :  28 — "in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being"  ;  Col. 
1 : 17 — " in  him  all  things  consist "  ;  John  14  :  20  — "  I  am  in  my  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you  " ).    We  reply 
that  this  upholding  can  make  Christ  responsible  for  sin  only  upon  the  pantheistic  as- 
sumption that  it  involves  his  cooperation  with  sin.    If  Christ's  bearing  our  sins,  more- 
over, is  to  be  explained  by  the  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ,  the  effect  is  made  to 
explain  the  cause,  and  Christ  could  have  died  only  for  the  elect  (see  a  review  of  Dale,  in 
Brit.  Quar.  Rev.,  Apr.,  1876  :  221-225). 

3.  That  of  Edward  Irving.    Christ  has  a  corrupted  nature,  an  inborn  infirmity  and 
depravity  which  he  gradually  overcomes.    But  the  Scriptures,  on  the  contrary,  assert 
his  holiness  and  separateness  from  sinners.    ( See  references  on  pages  405-407 ). 

4.  That  of  John  Miller  ( Was  Christ  in  Adam  ?  in  Questions  Awakened  by  the  Bible). 
Christ,  as  to  his  human  nature,  although  created  pure,  was  yet,  as  one  of  Adam's  pos- 
terity, conceived  of  as  a  sinner  in  Adam.   To  him  attached  "  the  guilt  of  the  act  in  which 

all  men  stood  together  in  a  federal  relation He  was  decreed  to  be  guilty  for  the 

sins  of  all  mankind."    Although  there  is  a  truth  contained  in  this  statement,  it  is  vitia- 
ted by  Miller's  federalism  and  creationism.    Arbitrary  imputation  and  legal  fiction  do 
not  help  us  here.    We  need  such  an  actual  union  of  Christ  with  humanity,  and  such  a 
derivation  of  the  substance  of  his  being,  by  natural  generation  from  Adam,  as  will  make 
him  not  simply  the  constructive  heir,  but  the  natural  heir,  of  the  guilt  of  the  race.    We 
come,  therefore,  to  what  we  regard  as  the  true  view,  namely : 

5.  That  the  humanity  of  Christ  was  not  a  new  creation,  but  was  derived  from  Adam, 
through  Mary  his  mother;  so  that  Christ,  so  far  as  his  humanity  was  concerned,  was  in 
Adam  just  as  we  were,  and  had  the  same  race-responsibility  with  ourselves.    As  Adam's 
descendant,  he  was  responsible  for  Adam's  sin,  like  every  other  member  of  the  race ; 
the  chief  difference  being,  that  while  we  inherit  from  Adam  both  guilt  and  depravity, 
he  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  purified,  inherited  not  the  depravity,  but  only  the  guilt.    Christ 
took  to  himself,  not  sin  (depravity),  but  the  consequences  of  sin.    In  him  there  was 
abolition  of  sin,  without  abolition  of  obligation  to  suffer  for  sin  ;  while  in  the  believer, 
there  is  abolition  of  obligation  to  suffer,  without  abolition  of  sin  itself. 

The  justice  of  Christ's  sufferings  has  been  imperfectly  illustrated  by  the  obligation  of 
the  silent  partner  of  a  business  firm  to  pay  debts  of  the  firm  which  he  did  not  personally 
contract ;  or  by  the  obligation  of  the  husband  to  pay  the  debts  of  his  wife ;  or  by  the  obli- 
gation of  a  purchasing  country  to  assume  the  debts  of  the  province  which  it  purchases 


414  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

(Wm.  Ashrnore).  There  have  been  men  who  have  spent  the  strength  of  a  lifetime  in 
clearing1  off  the  indebtedness  of  an  insolvent  father,  long  since  deceased.  They  recog- 
nized an  organic  unity  of  the  family,  which  morally,  if  not  legally,  made  their  fathers' 
liabilities  their  own.  So,  it  is  said,  Christ  recognized  the  organic  unity  of  the  race,  and 
saw  that,  having  become  one  of  that  sinning  race,  he  had  involved  himself  in  all  its  lia- 
bilities, even  to  the  suffering  of  death,  the  great  penalty  of  sin. 

The  fault  of  all  the  analogies  just  mentioned  is  that  they  are  purely  commercial.  A 
transference  of  pecuniary  obligation  is  easier  to  understand  than  a  transference  of 
criminal  liability.  I  cannot  justly  bear  another's  penalty,  unless  I  can  in  some  way 
share  his  guilt.  The  theory  we  advocate  shows  how  such  a  sharing  of  our  guilt  on  the 
part  of  Christ  was  possible.  All  believers  in  substitution  hold  that  Christ  bore  our  guilt : 
"  My  soul  looks  back  to  see  The  burdens  thou  didst  bear  When  hanging  on  the  accursed 
tree,  And  hopes  her  guilt  was  there."  But  we  claim  that,  by  virtue  of  Christ's  union 
with  humanity,  that  guilt  was  not  only  an  imputed,  but  also  an  imparted,  guilt. 

With  Christ's  obligation  to  suffer,  there  were  connected  two  other,  though  minor,  re- 
sults of  his  assumption  of  humanity:  first,  the  longing  to  suffer;  and  secondly,  the 
inevitableness  of  his  suffering.  He  felt  the  longing  to  suffer  which  perfect  love  to  God 
must  feel,  in  view  of  the  demands  upon  the  race,  of  that  holiness  of  God  which  he  loved 
more  than  he  loved  the  race  itself ;  which  perfect  love  to  man  must  feel,  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  bearing  the  penalty  of  man's  sin  was  the  only  way  to  save  him.  Hence  we  see 
Christ  pressing  forward  to  the  cross  with  such  majestic  determination  that  the  disciples 
were  amazed  and  afraid  ( Mark  10  :  32 ).  Hence  we  hear  him  saying :  "  With  desire  have  I  desired 
to  eat  this  passover"  (Luke  22  : 15);  "I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be 
accomplished!"  (Luke  12:  50). 

Here  is  the  truth  in  Campbell's  theory  of  the  atonement.  Christ  is  the  great  Penitent 
before  God,  making  confession  of  the  sin  of  the  race,  which  others  of  that  race  could 
neither  see  nor  feel.  But  the  view  we  present  is  a  larger  and  completer  one  than  that 
of  Campbell,  in  that  it  makes  this  confession  and  reparation  obligatory  upon  Christ,  as 
Campbell's  view  does  not,  and  recognizes  the  penal  nature  of  Christ's  sufferings,  which 
Campbell's  view  denies.  Lias,  Atonement,  79 — "The  head  of  a  clan,  himself  intensely 
loyal  to  bis  king,  finds  that  his  clan  have  been  involved  in  rebellion.  The  more  intense 
and  perfect  his  loyalty,  the  more  thorough  his  nobleness  of  heart  and  affection  for  his 
people,  the  more  inexcusable  and  flagrant  the  rebellion  of  those  for  whom  he  pleads,— 
the  more  acute  would  be  his  agony,  as  their  representative  and  head.  Nothing  would 
be  more  true  to  human  nature,  in  the  best  sense  of  those  words,  than  that  the  conflict 
between  loyalty  to  his  king  and  affection  for  his  vassals  should  induce  him  to  offer  his 
life  for  theirs,  to  ask  that  the  punishment  they  deserved  should  be  inflicted  on  him." 

The  second  minor  consequence  of  Christ's  assumption  of  humanity  was,  that,  being 
such  as  he  was,  he  could  not  help  suffering ;  in  other  words,  the  obligatory  and  the  de- 
sired were  also  the  inevitable.  Since  he  was  a  being  of  perfect  purity,  contact  with  the 
sin  of  the  race,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  necessarily  involved  an  actual  suffering,  of 
an  intenser  kind  than  we  can  conceive.  Sin  is  self -isolating,  but  love  and  righteousness 
have  in  them  the  instinct  of  human  unity.  In  Christ  all  the  nerves  and  sensibilities  of 
humanity  met.  He  was  the  only  healthy  member  of  the  race.  When  life  returns  to  a 
frozen  limb,  there  is  pain.  So  Christ,  as  the  only  sensitive  member  of  a  benumbed  and 
stupefied  humanity,  felt  all  the  pangs  of  shame  and  suffering  which  rightfully  belonged 
to  sinners ;  but  which  they  could  not  feel,  simply  because  of  the  depth  of  their  depravity. 
Because  Christ  was  pure,  yet  had  united  himself  to  a  sinful  and  guilty  race,  therefore 
"it  must  needs  be  that  Christ  should  suffer"  (A.  V.),  or,  "it  behoved  the  Christ  to  suffer"  (Rev.  Vers.,  Acts 
17  :  3 ) ;  see  also  John  3  : 14— "so  must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up"  =  "  The  Incarnation,  under  the 
actual  circumstances  of  humanity,  carried  with  it  the  necessity  of  the  Passion  "  ( West- 
cott,  in  Bib.  Com.,  in  loco), 

Compare  John  Woolman's  Journal,  4,  5  — "  O  Lord,  my  God,  the  amazing  horrors  of 
darkness  were  gathered  about  me,  and  covered  me  all  over,  and  I  saw  no  way  to  go 
forth ;  I  felt  the  depth  and  extent  of  the  misery  of  my  fellow  creatures,  separated  from 
the  divine  harmony,  and  it  was  greater  than  I  could  bear,  and  I  was  crushed  down  under 
it ;  I  lifted  up  my  head,  I  stretched  out  my  arm,  but  there  was  none  to  help  me ;  I  looked 
round  about,  and  was  amazed.  In  the  depths  of  misery,  I  remembered  that  thou  art 
omnipotent  and  that  I  had  called  thee  Father."  He  had  vision  of  a  "dull,  gloomy 
mass,"  darkening  half  the  heavens,  and  he  was  told  that  it  was  "  human  beings,  in  as 
great  misery  as  they  could  be  and  live ;  and  he  was  mixed  with  them,  and  henceforth  he 
might  not  consider  himself  a  distinct  and  separate  being." 

This  suffering  in  and  with  the  sins  of  men,  which  Dr.  Bushnell  emphasized  so  strongly, 


ETHICAL   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  415 

though  it  is  not,  as  he  thought,  the  principal  element,  is  notwithstanding-  an  indispensa- 
ble element  in  the  atonement  of  Chi'ist.  Suffering-  in  and  with  the  sinner  is  one  way, 
though  not  the  only  way,  in  which  Christ  is  enabled  to  bear  the  wrath  of  God  which 
constitutes  the  real  penalty  of  sin. 

EXPOSITION  or  2  COB.  5  :  21.  It  remains  for  us  to  adduce  the  Scriptural  proof  of  this 
natural  assumption  of  human  guilt  by  Christ.  We  find  it  in  2  Cor.  5  :  21— "Him  who  knew  no 
sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  "Righteousness"  here 
cannot  mean  subjective  purity,  for  then  "  made  to  be  sin  "  would  mean  that  God  made  Christ 
to  be  subjectively  depraved.  As  Christ  was  not  made  unholy,  the  meaning  cannot  be 
that  we  are  made  holy  persons  in  him.  Meyer  calls  attention  to  this  parallel  between 
"righteousness"  and  "sin": — "That  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him"  =  that  we  might  be- 
come justified  persons.  Correspondingly,  "made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf"  must  =  made  to  be  a 
condemned  person.  So,  in  Gal.  3  : 13,  "having  become  a  curse  for  us"  =  having  become  a  cursed 
person.  "Him  who  knew  no  sin"  =  Christ  had  no  experience  of  sin  — this  was  the  necessary 
postulate  of  his  work  of  atonement.  "Made  sin  for  us,"  therefore,  is  the  abstract  for  the 
concrete,  and  =  made  a  sinner,  in  the  sense  that  the  penalty  of  sin  fell  upon  him.  So 
Meyer,  for  substance. 

We  must,  however,  regard  this  interpretation  of  Meyer's  as  coming  short  of  the  full 
meaning  of  the  apostle.  As  justification  is  not  simply  remission  of  actual  punishment, 
but  is  also  deliverance  from  the  obligation  to  suffer  punishment  —  in  other  words,  as 
"righteousness"  in  the  text  =  persons  delivered  from  the  guilt  as  well  as  from  the  penalty 
of  sin,— so  the  contrasted  term  "sin,"  in  the  text,=  a  person  not  only  actually  punished, 
but  also  under  obligation  to  suffer  punishment ;— in  other  words,  Christ  is  "made  sin,'* 
not  only  in  the  sense  of  being  put  under  penalty,  but  also  in  the  sense  of  being  put 
under  guilt. 

In  a  note  to  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  this  is  substantially  granted.  "  It  is  to  be  noted," 
he  says,  "that  a^afniav,  like  Ka.Ta.pa  in  Gal.  3  : 13,  necessarily  includes  in  itself  the  notion  of 
guilt."  Meyer  adds,  however :  "  The  guilt  of  which  Christ  appears  as  bearer  was  not  his 
own  (Vrj  yvovra.  a/u.apTiat> ) ;  hence  the  guilt  of  men  was  transferred  to  him ;  consequently 
the  justification  of  men  is  imputative."  Here  the  implication  that  the  guilt  which 
Christ  bears  is  his  simply  by  imputation  seems  to  us  contrary  to  the  analogy  of  faith. 
As  Adam's  sin  is  ours  only  because  we  are  actually  one  with  Adam,  and  as  Christ's 
righteousness  is  imputed  to  us  only  as  we  are  actually  united  to  Christ,  so  our  sins  are 
imputed  to  Christ  only  as  Christ  is  actually  one  with  the  race.  He  was  "made  sin"  by 
being  made  one  with  the  sinners ;  he  took  our  guilt  by  taking  our  nature.  He  who 
"knew  no  sin"  came  to  be  "sin  for  us"  by  being  born  of  a  sinful  stock;  by  inheritance  the 
common  guilt  of  the  race  became  his.  Guilt  was  not  simply  imputed  to  Christ;  it  was 
imparted  also. 

Melancthon:  "Christ  was  made  sin  for  us,  not  only  in  respect  to  punishment,  but 
primarily  by  being  chargeable  with  guilt  also  (culpce  et  reatus)  " — quoted  by  Thomas- 
ius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  3  :  95, 102,  103, 107 ;  also  1 :  307,  314  sq.  Thomasius  says  that 
"  Christ  bore  the  guilt  of  the  race  by  imputation ;  but  as  in  the  case  of  the  imputation 
of  Adam's  sin  to  us,  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ  presupposes  a  real  relationship. 
Christ  appropriated  our  sin.  He  sank  himself  into  our  guilt."  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre, 
2  :  442  ( Syst.  Doct.,  3  :  350,  351 ),  agrees  with  Thomasius,  that  "  Christ  entered  into  our 
natural  mortality,  which  for  us  is  a  penal  condition,  and  into  the  state  of  collective  guilt, 
so  far  as  it  is  an  evil,  a  bm-den  to  be  borne ;  not  that  he  had  personal  guilt,  but  rather 
that  he  entered  into  our  guilt-laden  common  life,  not  as  a  stranger,  but  as  one  actually 
belonging  to  it — put  under  its  law,  according  to  the  will  of  the  Father  and  of  his  own 
love." 

When,  and  how,  did  Christ  take  this  guilt  and  this  penalty  upon  him  ?  With  regard  to 
penalty,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  answering  that,  as  his  whole  life  of  suffering  was  pro- 
pitiatory, so  penalty  rested  upon  him  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  life.  This  penalty 
was  inherited,  and  was  the  consequence  of  Christ's  taking  human  nature  ( Gal.  4  :  4,  & 
—"born  of  a  woman,  born  under  the  law").  But  penalty  and  guilt  are  correlates;  if  Christ 
inherited  penalty,  it  must  have  been  because  he  inherited  guilt.  This  subjection  to  the 
common  guilt  of  the  race  was  intimated  in  Jesus'  circumcision  (Luke  2  :  21 ) ;  in  his  ritual 
purification  (Luke  2  :  22— "their  purification"—!  e.  the  purification  of  Mary  and  the  babe ;  see 
Lange,  Life  of  Christ;  Commentaries  of  Alford,  Webster,  and  Wilkinson ;  and  An.  Par. 
Bible ) ;  in  his  legal  redemption  ( Luke  2  :  23,  24 ;  cf.  Ex.  13  :  2, 13 ) ;  and  in  his  baptism  ( Mat.  3  :  15 
—"thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  "  ).  The  baptized  person  went  down  into  the  water, 
as  one  laden  with  sin  and  guilt,  in  order  that  this  sin  and  guilt  might  be  buried  forever, 
and  that  he  might  rise  from  the  typical  grave  to  a  new  and  holy  life.  (  Ebrard :  "  Bap- 


416  SOTERIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

tism  =  death  "  ).  So  Christ's  submission  to  John's  baptism  of  repentance  was  not  only 
a  consecration  to  death,  but  also  a  recognition  and  confession  of  his  implication  in  that 
guilt  of  the  race  for  which  death  was  the  appointed  and  inevitable  penalty  ( c/.  Mat.  10  :  38 ; 
Luke  12  :  50 ;  Mat.  26  :  39 ) ;  and,  as  his  baptism  was  a  prefiguration  of  his  death,  we  may  learn 
from  his  baptism  something  with  regard  to  the  meaning  of  his  death. 

As  one  who  had  had  guilt,  Christ  was  "justified  in  the  spirit"  (1  Tim.  3  : 16) ;  and  this  justifica- 
tion appears  to  have  taken  place  after  he  "  was  manifested  in  the  flesh  "  ( 1  Tim.  3  : 16 ),  and  when 
"he  was  raised  for  our  justification"  (Rom.  4  :  25).  Compare  Rom.  1 :  4 — "declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead"  ;  6  :  7-10— "he  that  hath  died  is  justified 
from  sin.  But  if  we  died  with  Christ,  we  believe  that  we  shall  also  live  with  him ;  knowing  that  Christ  being  raised 
from  the  dead  dieth  no  more ;  death  hath  no  more  dominion  over  him.  For  the  death  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once : 
but  the  life  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth  unto  God"— here  all  Christians  are  conceived  of  as  ideally  justi- 
fied in  the  justification  of  Christ,  when  Christ  died  for  our  sins  and  rose  again.  8 : 3 
— "  God,  sending  his  own  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh  " —  here  Meyer  says : 
"The  sending  does  not  precede  the  condemnation ;  but  the  condemnation  is  effected  in 
and  with  the  sending."  John  16  : 10  — "  of  righteousness,  because  I  go  to  the  Father  "  ;  19  :  30  — "  It  is  fin- 
ished." On  1  Tim.  3  : 16,  see  the  Commentary  of  Bengel. 

If  it  be  asked  whether  Jesus,  then,  before  his  death,  was  an  unjustified  person,  we 
answer  that,  while  personally  pure  and  well-pleasing  to  God  (Mat.  3  : 17),  he  himself  was 
conscious  of  a  race-responsibility  and  a  race-guilt  which  must  be  atoned  for  (John  12  :  27 
— "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour.  But  for  this  cause  came  I  unto 
this  hour ) ;  and  that  guilty  human  nature  in  him  endured  at  the  last  the  separation  from 
God  which  constitutes  the  essence  of  death,  sin's  penalty  (Mat.  27  :  46— "My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me  " ).  We  must  remember  that,  as  even  the  believer  must  "  be  judged  according 
to  men  in  the  flesh "  (1  Pet.  4:6),  that  is,  must  suffer  the  death  which  to  unbelievers  is  the 
penalty  of  sin,  although  he  "live  according  to  God  in  the  Spirit,"  so  Christ,  in  order  that  we  might 
be  delivered  from  both  guilt  and  penalty,  was  "put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  in  the  Spirit" 
(3  : 18) ;  — in  other  words,  as  Christ  was  man,  the  penalty  due  to  human  guilt  belonged  to 
him  to  bear ;  but,  as  he  was  God,  he  could  exhaust  that  penalty,  and  could  be  a  proper 
substitute  for  others. 

If  it  be  asked  whether  he,  who  from  the  moment  of  the  conception  "  sanctified  him- 
self "  ( John  17  : 19 ),  did  not  from  that  moment  also  justify  himself,  we  reply  that  although, 
through  the  retroactive  efficacy  of  his  atonement  and  upon  the  ground  of  it,  human 
nature  in  him  was  purged  of  its  depravity  from  the  moment  that  he  took  that  nature; 
and  although,  upon  the  ground  of  that  atonement,  believers  before  his  advent  were 
both  sanctified  and  justified;  yet  his  own  justification  could  not  have  proceeded  upon 
the  ground  of  his  atonement,  and  also  his  atonement  have  proceeded  upon  the  ground 
of  his  justification.  This  would  be  a  vicious  circle ;  somewhere  we  must  have  a  begin- 
ning. That  beginning  was  in  the  cross,  where  guilt  was  first  purged  ( Heb.  1 :  3  — "  when  he  had 
made  purification  of  sins,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  majesty  on  high  "  ;  Mat.  27  :  42  — "  he  saved  others ;  him- 
self he  cannot  save "  ;  cf.  Rev.  13  :  8— "the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

If  it  be  said  that  guilt  and  depravity  are  practically  inseparable,  and  that,  if  Christ 
had  guilt,  he  must  have  had  depravity  also,  we  reply  that  in  civil  law  we  distinguish 
between  them  —  the  conversion  of  a  murderer  would  not  remove  his  obligation  to  suffer 
upon  the  gallows ;  and  we  reply  further,  that  in  justification  we  distinguish  between 
them  —  depravity  still  remaining,  though  guilt  is  removed.  So  we  may  say  that  Christ 
takes  guilt  without  depravity,  in  order  that  we  may  have  depravity  without  guilt.  See 
page  346 ;  also  Bohl,  Incarnation  des  gb'ttlichen  Wortes ;  Pope,  Higher  Catechism,  118. 

In  favor  of  the  substitutionary  or  ethical  view  of  the  atonement  we  may 
urge  the  following  considerations. 

(a)  It  rests  upon  correct  philosophical  principles  with  regard  to  the 
nature  of  will,  law,  sin,  penalty,  righteousness. 

This  theory  holds  that  there  are  permanent  states,  as  well  as  transient  acts,  of  the  will ; 
and  that  the  will  is  not  simply  the  faculty  of  volitions,  but  also  the  fundamental  deter- 
mination of  the  being  to  an  ultimate  end.  It  regards  law  as  having  its  basis,  not  in 
arbitrary  will  or  in  governmental  expediency,  but  rather  in  the  nature  of  God,  and  as 
"being  a  necessary  transcript  of  God's  holiness.  It  considers  sin  to  consist  not  simply  in 
acts,  but  in  permanent  evil  states  of  the  affections  and  will.  It  makes  the  object  of 
penalty  to  be,  not  the  reformation  of  the  offender,  or  the  prevention  of  evil  doing,  but 
the  vindication  of  justice,  outraged  by  violation  of  law.  It  teaches  that  righteousness 


ETHICAL   THEORY    OF   THE    ATONEMENT.  417 

is  not  benevolence  or  a  form  of  benevolence,  but  a  distinct  and  separate  attribute  of 
the  divine  nature  which  demands  that  sin  should  be  visited  with  punishment,  apart  from 
any  consideration  of  the  useful  results  that  will  flow  therefrom. 

(6)  It  combines  in  itself  all  the  valuable  elements  in  the  theories  before 
mentioned,  while  it  avoids  their  inconsistencies,  by  showing  the  deeper 
principle  upon  which  each  of  these  elements  is  based. 

The  ethical  theory  admits  the  indispensableness  of  Christ's  example,  advocated  by  the 
Socinian  theory ;  the  moral  influence  of  his  suffering-,  urged  by  the  Bushnellian  theory ; 
the  securing  of  the  safety  of  government,  insisted  on  by  the  Grotian  theory ;  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  believer  in  Christ's  new  humanity,  taught  by  the  Irvingian  theory ; 
the  satisfaction  to  God's  majesty  for  the  elect,  made  so  much  of  by  the  Anselmic  theory. 
But  the  ethical  theory  claims  that  all  these  other  theories  require,  as  a  presupposition 
for  their  effective  working,  that  ethical  satisfaction  to  the  holiness  of  God  which  is 
rendered  in  guilty  human  nature  by  the  Son  of  God  who  took  that  nature  to  redeem  it. 

(c)  It  most  fully  meets  the  requirements  of  Scripture,  by  holding  that 
the  necessity  of  the  atonement  is  absolute,  since  it  rests  upon  the  demands 
of  immanent  holiness,  the  fundamental  attribute  of  God. 

Acts  17  :  3— "It  behoved  the  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  again  from  the  dead"— lit. :  "it  was  necessary  for  the 
•Christ  to  suffer  "  ;  Luke  24  :  26  — "  Behoved  it  not  the  Christ  to  suffer  these  things,  and  to  enter  into  his  glory  ?  "—  lit. : 
•"was  it  not  necessary  that  the  Christ  should  suffer  these  things."  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  Christ 
must  suffer  in  order  that  the  prophecies  might  be  fulfilled.  Why  was  it  prophesied  that 
he  should  suffer  ?  Why  did  God  purpose  that  he  should  suffer?  The  ultimate  necessity 
is  a  necessity  in  the  nature  of  God . 

(d)  It  shows  most  satisfactorily  how  the  demands  of  holiness  are  met ; 
namely,  by  the  propitiatory  offering  of  one  who  is  personally  pure,  but  who 
by  union  with  the  human  race  has  inherited  its  guilt  and  penalty. 

"Quo  non  ascendam ?"—  whither  shall  I  not  rise?  exclaimed  the  greatest  minister  of 
modern  kings,  in  a  moment  of  intoxication.  "Whither  shall  I  not  stoop?"  says  the 
Lord  Jesus.  King  Humbert,  during  the  scourge  of  cholera  in  Italy :  "  In  Castelmare 
they  make  merry ;  in  Naples  they  die :  I  go  to  Naples." 

(e)  It  furnishes  the  only  proper  explanation  of  the  sacrificial  language 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  sacrificial  rites  of  the  Old,  considered  as 
prophetic  of  Christ's  atoning  work. 

(/)  It  alone  gives  proper  place  to  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  central 
feature  of  his  work, —  set  forth  in  the  ordinances,  and  of  chief  power  in 
•Christian  experience. 

(g)  It  gives  us  the  only  means  of  understanding  the  sufferings  of  Christ 
in  the  garden  and  on  the  cross,  or  of  reconciling  them  with  the  divine 
justice. 

Kreibig,  Versohnungslehre :  "  Man  has  a  guilt  that  demands  the  punitive  sufferings 
of  a  mediator.  Christ  shows  a  suffering  that  cannot  be  justified  except  by  reference  to 
some  other  guilt  than  his  own.  Combine  these  two  facts,  and  you  have  the  problem  of 
the  atonement  solved." 

(h]  As  no  other  theory  does,  this  view  satisfies  the  ethical  demand  of 
human  nature ;  pacifies  the  convicted  conscience  ;  assures  the  sinner  that 
he  may  find  instant  salvation  in  Christ ;  and  so  makes  possible  a  new  life  of 
holiness,  while  at  the  same  time  it  furnishes  the  highest  incentives  to  such 
.a  life. 

Shedd:  "The  offended  party   (1)  permits  a  substitution ;    (2)  provides  a  substitute ; 
<  3)  substitutes  himself."    George  Eliot :  "  Justice  is  like  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  it  is  not 
27 


418 


SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION". 


without  us,  as  a  fact ;  it  is  '  within  us,'  as  a  great  yearning."  But  it  is  both  without  and 
within,  and  the  inward  is  only  the  reflection  of  the  outward  ;  the  subjective  demands  of 
conscience  only  reflect  the  objective  demands  of  holiness. 

And  yet,  while  this  view  of  the  atonement  exalts  the  holiness  of  God,  it  surpasses 
every  other  view  in  its  moving1  exhibition  of  God's  love  —  a  love  that  is  not  satisfied 
with  suffering  in  and  with  the  sinner,  or  with  making  that  suffering  a  demonstration  of 
God's  regard  for  law  ;  but  a  love  that  sinks  itself  into  the  sinner's  guilt  and  bears  his 
penalty  —  comes  down  so  low  as  to  make  itself  one  with  him  in  all  but  his  depravity — 
makes  every  sacrifice  but  the  sacrifice  of  God's  holiness  —  a  sacrifice  which  God  could 
not  make,  without  ceasing  to  be  God ;  see  1  John  4  : 10  — "  Herein  is  love,  not  that  we  loved  God,  but  that 
he  loved  us,  and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation  for  our  sins." 

D.     Objections  to  the  Ethical  Theory  of  the  Atonement. 

On  the  general  subject  of  these  objections,  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2:156-180, 
remarks :  ( 1 )  that  it  rests  with  God  alone  to  say  whether  he  will  pardon  sin,  and  in 
what  way  he  will  pardon  it ;  (2)  that  human  instincts  are  a  very  unsafe  standard  by 
which  to  judge  the  procedure  of  the  Governor  of  the  universe ;  and  (3)  that  one  plain 
declaration  of  God,  with  regard  to  the  plan  of  salvation,  proves  the  fallacy  and  error  of 
all  reasonings  against  it.  We  must  correct  our  watches  and  clocks  by  astronomic 
standards. 

(a)  That  a  God  who  does  not  pardon  sin  without  atonement  must  lack 
either  omnipotence  or  love.  —  We  answer,  on  the  one  hand,  that  God's 
omnipotence  is  the  revelation  of  his  nature,  and  not  a  matter  of  arbitrary 
will ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  God's  love  is  ever  exercised  consistently 
with  his  fundamental  attribute  of  holiness,  so  that  while  holiness  demands 
the  sacrifice,  love  provides  it.  Mercy  is  shown,  not  by  trampling  upon  the 
claims  of  justice,  but  by  vicariously  satisfying  them. 

Because  man  does  not  need  to  avenge  personal  wrongs,  it  does  not  follow  that  God 
must  not.  In  fact,  such  avenging  is  forbidden  to  us  upon  the  ground  that  it  belongs 
to  God;  Rom.  12  : 19 — "Avenge  not  yourselves,  beloved,  but  give  place  unto  wrath:  for  it  is  written,  Vengeance 
belongeth  unto  me ;  I  will  recompense,  saith  the  Lord."  But  there  are  limits  even  to  our  passing  over 
of  offences.  Even  the  father  must  sometimes  chastise  ;  and  although  this  chastisement 
is  not  properly  punishment,  it  becomes  punishment,  when  the  father  becomes  a  teacher 
or  a  governor.  Then,  other  than  personal  interests  come  in.  "  Because  a  father  can 
forgive  without  atonement,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  state  can  do  the  same  "  ( Shedd). 
But  God  is  more  than  Father,  more  than  Teacher,  more  than  Governor.  In  him,  per- 
son and  right  are  identical.  For  him  to  let  sin  go  unpunished  is  to  approve  of  it ;  which 
is  the  same  as  a  denial  of  holiness. 

Whatever  pardon  is  granted,  then,  must  be  pardon  through  punishment.  Mere  re- 
pentance never  expiates  crime,  even  under  civil  government.  The  truly  penitent  man 
never  feels  that  his  repentance  constitutes  a  ground  of  acceptance ;  the  more  he  repents* 
the  more  he  recognizes  his  need  of  reparation  and  expiation.  Hence  God  meets  the 
demand  of  man's  conscience,  as  well  as  of  his  own  holiness,  when  he  provides  a  sub- 
stituted punishment.  God  shows  his  love  by  meeting  the  demands  of  holiness,  and  by 
meeting  them  with  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  See  Mozley  on  Predestination,  390. 

(6)  That  satisfaction  and  forgiveness  are  mutually  exclusive. — We  an- 
swer that,  since  it  is  not  a  third  party,  but  the  Judge  himself,  who  makes 
satisfaction  to  his  own  violated  holiness,  forgiveness  is  still  optional,  and 
may  be  offered  upon  terms  agreeable  to  himself.  Christ's  sacrifice  is  not  a, 
pecuniary,  but  a  penal,  satisfaction.  The  objection  is  valid  against  the 
merely  commercial  view  of  the  atonement,  not  against  the  ethical  view  of  it. 

Forgiveness  is  something  beyond  the  mere  taking  away  of  penalty.  When  a  man 
bears  the  penalty  of  his  crime,  has  the  community  no  right  to  be  indignant  with  him  ? 
There  is  a  distinction  between  pecuniary  and  penal  satisfaction.  Pecuniary  satisfaction 
has  respect  only  to  the  thing  due ;  penal  satisfaction  has  respect  also  to  the  person  of 
the  offender.  If  pardon  is  a  matter  of  justice  in  God's  government,  it  is  so  only  as 


OBJECTIONS   TO   THE    ETHICAL   THEORY.  419 

respects  Christ.  To  the  recipient  it  is  only  mercy.  "  Faithful  and  righteous  to  forgive  us  our  sins ' ' 
( 1  John  1:9)  =  faithful  to  his  promise,  and  righteous  to  Christ.  Neither  the  atonement, 
nor  the  promise,  gives  the  offender  any  personal  claim. 

Philemon  must  forgive  Onesimus  the  pecuniary  debt,  when  Paul  pays  it ;  not  so  with 
the  personal  injury  Onesimus  has  done  to  Philemon ;  there  is  no  forgiveness  of  this, 
until  Onesimus  repents  and  asks  pardon.  An  amnesty  may  be  offered  to  all,  but  upon 
conditions.  Instance  Amos  Lawrence's  offering  to  the  forger  the  forged  paper  he  had 
bought  up,  upon  condition  that  he  would  confess  himself  bankrupt,  and  put  all  his 
affairs  into  the  hands  of  his  benefactor.  So  the  fact  that  Christ  has  paid  our  debts  does 
not  preclude  his  offering  to  us  the  benefit  of  what  he  has  done,  upon  condition  of  our 
repentance  and  faith.  The  equivalent  is  not  furnished  by  man,  but  by  God.  God  may 
therefore  offer  the  results  of  it  upon  his  own  terms.  See  Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays, 
295,  note,  and  321;  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  614,  615  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  :  82,  83). 

(c)  That  there  can  be  no  real  propitiation,  since  the  judge  and  the  sacri- 
fice are  one. — We  answer  that  this  objection  ignores  the  existence  of  per- 
sonal relations  within  the  divine  nature,  and  the  fact  that  the  God-man  is 
distinguishable  from  God.     The  satisfaction  is  grounded  in  the  distinction 
of  persons  in  the  Godhead  ;  while  the  love  in  which  it  originates  belongs  to 
the  unity  of  the  divine  essence. 

The  satisfaction  is  not  rendered  to  a  part  of  the  Godhead,  for  the  whole  Godhead  is  in 
the  Father,  in  a  certain  manner ;  as  omnipresence  =  totus  in  omni  parte.  So  the  offering 
is  perfect,  because  the  whole  Godhead  is  also  in  Christ  (2  Cor.  5  : 19— "God  was  in  Christ  recon- 
ciling the  world  unto  himself"). 

(d)  That  the  suffering  of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty  is  not  an  execution 
of  justice,  but  an  act  of  manifest  injustice. — We  answer,  that  this  is  true 
only  upon  the  supposition  that  the  Son  bears  the  penalty  of  our  sins,  not 
voluntarily,  but  compulsorily  ;  or  upon  the  supposition  that  one  who  is  per- 
sonally innocent  can  in  no  way  become  involved  in  the  guilt  and  penalty  of 
others  —  both  of  them  hypotheses  contrary  to  Scripture  and  to  fact. 

The  mystery  of  the  atonement  lies  in  the  fact  of  unmerited  sufferings  on  the  part  of 
Christ.  Over  against  this  stands  the  corresponding  mystery  of  unmerited  pardon  to 
believers.  We  have  attempted  to  show  that,  while  Christ  was  personally  innocent,  he 
was  so  involved  with  others  in  the  consequences  of  the  fall,  that  the  guilt  and  penalty 
of  the  race  belonged  to  him  to  bear.  When  we  discuss  the  doctrine  of  justification,  we 
shall  see  that,  by  a  similar  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ,  Christ's  justification  be- 
comes ours. 

(e)  That  there  can  be  no  transfer  of  punishment  or  merit,  since  these  are 
personal. — We  answer  that  the  idea  of  representation  and  suretyship  is 
common  in  human  society  and  government ;  and  that  such  representation 
and  suretyship  are  inevitable,  wherever  there  is  community  of  life  between 
the  innocent  and  the  guilty.     When  Christ  took  our  nature,  he  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  take  our  responsibilities  also. 

Christ  became  responsible  for  the  humanity  with  which  he  was  organically  one.  Both 
poets  and  historians  have  recognized  the  propriety  of  one  member  of  a  house,  or  a  race, 
answering  for  another.  Antigone  expiates  the  crimes  of  her  house.  Quintius  Curtius 
holds  himself  ready  to  die  for  his  nation.  Louis  XVI  has  been  called  a  "sacrificial 
lamb,"  offered  up  for  the  crimes  of  his  race.  So  Christ's  sacrifice  is  of  benefit  to  the 
whole  family  of  man,  because  he  is  one  with  that  family.  But  here  is  the  limitation, 
also.  It  does  not  extend  to  angels,  because  he  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels 
(Heb.  2  : 16—"  For  verily  not  of  the  angels  doth  he  take  hold,  but  he  taketh  hold  of  the  seed  of  Abraham." 

(/)  That  remorse,  as  a  part  of  the  penalty  of  sin,  could  not  have  been 
suffered  by  Christ. — We  answer,  on  the  one  hand,  that  it  may  not  be  essen- 
tial to  the  idea  of  penalty  that  Christ  should  have  borne  the  identical 


420  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

pangs  which  the  lost  would  have  endured  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  we 
do  not  know  how  completely  a  perfectly  holy  being,  possessed  of  super- 
human knowledge  and  love,  might  have  felt  even  the  pangs  of  remorse  for 
the  condition  of  that  humanity  of  which  he  was  the  central  conscience  and 
heart. 

Instance  the  lawyer,  mourning  the  fall  of  a  star  of  his  profession ;  the  woman,  filled 
•with  shame  by  the  degradation  of  one  of  her  own  sex ;  the  father,  anguished  by  his 
daughter's  waywardness;  the  Christian,  crushed  by  the  sins  of  the  church  and  the 
world.  The  self -isolating  spirit  cannot  conceive  how  perfectly  love  and  holiness  can 
make  their  own  the  sin  of  the  race  of  which  they  are  a  part. 

(g)  That  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  as  finite  in  time,  do  not  constitute  a 
satisfaction  to  the  infinite  demands  of  the  law. — We  answer  that  the  infinite 
dignity  of  the  sufferer  constitutes  his  sufferings  a  full  equivalent,  in  the  eye 
of  infinite  justice.  Substitution  excludes  identity  of  suffering  ;  it  does  not 
exclude  equivalence.  Since  justice  aims  its  penalties  not  so  much  at  the 
person  as  at  the  sin,  it  may  admit  equivalent  suffering,  when  this  is  endured 
in  the  very  nature  that  has  sinned. 

The  sufferings  of  a  dog,  and  of  a  man,  have  different  values.  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin  ; 
and  Christ,  in  suffering  death,  suffered  our  penalty.  Eternity  of  suffering  is  unessential 
to  the  idea  of  penalty.  A  finite  being  cannot  exhaust  an  infinite  curse ;  but  an  infinite 
being  can  exhaust  it,  in  a  few  brief  hours.  Shedd,  Discourses  and  Essays,  307— "A 
golden  eagle  is  worth  a  thousand  copper  cents.  The  penalty  paid  by  Christ  is  strictly 
and  literally  equivalent  to  that  which  the  sinner  would  have  borne,  although  it  is  not 
identical.  The  vicarious  bearing  of  it  excludes  the  latter." 

The  atonement  is  a  unique  fact,  only  partially  illustrated  by  debt  and  penalty.  Yet 
the  terms  'purchase'  and  'ransom'  are  Scriptural,  and  mean  simply  that  the  justice 
of  God  punishes  sin  as  it  deserves ;  and  that,  having  determined  what  is  deserved,  God 
cannot  change.  See  Owen,  quoted  by  Campbell  on  Atonement,  58,  59.  Christ's  sacri- 
fice, since  it  is  absolutely  infinite,  can  have  nothing  added  to  it.  If  Christ's  sacrifice 
satisfies  the  Judge  of  all,  it  may  well  satisfy  us. 

(h)  That  if  Christ's  passive  obedience  made  satisfaction  to  the  divine 
justice,  then  his  active  obedience  was  superfluous. — We  answer  that  the 
active  obedience  and  the  passive  obedience  are  inseparable.  The  latter  is 
essential  to  the  former  ;  and  both  are  needed  to  secure  for  the  sinner,  on  the 
one  hand,  pardon,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  which  goes  beyond  pardon, 
namely,  restoration  to  the  divine  favor.  The  objection  holds  only  against 
a  superficial  and  external  view  of  the  atonement. 

For  more  full  exposition  of  this  point,  see  under  Justification ;  and  also,  Owen,  in 
Works,  5 : 175-204. 

(i)  That  the  doctrine  is  immoral  in  its  practical  tendencies,  since  Christ's 
obedience  takes  the  place  of  ours,  and  renders  ours  unnecessary. — We  an- 
swer that  the  objection  ignores  not  only  the  method  by  which  the  benefits 
of  the  atonement  are  appropriated,  namely,  repentance  and  faith,  but  also 
the  regenerating  and  sanctifying  power  bestowed  upon  all  who  believe. 
Faith  in  the  atonement  does  not  induce  license,  but  "works  by  love" 
( Gal.  5  :  6 )  and  "cleanses  the  heart "  ( Acts  15  :  9 ). 

Water  is  of  little  use  to  a  thirsty  man,  if  he  will  not  drink.  The  faith  which  accepts 
Christ  ratifies  all  that  Christ  has  done,  and  takes  Christ  as  a  new  principle  of  life. 

(j  )  That  if  the  atonement  requires  faith  as  its  complement,  then  it  does 
not  in  itself  furnish  a  complete  satisfaction  to  God's  justice. — We  answer 
that  faith  is  not  the  ground  of  our  acceptance  with  God,  as  the  atonement 


EXTENT  OF  THE  ATONEMENT.  421 

is,  and  so  is  not  a  work  at  all ;  faith  is  only  the  medium  of  appropriation. 
We  are  saved  not  by  faith,  or  on  account  of  faith,  but  only  through  faith. 
It  is  not  faith,  but  the  atonement  which  faith  accepts,  that  satisfies  the 
justice  of  God. 

Illustrate  by  the  amnesty  granted  to  a  city,  upon  conditions  to  be  accepted  by  each 
inhabitant.  The  acceptance  is  not  the  ground  upon  which  the  amnesty  is  granted ;  it  is 
the  medium  through  which  the  benefits  of  the  amnesty  are  enjoyed.  With  regard  to 
the  difficulties  connected  with  the  atonement,  we  may  say,  in  conclusion,  with  Bishop 
Butler :  "  If  the  Scripture  has,  as  surely  it  has,  left  this  matter  of  the  satisfaction  of 
Christ  mysterious,  left  somewhat  in  it  unrevealed,  all  conjectures  about  it  must  be,  if 
not  evidently  absurd,  yet  at  least  uncertain.  Nor  has  any  one  reason  to  complain  for 
want  of  further  information,  unless  he  can  show  his  claim  to  it."  While  we  cannot  say 
with  President  Stearns  :  "  Christ's  work  removed  the  hindrances  in  the  eternal  justice 
of  the  universe  to  the  pardon  of  the  sinner,  but  how  we  cannot  tell "—  cannot  say  this* 
because  we  believe  the  main  outlines  of  the  plan  of  salvation  to  be  revealed  in  Scripture 

—  yet  we  grant  that  many  questions  yet  remain  unsolved.    But,  as  bread  nourishes 
even  those  who  know  nothing  of  its  chemical  constituents,  or  of  the  method  of  its 
digestion  and  assimilation,  so  the  atonement  of  Christ  saves  those  who  accept  it,  even 
though  they  do  not  know  how  it  saves  them. 

For  answers  to  the  foregoing  and  other  objections,  see  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  : 
156-180 ;  Crawford,  Atonement,  383-468 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  : 527-543 ;  Baird,  Elohim 
Revealed,  623  sq. ;  Wm.  Thomson,  The  Atoning  Work  of  Christ ;  Hopkins,  Works,  1 : 
321. 

E.     The  Extent  of  the  Atonement. 

The  Scriptures  represent  the  atonement  as  having  been  made  for  all  men, 
and  as  sufficient  for  the  salvation  of  all.  Not  the  atonement  therefore  is 
limited,  but  the  application  of  the  atonement  through  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Upon  this  principle  of  an  universal  atonement,  but  a  special  application 
of  it  to  the  elect,  we  must  interpret  such  passages  as  Eph.  1  :  4,  7  ;  2  Tim. 
1:9,  10  ;  John  17  :  9,  20,  24  —  asserting  a  special  efficacy  of  the  atonement 
in  the  case  of  the  elect ;  and  also  such  passages  as  2  Pet.  2:1;  1  John 
2  :  2  ;  1  Tim.  2:6;  4  :  10 ;  Tit.  2  :  11  —  asserting  that  the  death  of  Christ 
is  for  all. 

Passages  asserting  special  efficacy  of  the  atonement,  in  the  case  of  the  elect,  are  the  fol- 
lowing: Eph.  1 :  4— "chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without 
blemish  before  him  in  love"  ;  7 — "in  whom  we  have  our  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  our  tres- 
passes, according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace  " ;  2  Tim.  1 :  9, 10  —  God  "  who  saved  us,  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling, 
not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before 
times  eternal,  but  hath  now  been  manifested  by  the  appearing  of  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  who  abolished  death,  and 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel "  ;  John  17  :  9  — "  I  pray  for  them :  I  pray  not  for  the  world, 
but  for  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  " ;  20  — "  neither  for  these  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  that  believe  on  me 
through  their  word  "  ;  24  — "  Father,  that  which  thou  hast  given  me,  I  desire  that,  where  I  am,  they  also  may  be  with 
me ;  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which  thou  hast  given  me." 

Passages  asserting  that  the  death  of  Christ  is  for  all  are  the  following :  2  Pet.  2 : 1 
— "false  teachers,  who  shall  privily  bring  in  destructive  heresies,  denying  even  the  Master  that  bought  them  "  ;  1  John 
2  :  2 — "and  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world"  ;  1  Tim.  2  :  6 

—  Christ  Jesus  "  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all "  ;  4  : 10  — "  the  living  God,  who  is  the  Savior  of  all  men,  specially 
of  them  that  believe  "  ;  Tit.  2  : 11  — "  For  the  grace  of  God  hath  appeared,  bringing  salvation  to  all  men."    Rom.  3  :  22 
(A.  V. )  —  "  unto  all  and  upon  all  them  that  believe  "—  has  sometimes  been  interpreted  as  meaning 
"  unto  all  men,  and  upon  all  believers  "  ( eis  =  destination  ;  eiri  =  extent ).    But  the  Rev. 
Vers.  omits  the  words  "and  upon  all,"  and  Meyer,  who  retains  the  words,  remarks  that 
TOW?  Trto-TeuovTas  belongs  to  rrai/Tas  in  both  instances. 

If  it  be  asked  in  what  sense  Christ  is  the  Savior  of  all  men,  we  reply  : 
(a]     That  the  atonement  of  Christ  secures  for  all  men  a  delay  in  the  exe- 


422  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

cution  of  the  sentence  against  sin,  and  a  space  for  repentance,  together  with 
a  continuance  of  the  common  blessings  of  life  which  have  been  forfeited  by 
transgression. 

If  strict  justice  had  been  executed,  the  race  would  have  been  cut  off  at  the  first  sin. 
That  man  lives  after  sinning,  is  due  wholly  to  the  cross.  There  is  a  pretermission,  or 

"passing  over  of  the  sins  done  aforetime,  in  the  forbearance  of  God"  (Rom.  3  :  25),  the  justification  of  which 
is  found  only  in  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary.  This  "passing  over,"  however,  is  limited  in  its 
duration :  see  Acts  17  :  30,  31  — "  The  times  of  ignorance  therefore  God  overlooked ;  but  now  he  commandeth  men 
that  they  should  all  everywhere  repent :  inasmuch  as  he  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness  by  the  man  whom  he  hath  ordained." 

(6)  That  the  atonement  of  Christ  has  made  objective  provision  for  the 
salvation  0f  all,  by  removing  from  the  divine  mind  every  obstacle  to  the 
pardon  and  restoration  of  sinners,  except  their  wilful  opposition  to  God  and 
refusal  to  turn  to  him. 

Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics,  604— "On  God's  side,  all  is  now  taken  away  which  could 
make  a  separation— unless  any  should  themselves  choose  to  remain  separated  from  him." 
The  gospel  message  is  not :  God  will  forgive  if  you  return ;  but  rather :  God  has  shown 
mercy ;  only  believe,  and  it  is  your  portion  in  Christ. 

(c)  That  the  atonement  of  Christ  has  procured  for  all  men  the  powerful 
incentives  to  repentance  presented  in  the  cross,  and  the  combined  agency 
of  the  Christian  church  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  these  incentives 
are  brought  to  bear  upon  them. 

Just  as  much  sun  and  rain  would  be  needed,  if  only  one  farmer  on  earth  were  to  be 
benefited.  Christ  would  not  need  to  suffer  more,  if  all  were  to  be  saved.  His  sufferings, 
as  we  have  seen,  were  not  the  payment  of  a  pecuniary  debt.  Having  endured  the  pen- 
alty of  the  sinner,  justice  permits  the  sinner's  discharge,  but  does  not  require  it,  except 
as  the  fulfilment  of  a  promise  to  his  substitute,  and  then  only  upon  the  appointed  con- 
dition of  repentance  and  faith.  The  atonement  is  unlimited  —  the  whole  human  race 
might  be  saved  through  it ;  the  application  of  the  atonement  is  limited  —  only  those  who 
repent  and  believe  are  actually  saved  by  it. 

Christ  is  specially  the  Savior  of  those  who  believe,  in  that  he  exerts  a 
special  power  of  his  Spirit  to  procure  their  acceptance  of  his  salvation. 
This  is  not,  however,  a  part  of  his  work  of  atonement ;  it  is  the  application 
of  the  atonement,  and  as  such  is  hereafter  to  be  considered. 

Among  those  who  hold  to  a  limited  atonement  is  Owen.  Campbell  quotes  him  as 
saying  :  "  Christ  did  not  die  for  all  the  sins  of  all  men  ;  for  if  this  were  so,  why  are  not 
all  freed  from  the  punishment  of  all  their  sins  ?  You  will  say,  '  Because  of  their  unbe- 
lief—they will  not  believe.'  But  this  unbelief  is  a  sin,  and  Christ  was  punished  for  it. 
Why  then  does  this,  more  than  other  sins,  hinder  them  from  partaking  of  the  fruits  of 
his  death  ?  " 

So  also  Turretin,  loc.  4,  quses.  10  and  17 ;  Symington,  Atonement,  184-334 ;  Candlish  on 
the  Atonement ;  Cunningham,  Hist.  Theol.,  2  :  323-370.  For  the  view  presented  in  the 
text,  see  Andrew  Fuller,  Works,  2 :  373,  374 ;  689-698 ;  706-709 ;  Wardlaw,  Syst.  Theol., 
2:485-549;  Jenkyn,  Extent  of  the  Atonement;  E.  P.  Griffin,  Extent  of  the  Atone- 
ment ;  Woods,  Works,  2  :  490-521 ;  Richards,  Lect.  on  Theology,  302-327. 

2.     Christ's  Intercessory  Work. 

The  Priesthood  of  Christ  does  not  cease  with  his  work  of  atonement,  but 
continues  forever.  In  the  presence  of  God  he  fulfils  the  second  office  of 
the  priest,  namely  that  of  intercession. 

Heb.  7  :  23-25  — "  Priests  many  in  number,  because  that  by  death  they  are  hindered  from  continuing :  but  he,  because 
he  abideth  forever,  hath  his  priesthood  unchangeable.  Wherefore  also  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them  that  draw 
near  unto  God  through  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them."  C.  H.  M.  on  Ex.  17  : 12—"  The 


CHRIST'S  WORK  OF  INTERCESSION.  423 

hands  of  our  great  Intercessor  never  hang1  down  as  Moses'  did,  nor  does  he  need  any 
one  to  hold  them  up.  The  same  rod  of  God's  power  which  was  used  by  Moses  to  smite 
the  rock  ( Atonement)  was  in  Moses'  hand  on  the  hill  ( Intercession )." 

A.  Nature  of  Christ's  Intercession.  —  This  is  not  to  be   conceived  of 
•either  as  an  external  and  vocal  petitioning,  nor  as  a  mere  figure  of  speech 
for  the  natural  and  continuous  influence  of  his  sacrifice ;   but  rather  as  a 
special  activity  of  Christ  in  securing,  upon  the  ground  of  that  sacrifice, 
whatever  of  blessing  comes  to  men,  whether  that  blessing  be  temporal  or 
spiritual. 

1  John  2  :  1  — "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  34  — "  It 
is  Christ  Jesus  that  died,  yea  rather,  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  who  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh 
intercession  for  us"  — here  Meyer  seems  to  favor  the  meaning  of  external  and  vocal  petition- 
ing, as  of  the  glorified  God-man :  Heb.  7  :  25— "ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them."  On  the 
ground  of  this  effectual  intercession  he  can  pronounce  the  true  sacerdotal  benediction; 
.and  all  the  benedictions  of  his  ministers  and  apostles  are  but  fruits  and  emblems  of  this 
<  see  the  Aaronic  benediction  in  Num.  6  :  24-26,  and  the  apostolic  benedictions  in  1  Cor.  1 :  3 
.and  2  Cor.  13  : 14 ). 

B.  Objects  of    Christ's  Intercession.  —  We   may   distinguish    (a)   that 
general  intercession  which  secures  to  all  men  certain  temporal  benefits  of 
his  atoning  work,  and    (&)  that  special  intercession  which  secures  the  divine 
.acceptance  of  the  persons  of  believers  and  the  divine  bestowment  of  all 
gifts  needful  for  their  salvation. 

(a)  General  intercession  for  all  men  :  Is.  53  : 12  —"He  bare  the  sin  of  many,  and  made  intercession  for 
the  transgressors";    Luke  23  :  34— "And  Jesus  said,  Father,  forgive  them;   for  they  know  not  what  they  do" — a 
beginning  of  his  priestly  intercession,  even  while  he  was  being  nailed  to  the  cross. 

(b)  Special  intercession  for  his  saints :    Mat.  18  : 19,  20  — "  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.    For  where  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them"  ;    Luke  22  :  32— "Simon,  Simon,  behold, 
.Satan  asked  to  have  you,  that  he  might  sift  you  as  wheat:  but  I  made  supplication  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not"  ; 
John  14  : 16  — "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Comforter  "  ;    17  :  9  — "  I  pray  for  them :  I  pray 
not  for  the  world,  but  for  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  "  ;    Acts  2  :  33  — "  Being  therefore  by  the  right  hand  of  God 
exalted,  and  having  received  of  the  Father  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  hath  poured  forth  this  which  ye  see  and 
hear  "  ;    Eph.  1:6—"  the  glory  of  his  grace,  which  he  freely  bestowed  on  us  in  the  Beloved  " ;    2  :  18  — "  through  him 
we  both  have  our  access  in  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father  "  ;    3  : 12  —"in  whom  we  have  boldness  and  access  in  confidence 
through  our  faith  in  him  "  ;    Heb.  2  : 17, 18  — "  Wherefore  it  behoved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made  like  unto  his  breth- 
ren, that  he  might  become  a  merciful  and  faithful  high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation  for  the 
.sins  of  the  people.    For  in  that  he  himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted  "  ; 
4  : 15,  16— "For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but  one  that  hath 
teen  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.    Let  us  therefore  draw  near  with  boldness  unto  the  throne  of 
grace,  that  we  may  receive  mercy,  and  may  find  grace  to  help  us  in  time  of  need  "  ;    1  Pet.  2  :  5  — "  a  holy  priesthood, 
to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ"  ;    Rev.  5  :  6— "And  I  saw  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  ...  a  Lamb  standing,  as  though  it  had  been  slain,  having  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the  seven  Spirits 
•of  God,  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth";    7  : 16,  17— "They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more;   neither 
shall  the  sun  strike  upon  them,  nor  any  heat ;  for  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  be  their  shepherd, 
and  shall  guide  them  unto  fountains  of  waters  of  life :  and  God  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes." 

C.  Kelation  of  Christ's  Intercession  to  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost. —  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  an  advocate  within  us,  teaching  us  what  to  pray  for  as  we 
ought ;   Christ  is  an  advocate    in   heaven,  securing  from  the  Father  the 
answer  of  our  prayers.     Thus  the  work  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
are  complements  to  each  other,  and  parts  of  one  whole. 

John  14  :  26— "But  the  Comforter,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you 
-all  things,  and  bring  to  your  remembrance  all  that  I  said  unto  you  " ;  Rom.  8  :  26  — "  And  in  like  manner  the  Spirit 
also  helpeth  our  infirmity :  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought ;  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us 
with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered  "  ;  27— "and  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth  what  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God." 


424  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

The  intercession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  illustrated  by  the  work  of  the  mother,, 
who  teaches  her  child  to  pray  by  putting-  words  into  his  mouth  or  by  suggesting-  sub- 
jects for  prayer.  "  The  whole  Trinity  is  present  in  the  Christian's  closet :  the  Father 
hears ;  the  Son  advocates  his  cause  at  the  Father's  right  hand ;  the  Holy  Spirit  inter- 
cedes in  the  heart  of  the  believer."  Therefore  "When  God  inclines  the  heart  to  pray, 
He  hath  an  ear  to  hear."  The  impulse  to  prayer,  within  our  hearts,  is  evidence  that 
Christ  is  urging  our  claims  in  heaven. 

D.  Relation  of  Christ's  Intercession  to  that  of  saints. —  All  true  inter- 
cession is  either  directly  or  indirectly  the  intercession  of  Christ.  Christians 
are  organs  of  Christ's  Spirit.  To  suppose  Christ  in  us  to  offer  prayer  to 
one  of  his  saints,  instead  of  directly  to  the  Father,  is  to  blaspheme  Christ,, 
and  utterly  misconceive  the  nature  of  prayer. 

Saints,  by  virtue  of  their  union  with  Christ,  the  great  high  priest,  are  themselves  con- 
stituted intercessors ;  and  as  the  high  priest  of  old  bore  upon  his  bosom  the  breastplate 
engraven  with  the  names  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  ( Ex.  28  :  9-12),  so  the  Christian  is  to  bear 
upon  his  heart  in  prayer  before  God  the  interests  of  his  family,  the  church,  and  the 
world  (1  Tim.  2  : 1— "I  exhort  therefore,  first  of  all,  that  supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  thanksgivings,  be 
made  for  aU  men  " ).  See  Symington  on  Intercession,  in  Atonement  and  Intercession,  256-303. 

in.     THE  KINGLY  OFFICE  OF  CHRIST. 

This  is  to  be  distinguished  from  the  sovereignty  which  Christ  originally 
possessed  in  virtue  of  his  divine  nature.  Christ's  Kingship  is  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  divine-human  Redeemer,  which  belonged  to  him  of  right 
from  the  moment  of  his  birth,  but  which  was  fully  exercised  only  from  the 
time  of  his  entrance  ugon  the  state  of  exaltation.  By  virtue  of  this  kingly 
office,  Christ  rules  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  execution  of  God's  purpose  of  salvation. 

(a)  With  respect  to  the  universe  at  large,  Christ's  kingdom  is  a  king- 
dom of  power.  He  upholds,  governs,  and  judges  the  world. 

Ps.  2  :  6-8  — "  I  have  set  my  king Thou  art  my  Son uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession  "  ; 

8  :  6 — "madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  thy  hands ;  thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet" ;  cf. 

Heb.  2  :  8,  9  — "  we  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to  him.  But  we  behold Jesus ....  crowned  with  glory  and 

honor";  Mat.  25  :  31,  32— "When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory  ....  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his. 
glory :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  the  nations  "  ;  28  : 18  — "  All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  "  ;  Heb.  1  : 3 — "upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power" ;  Rev.  19  : 15, 16 — "smite  the  nations. 
.  .  .  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron  .  . .  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords." 

Julius  MUller,  Proof -texts,  34,  says  incorrectly,  as  we  think,  that  "  the  regnum  naturce 
of  the  old  theology  is  unsupported  —  there  are  only  the  regnum  gratice  and  the  regnum 
glorice."  A.  J.  Gordon :  "  Christ  is  now  creation's  sceptre-bearer,  as  he  was  once  crea- 
tion's burden- bearer." 

(6)  With  respect  to  his  militant  church,  it  is  a  kingdom  of  grace  ;  he 
founds,  legislates  for,  administers,  defends,  and  augments  his  church  on 
earth. 

Luke  2  : 11— "born  to  you  ...  a  Savior,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord  " ;  19  :  38— "Blessed  is  the  King  that  cometh  in 

the  name  of  the  Lord  "  ;  John  18  :  36,  37  — "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ....  Thou  sayest  it,  for  I  am  a  king 

Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth,  heareth  my  voice  " ;  Eph.  1  :  22  —"he  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet,  and 
gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all " ;  Heb.  1  r 
8— "of  the  Son  he  saith,  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever." 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  677  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 142, 143)  —"All  great  men  can  be  said  to- 
havean  after-influence  (Nachwirkung)  after  their  death,  but  only  of  Christ  can  it  be 
said  that  he  has  an  after-activity  (Fortwirkung).  The  sending  of  the  Spirit  is  part  of 
Christ's  work  as  King."  P.  S.  Moxom,  Bap.  Quar.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1886  :  25-36—"  Preeminence 
of  Christ,  as  source  of  the  church's  being ;  ground  of  the  church's  unity ;  source  of 
the  church's  law ;  mould  of  the  church's  life."  A.  J.  Gordon  :  "  As  the  church  endures- 


THE    KINGLY    OFFICE    OF   CHRIST.  425 

hardness  and  humiliation  as  united  to  him  who  was  on  the  cross,  so  she  should  exhibit 
something1  of  supernatural  energy  as  united  with  him  who  is  on  the  throne."  Luther: 
"  We  tell  our  Lord  God,  that  if  he  will  have  his  church,  he  must  look  after  it  himself. 
We  cannot  sustain  it,  and,  if  we  could,  we  should  become  the  proudest  asses  under 
heaven." 

(c)  With  respect  to  his  church  triumphant,  it  is  a  kingdom  of  glory  ;  he 
rewards  his  redeemed  people  with  the  full  revelation  of  himself,  upon  the 
completion  of  his  kingdom  in  the  resurrection  and  the  judgment. 

John  17  :  24  — "  Father,  that  which  thou  has  given  me,  I  desire  that,  where  I  am,  they  also  may  be  with  me ;  that 
they  may  behold  my  glory" ;  1  Pet.  3  :  21,  22— "Jesus  Christ;  who  is  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  having  gone  into 
heaven ;  angels  and  authorities  and  powers  being  made  subject  unto  him  "  ;  2  Pet.  1 : 11  — "  thus  shall  be  richly  supplied 
unto  you  the  entrance  into  the  eternal  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ." 

Luther :  "  Now  Christ  reigns,  not  in  visible,  public  manner,  but  through  the  word, 
just  as  we  see  the  sun  through  a  cloud.  We  see  the  light,  but  not  the  sun  itself.  But 
when  the  clouds  are  gone,  then  we  see  at  the  same  time  both  light  and  sun."  We  may 
close  our  consideration  of  Christ's  Kingship  with  two  practical  remarks :  1.  We  never 
can  think  too  much  of  the  cross,  but  we  may  think  too  little  of  the  throne.  2.  We  can 
not  have  Christ  as  our  Prophet  or  our  Priest,  unless  we  take  him  also  as  our  King.  On 
Christ's  Kingship,  see  Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  iv.  2  :  342-351 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Dogmatics, 
586  sq. ;  Garbett,  Christ  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  2  :  243-438 ;  J.  M.  Mason,  Sermon 
on  Messiah's  Throne,  in  Works,  3  :  241-275. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  RECONCILIATION  OF  MAN  TO  GOD,  OR  THE 

APPLICATION  OF  REDEMPTION  THROUGH 

THE  WORK  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 


SECTION     I. — THE    APPLICATION    OF    CHRIST'S    REDEMPTION 
IN    ITS    PREPARATION. 

(a)  In  this  Section  we  treat  of  Election  and  Calling ;  Section  Second 
being  devoted  to  the  Application  of  Christ's  Redemption  in  its  Actual 
Beginning — namely,  in  Union  with  Christ,  Regeneration,  Conversion,  and 
Justification  ;  while  Section  Third  has  for  its  subject  the  Application  of 
Christ's  Redemption  in  its  Continuation  —  namely,  in  Sanctification  and 
Perseverance. 

The  arrangement  of  topics,  in  the  treatment  of  the  reconciliation  of  man  to  God,  is 
taken  from  Julius  Mtiller,  Proof -texts,  35.  "  Revelation  to  us  aims  to  bring  about  revela- 
tion in  us.  In  any  being  absolutely  perfect,  God's  intercourse  with  us  by  faculty,  and 
by  direct  teaching,  would  absolutely  coalesce,  and  the  former  be  just  as  much  God's 
voice  as  the  latter  "  ( Hutton,  Essays ). 

(6)  In  treating  Election  and  Calling  as  applications  of  Christ's  redemp- 
tion, we  imply  that  they  are,  in  God's  decree,  logically  subsequent  to  that 
redemption.  In  this  we  hold  the  Sublapsarian  view,  as  distinguished  from 
the  Supralapsarianism  of  Beza  and  other  hyper-Calvinists,  which  regarded 
the  decree  of  individual  salvation  as  preceding,  in  the  order  of  thought,  the 
decree  to  permit  the  fall.  In  this  latter  scheme,  the  order  of  decrees  is  as 
follows  :  1.  the  decree  to  save  certain,  and  to  reprobate  others ;  2.  the 
deree  to  create  both  those  who  are  to  be  saved  and  those  who  are  to  be 
reprobated  ;  3.  the  decree  to  permit  both  the  former  and  the  latter  to  fall ; 
4.  the  decree  to  provide  salvation  only  for  the  former,  that  is,  for  the  elect. 

Richards,  Theology,  302-307,  shows  that  Calvin,  while  in  his  early  work,  the  Institutes, 
he  avoided  definite  statements  of  his  position  with  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  atone- 
ment, yet  in  his  latter  works,  the  Commentaries,  he  acceded  to  the  theoyy  of  universal 
atonement.  Supralapsarianism  is  therefore  hyper-Calvinistic,  rather  than  Calvinistic. 
Sublapsarianisin  was  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  Dort  ( 1618,  1619 ).  By  Supralapsarian  is 
meant  that  form  of  doctrine  which  holds  the  decree  of  individual  salvation  as  preceding 
the  decree  to  permit  the  fall ;  Sublapsarian  designates  that  form  of  doctrine  which  holds 
that  the  decree  of  individual  salvation  is  subsequent  to  the  decree  to  permit  the  fall. 

(c)  But  the  Scriptures  teach  that  men  as  sinners,  and  not  men  irrespec- 
tive of  their  sins,  are  the  objects  of  God's  saving  grace  in  Christ  ( John  15  : 
19  ;  Rom.  11  :  5,  7 ;  Eph.  1:4-6;  1  Pet.  1:2).  Condemnation,  moreover, 

426 


ELECTION.  427 

is  an  act,  not  of  sovereignty,  but  of  justice,  and  is  grounded  in  the  guilt  of 
the  condemned  (Eom.  2  :  6-11  ;  2  Thess.  1  :  5-10).  The  true  order  of  the 
decrees  is  therefore  as  follows  :  1.  the  decree  to  create  ;  2.  the  decree  to 
permit  the  fall ;  3.  the  decree  to  provide  a  salvation  in  Christ  sufficient  for 
the  needs  of  all ;  4.  the  decree  to  secure  the  actual  acceptance  of  this  sal- 
vation on  the  part  of  some  —  or,  in  other  words,  the  decree  of  Election. 

That  saving-  grace  presupposes  the  fall,  and  that  men  as  sinners  are  the  objects  of  it, 
appears  from  John  15  : 19  — "  If  ye  were  of  the  world,  the  world  would  love  its  own :  but  because  ye  are  not  of 
the  world,  but  I  chose  you  out  of  the  world,  therefore  the  world  hateth  you"  ;  Rom.  11  :  5-7— "Even  so  then  at  the 
present  time  also  there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of  grace.  But  if  it  is  by  grace,  it  is  no  more  of  works  : 
otherwise  grace  is  no  more  grace.  What  then  ?  That  which  Israel  seeketh  for,  that  he  obtained  not ;  but  the  election 
obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  hardened."  Eph.  1 :  4-6 -"Even  as  he  chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish  before  him  in  love  :  having  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons 
through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  which 
he  freely  bestowed  on  us  in  the  Beloved  "  ;  1  Pet.  1  :  2  — elect,  "according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father, 
in  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus :  Grace  to  you  and  peace  be  multiplied." 

That  condemnation  is  not  an  act  of  sovereignty,  but  of  justice,  appears  from  Rom.  2  : 
6-9  — "  who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works  .  .  .  wrath  and  indignation  ....  upon  every  soul  of  man 
that  worketh  evil "  ;  2  Thess.  1  :  6-9  — "  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompense  affliction  to  them  that  afflict  you  .... 
rendering  vengeance  to  them  that  know  not  God  and  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  suffer  pun- 
ishment." Particular  persons  are  elected,  not  to  have  Christ  die  for  them,  but  to  have 
special  influences  of  the  Spirit  bestowed  upon  them. 

(d)  Those  Sublapsarians  who  hold  to  the  Anselmic  view  of  a  limited 
Atonement,  make  the  decrees  3.  and  4. ,  just  mentioned,  exchange  places, — 
the  decree  of  election  thus  preceding  the  decree  to  provide  redemption. 
The  Scriptural  reasons  for  preferring  the  order  here  given  have  been 
already  indicated  in  our  treatment  of  the  Extent  of  the  Atonement  ( pages 
421,  422). 

When  '3.'  and  '4.'  thus  change  places,  '3.'  should  be  made  to  read:  "The  decree  to 
provide  in  Christ  a  salvation  sufficient  for  the  elect";  and  '4.'  should  read:  "The 
decree  that  a  certain  number  should  be  saved"— or,  in  other  words,  the  decree  of 
election.  Sublapsarianism  of  the  first  sort  may  be  found  in  Turretin,  loc.  4,  quaes.  9 ; 
Cunningham,  Hist.  Theol.,  416-439. 

I.     ELECTION. 

Election  is  that  eternal  act  of  God,  by  which  in  his  sovereign  pleasure, 
and  on  account  of  no  foreseen  merit  in  them,  he  chooses  certain  out  of  the 
number  of  sinful  men  to  be  the  recipients  of  the  special  grace  of  his  Spirit, 
and  so  to  be  made  voluntary  partakers  of  Christ's  salvation. 

1.     Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Election. 
A.     From  Scripture. 

We  here  adopt  the  words  of  Dr.  Hovey  :  "The  Scriptures  forbid  us  to 
find  the  reasons  for  election  in  the  moiial  action  of  man  before  the  new 
birth,  and  refer  us  merely  to  the  sovereign  will  and  mercy  of  God,  that  is, 
they  teach  the  doctrine  of  personal  election."  Before  advancing  to  the 
proof  of  the  doctrine  itself,  we  may  claim  Scriptural  warrant  for  three  pre- 
liminary statements  (which  we  also  quote  from  Dr.  Hovey),  namely, 

First,  that  ' '  God  has  a  sovereign  right  to  bestow  more  grace  upon  one 
subject  than  upon  another  —  grace  being  unmerited  favor  to  sinners. " 

Mat.  20  : 12-15  — "  These  last  have  spent  but  one  hour,  and  thou  hast  made  them  equal  unto  us Friend,  I  do 

thee  no  wrong Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine  own?  "    Rom.  9  :  20,  21— "Shall  the  thing 


428  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it,  Why  didst  thou  make  me  thus  ?  Or  hath  not  the  potter  a  right  over  the  clay, 
from  the  same  lump  to  make  one  part  a  vessel  unto  honor,  and  another  unto  dishonor?" 

Secondly,  that  "God  has  been  pleased  to  exercise  this  right  in  dealing 
with  men." 

Ps.  147 :  20— "He  hath  not  dealt  so  with  any  nation:  and  as  for  his  judgments,  they  have  not  known  them"; 
Rom.  3  : 1,  2  — "  What  advantage  then  hath  the  Jew  ?  or  what  is  the  profit  of  circumcision  ?  Much  every  way :  first 
of  all,  that  they  were  intrusted  with  the  oracles  of  God  " ;  John  15  : 16—"  Ye  did  not  choose  me,  but  I  chose  you,  and 
appointed  you,  that  ye  should  go  and  bear  fruit " ;  Acts  9  :  15  — "  He  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my  name 
before  the  Gentiles  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel." 

Thirdly,  that  "  God  has  some  other  reason  than  that  of  saving  as  many 
as  possible  for  the  way  in  which  he  distributes  his  grace. " 

Mat.  11 :  21  — Tyre  and  Sidon  "would  have  repented,"  if  they  had  had  the  grace  bestowed  upon 
Ohorazin  and  Bethsaida;  Rom.  9  :  22-25  — "What  if  God,  willing  to  show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power 
known,  endured  with  much  long  suffering  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  unto  destruction :  and  that  he  might  make  known  the 
riches  of  his  glory  on  the  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory  ?  " 

The  Scripture  passages  which  directly  or  indirectly  support  the  doctrine 
of  a  particular  election  of  individual  men  to  salvation  may  be  arranged  as 
follows  : 

(a)     Direct  statements  of  God's  purpose  to  save  certain  individuals  ; 

Acts  13  :  48 — "As  many  as  were  ordained  ( reray/xevot )  to  eternal  life  believed" — here  Whedon  trans- 
lates: "  disposed  unto  eternal  life,"  referring1  to  KaT^pTitr/meva  in  verse  23,  where  "fitted"  = 
"fitted  themselves."  The  only  instance,  however,  where  rao-aco  is  used  in  a  middle  sense 
is  in  1  Cor.  16  : 15  —"set  themselves"  ;  but  there  the  object,  eavrou?,  is  expressed.  Here  we  must 
compare  Rom.  13  : 1— "the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  (Tcraynetxu. )  of  God  " ;  see  also  Acts  10  :  42— "this 
is  he  which  is  ordained  ( ujpio-jueVo? )  of  God  to  be  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead." 

Rom.  9  : 11-16  — "For  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  anything  good  or  bad,  that  the  purpose 

of  God  according  to  election  might  stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  calleth I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  have 

mercy  ....  So  then  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  hath  mercy  " ;  Eph.  1 :  4,  5, 
9, 11  — "  chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  [  not  beccrase  we  were,  or  were  to  be,  holy, 
but],  that  we  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish  before  him  in  love:  having  foreordained  us  unto  adoption  as  sons 
through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will ....  the  mystery  of  his  will,  according  to 
his  good  pleasure  ....  in  whom  we  were  made  a  heritage,  having  been  foreordained  according  to  the  purpose  of  him 
who  worketh  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  will "  ;  Col.  3  : 12  — "  God's  elect " ;  2  Thess.  2  : 13  — "  God  chose 
you  from  the  beginning  unto  salvation  in  sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth." 

(6)  In  connection  with  the  declaration  of  God's  foreknowledge  of  these 
persons,  or  choice  to  make  them  objects  of  his  special  attention  and  care  ; 

Rom.  8  :  27-30  — "  called  according  to  his  purpose.  For  whom  he  foreknew,  he  also  foreordained  to  be  conformed 
to  the  image  of  his  Son  "  ;  1  Pet.  1  : 1,  2  — "  elect ....  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  in  sanctifi- 
cation of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ."  On  the  passage  in  Romans, 
Shedd,  in  his  Commentary,  remarks  that  "foreknew,"  in  the  Hebraistic  use,  "is  more  than 
simple  prescience,  and  something-  more  also  than  simply  '  to  fix  the  eye  upon,'  or  to 
'  select.'  It  is  this  latter,  but  with  the  additional  notion  of  a  benignant  and  kindly  feel- 
ing toward  the  object." 

That  the  word  "know,"  in  Scripture,  frequently  means  not  merely  to  "apprehend  in- 
tellectually," but  to  "regard  with  favor,"  to  "make  an  object  of  care,"  is  evident 
from  Gen.  18  : 19— "I  have  known  him,  to  the  end  that  he  may  command  his  children  and  his  household  after  him, 
that  they  may  keep  the  way  of  Jehovah,  to  do  justice  and  judgment " ;  Ps.  1 :  6  — "  For  the  Lord  knoweth  the  way  of  the 
righteous :  But  the  way  of  the  wicked  shall  perish  "  ;  Amos  3:2—"  You  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  "  ;  Rom.  7  : 15  — "  For  that  which  I  do  I  know  not "  ;  1  Cor.  8:3—"  If  any  man  loveth  God,  the  same  is  known 
by  him  "  ;  Gal.  4:9—"  Now  that  ye  have  come  to  know  God,  or  rather,  to  be  known  of  God  "  ;  1  Thess.  5  : 12 — "  We 
beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them  that  labor  among  you,  and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you ;  and  to 
esteem  them  exceeding  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake."  So  the  word  "  foreknow  "  :  Rom.  11  :  2  —  "God 
did  not  cast  off  his  people  whom  he  foreknew  "  ;  1  Pet.  1 :  20  —  Christ,  "  who  was  foreknown  indeed  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world." 

In  Rom.  8  :  28-30,  quoted  above,  "foreknew  "  =  elected  —  that  is,  made  certain  individuals,  in 
the  future,  the  objects  of  his  love  and  care ;  "foreordained  "  describes  God's  designation  of 


ELECTION.  429 

these  same  individuals  to  receive  the  special  gift  of  salvation.  In  other  words,  "  fore- 
knowledge" is  of  persons;  "  f  oreordination  "  is  of  blessings  to  be  bestowed  upon 
them.  Hooker,  Eccl.  Pol.,  Appendix  to  book  v,  (vol.  2  :  751 )  — "' whom  he  did  foreknow' 
(know  before  as  his  own,  with  determination  to  be  forever  merciful  to  them )  'he  also 
predestinated  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  his  Son '  —  predestinated,  not  to  opportunity  of  conform- 
ation, but  to  conformation  itself."  So,  for  substance,  Calvin,  Rtlckert,  DeWette, 
Stuart,  Jowett,  Vaughan.  On  1  Pet.  1 : 1,  2,  see  Com.  of  Plumptre.  The  Arminian  inter- 
pretation of  "whom  he  foreknew"  (Rom.  8  :  29)  would  require  the  phrase  "as  conformed  to  the  image 
of  his  Son  "  to  be  conjoined  with  it.  Paul,  however,  makes  conformity  to  Christ  to  be  the 
result,  not  the  foreseen  condition,  of  God's  foreordination  ;  see  Commentaries  of  Hodge 
and  Lange. 

(c)  With  assertions  that  this  choice  is  matter  of  grace,  or  unmerited 
favor,  bestowed  in  eternity  past ; 

Eph.  1:5-8—"  foreordained according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace, 

which  he  freely  bestowed  on  us  in  the  Beloved according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace  "  ;  2:8  — "  By  grace  have  ye 

been  saved  through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves :  it  is  the  gift  of  God  "  —  here  "  and  that "  ( neuter  TOUTO, 
verse  8)  refers,  not  to  "faith,"  but  to  "salvation."  But  faith  is  elsewhere  represented 
as  having  its  source  in  God  (see  below).  2  Tim.  1 :  9 — "his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given 
us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  times  eternal." 

(d)  That  the  Father  has  given  certain  persons  to  the  Son,  to  be  his  pecu- 
liar possession ; 

John  6 :  37  — "  All  that  which  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  unto  me  "  ;  17  :  2  — "  that  whatsoever  thou  hast  given 
him,  to  them  he  should  give  eternal  life "  ;  6  — "I  manifested  thy  name  unto  the  men  whom  thou  gavest  me  out  of  the 
world:  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  to  me"  ;  9— "I  pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  those  whom  thou  hast 
given  me  " ;  Eph.  1 : 14  — "  unto  the  redemption  of  God's  own  possession  " ;  1  Pet.  2  :  9  — "  a  people  for  God's  own  pos- 
session." 

(e)  That  the  fact  of  believers  being  united  thus  to  Christ  is  due  wholly 
to  God ; 

John  6  :  44 — "No  man  can  come  to  me,  except  the  Father  which  sent  me  draw  him  "  ;  10  :  26 — "Ye  believe  not, 
because  ye  are  not  of  my  sheep  " ;  1  Cor.  1 :  30— "of  him  [  God]  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus  "  =  your  being,  as 
Christians,  in  union  with  Christ,  is  due  wholly  to  God. 

(/)  That  those  who  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life,  and  they 
only,  shall  be  saved  ; 

Phil.  4  :  3  —"the  rest  of  my  fellow  workers,  whose  names  are  in  the  book  of  life"  ;  Rev.  20  : 15—"  And  if  any 
was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life,  he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  "  ;  21 :  27  — "  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  it  anything  unclean  ....  but  only  they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  "  =  God's  decrees  of 
electing  grace  in  Christ. 

(g)     That  these  are  allotted,  as  disciples,  to  certain  of  God's  servants  ; 

Acts  17  :  4  — (literally)— "some  of  them  were  persuaded,  and  were  allotted  [by  God]  to  Paul  and  Silas " 
—  as  disciples  ( so  Meyer  and  Grimm ) ;  18  :  9, 10  — "  Be  not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy  peace : 
for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to  harm  thee :  for  I  have  much  people  in  this  city." 

(h]    Are  made  the  recipients  of  a  special  call  of  God  ; 

Rom.  8  :  28,  30— "called  according  to  his  purpose  ....  whom  he  foreordained,  them  he  also  called"  ;  9  :  23,  24 
— "  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  afore  prepared  unto  glory,  even  us,  whom  he  also  called,  not  from  the  Jews  only,  but  also 
from  the  Gentiles" ;  11 :  29— "For  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance"  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  24-28— "unto 

them  that  are  called  .  .  .  Christ,  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God For  behold  your  calling,  brethren  .  .  . 

the  things  that  are  despised  did  God  choose,  yea  and  the  things  that  are  not,  that  he  might  bring  to  naught  the  things 
that  are :  that  no  flesh  should  glory  before  God  " ;  Gal.  1 : 15, 16  — "  When  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  God,  who  sepa- 
rated me,  even  from  my  mother's  womb,  and  called  me  through  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me  "  ;  c/.  James  2  :  23 
— "  and  he  [  Abraham  ]  was  called  [  to  be  ]  the  friend  of  God." 

(i)  Are  born  into  God's  kingdom,  not  by  virtue  of  man's  will,  but  of 
God's  will ; 


430  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

John  1 : 13— "born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God"  ;  James  1  : 18  —"Of 
his  own  will  he  brought  us  forth  by  the  word  of  truth." 

(J)     Receiving  repentance,  as  the  gift  of  God ; 

Acts  5  :  31  —"Him  did  God  exalt  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and 
remission  of  sins  "  ;  11  : 18  — "  Then  to  the  Gentiles  also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto  life  "  ;  2  Tim.  2  :  25 "  cor- 
recting them  that  oppose  themselves;  if  perad venture  God  may  give  them  repentance  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 

(k)     Faith,  as  the  gift  of  God  ; 

John  6  :  65  — "  No  man  can  come  unto  me,  except  it  be  given  unto  him  of  the  Father  " ;    Acts  15  :  8,  9 "  God 

giving  them  the  Holy  Ghost ....  cleansing  their  hearts  by  faith  "  ;    Rom.  12  :  3  — "  according  as  God  hath  dealt  to  each 
man  a  measure  of  faith" ;    1  Cor.  12  :  9— "to  another  faith,  in  the  same  Spirit" ;    Gal.  5  :  22  — "the  fruit  of  the 

Spirit  is faith  "  ;    Phil.  2  : 13  —In  all  faith,  "it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his 

good  pleasure  "  ;    Eph.  6  :  23  — "  Peace  be  to  the  brethren,  and  love  with  faith,  from  God  the  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." 

(I)     Holiness  and  good  works,  as  the  gift  of  God. 

Eph.  1:4—"  chose  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  "  ;  2  :  9, 10  — "  not  of  works, 
that  no  man  should  glory.  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore  pre- 
pared that  we  should  walk  in  them";  1  Pet.  1 :  2—  Elect  "unto  obedience."  On  Scripture  testimony, 
see  Hovey,  Manual  of  Theol.  and  Ethics,  258-361. 

These  passages  furnish  an  abundant  and  conclusive  refutation,  on  the 
one  hand,  of  the  Lutheran  view  that  election  is  simply  God's  determina- 
tion from  eternity  to  provide  an  objective  salvation  for  universal  humanity  ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  Arminian  view  that  election  is  God's  deter- 
mination from  eternity  to  save  certain  individuals  upon  the  ground  of  their 
foreseen  faith. 

B.     From  Eeason. 

(a)  What  God  does,  he  has  eternally  purposed  to  do.     Since  he  bestows 
special  regenerating  grace  on  some,  he  must  have  eternally  purposed  to  be- 
stow it  —  in  other  words,  must  have  chosen  them  to  eternal  life.     Thus  the 
doctrine  of  election  is  only  a  special  application  of  the  doctrine  of  decrees. 

The  New  Haven  views  are  essentially  Arminian.  See  Fitch,  on  Predestination  and 
Election,  in  Christian  Spectator,  3  :  623— "God's  foreknowledge  of  what  would  be  the 
results  of  his  present  works  of  grace  preceded  in  the  order  of  nature  the  purpose  to 
pursue  those  works,  and  presented  the  grounds  of  that  purpose.  Whom  he  foreknew  — 
as  the  people  who  would  be  gained  to  his  kingdom  by  his  present  works  of  grace,  in 
which  result  lay  the  whole  objective  motive  for  undertaking  those  works  — he  did  also, 
by  resolving  on  those  works,  predestinate."  Here  God  is  very  erroneously  said  to  fore- 
Know  what  is  as  yet  included  in  a  merely  possible  plan.  As  we  have  seen  in  our  discussion 
of  decrees,  there  can  be  no  foreknowledge,  unless  there  is  something  fixed,  in  the  future, 
to  be  foreknown ;  and  this  fixity  can  be  due  only  to  God's  predetermination.  So,  in  the 
present  case,  election  must  precede  prescience. 

The  New  Haven  views  are  also  given  in  N.  W.  Taylor,  Revealed  Theology,  373-444 ;  for 
criticism  upon  them,  see  Tyler,  Letters  on  New  Haven  Theology,  173-180.  If  God  desired 
the  salvation  of  Judas  as  much  as  of  Peter,  how  was  Peter  elected  in  distinction  from 
Judas?  To  the  question,  "  Who  made  thee  to  differ?  "  the  answer  must  be,  "  Not  God, 
but  my  own  will."  See  Finney,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1877  :  711  — "  God  must  have  foreknown 
whom  he  could  wisely  save,  prior  in  the  order  of  nature  to  his  determining  to  save  them. 
But  his  knowing  who  would  be  saved,  must  have  been,  in  the  order  of  nature,  subsequent 
to  his  election  or  determination  to  save  them,  and  dependent  upon  that  determination." 

t 

(b)  This  purpose  cannot  be  conditioned  upon  any  merit  or  faith  of  those 
who  are  chosen,  since  there  is  no  such  merit  —  faith  itself  being  God's  gift 
and  foreordained  by  him.     Since  man's  faith  is  foreseen  only  as  the  result 


ELECTION.  431 

of  God's  work  of  grace,  election  proceeds  rather  upon  foreseen  unbelief. 
Faith,  as  the  effect  of  election,  cannot  at  the  same  time  be  the  cause  of 
election. 

There  is  an  analogy  between  prayer  and  its  answer,  on  the  one  hand,  and  faith  and 
salvation  on  the  other.  God  has  decreed  answer  in  connection  with  prayer,  and  salva- 
tion in  connection  with  faith.  But  he  does  not  change  his  mind  when  men  pray,  or  when 
they  believe.  As  he  fulfils  his  purpose  by  inspiring-  true  prayer,  so  he  fulfils  his  purpose 
by  giving-  faith.  Augustine :  "  He  chooses  us,  not  because  we  believe,  but  that  we  may 
believe:  lest  we  should  say  that  we  first  chose  him  "  (John  15  : 16— "Ye  did  not  choose  me,  but  I 
chose  you"  ;  Rom.  9  :  21— "from  the  same  lump"  ;  16— "not  of  him  that  willeth" ). 

Here  see  the  valuable  discussion  of  Wardlaw,  Systematic  Theol.,  2  :  485-549  — "  Elec- 
tion and  salvation  on  the  ground  of  works  foreseen  are  not  different  in  principle  from 
election  and  salvation  on  the  ground  of  works  performed."  Cf.  Prov.  21 : 1— "The  king's  heart 
is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  as  the  water-courses ;  he  turneth  it  whithersoever  he  will "—  as  easily  as  the  rivulets 
of  the  eastern  fields  are  turned  by  the  slightest  motion  of  the  hand  or  the  foot  of  the 
husbandman ;  Ps.  110  :  3  — "  Thy  people  offer  themselves  willingly  in  the  day  of  thy  power." 

(c)  The  depravity  of  the  human  will  is  such  that,  without  this  decree  to 
bestow  special  divine  influences  upon  some,  all,  without  exception,  would 
have  rejected  Christ's  salvation  after  it  was  offered  to  them  ;  and  so  all,  with- 
out exception,  must  have  perished.  Election,  therefore,  may  be  viewed  as  a 
necessary  consequence  of  God's  decree  to  provide  an  objective  redemption, 
if  that  redemption  is  to  have  any  subjective  result  in  human  salvation. 

Before  the  prodigal  son  seeks  the  Father,  the  father  must  first  seek  him  —  a  truth 
brought  out  in  the  preceding  parables  of  the  lost  money  and  the  lost  sheep  (Luke  15). 
Without  election,  all  are  lost.  Newman  Smyth,  Orthodox  Theology  of  To-day,  56  — 
"  The  worst  doctrine  of  election,  to-day,  is  taught  by  our  natural  science.  The  scientific 
doctrine  of  natural  selection  is  the  doctrine  of  election,  robbed  of  all  hope,  and  without 
a  single  touch  of  human  pity  in  it." 

Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2  :  335—"  Suppose  the  deistic  view  be  true :  God  created  men  and 
left  them ;  surely  no  man  could  complain  of  the  results.  But  now  suppose  God,  fore- 
seeing these  very  results  of  creation,  should  create.  Would  it  make  any  difference,  if 
God's  purpose,  as  to  the  f  uturition  of  such  a  world,  should  precede  it  ?  Augustine  sup- 
poses that  God  did  purpose  such  a  world  as  the  deist  supposes,  with  two  exceptions : 
(1)  he  interposes  to  restrain  evil;  (2)  he  intervenes,  by  providence,  by  Christ,  and  by 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  save  some  from  destruction."  Election  is  simply  God's  determina- 
tion that  the  sufferings  of  Christ  shall  not  be  in  vain;  that  all  men  shall  not  be  lost; 
that  some  shall  be  led  to  accept  Christ ;  that  to  this  end  special  influences  of  his  Spirit 
shall  be  given. 

2.     Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Election. 

(a)  It  is  unjust  to  those  who  are  not  included  in  this  purpose  of  salvation. 
— Answer  :  Election  deals,  not  simply  with  creatures,  but  with  sinful,  guilty, 
and  condemned  creatures.  That  any  should  be  saved,  is  matter  of  pure 
grace,  and  those  who  are  not  included  in  this  purpose  of  salvation  suffer 
only  the  due  reward  of  their  deeds.  There  is,  therefore,  no  injustice  in 
God's  election.  We  may  better  praise  God  that  he  saves  any,  than  charge 
him  with  injustice  because  he  saves  so  few. 

God  can  say  to  all  men,  saved  or  unsaved,  "  Friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to 

do  what  I  will  with  mine  own  ?  "  ( Mat.  20  : 13, 15 ).  The  question  is  not  whether  a  father  will  treat 
his  children  alike,  but  whether  a  sovereign  must  treat  condemned  rebels  alike.  It  is 
not  true  that,  because  the  Governor  pardons  one  convict  from  the  penitentiary,  he  must 
therefore  pardon  all.  When  he  pardons  one,  no  injury  is  done  to  those  who  are  left. 
But,  in  God's  government,  there  is  still  less  reason  for  objection ;  for  God  offers  pardon 
to  all.  Nothing  prevents  men  from  being  pardoned  but  their  unwillingness  to  accept 
pardon.  Election  is  simply  God's  determination  to  make  certain  persons  willing  to  ac- 
cept it.  Because  justice  cannot  save  all,  shall  it  therefore  save  none? 


432  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

Augustine,  De  Predest.  Sanct.,  8— "Why  does  not  God  teach  all?  Because  it  is  in 
mercy  that  he  teaches  all  whom  he  does  teach,  while  it  is  in  judgment  that  he  does  not 
teach  those  whom  he  does  not  teach."  In  his  Manual  of  Theology  and  Ethics,  260,  Hovey 
remarks  that  Rom.  9  :  20  — "  Who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God  ?  "—  teaches,  not  that  might  makes 
right,  but  that  God  is  morally  entitled  to  glorify  either  his  righteousness  or  his  mercy  in 
disposing  of  a  guilty  race. 

(6)  It  represents  God  as  partial  in  his  dealings  and  a  respecter  of  persons. 
— Answer :  Since  there  is  nothing  in  men  that  determines  God's  choice  of 
one  rather  than  of  another,  the  objection  is  invalid.  It  would  equally  apply 
to  God's  selection  of  certain  nations,  as  Israel,  and  certain  individuals,  as 
Cyrus,  to  be  recipients  of  special  temporal  gifts.  If  God  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  partial  in  not  providing  a  salvation  for  fallen  angels,  he  cannot  be 
regarded  as  partial  in  not  providing  regenerating  influences  of  his  Spirit  for 
the  whole  race  of  fallen  men. 

Ps.  44  :  3 — "For  they  gat  not  the  land  in  possession  by  their  own  sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save  them ;  but 
thy  right  hand,  and  thine  arm,  and  the  light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst  a  favor  unto  them  " ;  Is.  45 : 1,  4,  5 
— "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  to  his  anointed,  to  Cyrus,  whose  right  hand  I  have  holden,  to  subdue  nations  before  him  ....  For 
Jacob  my  servant's  sake,  and  Israel  my  chosen,  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name ....  I  have  surnamed  thee,  though  thou 

hast  not  known  me  "  ;  Luke  4  :  25-27—"  There  were  many  widows  in  Israel and  unto  none  of  them  was  Elijah 

sent,  but  only  to  Zarephath,  in  the  land  of  Sidon,  unto  a  woman  that  was  a  widow.  And  there  were  many  lepers  in 

Israel and  none  of  them  was  cleansed,  but  only  Naaman  the  Syrian"  ;  1  Cor.  4:7 — "For  who  maketh  thee  to 

differ  ?  and  what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ?  but  if  thou  didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory,  as  if  thou 
hadst  not  received  it  ?  "  2  Pet.  2:4—"  God  spared  not  angels  when  they  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell "  ;  Heb. 
2  : 16  — "  For  verily  not  to  angels  doth  he  give  help,  but  he  giveth  help  to  the  seed  of  Abraham." 

Is  God  partial,  in  choosing  Israel,  Cyrus,  Naaman?  Is  God  partial,  in  bestowing  upon 
some  of  his  servants  special  ministerial  gifts?  Is  God  partial,  in  not  providing  a  salva- 
tion for  fallen  angels  ?  In  God's  providence,  one  man  is  born  in  a  Christian  land,  the 
son  of  a  noble  family,  is  endowed  with  beauty  of  person,  splendid  talents,  exalted  oppor- 
tunities, immense  wealth.  Another  is  born  at  the  Five  Points,  or  among  the  Hotten- 
tots, amid  the  degradation  and  depravity  of  actual,  or  practical,  heathenism.  We  feel 
that  it  is  irreverent  to  complain  of  God's  dealings  in  providence.  What  right  have  sin- 
ners to  complain  of  God's  dealings  in  the  distribution  of  his  grace  ?  Hovey :  "  We  have 
no  reason  to  think  that  God  treats  all  moral  beings  alike.  We  should  be  glad  to  hear 
that  other  races  are  treated  better  than  we." 

(c)  It  represents  God  as  arbitrary. — Answer  :    It  represents  God,  not  as 
arbitrary,  but  as  exercising  the  free  choice  of  a  wise  and  sovereign  will,  in 
ways  and  for  reasons  which  are  inscrutable  to  us.     To  deny  the  possibility 
of  such  choice  is  to  deny  God's  personality.     To  deny  that  God  has  reasons 
for  his  choice  is  to  deny  his  wisdom.     The  doctrine  of  election  finds  these 
reasons,  not  in  men,  but  in  God. 

When  a  regiment  is  decimated  for  insubordination,  the  fact  that  every  tenth  man  is 
chosen  for  death  is  for  reasons ;  but  the  reasons  are  not  in  the  men.  In  one  case,  the 
reason  for  God's  choice  seems  revealed :  1  Tim.  1 : 16 — "  Howbeit,  for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that 
in  me  as  chief  might  Jesus  Christ  shew  forth  all  his  longsuffering,  for  an  ensample  of  them  which  should  thereafter 
believe  on  him  unto  eternal  life"— here  Paul  indicates  that  the  reason  why  God  chose  him  was 
that  he  was  so  great  a  sinner :  Verse  15 — "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners ;  of  whom  I  am 
chief." 

Hovey  remarks  that  "the  uses  to  which  God  can  put  men,  as  vessels  of  grace,  may 
determine  his  selection  of  them."  But  since  the  naturally  weak  are  saved,  as  well  as  the 
naturally  strong,  we  cannot  draw  any  general  conclusion,  or  discern  any  general  rule,  in 
God's  dealings,  unless  it  be  this,  that  in  election  God  seeks  to  illustrate  the  greatness 
and  the  variety  of  his  grace— the  reasons  lying,  therefore,  not  in  men,  but  in  God. 

(d)  It  tends  to  immorality,  by  representing  man's  salvation  as  independ- 
ent of  their  own  obedience. — Answer  :    The  objection  ignores  the  fact  that 
the  salvation  of  believers  is  ordained  only  in  connection  with  their  regene- 


ELECTION.  433 

ration  and  sanctiflcation,  as  means  ;  and  that  the  certainty  of  final  triumph 
is  the  strongest  incentive  to  strenuous  conflict  with  sin. 

Plutarch:  "God  is  the  brave  man's  hope,  and  not  the  coward's  excuse."  The  pur- 
poses of  God  are  an  anchor  to  the  storm-tossed  spirit.  But  a  ship  needs  engine,  as  well 
.as  anchor.  God  does  not  elect  to  save  any  without  repentance  and  faith.  Some  hold 
the  doctrine  of  election,  but  the  doctrine  of  election  does  not  hold  them.  Such  should 
ponder  1  Pet.  1:2,  in  which  Christians  are  said  to  be  elect,  "  in  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obe- 
dience and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ." 

(e)  It  inspires  pride  in  those  who  think  themselves  elect. —  Answer: 
This  is  possible  only  in  the  case  of  those  who  pervert  the  doctrine.  On 
the  contrary,  its  proper  influence  is  to  humble  men.  Those  who  exalt 
themselves  above  others,  upon  the  ground  that  they  are  special  favorites  of 
Ood,  have  reason  to  question  their  election. 

In  the  novel,  there  was  great  effectiveness  in  the  lover's  plea  to  the  object  of  his 
^affection,  that  he  had  loved  since  he  had  first  set  his  eyes  upon  her  in  her  childhood. 
But  God's  love  for  us  is  of  longer  standing  than  that.  It  dates  back  to  a  time  before 
we  were  born,  aye,  even  to  eternity  past.  It  is  a  love  which  was  fastened  upon  us, 
although  God  knew  the  worst  of  us.  It  is  unchanging,  because  founded  upon  his  infi- 
nite and  eternal  love  to  Christ.  Jer.  31 :  3  — "  The  Lord  appeared  of  old  unto  me,  saying,  Yea,  I  have  loved 
thee  with  an  everlasting  love :  therefore  with  loving  kindness  have  I  drawn  thee  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  31-39—"  If  God  be  for 
us,  who  is  against  us?  ...  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?  "  And  the  answer  is,  that  nothing 
•"shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  This  eternal  love  sub- 
dues and  humbles :  Ps.  115  : 1  —"Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give  glory,  for  thy  mercy 
and  for  thy  truth's  sake." 

(/)  It  discourages  effort  for  the  salvation  of  the  impenitent,  whether  on 
their  own  part  or  on  the  part  of  others.  —  Answer  :  Since  it  is  a  secret 
decree,  it  cannot  hinder  or  discourage  such  effort.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
a  ground  of  encouragement,  and  so  a  stimulus  to  effort ;  for,  without 
election,  it  is  certain  that  all  would  be  lost  (c/.  Acts  18  :  10).  While  it 
humbles  the  sinner,  so  that  he  is  willing  to  cry  for  mercy,  it  encourages  him 
also  by  showing  him  that  some  will  be  saved,  and  ( since  election  and  faith 
.are  inseparably  connected )  that  he  will  be  saved,  if  he  will  only  believe. 
While  it  makes  the  Christian  feel  entirely  dependent  on  God's  power,  in  his 
efforts  for  the  impenitent,  it  leads  him  to  say  with  Paul  that  he  ' '  endures 
all  things  for  the  elects'  sake,  that  they  may  attain  the  salvation  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  with  eternal  glory"  (2  Tim.  2  :  10). 

God's  decree  that  Paul's  ship's  company  should  be  saved  ( Acts  27  :  24 )  did  not  obviate 
the  necessity  of  their  abiding  in  the  ship  ( verse  31 ).  In  marriage,  man's  election  does  hot 
exclude  woman's;  so  God's  election  does  not  exclude  man's.  There  is  just  as  much 
need  of  effort  as  if  there  were  no  election.  Hence  the  question  for  the  sinner  is  not 
"  Am  I  one  of  the  elect  ?  "  but  rather  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  Milton  represents 
the  spirits  of  hell  as  debating  foreknowledge  and  free  will,  in  wandering  mazes  lost. 

No  man  is  saved  until  he  ceases  to  debate  and  begins  to  act.  And  yet  no  man  will 
thus  begin  to  act,  unless  God's  Spirit  moves  him.  The  Lord  encouraged  Paul  by  saying 
to  him :  "  I  have  much  people  in  this  city  "  ( Acts  18  : 10 )  —  people  whom  I  will  bring  in  through  thy 
word.  "  Old  Adam  is  too  strong  for  young  Melancthon."  If  God  does  not  regenerate, 
there  is  no  hope  of  success  in  preaching :  "  God  stands  powerless  before  the  majesty  of 
man's  lordly  will.  Sinners  have  the  glory  of  their  own  salvation.  To  pray  God  to  con- 
vert a  man  is  absurd.  God  elects  the  man,  because  he  foresees  that  the  man  will  elect 
himself"  (see  S.  R.  Mason,  Truth  Unfolded,  298-307).  The  doctrine  of  election  does 
indeed  cut  off  the  hopes  of  those  who  place  confidence  in  themselves;  but  it  is  best  that 
such  hopes  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  in  place  of  them  should  be  put  a  hope  in  the 
sovereign  grace  of  God.  The  doctrine  of  election  does  teach  man's  absolute  depend- 
ence upon  God,  and  the  impossibility  of  any  disappointment  or  disarrangement  of  the 
28 


434  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

divine  plans  arising  from  the  disobedience  of  the  sinner,  and  it  humbles  human  pride- 
until  it  is  willing  to  take  the  place  of  a  suppliant  for  mercy. 

Rowland  Hill  was  criticised  for  preaching  election  and  yet  exhorting  sinners  to  repent,, 
and  was  told  that  he  should  preach  only  to  the  elect.  He  replied  that,  if  his  critic  would 
put  a  chalk-mark  on  all  the  elect,  he  would  preach  only  to  them.  But  this  is  not  the 
whole  truth.  We  are  not  only  ignorant  who  God's  elect  are,  but  we  are  set  to  preach  to 
both  elect  and  non-elect  (Ex.  2:  7— "thou  shalt  speak  my  words  unto  them,  whether  they  will  hear,  or 
whether  they  will  forbear" ),  with  the  certainty  that  to  the  former  our  preaching  will  make  a 
higher  heaven,  to  the  latter  a  deeper  hell  (2  Cor.  2  : 15, 16— "For  we  are  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ  unto 
God,  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish ;  to  the  one  a  savor  from  death  unto  death ;  to  the  other  a  savor 
from  life  unto  life"). 

(g]  The  decree  of  election  implies  a  decree  of  reprobation.  — Answer  :; 
The  decree  of  reprobation  is  not  a  positive  decree,  like  that  of  election,  but 
a  permissive  decree  to  leave  the  sinner  to  his  self-chosen  rebellion  and  its 
natural  consequences  of  punishment. 

Election  and  sovereignty  are  only  sources  of  good.  Election  is  not  a  decree  to- 
destroy  —  it  is  a  decree  only  to  save.  When  we  elect  a  President,  we  do  not  need  to  hold 
a  second  election  to  determine  that  the  remaining  millions  shall  be  non-Presidents.  It 
is  needless  to  apply  contrivance  or  force.  Sinners,  like  water,  if  simply  let  alone,  will 
run  down  hill  to  ruin.  The  decree  of  reprobation  is  simply  a  decree  to  do  nothing  — a 
decree  to  leave  the  sinner  to  himself.  The  natural  result  of  this  judicial  forsaking,  on 
the  part  of  God,  is  the  hardening  and  destruction  of  the  sinner.  But  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  this  hardening  and  destruction  are  not  due  to  any  positive  efficiency  of  God. 

—  they  are  a  self-hardening  and  a  self-destruction  —  and  God's  judicial  forsaking  is  only 
the  just  penalty  of  the  sinner's  guilty  rejection  of  offered  mercy. 

See  Hosea  11 :  8  — "  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ?  ....  my  heart  is  turned  within  me,  my  compassions  are 
kindled  together  "  ;  4  : 17  — "  Ephraim  is  joined  to  idols :  let  him  alone  "  ;  Rom.  9  :  22,  23  -"  What  if  God,  willing  to 
show  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  longsuffering  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  unto  destruc- 
tion :  and  that  he  might  make  known  the  riches  of  his  glory  upon  vessels  of  mercy,  which  he  afore  prepared  unto  glory  " 

—  here  notice  that  "  which  he  afore  prepared  "  declares  a  positive  divine  efficiency,  in  the  case  of 
the  vessels  of  mercy,  while  "fitted  unto  destruction"  intimates  no  such  positive  agency  of 
God  —  the  vessels  of  wrath  fitted  themselves  for  destruction  ;   2  Tim.  2  :  20  — "vessels  . . .  some 
unto  honor,  and  some  unto  dishonor"  ;    1  Pet.  2  :  8 — "they  stumble  at  the  word,  being  disobedient:  whereunto  also^ 
they  were  appointed";    Jude4— "who  were  of  old  set  forth  ['written  of  beforehand'— Am.  Rev.]  unto  this 
condemnation." 

On  the  general  subject  of  election,  see  Mozley,  Predestination  ;  Payne,  Divine  Sover- 
eignty ;  Ridgeley,  Works,  1 :  261-324,  esp.  322 :  Edwards,  Works,  2  :  527  sq. ;  Van  Ooster- 
zee,  Dogmatics,  446-458:  Martensen,  Dogmatics,  362-382;  and  especially  Wardlaw  Sys- 
tematic Theology,  485-549 ;  H.  B.  Smith,  Syst.  of  Christian  Theology,  502-514. 


II.     CALLING. 

Calling  is  that  act  of  God  by  which  men  are  invited  to  accept,  by  faith,, 
the  salvation  provided  by  Christ. —  The  Scriptures  distinguish  between  : 

(a)  The  general,  or  external,  call  to  all  men  through  God's  providence,, 
word,  and  Spirit. 

Is.  45  :  22  — "  Look  unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else  "  ;  55  :  6 
—"Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found ;  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near  "  ;  65  : 12— "when  I  called,  ye  did 
not  answer ;  when  I  spake,  ye  did  not  hear ;  but  ye  did  that  which  was  evil  in  mine  eyes,  and  chose  that  wherein  I 
delighted  not "  ;  Ez.  33  : 11  — "  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked ;  but  -that  the 
wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live ;  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways ;  for  why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of  Israel  ?  " 
Mat.  11 :  28— "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest "  ;  22  :  3—"  sent  forth 
his  servants  to  call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  marriage  feast:  and  they  w«uld  not  come"  ;  Mark  16  : 15— "Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation  "  ;  John  12  :  32— "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  myself "—  draw,  not  drag  ;  Rev.  3  :  20  — "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock : 
if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 


CALLING. 


435 


(b)     The  special,  efficacious  call  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  elect. 

Luke  14  :  23 — "Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  constrain  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled  "  ; 
Rom.  1  :  6,  7  — "  to  all  that  are  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God,  called  to  be  saints :  Grace  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our  Father 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ;  8  :  30 — "whom  he  foreordained,  them  he  also  called:  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also 
justified  " ;  11  :  29— "For  the  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance"  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  24— "But  we  preach 
Christ  crucified,  unto  Jews  a  stumblingblock,  and  unto  Gentiles  foolishness ;  but  unto  them  that  are  called,  both  Jews 
and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God  "  ;  26— "For  behold  your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not 
many  wise  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble,  are  called  "  ;  Phil.  3  : 14  — "  I  press  on  toward  the  goal, 
unto  the  prize  of  the  high  [  marg.  '  upward '  ]  calling  of  God,  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  Eph.  1  : 18  — "  that  ye  know  what  is 
the  hope  of  his  calling,  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints"  ;  1  Thess.  2  : 12 — "  to  the  end  that 
ye  should  walk  worthily  of  God,  who  calleth  you  unto  his  own  kingdom  and  glory  "  ;  2  Thess.  2  : 14 — "  whereunto  he 
called  you  through  our  gospel,  to  the  obtaining  of  the  glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ;  2  Tim.  1  :  9— "who  saved  us, 
and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was 
given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  times  eternal "  ;  Heb.  3:1—"  holy  brethren,  partakers  of  a  heavenly  calling  "  ;  2  Pet. 
1 : 10  — "  Wherefore,  brethren,  give  the  more  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure." 

Two  questions  only  need  special  consideration  : 
A.     Is  God's  general  call  sincere  ? 

This  is  denied,  upon  the  ground  that  such  sincerity  is  incompatible,  first, 
with  the  inability  of  the  sinner  to  obey ;  and  secondly,  with  the  design  of 
God  to  bestow  only  upon  the  elect  the  special  grace  without  which  they 
will  not  obey. 

(a)  To  the  first  objection  we  reply  that,  since  this  inability  is  not  a  physi- 
cal but  a  moral  inability,  consisting  simply  in  the  settled  perversity  of  an 
evil  will,  there  can  be  no  insincerity  in  offering  salvation  to  all  who  are 
willing  to  receive  it,  especially  when  the  offer  is  in  itself  a  proper  motive  to 
obedience. 

God's  call  to  all  men  to  repent  and  to  believe  the  gospel  is  no  more  insincere  than  his 
command  to  all  men  to  love  him  with  all  the  heart.  There  is  no  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
men's  obedience  to  the  gospel,  that  does  not  exist  to  prevent  their  obedience  to  the  law. 
If  it  is  proper  to  publish  the  commands  of  the  law,  it  is  proper  to  publish  the  invitations 
of  the  gospel.  A  human  being  may  be  perfectly  sincere  in  giving  an  invitation  which 
he  knows  will  be  refused.  He  may  desire  to  have  the  invitation  accepted,  while  yet  he 
may,  for  certain  reasons  of  justice  or  personal  dignity,  be  unwilling  to  put  forth  special 
efforts,  aside  from  the  invitation  itself,  to  secure  the  acceptance  of  it  on  the  part  of  those 
to  whom  it  is  offered.  So  God's  desires  that  certain  men  should  be  saved  may  not  be 
accompanied  by  his  will  to  exert  special  influences  to  save  them. 

These  desires  were  meant  by  the  phrase  "revealed  will"  in  the  old  theologians;  his 
purpose  to  bestow  special  grace,  by  the  phrase  "secret  will."  It  is  of  the  former  that 
Paul  speaks,  in  1  Tim.  2  :  4— "who  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved."  Here  we  have,  not  the  active 
o-oxrai,  but  the  passive  awfliji/at.  The  meaning  is,  not  that  God  purposes  to  save  all  men, 
but  that  he  desires  all  men  to  be  saved  through  repenting  and  believing  the  gospel. 
Hence  God's  revealed  will,  or  desire,  that  all  men  should  be  saved,  is  perfectly  consistent 
with  his  secret  will,  or  purpose,  to  bestow  special  grace  only  upon  a  certain  number 
(see  on  1  Tim.  2  :  4,  Fairbairn's  Commentary  on  the  Pastoral  Epistles). 

The  sincerity  of  God's  call  is  shown,  not  only  in  the  fact  that  the  only  obstacle  to  com- 
pliance, on  the  sinner's  part,  is  the  sinner's  own  evil  will,  but  also  in  the  fact  that  God 
has,  at  infinite  cost,  made  a  complete  external  provision,  upon  the  ground  of  which  "he 
that  will"  may  "come"  and  "take  the  water  of  life  freely"  (Rev.  22  : 17) ;  so  that  God  can  truly  say  : 
"  What  could  have  been  done  more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done  in  it  ?  "  ( Is.  5  :  4 ). 

(6)  To  the  second,  we  reply  that  the  objection,  if  true,  would  equally 
hold  against  God's  foreknowledge.  The  sincerity  of  God's  general  call  is 
no  more  inconsistent  with  his  determination  that  some  shall  be  permitted  to 
reject  it,  than  it  is  with  his  foreknowledge  that  some  will  reject  it. 

Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 : 643— "Predestination  concerns  only  the  purpose  of  God  to 
render  effectual,  in  particxilar  cases,  a  call  addressed  to  all.  A  general  amnesty,  on  cer- 


436  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

tain  conditions,  may  be  offered  by  a  sovereign  to  rebellious  subjects,  although  he  knows 
that  through  pride  or  malice  many  will  refuse  to  accept  it ;  and  even  though,  for  wise 
reasons,  he  should  determine  not  to  constrain  their  assent,  supposing  that  such  influence 
over  their  minds  were  within  his  power.  It  is  evident,  from  the  nature  of  the  call,  that 
it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  secret  purpose  of  God  to  grant  his  effectual  grace  to  some, 

and  not  to  others According  to  the  Augustinian  scheme,  the  non-elect  have  all  the 

advantages  and  opportunities  of  securing  their  salvation,  which,  according  to  any  other 

scheme,  are  granted  to  mankind  indiscriminately God  designed,  in  its  adoption,  to 

save  his  own  peeple,  but  he  consistently  offers  its  benefits  to  all  who  are  willing  to  re- 
ceive them."  See  also  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christian  Theology,  515-531. 

B.     Is  God's  special  call  irrresistible  ? 

We  prefer  to  say  that  this  special  call  is  efficacious, —  that  is,  that  it  infal- 
libly accomplishes  its  purpose  of  leading  the  sinner  to  the  acceptance  of 
salvation.  This  implies  two  things  : 

(a)  That  the  operation  of  God  is  not  an  outward  constraint  upon  the  hu- 
man will,  but  that  it  accords  with  the  laws  of  our  mental  constitution.  We 
reject  the  term  'irresistible,'  as  implying  a  coercion  and  compulsion  which 
is  foreign  to  the  nature  of  God's  working  in  the  soul. 

Ps.  110  :  3  — "  Thy  people  offer  themselves  willingly  in  the  day  of  thy  power :  in  the  beauties  of  holiness ;  from  the 
womb  of  the  morning  thou  hast  the  dew  of  thy  youth"—  i.  e.,  youthful  recruits  to  thy  standard,  as 
numberless  and  as  bright  as  the  morning  drops  of  dew;  Phil.  2  : 12, 13 —" Work  out  your  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure  " 
—  i.  e.,  the  result  of  God's  working  is  our  own  working.  The  Lutheran  Formula  of  Con- 
cord properly  condemns  the  view  that,  before,  in,  and  after  conversion,  the  will  only 
resists  the  Holy  Ghost ;  for  this,  it  declares,  is  the  very  nature  of  conversion,  that  out  of 
non- willing,  God  makes  willing,  persons  (F.  C.,  60,  581,  582,  673). 

(6)  That  the  operation  of  God  is  the  originating  cause  of  that  new  dis- 
position of  the  affections,  and  that  new  activity  of  the  will,  by  which  the 
sinner  accepts  Christ.  The  cause  is  not  in  the  response  of  the  will  to  the 
presentation  of  motives  by  God,  nor  in  any  mere  cooperation  of  the  will  of 
man  with  the  will  of  God,  but  is  an  almighty  act  of  God  in  the  will  of  man, 
by  which  its  freedom  to  choose  God  as  its  end  is  restored  and  rightly  exer- 
cised ( John  1  :  12,  13 ).  For  further  discussion  of  the  subject,  see,  in  the 
next  section,  the  remarks  on  Regeneration,  with  which  this  efficacious  call  is 
identical. 

John  1 : 12, 13— "But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them* 
that  believe  on  his  name :  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God."  God's  saving  grace  and  effectual  calling  are  irresistible,  not  in  the  sense  that  they 
are  never  resisted,  but  in  the  sense  that  they  are  never  successfully  resisted.  See  An- 
drew Fuller,  Works,  2  ;  373,  513,  and  3  :  807;  Gill,  Body  of  Divinity,  2  : 121-130;  Robert 
Hall,  Works,  3  :  75. 


SECTION    II. — THE    APPLICATION    OF    CHRIST  S    REDEMPTION 
IN   ITS   ACTUAL   BEGINNING. 

Under  this  head  we  treat  of  Union  with  Christ,  Eegeneration,  Conversion 
(embracing  Repentance  and  Faith),  and  Justification.  Much  confusion  and 
error  have  arisen  from  conceiving  these  as  occurring  in  chronological  order. 
The  order  is  logical,  not  chronological.  As  it  is  only  "  in  Christ "  that  man 


APPLICATION  OF  CHRIST'S  REDEMPTION.  437 

is  "a  new  creature"  (2  Cor.  5  :  17)  or  is  "justified"  (Acts  13  :  39),  union 
with  Christ  logically  precedes  both  regeneration  and  justification  ;  and  yet, 
chronologically,  the  moment  of  our  union  with  Christ  is  also  the  moment 
when  we  are  regenerated  and  justified.  So,  too,  regeneration  and  conver- 
sion are  but  the  divine  and  human  sides  or  aspects  of  the  same  fact,  although 
regeneration  has  logical  precedence,  and  man  turns  only  as  God  turns  him. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  694  (Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 159),  gives  at  this  point  an  account  of 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  general.  The  Holy  Spirit's  work,  he  says,  presupposes 
the  historical  work  of  Christ,  and  prepares  the  way  for  Christ's  return.  "As  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  principle  of  union  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  so  he  is  the  principle  of 
union  between  God  and  man.  Only  through  the  Holy  Spirit  does  Christ  secure  for  him- 
self those  who  will  love  him  as  distinct  and  free  personalities."  Regeneration  and  con- 
version are  not  chronologically  separate.  Which  of  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  starts  first? 
The  ray  of  light  and  the  ray  of  heat  enter  at  the  same  moment.  Sensation  and  percep- 
tion are  not  separated  in  time,  although  the  former  is  the  cause  of  the  latter. 

"  Suppose  a  non-elastic  tube  extending  across  the  Atlantic.  Suppose  that  the  tube  is 
completely  filled  with  an  incompressible  fluid.  Then  there  would  be  no  interval  of  time 
between  the  impulse  given  to  the  fluid  at  this  end  of  the  tube,  and  the  effect  upon  the 
fluid  at  the  other  end."  See  Hazard,  Causation  and  Freedom  in  Willing,  33-38,  who  argues 
that  cause  and  effect  are  always  simultaneous;  else,  in  the  intervening  time,  there 
would  be  a  cause  that  had  no  effect ;  that  is,  a  cause  that  caused  nothing ;  that  is,  a  cause 
that  was  not  a  cause.  "  A  potential  cause  may  exist  for  an  unlimited  period  without 
producing  any  effect,  and  of  course  may  precede  its  effect  by  any  length  of  time.  But 
actual,  effective  cause  being  the  exercise  of  a  sufficient  power,  its  effect  cannot  be  de- 
layed ;  for,  in  that  case,  there  would  be  the  exercise  of  a  sufficient  power  to  produce  the 
effect,  without  producing  it,  involving  the  absurdity  of  its  being  both  sufficient  and 
insufficient  at  the  same  time. 

"  A  difficulty  may  here  be  suggested  in  regard  to  the  flow  or  progress  of  events  in 
time,  if  they  are  all  simultaneous  with  their  causes.  This  difficulty  cannot  arise  as  to 
intelligent  effort ;  for,  in  regard  to  it,  periods  of  non-action  may  continually  intervene ; 
but  if  there  are  series  of  events  and  material  phenomena,  each  of  which  is  in  turn  effect 
and  cause,  it  may  be  difficult  to  see  how  any  time  could  elapse  between  the  first  and 
the  last  of  the  series. ...  If ,  however,  as  I  suppose,  these  series  of  events,  or  material 
changes,  are  always  effected  through  the  medium  of  motion,  it  need  not  trouble  us,  for 
there  is  precisely  the  same  difficulty  in  regard  to  our  conception  of  the  motion  of  matter 
from  point  to  point,  there  being  no  space  or  length  between  any  two  consecutive  points, 
and  yet  the  body  in  motion  gets  from  one  end  of  a  long  line  to  the  other,  and  in  this  case 
this  difficulty  just  neutralizes  the  other  ...  So,  even  if  we  cannot  conceive  how  motion 
involves  the  idea  of  time,  we  may  perceive  that,  if  it  does  so,  it  may  be  a  means  of  con- 
veying events,  which  depend  upon  it,  through  time  also." 

Bowne,  Metaphysics,  106  — "  In  the  system,  the  complete  ground  of  an  event  never  lies 
in  any  one  thing,  but  only  in  a  complex  of  things.  If  a  single  thing  were  the  sufficient 
ground  of  an  effect,  the  effect  would  coe'xist  with  the  thing,  and  all  effects  would  be 
instantaneously  given.  Hence  all  events  in  the  system  must  be  viewed  as  the  result  of 
the  interaction  of  two  or  more  things." 

See  A.  A.  Hodge,  on  the  Ordo  Salutis,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  March,  1878  : 304-321.  Dr. 
Hodge  makes  the  order  to  be:  (1)  regeneration;  (2)  faith;  (3)  justification.  The 
sinner,  he  says,  "  must  have  part  in  Christ  so  far  forth  as  to  be  regenerated,  in  order  to 
have  part  in  him  so  far  forth  as  to  be  justified."  Union  with  Christ  "is  effected  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  effectual  calling.  Of  this  calling  the  parts  are  two :  ( a )  the  offering  of 
Christ  to  the  sinner,  externally  by  the  gospel,  and  internally  by  the  illumination  of  the 
Holy  Ghost;  (b)  the  reception  of  Christ,  which  on  our  part  is  both  passive  and  active. 
The  passive  reception  is  that  whereby  a  spiritual  principle  is  ingenerated  into  the  hu- 
man will,  whence  issues  the  active  reception,  which  is  an  act  of  faith  with  which  repent- 
ance is  always  conjoined." 

H.  B.  Smith,  however,  in  his  System  of  Christian  Theology,  is  more  clear  in  the  putting 
of  union  with  Christ  before  regeneration.  On  page  502,  he  begins  his  treatment  of  the 
Application  of  Redemption  with  the  title:  "The  Union  between  Christ  and  the  indi- 
vidual believer  as  effected  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  embraces  the  subjects  of  Justifica- 
tion, Regeneration,  and  Sanctification,  with  the  underlying  topic  which  comes  first  to  be 
considered,  Election."  He  therefore  treats  Union  with  Christ  (531-539)  before  Regene- 


438  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION". 

ration  (553-569).    He  says  Calvin  defines  regeneration  as  coming  to  us  by  participation 
in  Christ,  and  apparently  agrees  with  this  view  (559). 

"This  union  [with  Christ]  is  at  the  ground  of  regeneration  and  justification"  (534). 
"  The  great  difference  of  theological  systems  comes  out  here.  Since  Christianity  is  re- 
demption through  Christ,  our  mode  of  conceiving  that  will  determine  the  character  of 
our  whole  theological  system  "  (536).  "  The  union  with  Christ  is  mediated  by  his  Spirit, 
whence  we  are  both  renewed  and  justified.  The  great  fact  of  objective  Christianity  is 
incarnation  in  order  to  atonement ;  the  great  fact  of  subjective  Christianity  is  union 
with  Christ,  whereby  we  receive  the  atonement"  (537).  We  may  add  that  this  union 
with  Christ,  in  view  of  which  God  elects  and  to  which  God  calls  the  sinner,  is  begun  in 
regeneration,  completed  in  conversion,  declared  in  justification,  and  proved  in  sanctifi- 
cation  and  perseverance. 

I.     UNION  WITH  CHBIST. 

The  Scriptures  declare  that,  through  the  operation  of  God,  there  is  consti- 
tuted a  union  of  the  soul  with  Christ  different  in  kind  from  God's  natural 
and  providential  concursus  with  all  spirits,  as  well  as  from  all  unions  of 
mere  association  or  sympathy,  moral  likeness,  or  moral  influence, —  a  union 
of  life,  in  which  the  human  spirit,  while  then  most  truly  possessing  its  own 
individuality  and  personal  distinctness,  is  interpenetrated  and  energized  by 
the  Spirit  of  Christ,  is  made  inscrutably  but  indissolubly  one  with  him,  and 
so  becomes  a  member  and  partaker  of  that  regenerated,  believing,  and 
justified  humanity  of  which  he  is  the  head. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  well  calls  this  doctrine  of  the  Union  of  the  Believer  with  Christ 
"  the  central  truth  of  all  theology  and  of  all  religion."  Yet  it  receives  little  of  formal 
recognition,  either  in  dogmatic  treatises  or  in  common  religious  experience.  Quen- 
stedt,  886-912,  has  devoted  a  section  to  it ;  A.  A.  Hodge  gives  to  it  a  chapter,  in  his  Out- 
lines of  Theology,  369  sq.,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  valuable  suggestions;  H.  B. 
Smith  treats  of  it,  not  however  as  a  separate  topic,  but  under  the  head  of  Justification 
(System,  531-539). 

The  majority  of  printed  systems  of  doctrine,  however,  contain  no  chapter  or  section 
on  Union  with  Christ,  and  the  majority  of  Christians  much  more  frequently  think  of 
Christ  as  a  Savior  outside  of  them,  than  as  a  Savior  who  dwells  within.  This  compara- 
tive neglect  of  the  doctrine  is  doubtless  a  reaction  from  the  exaggerations  of  a  false 
mysticism.  But  there  is  great  need  of  rescuing  the  doctrine  from  neglect.  For  this  we 
rely  wholly  upon  Scripture.  Doctrines  which  reason  can  neither  discover  nor  prove 
need  large  support  from  the  Bible.  It  is  a  mark  of  divine  wisdom  that  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  for  example,  is  so  inwoven  with  the  whole  fabric  of  the  New  Testament, 
that  the  rejection  of  the  former  is  the  virtual  rejection  of  the  latter.  The  doctrine  of 
Union  with  Christ,  in  like  manner,  is  taught  so  variously  and  abundantly,  that  to  deny 
it  is  to  deny  inspiration  itself.  See  Kahnis,  Luth.  Dogrnatik,  3  :  447-450. 

1.     Scripture  ^Representations  of  this   Union. 

A.     Figurative  teaching.     It  is  illustrated  : 

(a)     From  the  union  of  a  building  and  its  foundation. 

Eph.  2  :  20-22— "being built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief 
corner  stone ;  in  whom  each  several  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth  into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord ;  in  whom 
ye  also  are  builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God  in  the  Spirit "  ;  Col.  2:7—"  builded  up  in  him  "—grounded  in 
Christ  as  our  foundation  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  4,  5  — "  Unto  whom  coming,  a  living  stone,  rejected  indeed  of  men,  but 
with  God  elect,  precious,  ye  also,  as  spiritual  stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house  "—  each  living  stone  in  the 
Christian  temple  is  kept  in  proper  relation  to  every  other,  and  is  made  to  do  its  part  in 
furnishing  a  habitation  for  God,  only  by  being  built  upon  and  permanently  connected 
with  Christ,  the  chief  corner  stone.  Cf.  Ps.  118  :  22— "The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected  is  become 
the  head  of  the  corner"  ;  Is.  28  : 16— "Behold  I  lay  in  Zion  for  a  foundation  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner 
stone  of  sure  foundation :  he  that  belie veth  shall  not  make  haste." 


UNION"    WITH    CHRIST.  439 

(6)     From  the  union  between  husband  and  wife. 

Rom.  7:4—"  ye  also  were  made  dead  to  the  law  through  the  body  of  Christ ;  that  ye  should  be  joined  to  another, 
-even  to  him  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  that  we  might  bring  forth  fruit  unto  God"— here  union  with  Christ 
is  illustrated  by  the  indissoluble  bond  that  connects  husband  and  wife,  and  makes  them 
legally  and  organically  one ;  2  Cor.  11 :  2  — "  I  am  jealous  over  you  with  a  godly  jealousy :  for  I  espoused  you 
to  one  husband,  that  I  might  present  you  as  a  pure  virgin  to  Christ "  ;  Eph.  5 :  31,  32  — "  For  this  cause  shall  a  man 
leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife ;  and  the  twain  shall  become  one  flesh.  This  mysterj  is  great ; 
but  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ  and  of  the  church  "—  Meyer  refers  verse  31  wholly  to  Christ,  and  says 
that  Christ  leaves  father  and  mother  ( the  right  hand  of  God )  and  is  joined  to  the  church 
as  his  wife,  the  two  constituting-  thenceforth  one  moral  person.  He  makes  the  union 
future,  however,— "  therefore  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother"— the  consum- 
mation is  at  Christ's  second  coming.  But  the  Fathers,  as  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  and 
.Jerome,  referred  it  more  properly  to  the  incarnation. 

Rev.  19 :  7  — "  The  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready  "  ;  22  :  17  — "  And  the  Spirit 
•and  the  bride  say,  Come"  ;  cf.  Is.  54  :  5— "For  thy  Maker  is  thine  husband" ;  Jer.  3  :  20— "Surely  as  a  wife 
treacherously  departeth  from  her  husband,  so  have  ye  dealt  treacherously  with  me,  0  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  "  ; 
Hos.  2  :  2-5—"  For  their  mother  hath  played  the  harlot"— departure  from  God  is  adultery ;  the  Song  of 
Solomon,  as  Jewish  interpreters  have  always  maintained,  is  an  allegorical  poem  describing, 
under  the  figure  of  marriage,  the  union  between  Jehovah  and  his  people:  Paul  only 
.adopts  the  Old  Testament  figure,  and  applies  it  more  precisely  to  the  union  of  God  with 
the  church  in  Jesus  Christ. 

(c)  From  the  union  between  the  vine  and  its  branches. 

John  15  : 1-10  — "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches :  He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much 
fruit:  for  apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing" — as  God's  natural  life  is  in  the  vine,  that  it  may  give 
Jife  to  its  natural  branches,  so  God's  spiritual  life  is  in  the  vine,  Christ,  that  he  may  give 
life  to  his  spiritual  branches.  The  roots  of  this  new  vine  are  planted  in  heaven,  not  on 
earth  ;  and  into  it  the  half- withered  branches  of  the  old  humanity  are  to  be  grafted, 
that  they  may  have  life  divine.  Rom.  6:5  — "  If  we  have  become  united  with  him  [O-VJU.<£VT<H  — '  grown 
together '—  used  of  the  man  and  horse  in  the  Centaur,  Xen.,  Cyrop.,  4:3: 18],  by  the  likeness  of 
his  death,  we  shall  be  also  by  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection"  ;  11  :  24 — "thou  wast  cut  out  of  that  which  is  by  na- 
ture a  wild  olive  tree,  and  wast  grafted  contrary  to  nature  into  a  good  olive  tree"  ;  Col.  2  :  6,  7 — "As  therefore  ye 
received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so  walk  in  him,  rooted  and  builded  up  in  him  " —  not  only  grounded  in  Christ 
as  our  foundation,  but  thrusting  down  roots  into  him  as  the  deep,  rich,  all-sustaining 
soil.  This  union  with  Christ  is  consistent  with  individuality  :  for  the  graft  brings  forth 
fruit  after  its  kind,  though  modified  by  the  tree  into  which  it  is  grafted. 

(d)  From  the  union  between  the  members  and  the  head  of  the  body. 

1  Cor.  6  : 15, 19  — "  Know  ye  not  that  your  bodies  are  members  of  Christ  ?  . .  .  Know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  tem- 
ple of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God?  "  12 : 12  — "  For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many 
members,  and  all  the  members  of  the  body,  being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is  Christ "—  here  Christ  is  identi- 
fied with  the  church  of  which  he  is  the  head ;  Eph.  1 :  22,  23— "He  put  all  things  in  subjection  under 
his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all  things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in 
all"— as  the  members  of  the  human  body  are  united  to  the  head,  the  source  of  their 
activity  and  the  power  that  controls  their  movements,  so  all  believers  are  members  of 
an  invisible  body  whose  head  is  Christ.  "  The  church  is  the  fulness  ( 7rAijpo>/*a )  of  Christ ; 
as  it  was  not  good  for  the  first  man,  Adam,  to  be  alone,  no  more  was  it  good  for  the 
-second  man,  Christ  "  ( C.  H.  M.).  Eph.  4  : 15, 16  — "  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him,  which  is  the  head,  even 
Christ ;  from  whom  all  the  body  ....  maketh  the  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  building  up  of  itself  in  love  "  ;  5  :  29, 
30— "for  no  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh ;  but  nourisheth  it  and  cherisheth  it,  even  as  Christ  also  the  church ;  because 
we  are  members  of  his  body." 

(e)  From  the  union  of  the  race  with  the  source  of  its  life  in  Adam. 

Rom.  5  : 12,  21  — "  As  through  one  man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin  ....  that  as  sin  reigned 
in  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  " ;  1  Cor.  15  : 
22,  45,  49— "As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  ...  The  first  man  Adam  became  a  living  soul. 

The  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  Spirit As  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image 

of  the  heavenly"— as  the  whole  race  is  one  with  the  first  man  Adam,  in  whom  it  fell  and 
from  whom  it  has  derived  a  corrupted  and  guilty  nature,  so  the  whole  race  of  believers 
constitutes  a  new  and  restored  humanity,  whose  justified  and  purified  nature  is  derived 
from  Christ,  the  second  Adam.  Cf.  Gen.  2  :  23  — "  This  is  now  bone  of  my  bones  and  flesh  of  my  flesh :  she 


440  SOTERIOLOGY,    OB   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    SALVATION. 

shall  be  called  Woman,  because  she  was  taken  out  of  man"— here  C.  H.  M.  remarks  that,  as  man  is  first 
created  and  then  woman  is  viewed  in  and  formed  out  of  him,  so  it  is  with  Christ  and  the 
church.  "  We  are  members  of  Christ's  body,  because  in  Christ  we  have  the  principle  of 
our  origin ;  from  him  our  life  arose,  just  as  the  life  of  Eve  was  derived  from  Adam  .  . . 
. . .  The  church  is  Christ's  helpmeet,  formed  out  of  Christ  in  his  deep  sleep  of  death,  as 
Eve  out  of  Adam The  church  will  be  nearest  to  Christ,  as  Eve  was  to  Adam."  Be- 
cause Christ  is  the  source  of  all  spiritual  life  for  his  people,  he  is  called,  in  Is.  9  :  6,  "Ever- 
lasting Father,"  and  it  is  said,  in  Is.  53 : 10,  that  "  he  shall  see  his  seed  "  ( see  page  367 ). 

B.     Direct  statements. 

(a)  The  believer  is  said  to  be  in  Christ. 

Lest  we  should  regard  the  figures  mentioned  above  as  merely  oriental  metaphors,  the 
fact  of  the  believer's  union  with  Christ  is  asserted  in  the  most  direct  and  prosaic  man- 
ner. John  14  :  20— "ye  in  me";  Rom.  6  : 11 —"alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus";  8  : 1— "no  condemnation  to 
them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  2  Cor.  5 : 17—  "  if  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  "  ;  Eph.  1:4—"  chose 
us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  "  ;  2  : 13  — "  Now  in  Christ  Jesus  ye  that  once  were  far  off  are  made  nigh  in 
the  blood  of  Christ."  Thus  the  believer  is  said  to  be  "in  Christ,"  as  the  element  or  atmosphere 
which  surrounds  him  with  its  perpetual  presence  and  which  constitutes  his  vital  breath ; 
in  fact,  this  phrase  "in  Christ,"  always  meaning  "in  union  with  Christ,"  is  the  very  key  to 
Paul's  epistles,  and  to  the  whole  New  Testament. 

(b)  Christ  is  said  to  be  in  the  believer. 

John  14  :  20— "I  in  you"  ;  Rom.  8  :  9— "ye  are  not  in  the  flesh  but  in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwell  in  you.  But  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his  " —  that  this  Spirit  of  Christ  is 
Christ  himself,  is  shown  from  verse  10 — "And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the 
Spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness  "  ;  Gal.  2  :  20  — "  I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me"— here  Christ  is  said  to  be  in  the  believer,  and  so  to  live  his  life  within 
the  believer,  that  the  latter  can  point  to  this  as  the  dominating  fact  of  his  experience 
—it  is  not  so  much  he  that  lives,  as  it  is  Christ  that  lives  in  him. 

(c)  The  Father  and  the  Son  dwell  in  the  believer. 

John  14  :  23  —"If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep  my  word :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him,, 
and  make  our  abode  with  him  ";  c/.  10 — "  Belie  vest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  me?  the 
words  that  I  say  unto  you  I  speak  not  from  myself:  but  the  Father  abiding  in  me  doeth  his  works" — the  Father 
and  the  Son  dwell  in  the  believer ;  for  where  the  Son  is,  there  always  the  Father  must 
be  also.  If  the  union  between  the  believer  and  Christ  in  John  14  :  23  is  to  be  interpreted  a& 
one  of  mere  moral  influence,  then  the  union  of  Christ  and  the  Father  in  John  14  : 10  must 
also  be  interpreted  as  a  union  of  mere  moral  influence.  Eph.  3  : 17 — "  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
your  hearts  through  faith "  ;  1  John  4  : 16— "He  that  abideth  in  love  abideth  in  God,  and  God  abideth  in  him." 

(d)  The  believer  has  life  by  partaking  of  Christ,  as  Christ  has  life  by- 
partaking  of  the  Father. 

John  6  :  53,  56,  57—"  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  Ms  blood,  ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves 
....  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him  ....  As  the  living  Father  sent  me, 
and  I  live  because  of  the  Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me  shall  live  because  of  me  " —  the  believer  has  life  by  par- 
taking of  Christ  in  a  way  that  may  not  inappropriately  be  compared  with  Christ's  having 
life  by  partaking  of  the  Father.  1  Cor.  10  : 16, 17  — "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  a  com- 
munion of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ?" — here  it 
is  intimated  that  the  Lord's  supper  sets  forth,  in  the  language  of  symbol,  the  soul's 
actual  participation  in  the  life  of  Christ;  and  the  margin  properly  translates  the  word 
Koivwvc'a,  not  "communion,"  but  "participation."  1  John  1 :  3 — "our  fellowship  (KOIVUVIO.)  is  with  the 
Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

(e)  All  believers  are  one  in  Christ. 

John  17  :  21-23—"  that  they  all  may  be  one ;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be 
in  us :  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  didst  send  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me  I  have  given  unto- 
them ;  that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  we  are  one ;  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  perfected  into  one  "— 
all  believers  are  one  in  Christ,  to  whom  they  are  severally  and  collectively  united,  as 
Christ  himself  is  one  with  God. 


uiaojsr  WITH  CHRIST.  441 

(/)     The  believer  is  made  partaker  of  the  divine  nature. 

2  Pet.  1:4—"  that  through  these  [promises]  ye  may  become  partakers  of  the  divine  nature  "—  not  by  having 
the  essence  of  your  humanity  changed  into  the  essence  of  divinity,  but  by  having  Christ 
the  divine  Savior  continually  dwelling  within,  and  indissolubly  joined  to,  your  human 
souls. 

(g)     The  believer  is  made  one  spirit  with  the  Lord. 

1  Cor.  6  : 17  —"He  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  spirit "— human  nature  is  so  interpenetrated  and 
energized  by  the  divine,  that  the  two  move  and  act  as  one ;  cf.  19—"  Know  ye  not  that  your  body 
is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God?"  Rom.  8  :  26 — "the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our 
infirmity :  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought ;  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings 
which  cannot  be  uttered"— the  Spirit  is  so  near  to  us,  and  so  one  with  us,  that  our  prayer  is 
called  his,  or  rather,  his  prayer  becomes  ours.  Weiss,  in  his  Life  of  Jesus,  says  that,  in 
the  view  of  Scripture,  human  greatness  does  not  consist  in  a  man's  producing  every- 
thing in  a  natural  way  out  of  himself,  but  in  possessing  perfect  receptivity  for  God'a 
greatest  gift.  Therefore  God's  Son  receives  the  Spirit  without  measure ;  and  we  may 
add  that  the  believer  in  like  manner  receives  Christ. 

2.     Nature  of  this  Union. 

We  have  here  to  do  not  only  with  a  fact  of  life,  but  with  a  unique  rela- 
tion between  the  finite  and  the  infinite.  Our  descriptions  must  therefore 
be  inadequate.  Yet  in  many  respects  we  know  what  this  union  is  not ;  in 
certain  respects  we  can  positively  characterize  it. 

It  should  not  surprise  us  if  we  find  it  far  more  difficult  to  give  a  scientific  definition 
of  this  union,  than  to  determine  the  fact  of  its  existence.  It  is  a  fact  of  life  with  which 
we  have  to  deal ;  and  the  secret  of  life,  even  in  its  lowest  forms,  no  philosopher  has  ever 
yet  discovered.  The  tiniest  flower  witnesses  to  two  facts  :  first,  that  of  its  own  relative 
independence,  as  an  individual  organism  ;  and  secondly,  that  of  its  ultimate  dependence 
upon  a  life  and  power  not  its  own.  So  every  human  soul  has  its  proper  powers  of  intel- 
lect, affection,  and  will ;  yet  it  lives,  moves,  and  has  its  being  in  God  ( Acts  17  :  21 ). 

Starting  out  from  the  truth  of  God's  omnipresence,  it  might  seem  as  if  God's  indwell- 
ing in  the  granite  boulder  was  the  last  limit  of  his  union  with  the  finite.  But  we  see 
the  divine  intelligence  and  goodness  drawing  nearer  to  us,  by  successive  stages,  in  vege- 
table life,  in  the  animal  creation,  and  in  the  moral  nature  of  man.  And  yet  there  are 
two  stages  beyond  all  these :  first,  in  Christ's  union  with  the  believer ;  and  secondly,  in 
God's  union  with  Christ.  If  this  union  of  God  with  the  believer  be  only  one  of  several 
approximations  of  God  to  his  finite  creation,  the  fact  that  it  is,  equally  with  the  others, 
not  wholly  comprehensible  to  reason,  should  not  blind  us  either  to  its  truth  or  to  its 
importance. 

A.     Negatively.     It  is  not  : 

(a)  A  merely  natural  union,  like  that  of  God  with  all  human  spirits, —  as 
held  by  rationalists. 

In  our  physical  life  we  are  conscious  of  another  life  within  us  which  is  not  subject  to 
our  wills :  the  heart  beats  involuntarily,  whether  we  sleep  or  wake.  But  in  our  spirit- 
ual life  we  are  still  more  conscious  of  a  life  within  our  life.  Even  the  heathen  said : 
"Est  Deus  in  nobis;  agitante  calescimus  illo,"  and  the  Egyptians  held  to  the  identifica- 
tion of  the  departed  with  Osiris  ( Renouf,  Hibbert  Lectures,  185).  But  Paul  urges  us  to 
work  out  our  salvation,  upon  the  very  ground  that  "it  is  God  that  worketh"  in  us  "both  to  will 
and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure"  (Phil.  2:12,  13).  This  life  of  God  in  the  soul  is  the  life  of 
Christ. 

(6)  A  merely  moral  union,  or  union  of  love  and  sympathy,  like  that 
between  teacher  and  scholar,  friend  and  friend, —  as  held  by  Socinians  and 
Arminians. 

There  is  a  moral  union  between  different  souls :  1  Sam.  18  : 1  — "  The  soul  of  Jonathan  was  knit 
with  the  soul  of  David,  and  Jonathan  loved  him  as  his  own  soul "—  here  the  Vulgate  has :  "  Anima  Jona- 


442 


SOTERIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 


thae  agglutinata  Davidi."  Aristotle  calls  friends  "one  soul."  So  in  a  higher  sense,  in 
Acts  4  :  32,  the  early  believers  are  said  to  have  been  "of  one  heart  and  soul."  But  in  John  17  :  21,  26, 
Christ's  union  with  his  people  is  distinguished  from  any  mere  union  of  love  and  sympa- 
thy :  "  That  they  all  may  be  one ;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  in  us 

That  the  love  wherewith  thou  lovest  me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them."  Jesus'  aim,  in  the  whole  of  his 
last  discourse,  is  to  show  that  no  mere  union  of  love  and  sympathy  will  be  sufficient : 
"Apart  from  me,"  he  says,  "ye  can  do  nothing"  (John  15:5).  That  his  disciples  may  be  vitally 
joined  to  himself  is  therefore  the  subject  of  his  last  prayer. 

Dorner  says  well,  that  Arminianism  (and  with  this  doctrine  Roman  Catholics  and 
the  advocates  of  New  School  views  substantially  agree)  makes  man  a  mere  tangent  to 
the  circle  of  the  divine  nature.  It  has  no  idea  of  the  interpenetration  of  the  one  by  the 
other.  But  the  Lutheran  Formula  of  Concord  says  much  more  correctly :  "  Damnamus 
sententiam  quod  non  Deus  ipse,  sed  dona  Dei  duntaxat,  in  credentibus  habitent." 

(c)  A  union  of  essence,  which  destroys  the  distinct  personality  and  sub- 
sistence of  either  Christ  or  the  human  spirit, —  as  held  by  many  of  the 
mystics. 

Many  of  the  mystics,  as  Schwenkfeld,  Weigel,  Sebastian  Frank,  held  to  an  essential 
union  between  Christ  and  the  believer.  One  of  Weigel's  followers,  therefore,  could  say 
to  another :  "  I  am  Christ  Jesus,  the  living  Word  of  God ;  I  have  redeemed  thee  by  my 
sinless  sufferings."  We  are  ever  to  remember  that  the  indwelling  of  Christ  only  puts 
the  believer  more  completely  in  possession  of  himself,  and  makes  him  more  conscious 
of  his  own  personality  and  power.  Union  with  Christ  must  be  taken  in  connection 
with  the  other  truth  of  the  personality  and  activity  of  the  Christian ;  otherwise  it 
tends  to  pantheism. 

William  Lincoln :  "  The  only  way  for  the  believer,  if  he  wants  to  go  rightly,  is  to 
remember  that  truth  is  always  two-sided.  If  there  is  any  truth  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  specially  pressed  upon  your  heart,  if  you  do  not  want  to  push  it  to  the  extreme, 
ask  what  is  the  counter-truth,  and  lean  a  little  of  your  weight  upon  that ;  otherwise,  if 
you  bear  so  very  much  on  one  side  of  the  truth,  there  is  a  danger  of  pushing  it  into  a 
heresy.  Heresy  means  selected  truth ;  it  does  not  mean  error ;  heresy  and  error  are 
very  different  things.  Heresy  is  truth,  but  truth  pushed  into  undue  importance,  to  the 
•disparagement  of  the  truth  upon  the  other  side." 

(d)  A  union  mediated  and  conditioned  by  participation  of  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  church, —  as  held  by  Romanists,  Lutherans,  and  High-Church 
^Episcopalians. 

Perhaps  the  most  pernicious  misinterpretation  of  the  nature  of  this  union  is  that 
which  conceives  of  it  as  a  physical  and  material  one,  and  which  rears  upon  this  basis  the 
fabric  of  a  sacramental  and  external  Christianity.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  say  that  this 
union  cannot  be  mediated  by  sacraments,  since  sacraments  presuppose  it  as  already 
existing ;  both  baptism  and  Lord's  Supper  are  destined  only  for  believers.  Only  faith 
receives  and  retains  Christ ;  and  faith  is  the  act  of  the  soul  grasping  what  is  purely 
invisible  and  supersensible ;  not  the  act  of  the  body,  submitting  to  Baptism  or  partaking 
of  the  Supper. 

B.     Positively,  it  is  : 

(a)  An  organic  union, — in  which  we  become  members  of  Christ  and  par- 
takers of  his  humanity. 

Kant  defines  an  organism,  as  that  whose  parts  are  reciprocally  means  and  end.  The 
body  is  an  organism  ;  since  the  limbs  exist  for  the  heart,  and  the  heart  for  the  limbs.  So 
each  member  of  Christ's  body  lives  for  him  who  is  the  head ;  and  Christ  the  head  equally 
lives  for  his  members  :  Eph.  5  :  29,  30  — "  No  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh ;  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  it, 
even  as  Christ  also  the  church ;  because  we  are  members  of  his  body." 

(6)  A  vital  union, — in  which  Christ's  life  becomes  the  dominating  prin- 
ciple within  us. 

This  union  is  a  vital  one,  in  distinction  from  any  union  of  mere  juxtaposition  or 
external  influence.  Christ  does  not  work  upon  us  from  without,  as  one  separated  from 


WITH    CHRIST.  443 

us,  but  from  within,  as  the  very  heart  from  which  the  life-blood  of  our  spirits  flows. 
See  Gal.  2  :  20— "It  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me ;  and  that  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live 
in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for  me  "  ;  Col.  3  :  3,  4  — "  For  ye 
died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  be  manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with 
him  be  manifested  in  glory."  Christ's  life  is  not  corrupted  by  the  corruption  of  his  members, 
any  more  than  the  ray  of  light  is  defiled  by  the  filth  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 

(c)  A  spiritual  union,  that  is,  a  union  whose  source  and  author  is  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

By  a  spiritual  union  we  mean  a  union  not  of  body  but  of  spirit— a  union,  therefore, 
which  only  the  Holy  Spirit  originates  and  maintains.  Rom.  8  :  9, 10— "ye  are  not  in  the  flesh,  but 
in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you.  But  if  any  man»have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none 
-of  his.  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  Spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness."  The 
indwelling-  of  Christ  involves  a  continual  exercise  of  efficient  power.  In  Eph.  3  : 16,  17, 
"strengthened  with  power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man"  is  immediately  followed  by  "that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith." 

(d)  An  indissoluble  union, — that  is,  a  union  which,  consistently  with 
•Christ's  promise  and  grace,  can  never  be  dissolved. 

Mat.  28  :  20  — "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  "  ;  John  10  :  28  — "  they  shall  never  perish 
and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  my  hand"  ;  Rom.  8  :  35,  39— "Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ? 
....  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separata  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 

Jesus  our  Lord  "  :  1  Thess.  4  : 14,  17 — "  them  also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him Then  we 

that  are  alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together  with  them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall 
we  ever  be  with  the  Lord." 

Christ's  omnipresence  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  be  united  to,  and  to  be  present  in, 
each  believer,  as  perfectly  and  fully  as  if  that  believer  were  the  only  one  to  receive 
€hrist's  fulness.  As  Christ's  omnipresence  makes  the  whole  Christ  present  in  every 
place,  each  believer  has  the  whole  Christ  with  him,  as  his  source  of  strength,  purity, 
life;  so  that  each  may  say:  Christ  gives  all  his  time  and  wisdom  and  care  to  me.  Such 
a  union  as  this  lacks  every  element  of  instability.  Once  formed,  the  union  is  indissol- 
uble. 

Since  there  is  now  an  unchangeable  and  divine  element  in  us,  our  salvation  depends 
no  longer  upon  our  unstable  wills,  but  upon  Christ's  purpose  and  power.  By  temporary 
•declension  from  duty,  or  by  our  causeless  unbelief,  we  may  banish  Christ  to  the  barest 
and  most  remote  room  of  the  soul's  house ;  but  he  does  not  suffer  us  wholly  to  exclude 
him ;  and  when  we  are  willing  to  unbar  the  doors,  he  is  still  there,  ready  to  fill  the  whole 
mansion  with  his  light  and  love. 

(e)  An  inscrutable  union, — mystical,  however,  only  in  the  sense  of  sur- 
passing in  its  intimacy  and  value  any  other  union  of  souls  which  we  know. 

This  union  is  inscrutable,  indeed ;  but  it  is  not  mystical,  in  the  sense  of  being  unintelli- 
gible to  the  Christian  or  beyond  the  reach  of  his  experience.  If  we  call  it  mystical  at 
all,  it  should  be  only  because,  in  the  intimacy  of  its  communion  and  in  the  transform- 
ing power  of  its  influence,  it  surpasses  any  other  union  of  souls  that  we  know,  and  so 
cannot  be  fully  described  or  understood  by  earthly  analogies.  Eph.  5  :  32— "This  mystery  is 
great:  but  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ  and  of  the  church"  ;  Col.  1  :  27— "the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery 
among  the  Gentiles,  which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory." 

See  Diman,  Theistic  Argument,  380  — "  As  physical  science  has  brought  us  to  the  con- 
clusion that  back  of  all  the  phenomena  of  the  material  universe  there  lies  an  invisible 
universe  of  forces,  and  that  these  forces  may  ultimately  be  reduced  to  one  all-pervad- 
ing force  in  which  the  unity  of  the  physical  universe  consists;  and  as  philosophy  has 
advanced  the  rational  conjecture  that  this  ultimate  all-pervading  force  is  simply  will- 
force  ;  so  the  great  Teacher  holds  up  to  us  the  spiritual  universe  as  pervaded  by  one 
omnipotent  life  — a  life  which  was  revealed  in  him  as  its  highest  manifestation,  but 
which  is  shared  by  all  who  by  faith  become  partakers  of  his  nature.  He  was  Son  of 
God :  they  too  had  power  to  become  sons  of  God.  The  incarnation  is  wholly  within 
the  natural  course  and  tendency  of  things.  It  was  prepared  for,  it  came,  in  the  fulness 
of  times.  Christ's  life  is  not  something  sporadic  and  individual,  having  its  source  in 
the  personal  conviction  of  each  disciple;  it  implies  a  real  connection  with  Christ,  the 
head.  Behind  all  nature  there  is  one  force ;  behind  all  varieties  of  Christian  life  and 


444  SOTERIOLOGY,    OE   THE   DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

character  there  is  one  spiritual  power.  All  nature  is  not  inert  matter — it  is  pervaded 
by  a  living  presence.  So  all  the  body  of  believers  live  by  virtue  of  the  all-working1 
Spirit  of  Christ,  the  Holy  Ghost." 

A.  H.  Strong,  in  Examiner,  1880:  "Such  is  the  nature  of  union  with  Christ  — such  I 
mean,  is  the  nature  of  every  believer's  union  with  Christ.  For,  whether  he  knows  it  or 
not,  every  Christian  has  entered  into  just  such  a  partnership  as  this.  It  is  this  and  this 
only  which  constitutes  him  a  Christian,  and  which  makes  possible  a  Christian  church. 
We  may,  indeed,  be  thus  united  to  Christ,  without  being-  fully  conscious  of  the  real 
nature  of  our  relation  to  him.  We  may  actually  possess  the  kernel,  while  as  yet  we 
have  regard  only  to  the  shell ;  we  may  seem  to  ourselves  to  be  united  to  Christ  only  by 
an  external  bond,  while  after  all  it  is  an  inward  and  spiritual  bond  that  makes  us  his. 
God  often  reveals  to  the  Christian  the  mystery  of  the  gospel,  which  is  Christ  in  him  the 
hope  of  glory,  at  the  very  time  that  he  is  seeking  only  some  nearer  access  to  a  Redeemer 
outside  of  him.  Trying  to  find  a  union  of  cooperation  or  of  sympathy,  he  is  amazed  to 
learn  that  there  is  already  established  a  union  with  Christ  more  glorious  and  blessed, 
namely,  a  union  of  life ;  and  so,  like  the  miners  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  while  he  is 
looking  only  for  silver,  he  finds  gold.  Christ  and  the  believer  have  the  same  life.  They 
are  not  separate  persons  linked  together  by  some  temporary  bond  of  friendship  — they 
are  united  by  a  tie  as  close  and  indissoluble  as  if  the  same  blood  ran  in  their  veins.  Yet 
the  Christian  may  never  have  suspected  how  intimate  a  union  he  has  with  his  Savior; 
and  the  first  understanding  of  this  truth  may  be  the  gateway  through  which  he  passes 
into  a  holier  and  happier  stage  of  the  Christian  life." 

On  the  nature  of  this  union,  see  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christian  Theology,  531-539 ; 
Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  601 ;  Wilberforce,  Incarnation,  208-272,  and  New  Birth  of  Man's 
Nature,  1-30.  Per  contra,  see  Park,  Discourses,  117-136. 

3.     Consequences  of  this   Union  as  respects  the  Believer. 

We  have  seen  that  Christ's  union  with  humanity,  at  the  incarnation,  in- 
volved him  in  all  the  legal  liabilities  of  the  race  to  which  he  united  himself, 
and  enabled  him  so  to  assume  the  penalty  of  its  sin  as  to  make  for  all  men 
a  full  satisfaction  to  the  divine  justice,  and  to  remove  all  external  obstacles 
to  man's  return  to  God.  An  internal  obstacle,  however,  still  remains  —  the 
evil  affections  and  will,  and  the  consequent  guilt,  of  the  individual  soul. 
This  last  obstacle  also  Christ  removes,  in  the  case  of  all  his  people,  by 
uniting  himself  to  them  in  a  closer  and  more  perfect  manner  than  that 
in  which  he  is  united  to  humanity  at  large.  As  Christ's  union  with  the  race 
secures  the  objective  reconciliation  of  the  race  to  God,  so  Christ's  union 
with  believers  secures  the  subjective  reconciliation  of  believers  to  God. 

In  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed,  607-610,  in  Owen,  on  Justification,  chap.  8,  in  Boston,  Cove- 
nant of  Grace,  chap.  2,  and  in  Dale,  Atonement,  the  union  of  the  believer  with  Christ  is 
made  to  explain  the  bearing  of  our  sins  by  Christ.  As  we  have  seen  in  our  discussion  of  the 
Atonement,  however,  this  is  explaining  the  cause  by  the  effect,  and  implying  that  Christ 
died  only  for  the  elect  (see  review  of  Dale,  in  Brit.  Quar.  Rev.,  Apr.,  1876  :  221-225).  It 
is  not  the  union  of  Christ  with  the  believer,  but  the  union  of  Christ  with  humanity  at 
large,  that  explains  his  taking  upon  him  human  guilt  and  penalty. 

The  consequences  of  union  with  Christ  may  be  summarily  stated  as  fol- 
lows : 

(a)  Union  with  Christ  involves  a  change  in  the  dominant  affection  of  the 
soul.  Christ's  entrance  into  the  soul  makes  it  a  new  creature,  in  the  sense 
that  the  ruling  disposition,  which  before  was  sinful,  now  becomes  holy. 
This  change  we  call  Regeneration. 

Rom.  8  :  2  — "  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  " ;  2  Cor.  5  r 
17  — "  If  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  "  ( marg. — "  there  is  a  new  creation  " ) ;  Gal.  1 : 15, 16  — "  It  was. 

the  good  pleasure  of  God to  reveal  his  Son  in  me  "  ;    Eph.  2  : 10  — "  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 

Christ  Jesus  for  good  works."    As  we  derive  our  old  nature  from  the  first  man  Adam,  by  birth. 


UNION    WITH    CHRIST.  445 

so  we  derive  a  new  nature  from  the  second  man  Christ,  by  the  new  birth.  Union  with 
Christ  is  the  true  "transfusion  of  blood."  "The  death-struck  sinner,  like  the  wan, 
ansemic,  dying1  invalid,  is  saved  by  having  poured  into  his  veins  the  healthier  blood  of 
Christ";  see  Drummond,  Nat.  Law  in  the  Spir.  World.  God  regenerates  the  soul  by 
uniting  it  to  Jesus  Christ. 

(6)  Union  with  Christ  involves  a  new  exercise  of  the  soul's  powers  in  re- 
pentance and  faith ;  faith,  indeed,  is  the  act  of  the  soul  by  which,  under 
the  operation  of  God,  Christ  is  received.  This  new  exercise  of  the  soul's 
powers  we  call  Conversion  ( Repentance  and  Faith ).  It  is  the  obverse  or 
human  side  of  Regeneration. 

Eph.  3  : 17  — "  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith  "  ;  2  Tim.  3  : 15  — "  the  sacred  writings  which  are 
able  to  make  thee  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  Faith  is  the  soul's  laying  hold 
•of  Christ  as  its  only  source  of  life,  pardon,  and  salvation.  And  so  we  see  what  true 
religion  is.  It  is  not  a  moral  life;  it  is  not  a  determination  to  be  religious;  it  is  not 
faith,  if  by  faith  we  mean  an  external  trust  that  somehow  Christ  will  save  us ;  it  is 
nothing  less  than  the  life  of  the  soul  in  God,  through  Christ  his  Son. 

(c)  Union  with  Christ  gives  to  the  believer  the  legal  standing  and  rights 
of  Christ.     As  Christ's  union  with  the  race  involves  atonement,  so  the  be- 
liever's union  with  Christ  involves  Justification.     The  believer  is  entitled 
to  take  for  his  own  all  that  Christ  is,  and  all  that  Christ  has  done  ;  and  this 
because  he  has  within  him  that  new  life  of  humanity  which  suffered  in 
Christ's  death  and  rose  from  the  grave  in  Christ's  resurrection, — in  other 
-words,  because  he  is  virtually  one  person  with  his  Redeemer.     In  Christ 
the  believer  is  prophet,  priest,  and  king. 

Acts  13  :  39  — "  By  him  [lit. :  '  in  him  '=  in  union  with  him]  every  one  that  believeth  is  justified  "  ;  Rom.  6  : 

7,  8  — "  he  that  hath  died  is  justified  from  sin we  died  with  Christ "  ;  7:4—"  dead  to  the  law  through  the  body  of 

Christ "  ;  8  :  1  — "  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  17  — "  heirs  of  God,  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ "  ; 
1  Cor.  1 :  30— "But  of  him  ye  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God,  and  righteousness  [justi- 
fication] "  ;  3  :  21,  23  — "  all  things  are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's  "  ;  6  : 11  — "  ye  were  justified  in  the  name  of  the 
lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 14  — "  we  thus  judge,  that  one  died  for  all,  therefore  all 
died  "  ;  21  — "  Him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  [justi- 
fication] of  God  inhim"=  God's  justified  persons,  in  union  with  Christ. 

Gal.  2  :  20  — "  I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me  " ;  Eph.  1  :  4, 
-6 — "chose  us  in  him  ....  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace,  which  he  freely  bestowed  on  us  in  the  Beloved"  ; 
.2  :  5,  6  — "  even  when  we  were  dead  through  our  trespasses,  quickened  us  together  with  Christ ....  made  us  to  sit  with 
him  in  the  heavenly  places,  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  Phil.  3:9  —  "  that  I  may  gain  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him,  not  having  a 
righteousness  of  mine  own.  even  that  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness 
which  is  from  God  by  faith  "  ;  2  Tim.  2  : 11  — "  Faithful  is  the  saying :  For  if  we  died  with  him,  we  shall  also  live  with 
Mm."  Prophet:  Luke  12  : 12  — "  The  Holy  Spirit  shall  teach  you  in  that  very  hour  what  ye  ought  to  say  ";  1  John 
'2  :  20  — "  Ye  have  an  anointing  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things."  Priest :  1  Pet.  2  :  5  — "  a  holy  priest- 
hood, to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices,  acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ "  ;  Rev.  20  :  6  — "  they  shall  be  priests  of  God 
and  of  Christ "  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  9  — "  a  royal  priesthood."  King :  Rev.  3  :  21  — "  He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give  to  him 
to  sit  down  with  me  in  my  throne "  ;  5  : 10  — "  madest  them  to  be  unto  our  God  a  kingdom  and  priests."  The  con- 
nection of  justification  and  union  with  Christ  delivers  the  former  from  the  charge  of 
being  a  mechanical  and  arbitrary  procedure.  As  Jonathan  Edwards  has  said :  "  The 
justification  of  the  believer  is  no  other  than  his  being  admitted  to  communion  in,  or 
participation  of,  this  head  and  surety  of  all  believers." 

(d)  Union  with  Christ  secures  to  the  believer  the  continuously  transform- 
ing, assimilating  power  of  Christ's  life, —  first,  for  the  soul ;  secondly,  for  the 
body  —  consecrating  it  in  the  present,  and  in  the  future  raising  it  up  in  the 
likeness  of  Christ's  glorified  body.     This  continuous  influence,  so  far  as  it 
is  exerted  in  the  present  life,  we  call  Sanctification,  the  human  side  or 
aspect  of  which  is  Perseverance. 

For  the  soul :   John  1 : 16 — "of  his  fulness  we  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace" — successive  and  in- 


446  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

creasing  measures  of  grace,  corresponding  to  the  soul's  successive  and  increasing  needs ; 
Rom.  8  : 10  — "  If  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness "  ; 
1  Cor.  15  :  45  — "  The  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit "  ;  Phil.  2:5—"  lave  this  mind  in  you,  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus  "  ;  1  John  3  :  2— "if  he  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  him." 

For  the  body  :  1  Cor.  6  : 17-20  — "  he  that  is  joined  unto  the  Lord  is  one  Spirit know  ye  not  that  your 

body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you glorify  God  therefore  in  your  body  "  ;  1  Thess.  5  :  23  — "  And 

the  God  of  peace  sanctify  you  wholly ;  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  entire,  without  blame  at  the 
coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ "  ;  Rom.  8  : 11  — "  shall  quicken  also  your  mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth 
in  you"  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  49— "as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy  [man],  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the 
heavenly  [man]  "  ;  Phil.  3  :  20,  21  — "  For  our  citizenship  is  in  heaven ;  from  whence  also  we  wait  for  a  Savior,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his 
glory,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject  all  things  unto  himself." 

Is  there  a  physical  miracle  wrought  for  the  drunkard  in  his  regeneration?  Mr. 
Moody  says,  Yes ;  Mr.  Gough  says,  No.  We  prefer  to  say  that  the  change  is  a  spiritual 
one ;  but  that  the  "expulsive  power  of  a  new  affection  "  indirectly  affects  the  body,  so 
that  old  appetites  sometimes  disappear  in  a  moment ;  and  that  often,  in  the  course  of 
years,  great  changes  take  place  even  in  the  believer's  body.  "  Christ  in  the  soul  fashions 
the  germinal  man  into  his  own  likeness  —  this  is  the  embryology  of  the  new  life.  The 
cardinal  error  in  religious  life  is  the  attempt  to  live  without  proper  environment "  (see 
Drummond,  Natural  Law  in  Spiritual  World,  253-384).  Human  life  from  Adam  does 
not  stand  the  test—  only  divine-human  life  in  Christ  can  secure  us  from  falling.  This 
is  the  work  of  Christ,  now  that  he  has  ascended  and  taken  to  himself  his  power,  namely, 
to  give  his  life  more  and  more  fully  to  the  church,  until  it  shall  grow  up  in  all  things 
into  him,  the  Head,  and  shall  fitly  express  his  glory  to  the  world. 

(e)  Union  with  Christ  brings  about  a  fellowship  of  Christ  with  the 
believer  —  Christ  takes  part  in  all  the  labors,  temptations,  and  sufferings  of 
his  people  ;  a  fellowship  of  the  believer  with  Christ  —  so  that  Christ's  whole 
experience  on  earth  is  in  some  measure  reproduced  in  him  ;  a  fellowship  of 
all  believers  with  one  another  —  furnishing  a  basis  for  the  spiritual  unity 
of  Christ's  people  on  earth,  and  for  the  eternal  communion  of  heaven.  The 
doctrine  of  Union  with  Christ  is  therefore  the  indispensable  preparation  for 
Ecclesiology  and  for  Eschatology . 

Fellowship  of  Christ  with  the  believer  :  Phil.  4  : 13  —"I  can  do  all  things  in  him  that  strengtheneth 
me  " ;  Heb.  4  : 15  — "  For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  " ;  cf.  Is. 
63  :  9— "In  all  their  affliction  he  was  afflicted." 

Of  the  believer  with  Christ:  Phil.  3  : 10— "that  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and 
the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings,  becoming  conformed  unto  his  death"  ;  Col.  1 :  24— "fill  up  on  my  part  that  which  is 
lacking  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ,  in  my  flesh  for  his  body's  sake,  which  is  the  church  " ;  1  Pet.  4  : 13—"  partakers  of 
Christ's  sufferings."  The  Christian  reproduces  Christ's  life  in  miniature,  and,  in  a  true  sense, 
lives  it  over  again.  Only  upon  the  principle  of  union  with  Christ  can  we  explain  how 
the  Christian  instinctively  applies  to  himself  the  prophecies  and  promises  which  origin- 
ally and  primarily  were  uttered  with  reference  to  Christ:  "thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol; 
Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine  holy  one  to  see  corruption  "  ( Ps.  16  : 10, 11 ).  This  fellowship  is  the  ground  of 
the  promises  made  to  believing  prayer :  John  14 : 13  — "  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I 
do  " ;  Westcott,  Bib.  Com.,  in  loco :  "  The  meaning  of  the  phrase  ['  in  my  name ']  is  '  as  being 
one  with  me  even  as  I  am  revealed  to  you.'  Its  two  correlatives  are  'in  me'  and  the 
Pauline  'in  Christ'." 

Of  all  believers  with  one  another :  John  17  :  21  — "that  they  all  may  be  one" ;  1  Cor.  10  : 17— "we, 
who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body :  for  we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread  "  ;  Eph.  2  :  15  — "  create  in  himself  of  tke 
twain  one  new  man,  so  making  peace  "  ;  1  John  1:3—"  that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us :  yea,  and  our  fel- 
lowship is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ "—  here  the  word  Koivwi/ia  is  used.  Fellowship 
with  each  other  is  the  effect  and  result  of  the  fellowship  of  each  with  God  in  Christ. 
Compare  John  10  : 16 —"they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd";  Westcott,  Bib.  Com.,  in  loco: 
"  The  bond  of  fellowship  is  shown  to  lie  in  the  common  relation  to  one  Lord  .... 
Nothing  is  said  of  one  '  fold  '  under  the  new  dispensation."  Here  is  a  unity,  not  of  ex- 
ternal organization,  but  of  common  life.  Of  this  the  visible  church  is  the  consequence 
and  expression.  But  this  communion  is  not  limited  to  earth  —  it  is  perpetuated  beyond 
death :  1  Thess.  4  : 17  — "  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord  "  ;  Heb.  12  :  28  — "  to  the  general  assembly  and  ihurch  of 
the  firstborn  who  are  enrolled  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect"  ; 


REGENERATION.  447 

Rev.  21  and  22  — the  city  of  God,  the  new  Jerusalem,  is  the  image  of  perfect  society,  a» 
well  as  of  intensity  and  fullness  of  life  in  Christ. 

The  consciousness  of  union  with  Christ  gives  assurance  of  salvation.  It  is  a  great 
stimulus  to  believing  prayer  and  to  patient  labor.  It  is  a  duty  to  "know  what  is  the  hope  of 
his  calling,  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power 
to  us-ward  who  believe"  (Eph.  1 : 18, 19 ).  Christ's  command,  "Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you"  (John  15  :  4), 
implies  that  we  are  both  to  realize  and  to  confirm  this  union,  by  active  exertion  of  our 
own  wills.  We  are  to  abide  in  him  by  an  entire  consecration,  and  to  let  him  abide  in  us 
by  an  appropriating  faith.  We  are  to  give  ourselves  to  Christ,  and  to  take  in  return  the 
Christ  who  gives  himself  to  us  —  in  other  words,  we  are  to  believe  Christ's  promises  and 
to  act  upon  them.  All  sin  consists  in  the  sundering  of  man's  life  from  God,  and  most 
systems  of  falsehood  in  religion  are  attempts  to  save  man  without  merging  his  life  in 
God's  once  more.  The  only  religion  that  can  save  mankind  is  the  religion  that  fills  the 
whole  heart  and  the  whole  life  with  God,  and  that  aims  to  interpenetrate  universal  hu- 
manity with  that  same  living  Christ  who  has  already  made  himself  one  with  the  believer. 
We  append  a  few  statements  with  regard  to  this  union  and  its  consequences,  from 
noted  names  in  theology  and  the  church.  Luther:  "By  faith  thou  art  so  glued  to 
Christ  that  of  thee  and  him  there  becomes  as  it  were  one  person,  so  that  with  confidence 
thou  canst  say :  '  I  am  Christ— that  is,  Christ's  righteousness,  victory,  etc.,  are  mine ' ; 
and  Christ  in  turn  can  say  :  '  I  am  that  sinner —  that  is,  his  sins,  his  death,  etc.,  are  mine, 
because  he  clings  to  me  and  I  to  him,  for  we  have  been  joined  through  faith  into  one 
flesh  and  bone.' "  Calvin:  "I  attribute  the  highest  importance  to  the  connection  be- 
tween the  head  and  the  members ;  to  the  inhabitation  of  Christ  in  our  hearts ;  in  a  word,, 
to  the  mystical  union  by  which  we  enjoy  him,  so  that,  being  made  ours,  he  makes  us 
partakers  of  the  blessings  with  which  he  is  furnished."  Edwards:  "Faith  is  the  soul's 
active  uniting  with  Christ.  God  sees  fit  that,  in  order  to  a  union's  being  established 
between  two  intelligent  active  beings,  there  should  be  the  mutual  act  of  both,  that  each 
should  receive  the  other  as  entirely  joining  themselves  to  one  another."  Andrew  Fuller : 
"  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  presupposes  a  union  with 
him ;  since  there  is  no  perceivable  fitness  in  bestowing  benefits  on  one  for  another's 
sake,  where  there  is  no  union  or  relation  between." 

See  Luther,  quoted,  with  other  references,  in  Thomasius,  Christi  Person  und  Werk, 
3  :  325.  See  also  Calvin,  Institutes,  1 :  660 ;  Edwards,  Works,  4  :  66,  69, 70 ;  Andrew  Fuller, 
Works,  2  :  685;  Pascal,  Thoughts,  Eng.  trans.,  429;  Hooker,  Eccl.  Polity,  book  5, 
ch.  56 ;  Tillotson,  Sermons,  3  :  307 ;  Trench,  Studies  in  Gospels,  284,  and  Christ  the  True 
Vine,  in  Hulsean  Lectures ;  Schoberlein,  in  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1847  :  7-69 ;  Caird,  on 
Union  with  God,  in  Scotch  Sermons,  sermon  2;  Godet,  on  the  Ultimate  Design  of  Man, 
in  Princeton  Rev.,  Nov.,  1880— the  design  is  "  God  in  man,  and  man  in  God"  ;  Baird, 
Elohim  Revealed,  590-^17 ;  Upham,  Divine  Union,  Interior  Life,  Life  of  Madame  Guyon 
and  Fenelon ;  A.  J.  Gordon,  In  Christ ;  MacDufl,  In  Christo. 

II.     REGENERATION. 

Eegeneration  is  that  act  of  God  by  which  the  governing  disposition  of  the 
soul  is  made  holy,  and  by  which,  through  the  truth  as  a  means,  the  first 
holy  exercise  of  this  disposition  is  secured. 

Regeneration,  or  the  new  birth,  is  the  divine  side  of  that  change  of  heart 
which,  viewed  from  the  human  side,  we  call  conversion.  It  is  God's  turn- 
ing the  soul  to  himself,  conversion  being  the  soul's  turning  itself  to  God,  of 
which  God's  turning  it  is  both  the  accompaniment  and  cause.  It  will  be 
observed  from  the  above  definition,  that  there  are  two  aspects  of  regene- 
ration, in  the  first  of  which  the  soul  is  passive,  in  the  second  of  which  the 
soul  is  active.  God  changes  the  governing  disposition  —  in  this  change  the 
soul  is  simply  acted  upon.  God  secures  the  initial  exercise  of  this  disposi- 
tion in  view  of  the  truth  —  in  this  change  the  soul  itself  acts.  Yet  these  two- 
parts  of  God's  operation  are  simultaneous.  At  the  same  moment  that  he 
makes  the  soul  sensitive,  he  pours  in  the  light  of  his  truth  and  induces  the- 
exercise  of  the  holy  disposition  he  has  imparted. 


448  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

1.     Scripture  Representations. 

(a)     ^Regeneration  is  a  change  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  the  sinner. 

John  3  :  7— "Ye  must  be  born  anew"  ;  Gal.  6  : 15— "neither  is  circumcision  anything,  nor  uncircumcision,  but  a 
new  creature  "  ( marg.— "  creation  " ) ;  cf.  Heb.  12  : 14  — "  the  sanctification  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  " 
—  regeneration,  therefore,  is  yet  more  necessary  to  salvation  ;  Eph.  2:2—"  by  nature  children 
•of  wrath,  even  as  the  rest " ;  Rom.  3  : 11  —  "  there  is  none  that  understandeth,  There  is  none  that  seeketh  after  God  "  ; 
John  6  :  44,  65  — "No  man  can  come  to  me,  eicept  the  Father  which  sent  me  draw  him  ....  no  man  can  come  unto  me, 
eicept  it  be  given  unto  him  of  the  Father  "  ;  Jer.  13  :  23  — "  Can  the  Etheopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ? 
then  may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil." 

(6)     It  is  a  change  in  the  inmost  principle  of  life. 

John  3  :  3  — "  Eicept  a  man  be  born  anew,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  "  ;  5  :  21  — "  as  the  Father  raiseth  the 
dead  and  quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will " ;  Rom.  6  : 13— "present  yourselves  unto  God,  as 
Alive  from  the  dead  "  ;  Eph.  2  : 1  — "  And  you  did  he  quicken,  when  ye  were  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins  "  ; 
5  : 14— "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee." 

(c)  It  is  a  change  in  the  heart,  or  governing  disposition. 

Mat.  12  :  33,  35 — "Either  make  the  tree  good,  and  its  fruit  good;  or  make  the  tree  corrupt,  and  its  fruit  corrupt ;  for 
the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit ....  The  good  man  out  of  his  good  treasure  bringeth  forth  good  things :  and  the  evil 
man  out  of  his  evil  treasure  bringeth  forth  evil  things"  ;  15  : 19— "For  out  of  the  heart  come  forth  evil  thoughts, 
murders,  adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  railings"  ;  Acts  16  : 14— "And  a  certain  woman  named  Lydia 
....  heard  us :  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  to  give  heed  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul"  ;  Rom.  6  : 17— 
"  But  thanks  be  to  God,  that  whereas  ye  were  the  servants  of  sin,  ye  became  obedient  from  the  heart  to  that  form  of 
teaching  whereunto  ye  were  delivered  " ;  10  : 10  — "  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness  "  ;  cf.  Ps.  51 : 10 
— "  create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me  "  ;  Jer.  31 :  33  — "  I  will  put  my  law  in  their 
inward  parts,  and  in  their  hearts  will  I  write  it " ;  Ez.  11 : 19  — "  And  I  will  give  them  one  heart,  and  I  will  put  a  new 
;spirit  within  you;  and  I  will  take  the  stony  heart  out  of  their  flesh,  and  will  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh." 

(d)  It  is  a  change  in  the  moral  relations  of  the  soul. 

Eph.  2  :  5 — "when  we  were  dead  through  our  trespasses,  quickened  us  together  with  Christ"  ;  4  :  23,  24 — "that  ye 
be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  your  mind,  and  put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  hath  been  created  in  righteousness  and 
holiness  of  truth"  ;  Col  1 : 13— "who  delivered  us  out  of  the  power  of  darkness,  and  translated  us  into  the  kingdom 
of  the  Son  of  his  love." 

(e)  It  is  a  change  wrought  in  connection  with  the  use  of  truth  as  a 
means. 

James  1 : 18— "Of  his  own  will  he  brought  us  forth  by  the  word  of  truth"—  here  in  connection  with  the 
special  agency  of  G  od  ( not  of  mere  natural  law )  the  truth  is  spoken  of  as  a  means ; 

1  Pet.  1 :  23— "having  been  begotten  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  through  the  word  of  God, 
which  liveth  and  abideth"  ;  2  Pet.  1 :  4 — "his  precious  and  exceeding  great  promises;  that  through  these  ye  may 
become  partakers  of  the  divine  nature" ;  cf.  Jer.  23  :  29 — "Is  not  my  word  like  as  fire?  saith  the  Lord ;  and  like  a 
hammer  that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces?"  John  15  :  3 — "Already  ye  are  clean  because  of  the  word  which  I  have 
spoken  unto  you" ;  Eph.  6  : 17— "the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God"  ;  Heb.  4  : 12— "For  the  word 
•of  God  is  living,  and  active,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  dividing  of  soul  and 
spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow,  and  quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart"  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  9— "called 
you  out  of  darkness  into  his  marvellous  light." 

(/)     It  is  an  instantaneous  change. 

John  5  :  24— "He  that  heareth  my  word  and  believeth  him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not  into  judg- 
ment, but  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life"  ;  cf.  Mat.  6  :  24— "No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other ;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  one,  and  despise  the  other." 

(g]  It  is  a  change  secretly  wrought,  inscrutable,  and  known  only  in  its 
results. 

John  3:8—"  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  voice  thereof,  but  knowest  not  whence  it  cometh, 
and  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit "  ;  cf.  Phil.  2  : 12, 13  — "  Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure " ;  2  Pet. 
1 : 10 — "Wherefore,  brethren,  give  the  more  diligence  to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure." 


REGENERATION.  449 

(h)     It  is  a  change  wrought  by  God. 

John  1 : 13— "which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God"  ; 
•3  :  5— "Eicept  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  "  ;    Eph.  1  : 19,  20 

«  t^  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  us- ward  who  believe,  according  to  that  working  of  the  strength  of  his  might 

which  he  wrought  in  Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead,  and  made  him  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  in  the  heavenly 
places"  ;  2  : 10 — "For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works,  which  God  afore  prepared  that 
we  should  walk  in  them  "  ;  1  Pet.  1:3—"  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  according  to  his 
great  mercy  begat  us  again  unto  a  living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead  "  ;  c/.  1  Cor.  3  :  6,  7 

« i  planted,  Apollos  watered ;  but  God  gave  the  increase.    So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither  he  that 

watereth ;  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase." 

(i)  It  is  a  change  accomplished  through  the  union  of  the  soul  with 
•Christ. 

Rom.  8  :  2  — "  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death  " ;    2  Cor 
5  : 17-  "If  any  man  is  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature"  (marg. :  "there  is  a  new  creation" ) ;  Gal.  1 : 15,  16— "It 

was  the  good  pleasure  of  God to  reveal  his  Son  to  me  "  ;    Eph.  2  : 10  — "  For  we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 

Christ  Jesus  for  good  works."  On  the  Scriptural  representations,  see  E.  D.  Griffin,  Divine  Effi- 
ciency, 117-164 :  H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Theology,  553-569—"  Regeneration  involves  union 
with  Christ,  and  not  a  change  of  heart  without  relation  to  him." 

2.     Necessity  of  Regeneration. 

That  all  men  without  exception  need  to  be  changed  in  moral  character,  is 
manifest,  not  only  from  Scripture  passages  already  cited,  but  from  the 
following  rational  considerations  : 

(a)  Holiness,  or  conformity  to  the  fundamental  moral  attribute  of  God, 
is  the  indispensable  condition  of  securing  the  divine  favor,  of  attaining 
peace  of  conscience,  and  of  preparing  the  soul  for  the  associations  and  em- 
ployments of  the  blest. 

(b)  The  condition  of  universal  humanity  as  by  nature  depraved,  and, 
when  arrived  at  moral  consciousness,  as  guilty  of  actual  transgression,  is 
precisely  the  opposite  of  that  holiness  without  which  the  soul  cannot  exist 
in  normal  relation  to  God,  to  self,  or  to  holy  beings. 

(c)  A  radical  internal  change  is  therefore  requisite  in  every  human  soul 
—  a  change  in  that  which  constitutes  its  character.     Holiness  cannot  be  at- 
tained, as  the  pantheist  claims,  by  a  merely  natural  growth  or  development, 
since  man's  natural  tendencies  are  wholly  in  the  direction  of  selfishness. 
There  must  be  a  reversal  of  his  inmost  dispositions  and  principles  of  action, 
if  he  is  to  see  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Martensen,  Christian  Ethics:  "When  Kant  treats  of  the  radical  evil  of  human 
nature,  he  makes  the  remarkable  statement  that,  if  a  good  will  is  to  appear  in  us,  this 
cannot  happen  through  a  partial  improvement,  nor  through  any  reform,  but  only 
through  a  revolution,  a  total  overturn  within  us,  that  is  to  be  compared  to  a  new  crea- 
tion." Those  who  hold  that  man  may  attain  perfection  by  mere  natural  growth  deny 
this  radical  evil  of  human  nature,  and  assume  that  our  nature  is  a  good  seed  which 
needs  only  favorable  external  influences  of  moisture  and  sunshine  to  bring  forth  good 
fruit.  But  human  nature  is  a  damaged  seed,  and  what  comes  of  it  will  be  aborted  and 
stunted  like  itself.  The  doctrine  of  mere  development  denies  God's  holiness,  man's  sin, 
the  need  of  Christ,  the  necessity  of  atonement,  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  justice 
of  penalty. 

Men's  good  deeds  and  reformations  may  be  illustrated  by  eddies  in  a  stream  whose 
general  current  is  downward  ;  by  walking  westward  in  a  railway-car  while  the  train  is 
.going  east ;  by  Capt.  Parry's  travelling  north,  while  the  ice-floe  on  which  he  walked 
was  moving  southward  at  a  rate  much  more  rapid  than  his  walking.  It  is  possible  to  be 
•"  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  "  (2  Tim.  3:7). 

29 


450  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    SALVATION. 

The  greatest  minds  feel,  at  least  at  times,  their  need  of  help  from  above.  Although 
Cicero  uses  the  term  'regeneration'  to  signify  what  we  should  call  naturalization, 
yet  he  recognizes  man's  dependence  upon  God :  "  Nemo  vir  magnus,  sine  aliquo  divino 
afflatu,  unquam  fuit."  Seneca:  "  Bonus  vir  sine  illo  nemo  est."  Aristotle:  "Wicked- 
ness perverts  the  judgment  and  makes  men  err  with  respect  to  practical  principles,  so- 
that  no  nmn  can  be  wise  and  judicious  who  is  not  good."  Goethe:  "Who  ne'er  his 
bread  in  sorrow  ate,  Who  ne'er  the  mournful  midnight  hours  Weeping  upon  his  bed 
has  sate,  He  knows  you  not,  ye  heavenly  Powers." 

John  Stuart  Mill  (see  Autobiography,  133-142)  knew  that  the  feeling  of  interest  in 
others'  welfare  would  make  him  happy  —  but  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  did  not  give 
him  the  feeling.  The  "  enthusiasm  of  humanity  "—  unselfish  love,  of  which  we  read  in 
"Ecce  Homo,"  is  easy  to  talk  about;  but  how  to  produce  it  — that  is  the  question. 
Drummond,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  61-94 — "There  is  no  abiogenesis  in  the 
spiritual,  more  than  in  the  natural,  world.  Can  the  stone  grow  more  and  more  living- 
until  it  enters  the  organic  world?  No,  Christianity  is  a  new  life  — it  is  Christ  in  you." 
As  natural  life  comes  to  us  mediately,  through  Adam,  so  spiritual  life  comes  to  us  medi- 
ately, through  Christ.  See  Bushnell,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  220-249 ;  Anderson,. 
Regeneration,  51-88 ;  B.  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  340-354. 

3.     The  Efficient  Cause  of  Regeneration. 

Three  views  only  need  be  considered, —  all  others  are  modifications  of 
these.  The  first  view  puts  the  efficient  cause  of  regeneration  in  the  human 
will ;  the  second,  in  the  truth  considered  as  a  system  of  motives ;  the  third, 
in  the  immediate  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

John  Stuart  Mill  regarded  cause  as  embracing  all  the  antecedents  to  an  event.  Hazard, 
Man  a  Creative  First  Cause,  12-15,  shows  that,  as  at  any  given  instant  the  whole  past  is 
everywhere  the  same,  the  effects  must,  upon  this  view,  at  each  instant  be  everywhere  one 
and  the  same.  "The  theory  that,  of  every  successive  event,  the  real  cause  is  the  whoU 
of  the  antecedents,  does  not  distinguish  between  the  passive  conditions  acted  upon  and 
changed,  and  the  active  agencies  which  act  upon  and  change  them ;  does  not  distinguish 
what  produces,  from  what  merely  precedes,  change. 

We  prefer  the  definition  given  by  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  592  —  Cause  is  "the  most 
conspicuous  and  prominent  of  the  agencies,  or  conditions,  that  produce  a  result " ;  or 
that  of  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins :  "  Any  exertion  or  manifestation  of  energy  that  produces  a 
change  is  a  cause,  and  nothing  else  is.  We  must  distinguish  cause  from  occasion,  or 
material.  Cause  is  not  to  be  defined  as  '  everything  without  which  the  effect  could  not 
be  realized.'  "  Better  still,  perhaps,  may  we  say,  that  efficient  cause  is  the  competent 
producing  power  by  which  the  effect  is  secured.  Not  the  light,  but  the  photographer,  is 
the  cause  of  the  picture;  light  is  but  the  photographer's  servant.  So  the  "word  of  God" 
is  the  "sword  of  the  Spirit"  (Eph.  6  : 17) ;  the  Spirit  uses  the  word  as  his  instrument ;  but  the 
Spirit  himself  is  the  cause  of  regeneration. 

A.     The  human  will,  as  the  efficient  cause  of  regeneration. 

This  view  takes  two  forms,  according  as  the  will  is  regarded  as  acting 
apart  from,  or  in  conjunction  with,  special  influences  of  the  truth  applied 
by  God.  Pelagians  hold  the  former  ;  Arminians  the  latter. 

(a)  To  the  Pelagian  view,  that  regeneration  is  solely  the  act  of  man,  and 
is  identical  with  self-reformation,  we  object  that  the  sinner's  depravity,  since 
it  consists  in  a  fixed  state  of  the  affections  which  determines  the  settled 
character  of  the  volitions,  amounts  to  a  moral  inability.  Without  a  renewal 
of  the  affections  from  which  all  moral  action  springs,  man  will  not  choose 
holiness  nor  accept  salvation. 

Man's  volitions  are  practically  the  shadow  of  his  affections.  It  is  as  useless  to  think  of 
a  man's  volitions  separating  themselves  from  his  affections,  and  drawing  him  toward* 
God,  as  it  is  to  think  of  man's  shadow  separating  itself  from  him,  and  leading  him  in  the 
opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  he  is  going.  Man's  affections,  to  use  Calvin's  words, 
are  like  horses  that  have  thrown  off  the  charioteer  and  are  running  wildly.  They  need 
a  new  hand  to  direct  them.  In  disease,  we  must  be  helped  by  a  physician.  We  do  not 


REGENERATION.  451 

stop  a  locomotive  engine  by  applying  force  to  the  wheels,  but  by  reversing  the  lever. 
So  the  change  in  man  must  be,  not  in  the  transient  volitions,  but  in  the  deeper  springs 
of  action  —  the  fundamental  bent  of  the  affections  and  will.  See  Henslow,  Evolution,  134. 

(6)  To  the  Arminian  view,  that  regeneration  is  the  act  of  man,  cooperat- 
ing with  divine  influences  applied  through  the  truth  (synergistic  theory), 
we  object  that  no  beginning  of  holiness  is  in  this  way  conceivable.  For,  so 
long  as  man's  selfish  and  perverse  affections  are  unchanged,  no  choosing 
God  is  possible  but  such  as  proceeds  from  supreme  desire  for  one's  own  in- 
terest and  happiness.  But  the  man  thus  supremely  bent  on  self -gratification 
cannot  see  in  God,  or  his  service,  anything  productive  of  happiness ;  or,  if  he 
could  see  in  them  anything  of  advantage,  his  choice  of  God  and  his  service 
from  such  a  motive  would  not  be  a  holy  choice,  and  therefore  could  not  be 
a  beginning  of  holiness. 

Dorner  says :  Melancthon  held  at  first  that  "  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  primary,  and  the 
word  of  God  the  secondary,  or  instrumental,  agency  in  conversion,  while  the  human 
will  allows  their  action  and  freely  yields  to  it."  Later,  he  held  that  "conversion  is  the 
result  of  the  combined  action  (copulatio)  of  three  causes,  the  truth  of  God,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  will  of  man."  This  synergistic  view  in  his  last  years  involved  the  theo- 
logian of  the  German  Reformation  in  serious  trouble.  Luthardt :  "  He  made  a  facultas 
out  of  a  mere  capacitas."  Dorner  says  again :  "  Man's  causality  is  not  to  be  coordinated 
with  that  of  God,  however  small  the  influence  ascribed  to  it.  It  is  a  purely  receptive, 
not  a  productive,  agency.  The  opposite  is  the  fundamental  Romanist  error."  Self-love 
will  never  induce  a  man  to  give  up  self-love.  Selfishness  will  not  throttle  and  cast  out 
selfishness.  "  Such  a  choice  from  a  selfish  motive  would  be  unholy,  when  judged  by 
God's  standard.  It  is  absurd  to  make  salvation  depend  upon  the  exercise  of  a  wholly 
unspiritual  power  " ;  see  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  716-720  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 179-183).  On 
the  Arminian  view,  see  Bib.  Sac.,  19  :  265,  266.  For  modification  of  this  view,  see  N.  W. 
Taylor,  Revealed  Theology,  369-406,  and  in  Christian  Spectator  for  1829. 

Dr.  Taylor,  of  New  Haven,  maintained  that,  antecedently  to  regeneration,  the  selfish 
principle  is  suspended  in  the  sinner's  heart,  and  that  then,  prompted  by  self-love,  he  uses 
the  means  of  regeneration  from  motives  that  are  neither  sinful  nor  holy.  He  holds  that 
all  men,  saints  and  sinners,  have  their  own  happiness  for  their  ultimate  end.  Regenera- 
tion involves  no  change  in  this  principle  or  motive,  but  only  a  change  in  the  governing 
purpose  to  seek  this  happiness  in  God  rather  than  in  the  world.  Dr.  Taylor  said  that 
man  could  turn  to  God,  whatever  the  Spirit  did  or  did  not  do.  He  could  turn  to  God  if 
he  would ;  but  he  could  also  turn  to  God  if  he  would  n't.  In  other  words,  he  maintained 
the  power  of  contrary  choice,  while  yet  affirming  the  certainty  that,  without  the  Holy 
Spirit's  influences,  man  would  always  choose  wrongly.  These  doctrines  caused  a  di- 
vision in  the  Congregational  body.  Those  who  opposed  Taylor  withdrew  their  support 
from  New  Haven,  and  founded  the  East  Windsor  Seminary  in  1834. 

The  chief  opponent  of  Dr.  Taylor  was  Dr.  Bennett  Tyler.  He  replied  to  Dr.  Taylor 
that  moral  character  has  its  seat,  not  in  the  purpose,  but  in  the  affections  back  of  the 
purpose.  Otherwise  every  Christian  must  be  in  a  state  of  sinless  perfection,  for  his 
governing  purpose  is  to  serve  God.  But  we  know  that  there  are  affections  and  desires 
not  under  control  of  this  purpose  —  dispositions  not  in  conformity  with  the  predomi- 
nant disposition.  How,  Dr.  Tyler  asked,  can  a  sinner,  completely  selfish,  from  a  selfish 
motive,  resolve  not  to  be  selfish,  and  so  suspend  his  selfishness  ?  "  Antecedently  to  re- 
generation, there  can  be  no  suspension  of  the  selfish  principle.  It  is  said  that,  in  sus- 
pending it,  the  sinner  is  actuated  by  self-love.  But  is  it  possible  that  the  sinner,  while 
destitute  of  love  to  God  and  every  particle  of  genuine  benevolence,  should  love  himself 
at  all  and  not  love  himself  supremely  ?  He  loves  nothing  more  than  self.  He  does  not 
regard  God  or  the  universe,  except  as  they  tend  to  promote  his  ultimate  end,  his  own 
happiness.  No  sinner  ever  suspended  this  selfishness  until  subdued  by  divine  grace. 
We  cannot  become  regenerate  by  preferring  God  to  the  world,  merely  from  regard  to 
our  own  interest.  There  is  no  necessity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  renew  the  heart,  if  self-love 
prompts  men  to  turn  from  the  world  to  God.  On  the  view  thus  combatted,  depravity 
consists  simply  in  ignorance.  All  men  need  is  enlightenment  as  to  the  best  means  of 
of  securing  their  own  happiness.  Regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is,  therefore,  not 
necessary."  See  Bennett  Tyler,  Memoir  and  Lectures,  316-381,  esp.  334,  370,  371 ;  Letters 


452  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

on  the  New  England  Theology,  21-72,  143-163.    See  also  Review  of  Taylor  and  Fitch,  by 
E.  D.  Griffin,  Divine  Efficiency,  13-54. 

B.     The  truth,  as  the  efficient  cause  of  regeneration. 

According  to  this  view,  the  truth  as  a  system  of  motives  is  the  direct  and 
immediate  cause  of  the  change  from  unholiness  to  holiness.  This  view  is 
objectionable  for  two  reasons  : 

(a)  It  erroneously  regards  motives  as  wholly  external  to  the  mind  that  is 
influenced  by  them.    This  is  to  conceive  of  them  as  mechanically  constrain- 
ing the  will,  and  is  indistinguishable  from  necessitarianism.    On  the  contrary, 
motives  are  compounded  of  external  presentations  and  internal  dispositions. 
It  is  the  soul's  affections  which  render  certain  suggestions  attractive  and 
others  repugnant  to  us.     In  brief,  the  heart  makes  the  motive. 

(b)  Only  as  truth  is  loved,  therefore,  can  it  be  a  motive  to  holiness.    But 
we  have  seen  that  the  aversion  of  the  sinner  to  God  is  such  that  the  truth 
is  hated  instead  of  loved,  and  a  thing  that  is  hated,  is  hated  more  intensely, 
the  more  distinctly  it  is  seen.     Hence  no  mere  power  of  the  truth  can  be 
regarded  as  the  efficient  cause  of  regeneration.     The  contrary  view  implies 
that  it  is  not  the  truth  which  the  sinner  hates,  but  rather  some  element  of 
error  which  is  mingled  with  it. 

Lyman  Beecher  and  Charles  G.  Finney  held  this  view.  The  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  differs  from  that  of  the  preacher  only  in  degree  — both  use  only  moral  suasion; 
both  do  nothing  more  than  to  present  the  truth ;  both  work  upon  the  soul  from  with- 
out. "  Were  I  as  eloquent  as  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  could  convert  sinners  as  well  as  he,"  said 
a  popular  preacher  of  this  school  (see  Bennett  Tyler,  Letters  on  N.  E.  Theology,  164-171). 
On  this  view,  it  would  be  absurd  to  pray  God  to  regenerate,  for  that  is  more  than  he  can 
do  —regeneration  is  simply  the  effect  of  truth. 

Miley,  in  Meth.  Quar.,  July,  1881 :  434-462,  holds  that  "  the  will  cannot  rationally 
without  motive,  but  that  it  has  always  power  to  suspend  action,  or  defer  it,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rational  examination  of  the  motive  or  end,  and  to  consider  the  opposite  moth 
or  end.    Putting  the  old  end  or  motive  out  of  view  will  temporarily  break  its  power, 
and  the  new  truth  considered  will  furnish  motive  for  right  action.    Thus,  by  using  01 
faculty  of  suspending  choice,  and  of  fixing  attention,  we  can  realize  the  permanent  el 
gibility  of  the  good  and  choose  it  against  the  evil.    This  is,  however,  not  the  realizat 
of  a  new  spiritual  life  in  regeneration,  but  the  election  of  its  attainment.    Power  to 
this  suspending  is  of  grace  [grace,  however,  given  equally  to  all].   Without  this  power, 
life  would  be  a  spontaneous  and  irresponsible  development  of  evil." 

The  view  of  Miley,  thus  substantially  given,  resembles  that  of  Dr.  Taylor,  upon  whic 
we  have  already  commented ;  but,  unlike  that,  it  makes  truth  itself,  apart  from  the  affe 
tions,  a  determining  agency  in  the  change  from  sin  to  holiness.    Our  one  reply  is 
without  a  change  in  the  affections,  the  truth  can  neither  be  known  nor  obeyed, 
cannot  be  the  means  of  being  born  again,  for  one  must  first  be  born  again  in  order 
see  the  kingdom  of  God  (John  3:3).    The  mind  will  not  choose  God,  until  God  appears  to 
be  the  greatest  good. 

Edwards,  quoted  by  Griffin,  Divine  Efficiency,  74— "Let  the  sinner  apply  his  rat 
powers  to  the  contemplation  of  divine  things,  and  let  his  belief  be  speculatively  correct ; 
still  he  is  in  such  a  state  that  those  objects  of  contemplation  will  excite  in  him  no  hoi 
affections."     The  Scriptures  declare  (Rom.  8:7)  that  "the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity"  —  n< 
against  some  error  or  mistaken  notion  of  God  —  but  "is  enmity  against  God."    It  is  God'i 
holiness,  mandatory  and  punitive,  that  is  hated.    A  clearer  view  of  that  holiness  wi 
only  increase  the  hatred.   A  woman's  hatred  of  spiders  will  never  be  changed  to  love  by 
bringing  them  close  to  her.    Magnifying  them  with  a  compound  oxy-hydrogen  micro- 
scope will  not  help  the  matter.    Tyler :  "  All  the  light  of  the  last  day  will  not  subdue 
the  sinner's  heart."   The  mere  presence  of  God,  and  seeing  God  face  to  face,  will  be  hell 
to  him,  if  his  hatred  be  not  first  changed  to  love.    See  E.  D.  Griffin,  Divine  Efficiency, 
105-116,  203-221 ;  and  Review  of  Griffin,  by  S.  R.  Mason,  Truth  Unfolded,  383-407. 


KEGENERATION.  453 

C.  The  immediate  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  the  efficient  cause  of 
regeneration. 

In  ascribing  to  the  Holy  Spirit  the  authorship  of  regeneration,  we  do  not 
affirm  that  the  divine  Spirit  accomplishes  his  work  without  any  accompany- 
ing instrumentality.  We  simply  assert  that  the  power  which  regenerates 
is  the  power  of  God,  and  that  although  conjoined  with  the  use  of  means, 
there  is  a  direct  operation  of  this  power  upon  the  sinner's  heart  which, 
changes  its  moral  character.  We  add  two  remarks  by  way  of  further 
explanation : 

(a)  The  Scriptural  assertions  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of 
his  mighty  power  in  the  soul  forbid  us  to  regard  the  divine  Spirit  in  re- 
generation as  coming  in  contact,  not  with  the  soul,  but  only  with  the  truth. 
Since  truth  is  simply  what  is,  there  can  be  no  change  wrought  in  the  truth. 
The  phrases,  "to  energize  the  truth,"  "to  intensify  the  truth,"  "to  il- 
luminate the  truth,"  have  no  proper  meaning  ;  since  even  God  cannot  make 
the  truth  more  true.  If  any  change  is  wrought,  it  must  be  wrought,  not  in 
the  truth,  but  in  the  soul. 

The  maxim,  "  Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail,"  is  very  untrue,  if  God  be  left  out  of 
the  account.  Truth  without  God  is  an  abstraction,  and  not  a  power.  It  is  a  mere  in- 
strument, useless  without  an  agent.  "  The  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God  "  ( Eph.  6  : 17 ), 
must  be  wielded  by  the  Holy  Spirit  himself.  And  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  in  contact,  not 
simply  with  the  instrument,  but  with  the  soul.  To  all  moral,  and  especially  to  all  relig- 
ious truth,  there  is  an  inward  unsusceptibility,  arising  from  the  perversity  of  the  affec- 
tions and  the  will.  This  blindness  and  hardness  of  heart  must  be  removed,  before  the 
soul  can  perceive  or  be  moved  by  the  truth.  Hence  the  Spirit  must  deal  directly  with 
the  soul.  Denovan  :  "  Our  natural  hearts  are  hearts  of  stone.  The  word  of  God  is  good 
seed  sown  on  the  hard,  trodden,  macadamized  highway,  which  the  horses  of  passion, 
the  asses  of  self-will,  the  wagons  of  imaginary  treasure,  have  made  impenetrable.  Only 
the  Holy  Spirit  can  soften  and  pulverize  this  soil." 

The  Psalmist  prays:  "Incline  my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies"  (Ps.  119  :  36),  while  of  Lydia  it  is 
said  :  "  Whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  to  give  heed  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul "  ( Acts  16  : 14 ).  We 
may  say  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  "  He  freezes  and  then  melts  the  soil,  He  breaks  the  hard, 
cold  stone,  Kills  out  the  rooted  weeds  so  vile  —  All  this  he  does  alone ;  And  every 
virtue  we  possess,  And  every  victory  won,  And  every  thought  of  holiness,  Are  his,  and 
his  alone."  Hence,  in  Ps.  90  : 16, 17,  the  Psalmist  says,  first:  "Let  thy  work  appear  unto  thy  serv- 
ants"; then  "establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us  "—God's  work  is  first  to  appear  — then 
man's  work,  which  is  God's  work  carried  out  by  human  instruments.  At  Jericho,  the 
force  was  not  applied  to  the  ram's  horns,  but  to  the  walls.  When  Jesus  healed  the  blind 
man,  his  power  was  applied,  not  to  the  spittle,  but  to  the  eyes.  The  impression  is  pre- 
pared, not  by  heating  the  seal,  but  by  softening  the  wax.  So  God's  power  acts,  not  upon 
the  truth,  but  upon  the  sinner. 

(6)  Even  if  truth  could  be  energized,  intensified,  illuminated,  there 
would  still  be  needed  a  change  in  the  moral  disposition,  before  the  soul 
could  recognize  its  beauty  or  be  affected  by  it.  No  mere  increase  of  light 
can  enable  a  blind  man  to  see  ;  the  disease  of  the  eye  must  first  be  cured 
before  external  objects  are  visible.  So  God's  work  in  regeneration  must  be 
performed  within  the  soul  itself.  Over  and  above  all  influence  of  the  truth, 
there  must  be  a  direct  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  heart.  Al- 
though wrought  in  conjunction  with  the  presentation  of  truth  to  the  intel- 
lect, regeneration  differs  from  moral  suasion  in  being  an  immediate  act  of 
God. 

It  is  false  to  say  that  soul  can  come  in  contact  with  soul  only  through  the  influence  of 
truth.  In  the  intercourse  of  dear  friends,  or  in  the  discourse  of  the  orator,  there  is  a 


454  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

personal  influence,  distinct  from  the  word  spoken,  which  persuades  the  heart  and  con- 
quers the  will.  We  sometimes  call  it  "magnetism"  —  but  we  mean  simply  that  soul 
reaches  soul,  in  ways  apart  from  the  use  of  physical  intermediaries.  Compare  the  facts, 
imperfectly  known  as  yet,  of  second  sight,  mind-reading-,  clairvoyance.  But  whether 
these  be  accepted  or  not,  it  still  is  true  that  God  has  not  made  the  human  soul  so  that 
it  is  inaccessible  to  himself.  The  omnipresent  Spirit  penetrates  and  pervades  all  spirits 
that  have  been  made  by  him. 

In  the  primary  change  of  disposition,  which  is  the  most  essential  feature  of  regenera- 
tion, the  Spirit  of  God  acts  directly  upon  the  spirit  of  man.  In  the  securing  of  the 
initial  exercise  of  this  new  disposition  — which  constitutes  the  secondary  feature  of 
God's  work  of  regeneration  —  the  truth  is  used  as  a  means.  Hence,  perhaps,  in  James  1 : 18, 
we  read :  "Of  his  own  will  he  brought  us  forth  by  the  word  of  truth  "  instead  of  "  he  begat  us  by  the 
word  of  truth  "  —  the  reference  being  to  the  secondary,  not  to  the  primary,  feature  of 
regeneration.  The  advocates  of  the  opposite  view  — the  view  that  God  works  only 
through  the  truth  as  a  means,  and  that  his  only  influence  upon  the  soul  is  a  moral  in- 
fluence—very naturally  deny  the  mystical  union  of  the  soul  with  Christ.  Squier,  for 
example,  in  his  Autobiog.,  343-378,  esp.  360,  on  the  Spirit's  influences,  quotes  John  16  :  8 
—  he  "will  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin" — to  show  that  God  regenerates  by  applying  truth 
to  men's  minds,  so  far  as  to  convince  them,  by  fair  and  sufficient  arguments,  that  they 
are  sinners. 

For  the  view  that  truth  is  "energized"  or  "intensified"  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  see 
Phelps,  New  Birth,  61, 121 ;  Walker,  Philosophy  of  Plan  of  Salvation,  chap.  18.  Per  con- 
tra, see  Wardlaw,  Syst.  Theol.,  3  :  24,  25  ;  E.  D.  Griffin,  Divine  Efficiency,  73-116;  Ander- 
son, Regeneration,  123-168 ;  Edwards,  Works,  2  :  547-597 ;  Chalmers,  Lectures  on  Romans, 
chap.  1 ;  Payne,  Divine  Sovereignty,  lect.  2} :  363-367 ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  3  :  3-37,  466- 
485.  On  the  whole  subject  of  the  Efficient  Cause  of  Regeneration,  see  Hopkins,  Works, 
1  :  454;  Dwight,  Theology,  2  :  418-4!!9;  John  Owen,  Works,  3  :  282-297,  366-538;  Robert 
Hall,  Sermon  on  the  Cause,  Agent,  and  Purpose  of  Regeneration. 

4.   •  The  Instrumentality  used  in  Regeneration. 

A.  Romanists  hold  that  regeneration  is  accomplished  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  baptism.  With  them  the  standards  of  the  English  Church, 
and  most  Lutherans  and  Disciples  ( Campbellites ),  agree.  To  this  view  we 
urge  the  following  objections  : 

(a]  The  Scriptures  represent  baptism  to  be  not  the  means  but  only  the 
sign  of  regeneration,  and  therefore  to  presuppose  and  follow  regeneration. 
For  this  reason  only  believers  —  that  is,  persons  giving  credible  evidence  of 
being  regenerated  —  were  baptized  (Acts  8  :  12).      Not  external  baptism, 
but  the  conscientious  turning  of  the  soul  to  God  which  baptism  symbolizes, 
saves  us  ( 1  Pet.  3  :  21  —  awetdf/aeur  ayadw  k-rrepurrifjLa  ).     Texts  like  John  3  :  5, 
Acts  2  :  38,  Col.  2  :  12,  Tit.  3  :  5,  are  to  be  explained  upon  the  principle  that 
regeneration,  the  inward  change,  and  baptism,  the  outward  sign  of   that 
change,  were  regarded  as  only  different  sides  or  aspects  of  the  same  fact, 
and  either  side  or  aspect  might  therefore  be  described  in  terms  derived 
from  the  other. 

(b]  Upon  this  view,  there  is  a  striking  incongruity  between  the  nature  of 
the  change  to  be  wrought  and  the  means  employed  to  produce  it.     The 
change  is  a  spiritual  one,  but  the  means  are  physical.     It  is  far  more  rational 
to  suppose  that,  in  changing  the  character  of  intelligent  beings,  God  uses 
means  which  have  relation  to  their  intelligence.     The  view  we  are  consider- 
ing is  part  and  parcel  of  a  general  scheme  of  mechanical  rather  than  moral 
salvation,  and  is  more  consistent  with  a  materialistic  than  with  a  spiritual 
philosophy. 

Acts  8  : 12—"  when  they  believed  Philip  preaching  good  tidings  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  they  were  baptized"  ;  1  Pet.  3  :  21— "which  also  after  a  true  likeness  doth  now  save  you,  even  baptism,  not  the 


REGENERATION.  455 

putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  interrogation  [  marg.— '  inquiry ',  '  appeal '  ]  of  a  good  conscience  toward 
•God  "  =  the  inquiry  of  the  soul  after  God,  the  conscientious  turning-  of  the  soul  to  God. 

Plumptre,  however,  makes  en-ep^/mo.  a  forensic  term,  equivalent  to  "  examination," 
and  including-  both  question  and  answer.  It  means,  then,  the  open  answer  of  allegiance 
to  Christ,  given  by  the  new  convert  to  the  constituted  officers  of  the  church.  "  That 
which  is  of  the  essence  of  the  saving-  power  of  baptism  is  the  confession  and  the  profes- 
sion which  precede  it.  If  this  comes  from  a  conscience  that  really  renounces  sin  and 
believes  on  Christ,  then  baptism,  as  the  channel  throug-h  which  the  grace  of  the  new 
birth  is  conveyed  and  the  convert  admitted  into  the  church  of  Christ,  'saves  us,'  but 
not  otherwise."  We  may  adopt  this  statement  from  Plumptre's  Commentary,  with  the 
alteration  of  the  word  "conveyed"  into  "symbolized"  or  "manifested."  Plumptre's 
interpretation  is,  as  he  seems  to  admit,  in  its  obvious  meaning  inconsistent  with  infant 
baptism  ;  to  us  it  seems  equally  inconsistent  with  any  doctrine  of  baptismal  regenera- 
tion. 

On  John  3  :  5— "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God"  ;  Acts 
2  :  38— "Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  remission  of  your  sins"  : 
Col.  2  :  12— "buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  were  also  raised  with  him  through  faith  "  ;  Tit.  3  :  5— "saved 
us,  through  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost"— see  exposition  under  the  head 
of  Baptism.  Here  we  need  only  say  that,  if  baptism  be  the  instrument  of  regene- 
ration, it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  patriarchs,  or  the  penitent  thief,  could  have  been 
regenerated. 

B.  The  Scriptural  view  is  that  regeneration,  so  far  as  it  secures  an 
activity  of  man,  is  accomplished  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  truth. 
Although  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  in  any  way  illuminate  the  truth,  he  does 
illuminate  the  mind,  so  that  it  can  perceive  the  truth.  In  conjunction  with 
the  change  of  man's  inner  disposition,  there  is  an  appeal  to  man's  rational 
nature  through  the  truth.  Two  inferences  may  be  drawn  : 

(a)  Man  is  not  wholly  passive  at  the  time  of  his  regeneration.  He  is 
passive  only  with  respect  to  the  change  of  his  ruling  disposition.  With 
respect  to  the  exercise  of  this  disposition,  he  is  active.  Although  the  effi- 
cient power  which  secures  this  exercise  of  the  new  disposition  is  the  power 
of  God,  yet  man  is  not  therefore  unconscious,  nor  is  he  a  mere  machine 
worked  by  God's  fingers.  On  the  other  hand,  his  whole  moral  nature  under 
Ood's  working  is  alive  and  active.  We  reject  the  "exercise-system,"  which 
regards  God  as  the  direct  author  of  all  man's  thoughts,  feelings,  and  voli- 
tions, not  only  in  its  general  tenor,  but  in  its  special  application  to  regene- 
ration. 

(6)  The  activity  of  man's  mind  in  regeneration  is  activity  in  view  of  the 
truth.  God  secures  the  initial  exercise  of  the  new  disposition  which  he  has 
wrought  in  man's  heart  in  connection  with  the  use  of  truth  as  a  means. 
Here  we  perceive  the  link  between  the  efficiency  of  God  and  the  activity  of 
man.  Only  as  the  sinner's  mind  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  truth,  does 
God  complete  his  regenerating  work.  And  as  the  change  of  inward  dispo- 
sition and  the  initial  exercise  of  it  are  never,  so  far  as  we  know,  separated 
by  any  interval  of  time,  we  can  say,  in  general,  that  Christian  work  is  suc- 
cessful only  as  it  commends  the  truth  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God  (2  Cor.  4:2). 

In  Eph.  1 : 17, 18,  there  is  recognized  the  divine  illumination  of  the  mind  to  behold  the 
truth— "may  give  unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowledge  of  him;  having  the  eyes  of  your 
heart  enlightened,  that  ye  may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  his  calling."  On  truth  as  a  means  of  regenera- 
tion, see  Hovey,  Outlines,  192,  who  quotes  Cunningham,  Historical  Theology,  1 :  617 
— '*  Regeneration  may  be  taken  in  a  limited  sense  as  including  only  the  first  impartation 
of  spiritual  life or  it  may  be  taken  in  a  wider  sense  as  comprehending  the  whole 


456  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    SALVATION. 

of  that  process  by  which  he  is  renewed  or  made  over  again  in  the  whole  man  after  the 
image  of  God  — i.  e.,  as  including  the  production  of  saving-  faith  and  union  to  Christ. 
Only  in  the  first  sense  did  the  Reformers  maintain  that  man  in  the  process  was  wholly 
passive  and  not  active ;  for  they  did  not  dispute  that,  before  the  process  in  the  second 
and  more  enlarged  sense  was  completed,  man  was  spiritually  alive  and  active,  and  con- 
tinued so  ever  after  during  the  whole  process  of  his  sanctification." 

Dr.  Hovey  suggests  an  apt  illustration  of  these  two  parts  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  work 
and  their  union  in  regeneration :  At  the  same  time  that  God  makes  the  photographic 
plate  sensitive,  he  pours  in  the  light  of  truth  whereby  the  image  of  Christ  is  formed  in 
the  soul.  Without  the  "sensitizing  "  of  the  plate,  it  would  never  fix  the  rays  of  light 
so  as  to  retain  the  image.  In  the  process  of  "  sensitizing,"  the  plate  is  passive ;  under 
the  influence  of  light,  it  is  active.  In  both  the  "  sensitizing  "  and  the  taking  of  the  pic- 
ture, the  real  agent  is  not  the  plate  nor  the  light,  but  the  photographer.  The  photog- 
rapher cannot  perform  both  operations  at  the  same  moment.  God  can.  He  gives  the 
new  affection,  and  at  the  same  instant  he  secures  its  exercise  in  view  of  the  truth. 

For  denial  of  the  instrumentality  of  truth  in  regeneration,  see  Pierce,  in  Bap.  Quar., 
Jan.,  1872 :  52.  Per  contra,  see  Anderson,  Regeneration,  89-122.  H.  B.  Smith  holds  middle 
ground.  He  says:  "In  adults  it  [regeneration]  is  wrought  most  frequently  by  the 
word  of  God  as  the  instrument.  Believing  that  infants  may  be  regenerated,  we  cannot 
assert  that  it  is  tied  to  the  word  of  God  absolutely."  We  prefer  to  say  that,  if  infants 
are  regenerated,  they  also  are  regenerated  in  conjunction  with  some  influence  of  truth 
upon  the  mind,  dim  as  the  recognition  of  it  may  be.  Otherwise  we  break  the  Scriptural 
connection  between  regeneration  and  conversion,  and  open  the  way  for  faith  in  a  physi- 
cal, magical,  sacramental  salvation.  Squier,  Autobiog.,  368,  says  well,  of  the  theory  of 
regeneration  which  makes  man  purely  passive,  that  it  has  a  benumbing  effect  upon 
preaching :  "  The  lack  of  expectation  unnerves  the  efforts  of  the  preacher ;  an  impres- 
sion of  the  fortuitous  presence  neutralizes  his  engagedness.  This  antinomian  depend- 
ence on  the  Spirit  extracts  all  vitality  from  the  pulpit  and  sense  of  responsibility  from 
the  hearer,  and  makes  preaching  an  opus  operatum,  like  the  baptismal  regeneration  of 
the  formalist." 

Squier  goes  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  regarding  the  truth  alone  as  the  cause  of 
regeneration.  His  words  are  none  the  less  a  valuable  protest  against  the  view  that 
regeneration  is  so  entirely  due  to  God  that  in  no  part  of  it  is  man  active.  It  was  with  a 
better  view  that  Luther  cried :  "  O  that  we  might  multiply  living  books,  that  is, 
preachers !  "  And  the  preacher  is  successful  only  as  he  possesses  and  unfolds  the  truth. 
John  took  the  little  book  from  the  Covenant-angel's  hand  and  ate  it  (Rev.  10  :  8-11 ).  So 
he  who  is  to  preach  God's  truth  must  feed  upon  it,  until  it  has  become  his  own.  For  the 
Exercise-system,  see  Emmons,  Works,  4  :  339-411 ;  Hagenbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  439. 

5.     The  Nature  of  the  Change  wrought  in  Regeneration. 

A.  It  is  a  change  in  which  the  governing  disposition  is  made  holy. 
This  implies  that : 

(a)  It  is  not  a  change  in  the  substance  of  either  body  or  soul.  Regene- 
ration  is  not  a  physical  change.  There  is  no  physical  seed  or  germ  implanted 
in  man's  nature.  Regeneration  does  not  add  to,  or  subtract  from,  the  num- 
ber of  man's  intellectual,  emotional,  or  voluntary  faculties.  But  regene- 
ration is  the  giving  of  a  new  direction  or  tendency  to  powers  of  affection 
which  man  possessed  before.  Man  had  the  faculty  of  love  before,  but  his 
love  was  supremely  set  on  self.  In  regeneration  the  direction  of  that  faculty 
is  changed,  and  his  love  is  now  set  supremely  upon  God. 

Eph.  2  : 10  — "  created  in  Christ  Jesus  for  good  works"— does  not  imply  that  the  old  soul  is  anni- 
hilated, and  a  new  soul  created.  The  "old  man"  which  is  "crucified"  (Rom.  6:6)  and  "put 
away"  (Eph.  4  :  22)  is  simply  the  sinful  bent  of  the  affections  and  will.  When  this  direc- 
tion of  the  dispositions  is  changed,  and  becomes  holy,  we  can  call  the  change  a  new 
birth  of  the  old  nature,  because  the  same  faculties  that  acted  before  are  acting  now,  the 
only  difference  being  that  now  these  faculties  are  set  toward  God  and  purity.  Or,  re- 
garding the  change  from  another  point  of  view,  we  may  speak  of  man  as  having  a 
"new  nature,"  as  "recreated,"  as  being  a  "new  creature,"  because  this  direction  of  the 


REGENERATION.  457 

affections  and  will,  which  ensures  a  different  life  from  what  was  led  before,  is  some- 
thing totally  new,  and  due  wholly  to  the  regenerating  act  of  God.  In  1  Pet.  1 :  23— "be- 
gotten again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible  "—  all  materialistic  inferences  from  the  word 
"seed,"  as  if  it  implied  the  implantation  of  a  physical  germ,  are  prevented  by  the  follow- 
ing explanatory  words  :  "  through  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth." 

So,  too,  when  we  describe  regeneration  as  the  communication  of  a  new  life  to  the 
soul,  we  should  not  conceive  of  this  new  life  as  a  substance  imparted  or  infused  into  us- 
The  new  life  is  rather  a  new  direction  and  activity  of  our  own  affections  and  will. 
There  is,  indeed,  a  union  of  the  soul  with  Christ ;  Christ  dwells  in  the  renewed  heart ; 
Christ's  entrance  into  the  soul  is  the  cause  and  accompaniment  of  its  regeneration.  But 
this  entrance  of  Christ  into  the  soul  is  not  itself  regeneration.  We  must  distinguish  the 
effect  from  the  cause  ;  otherwise  we  shall  be  in  danger  of  a  pantheistic  confounding  of 
our  own  personality  and  life  with  the  personality  and  life  of  Christ.  Christ  is  indeed 
our  life,  in  the  sense  of  being  the  cause  and  supporter  of  our  life,  but  he  is  not  our  life 
in  the  sense  that,  after  our  union  with  him,  our  individuality  ceases.  The  effect  of  union 
with  Christ  is  rather  that  our  individuality  is  enlarged  and  exalted  (John  10  : 10  —  "I  came  that 
they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abundantly." 

We  must  therefore  take  with  a  grain  of  allowance  the  generally  excellent  words  of 
Gordon,  Twofold  Life,  22  — "  Regeneration  is  the  communication  of  the  divine  nature 
to  man  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  through  the  word  "  ( 2  Pet.  1:4).  "As  Christ 
was  made  partaker  of  human  nature  by  incarnation,  that  so  he  might  enter  into  truest 
fellowship  with  us,  we  are  made  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  by  regeneration,  that 
we  may  enter  into  truest  fellowship  with  God.  Regeneration  is  not  a  change  of  nature, 
i.e.,  a  natural  heart  bettered.  Eternal  life  is  not  natural  life  prolonged  into  endless 
duration.  It  is  the  divine  life  imparted  to  us,  the  very  life  of  God  communicated  ta 
the  human  soul,  and  bringing  forth  there  its  proper  fruit." 

So,  too,  we  would  criticize  the  doctrine  of  Drummond,  Nat.  Law  in  the  Spir.  World  r 
"  People  forget  the  persistence  of  force.  Instead  of  transforming  energy,  they  try  ta 
create  it.  We  must  either  depend  on  environment,  or  be  self-sufficient.  The  'cannot  bear 
fruit  of  itself '  ( John  15  :  4 )  is  the  '  cannot '  of  natural  law.  Natural  fruit  flourishes  with  air  and 
sunshine.  The  difference  between  the  Christian  and  the  non-Christian  is  the  difference 
between  the  organic  and  the  inorganic.  The  Christian  has  all  the  characteristics  of  life  : 
assimilation,  waste,  reproduction,  spontaneous  action."  See  criticism  of  Drummond, 
by  Murphy,  in  Brit.  Quar.,  1884 : 118-125—"  As  in  resurrection  there  is  a  physical  connec- 
tion with  the  old  body,  so  in  regeneration  there  is  a  natural  connection  with  the  old 
soul."  Also,  Brit.  Quar.,  July,  1880,  art. :  Evolution  Viewed  in  Relation  to  Theology  — 
"  The  regenerating  agency  of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  symbolized,  not  by  the  vitalization  of 
dead  matter,  but  by  the  agency  of  the  organizing  intelligence  which  guides  the  evolu- 
tion of  living  beings." 

(6)  Regeneration  involves  an  enlightenment  of  the  understanding  and  a 
rectification  of  the  volitions.  But  it  seems  most  consonant  with  Scripture 
and  with  a  correct  psychology  to  regard  these  changes  as  immediate  and 
necessary  consequences  of  the  change  of  disposition  already  mentioned, 
rather  than  as  the  primary  and  central  facts  in  regeneration.  The  taste  for 
truth  logically  precedes  perception  of  the  truth,  and  love  for  God  logically 
precedes  obedience  to  God  ;  indeed,  without  love  no  obedience  is  possible. 
Reverse  the  lever  of  affection,  and  this  moral  locomotive,  without  further 
change,  will  move  away  from  sin,  and  toward  truth  and  God. 

Texts  which  seem  to  imply  that  a  right  taste,  disposition,  affection,  logically  precedes 
both  knowledge  of  God  and  obedience  to  God,  are  the  following :  Ps.  34  :  8— "0  taste  and  see 
that  the  Lord  is  good  "  ;  119  :  36  — "  Incline  my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies  "  ;  Jer.  24  :  7  — "  I  will  give  them  a  heart 
to  know  me"  ;  Mat.  5  :  8— "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart:  for  they  shall  see  God"  ;  John  7  : 17— "If  any  man 
willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  be  of  God  "  ;  Acts  16  : 14  —  Of  Lydia  it  is  said  i 
"  Whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  to  give  heed  unto  the  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul "  ;  Eph.  1  : 18—"  having  the 
eyes  of  your  heart  enlightened." 

The  text  John  1  :  12, 13—"  but  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God, 
even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name :  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God"— seems  at  first  sight  to  imply  that  faith  is  the  condition  of  regeneration, 
and  therefore  prior  to  it.  "  But  if  efovo-i'ai'  here  signifies  the  '  right '  or  '  privilege '  of 


458  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    SALVATION. 

sonship,  it  is  a  right  which  may  presuppose  faith  as  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  regenera- 
tion —  a  work  apart  from  which  no  genuine  faith  exists  in  the  soul.  But  it  is  p'ossible 
that  John  means  to  say  that,  in  the  case  of  all  who  received  Christ,  their  power  to  believe 
was  given  to  them  by  him.  In  the  original  the  emphasis  is  on  'gave,'  and  this  is  shown 
toy  the  order  of  the  words  "  ( Hovey ). 

(c)  It  is  objected,  indeed,  that  we  know  only  of  mental  substance  and  of 
mental  acts,  and  that  the  new  disposition  or  state  just  mentioned,  since 
it  is  not  an  act,  must  be  regarded  as  a  new  substance,  and  so  lack  all  moral 
quality.  But  we  reply  that,  besides  substance  and  acts,  there  are  habits, 
tendencies,  proclivities,  some  of  them  native  and  some  of  them  acquired. 
They  are  voluntary,  and  have  moral  character.  If  we  can  by  repeated  acts 
originate  sinful  tendencies,  God  can  surely  originate  in  us  holy  tendencies. 
Such  holy  tendencies  formed  a  part  of  the  nature  of  Adam,  as  he  came  from 
the  hand  of  God.  As  the  result  of  the  fall,  we  are  born  with  tendencies 
toward  evil  for  which  we  are  responsible.  Regeneration  is  a  restoration  of 
the  original  tendencies  toward  God  which  were  lost  by  the  fall.  Such  holy 
tendencies  (tastes,  dispositions,  affections)  are  not  only  not  unmoral  —  they 
are  the  only  possible  springs  of  right  moral  action.  Only  in  the  restoration 
of  them  does  man  become  truly  free. 

On  holy  affection  as  the  proper  spring  of  holy  action,  see  Hodge,  Essays  and  Reviews, 
1 :  48;  Owen  on  Holy  Spirit,  in  Works,  3  :  297-336;  Charnock  on  Regeneration ;  Andrew 
Fuller,  Works,  2  :  461-471,  512-560,  and  3  :  796;  Ed  wards  on  Religious  Affections,  in  Works, 
3  : 1-21 ;  Bellamy,  Works,  2  :  502 ;  Dwight,  Works,  2  :  418 ;  Woods,  Works,  3  : 1-21 ;  Ander- 
son, Regeneration,  21-50. 

B.  It  is  an  instantaneous  change,  in  a  region  of  the  soul  below  conscious- 
ness, and  is  therefore  known  only  in  its  results. 

(a)  It  is  an  instantaneous  change. — Regeneration  is  not  a  gradual  work. 
Although  there  may  be  a  gradual  work  of  God's  providence  and  Spirit,  pre- 
paring the  change,  and  a  gradual  recognition  of  it  after  it  has  taken  place, 
there  must  be  an  instant  of  time  when,  under  the  influence  of  God's  Spirit, 
the  disposition  of  the  soul,  just  before  hostile  to  God,  is  changed  to  love. 
Any  other  view  assumes  an  intermediate  state  of  indecision  which  has  no 
moral  character  at  all,  and  confounds  regeneration  either  with  conviction  or 
with  sanctification. 

Conviction  of  sin  is  an  ordinary,  if  not  an  invariable,  antecedent  of  regeneration.  It 
results  from  the  contemplation  of  truth.  It  is  often  accompanied  by  fear,  remorse,  and 
cries  for  mercy.  But  these  desires  and  fears  are  not  signs  of  regeneration.  They  are 
selfish.  They  are  quite  consistent  with  manifest  and  dreadful  emnity  to  God.  They 
have  a  hopeful  aspect,  simply  because  they  are  evidence  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  striving 
with  the  soul.  But  this  work  of  the  Spirit  is  not  yet  regeneration ;  at  most,  it  is  prepa- 
ration for  regeneration.  So  far  as  the  sinner  is  concerned,  he  is  more  of  a  sinner  than 
ever  before ;  because,  under  more  light  than  has  ever  before  been  given  him,  he  is  still 
rejecting  Christ  and  resisting  the  Spirit.  The  word  of  God  and  the  Holy  Spirit  appeal  to 
lower  as  Avell  as  to  higher  motives ;  most  men's  concern  about  religion  is  determined,  at 
the  outset,  by  hope  or  fear. 

All  these  motives,  though  they  are  not  the  highest,  are  yet  proper  motives  to  in- 
fluence the  soul ;  it  is  right  to  seek  God  from  motives  of  self-interest,  and  because  we 
desire  heaven.  But  the  seeking  which  not  only  begins,  but  ends,  upon  this  lower  plane, 
is  never  successful.  Until  the  soul  gives  itself  to  God  from  motives  of  love,  it  is  never 
.saved.  And  so  long  as  these  preliminary  motives  rule,  regeneration  has  not  yet  taken 
place.  Bible-reading,  and  prayers,  and  church-attendance,  and  partial  reformations, 
are  certainly  better  than  apathy  or  outbreaking  sin.  They  may  be  signs  that  God  is 
working  in  the  soul.  But  without  complete  surrender  to  God,  they  may  be  accompanied 


REGENERATION. 


459 


with  the  greatest  guilt  and  the  greatest  danger ;  simply  because,  under  such  influences, 
the  withholding  of  submission  implies  the  most  active  hatred  to  God,  and  opposition  to 
his  will.  Instance  cases  of  outward  reformation  that  preceded  regeneration.  Park : 
•"  The  soul  is  a  monad,  and  must  turn  all  at  once.  If  we  are  standing  on  the  line,  we  are 
yet  unregenerate.  We  are  regenerate  only  when  we  cross  it." 

So,  too,  we  must  not  confound  regeneration  with  sanctifl cation.  Sanctiflcation,  as  the 
development  of  the  new  affection,  is  gradual  and  progressive.  But  no  beginning  is 
progressive  or  gradual ;  and  regeneration  is  a  beginning  of  the  new  affection.  We  may 
gradually  come  to  the  knowledge  that  a  new  affection  exists,  but  the  knowledge  of  a 
beginning  is  one  thing  ;  the  beginning  itself  is  another  thing.  Luther  had  experienced 
a  change  of  heart,  long  before  he  knew  its  meaning  or  could  express  his  new  feelings  in 
scientific  form.  It  is  not  in  the  sense  of  a  gradual  regeneration,  but  in  the  sense  of  a 
.gradual  recognition  of  the  fact  of  regeneration,  and  a  progressive  enjoyment  of  its 
results,  that  "the  path  of  the  righteous"  is  said  to  be  "as  the  shining  light"— the  morning-dawn  that 
begins  in  faintness,  but  —"that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day  "  ( Prov.  4  : 18).  Cf.  2  Cor.  4  : 
4  —"the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the  unbelieving,  that  the  light  of  the  gospsl  of  the  glory  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  not  dawn  upon  them."  Here  the  recognition  of  God's  work  is  described 
as  gradual;  that  the  work  itself  is  instantaneous,  appears  from  the  following  verse  6  — 
•"Seeing  it  is  God  that  said,  Light  shall  shine  out  of  darkness,  who  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Illustrate  by  the  unconscious  crossing  of  the  line  which  separates  one  State  of  the 
Federal  Union  from  another.  From  this  doctrine  of  instantaneous  regeneration,  we 
may  infer  the  duty  of  reaping,  as  well  as  of  sowing :  John  4  :  38  — "  I  sent  you  to  reap."  "  It  is 
a  mistaken  notion  that  it  takes  God  a  long  time  to  give  increase  to  the  seed  planted  in  a 
sinner's  heart.  This  grows  out  of  the  idea  that  regeneration  is  a  matter  of  training ; 
that  a  soul  must  be  educated  from  a  lost  state  into  a  state  of  salvation.  Let  us  remem- 
ber that  three  thousand,  whom  in  the  morning  Peter  called  murderers  of  Christ,  were 
before  night  regenerated  and  baptized  members  of  his  church."  Drummond,  in  his 
Nat.  Law  in  the  Spir.  World,  remarks  upon  the  humaneness  of  sudden  conversion.  As 
self-limitation,  self-mortification,  suicide  of  the  old  nature,  it  is  well  to  have  it  at  once 
done  and  over  with,  and  not  to  die  by  degrees. 

(6)  This  change  takes  place  in  a  region  of  the  soul  below  consciousness. 
—  It  is  by  no  means  true  that  God's  work  in  regeneration  is  always  recognized 
by  the  subject  of  it.  Oil  the  other  hand,  it  is  never  directly  perceived  at 
All.  The  working  of  God  in  the  human  soul,  since  it  contravenes  no  law  of 
man's  being,  but  rather  puts  him  in  the  full  and  normal  possession  of  his 
own  powers,  is  secret  and  inscrutable.  Although  man  is  conscious,  he  is 
not  conscious  of  God's  regenerating  agency. 

We  know  our  own  natural  existence  only  through  the  phenomena  of  thought  and  sense. 
So  we  know  our  own  spiritual  existence,  as  new  creatures  in  Christ,  only  through  the 
new  feelings  and  experiences  of  the  soul.  "  The  will  does  not  need  to  act  solitarily,  in 
order  to  act  freely."  God  acts  on  the  will,  and  the  resulting  holiness  is  true  freedom. 

John  8  :  36  — "  If  therefore  the  Son  shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed."  We  have  the  consciousness 
of  freedom  ;  but  the  act  of  God  in  giving  us  this  freedom  is  beyond  or  beneath  our  con- 
sciousness. 

(c)  This  change,  however,  is  recognized  indirectly  in  its  results. — At 
the  moment  of  regeneration,  the  soul  is  conscious  only  of  the  truth  and  of 
its  own  exercises  with  reference  to  it.  That  God  is  the  author  of  its  new 
affection  is  an  inference  from  the  new  character  of  the  exercises  which  it 
prompts.  The  human  side  or  aspect  of  regeneration  is  Conversion.  This, 
and  the  Sanctification  which  follows  it  ( including  the  special  gifts  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ),  are  the  sole  evidences  in  any  particular  case  that  regeneration 
is  an  accomplished  fact. 

Regeneration,  though  it  is  the  birth  of  a  perfect  child,  is  still  the  birth  of  a  child.  The 
child  is  to  grow,  and  the  growth  is  sanctification ;  in  other  words,  Sanctification,  as  we 
shall  see,  is  simply  the  strengthening  and  development  of  the  holy  affection  which  be- 
gins its  existence  in  regeneration.  Hence  the  subject  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  — 


460  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

salvation  by  faith — includes  not  only  justification  by  faith  ( Chapters  1-7 ),  but  sanctification- 
by  faith  (Chapters  8-16).  On  evidences  of  regeneration,  see  Anderson,  Regeneration,  169- 
214,  227-295 ;  Woods,  Works,  44-55. 

III.     CONVERSION. 

Conversion  is  that  voluntary  change  in  the  mind  of  the  sinner,  in  which 
he  turns,  on  the  one  hand,  from  sin,  and  on  the  other  hand,  to  Christ.  The 
former  or  negative  element  in  conversion,  namely,  the  turning  from  sin, 
we  denominate  repentance.  The  latter  or  positive  element  in  conversion, 
namely,  the  turning  to  Christ,  we  denominate  faith. 

For  account  of  repentance  and  faith  as  elements  of  conversion,  see  Andrew  Fuller, 
Works,  1 :  666 ;  Luthardt,  Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  3d  ed.,  202-206.  The  two  elements 
of  conversion  seem  to  be  in  the  mind  of  Paul,  when  he  writes  in  Rom.  6  : 11  — "  Reckon  ye  also 
yourselves  to  be  dead  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  Col.  3  :  3  — "  ye  died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God." 

(a)  Conversion  is  the  human  side  or  aspect  of  that  fundamental  spiritual 
change  which,  as  viewed  from  the  divine  side,  we  call  regeneration.     It  is 
simply  man's  turning.     The  Scriptures  recognize  the  voluntary  activity  of 
the  human  soul  in  this  change  as  distinctly  as  they  recognize  the  causative 
agency  of  God.     While  God  turns  men  to  himself  ( Ps.  85  :  4  ;  Song  1:4; 
Jer.  31 :  18 ;   Lam.  5  :  21 ),  men  are  exhorted  to  turn  themselves  to  God 
(Prov.  1:23;  Is.  31  :  6;  59:20;  Ez.  14:6;  18:32;  33:9,  11;   Joel  12  : 
12-14  ).     While  God  is  represented  as  the  author  of  the  new  heart  and  the 
new  spirit  ( Ps.  51  :  10 ;  Ez.  11  :  19  ;  36  :  26),  men  are  commanded  to  make 
for  themselves  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit  ( Ez.  18  :  31 ;   2  Cor.  7:1;   cf. 
Phil.  2:12;   Eph.  5:13). 

Ps.  85  :  4 — "Turn  us,  0  God  of  our  salvation";  Song  1 :  4 — "Draw  me,  we  will  run  after  thee";  Jer.  31 : 18- 
— "  turn  thou  me,  and  I  shall  be  turned  "  ;  Lam.  5  :  21  — "  Turn  thou  us  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  and  we  shall  be  turned." 

Prov.  1 :  23— "Turn  you  at  my  reproof:  Behold,  I  will  pour  out  my  spirit  unto  you" ;  Is.  31 :  6— "Turn  ye  unto 
him  from  whom  ye  have  deeply  revolted,  0  children  of  Israel"  ;  59  :  20— "And  a  redeemer  shall  come  to  Zion,  and 
unto  them  that  turn  from  transgression  in  Jacob  "  ;  Ez.  14  :  6— "Return  ye,  and  turn  yourselves  from  your  idols" ; 
18  :  32  — "  turn  yourselves  and  live  "  ;  33  :  9  — "  if  thou  warn  the  wicked  of  his  way  to  turn  from  it,  and  he  turn  not 
from  his  way,  he  shall  die  in  his  iniquity  " ;  11  — "  turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways ;  for  why  will  ye  die,  0  house 
of  Israel  ?  "  Joel  2  : 12-14  — "  turn  ye  unto  me  with  all  your  heart." 

Ps.  51  : 10  — "  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me  "  ;  Ez.  11 : 19  — "  And  I  will  give 
them  one  heart,  and  I  will  put  a  new  spirit  within  you,  and  I  will  take  the  stony  heart  out  of  their  flesh  and  will  give 
them  an  heart  of  flesh  " ;  36  :  26  — "  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you." 

Ez.  18  :  31  — "  Cast  away  from  you  all  your  transgressions,  whereby  ye  have  transgressed ;  and  make  you  a  new 
heart  and  a  new  spirit:  for  why  will  ye  die,  0  house  of  Israel?"  2  Cor.  7  : 1— "Having,  therefore,  these  promises, 
beloved,  let  us  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God  "  ;  cf.  PhiL 
2  : 12, 13  — "  work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  which  worketh  in  you  both  to  will 
and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure  " ;  Eph.  5  : 14  — "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall 
shine  upon  thee." 

(b)  This  twofold  method  of  representation  can  be  explained  only  when 
we  remember  that  man's  powers  may  be  interpenetrated  and  quickened  by 
the  divine,  not  only  without  destroying  man's  freedom,  but  with  the  result 
of  making  man  for  the  first  time  truly  free.     Since  the  relation  between  the 
divine  and  the  human  activity  is  not  one  of  chronological  succession,  man 
is  never  to  wait  for  God's  working.     If  he  is  ever  regenerated,  it  must  be  in 
and  through  a  movement  of  his  own  will,  in  which  he  turns  to  God  as 
unconstrainedly  and  with  as  little  consciousness  of  God's  operation  upon 
him,  as  if  no  such  operation  of  God  were  involved  in  the  change.     And  in 


CONVERSION.  461 

preaching,  we  are  to  press  upon  men  the  claims  of  God  and  their  duty  of 
immediate  submission  to  Christ,  with  the  certainty  that  they  who  do  so  sub- 
mit will  subsequently  recognize  this  new  and  holy  activity  of  their  own 
wills  as  due  to  a  working  within  them  of  divine  power. 

Ps.  110  :  3— "Thy  people  offer  themselves  willingly  in  the  day  of  thy  power."  The  act  of  God  is  accom- 
.panied  by  an  activity  of  man.  Dorner :  "  God's  act  initiates  action."  There  is  indeed 
an  original  changing:  of  man's  tastes  and  affections,  and  in  this  man  is  passive.  But  this 
is  only  the  first  aspect  of  regeneration.  In  the  second  aspect  of  it  — the  rousing  of 
man's  powers  — God's  action  is  accompanied  by  man's  activity,  and  regeneration  is  but 
the  obverse  side  of  conversion.  Luther's  word :  "  Man,  in  conversion,  is  purely  passive," 
is  true  only  of  the  first  part  of  the  change;  and  here,  by  "conversion,"  Luther  means 
"  regeneration."  Melancthon  said  better :  "  Non  est  enim  coSctio,  ut  voluntas  non  possit 
repugnare:  trahit  Deus,  sed  volentem  trahit."  See  Meyer  on  Rom.  8:14 — "  led  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  "  :  "  The  expression,"  Meyer  says,  "  is  passive,  though  without  prejudice  to  the  hu- 
man will,  as  verse  13  proves  :  'by  the  Spirit  ye  put  to  death  the  deeds  of  the  body.'  " 

As,  by  a  well  known  principle  of  hydrostatics,  the  water  contained  in  a  little  tube  can 
balance  the  water  of  a  whole  ocean,  so  God's  grace  can  be  balanced  by  man's  will.  As 
sunshine  on  the  sand  produces  nothing  unless  man  sow  the  seed,  and  as  a  fair  breeze 
does  not  propel  the  vessel  unless  man  spread  the  sails,  so  the  influences  of  God's  Spirit 
require  human  agencies,  and  work  through  them.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  sovereign  —  he 
bloweth  where  he  listeth.  Even  though  there  be  uniform  human  conditions,  there  will 
not  be  uniform  spiritual  results.  Results  are  often  independent  of  human  conditions 
as  such.  This  is  the  truth  emphasized  by  Andrew  Fuller.  But  this  does  not  prevent  us 
from  saying  that,  whenever  God's  spirit  works  in  regeneration,  there  is  always  accom- 
panying it  a  voluntary  change  in  man,  which  we  call  conversion,  and  that  this  change  is 
as  free,  and  as  really  man's  own  work,  as  if  there  were  no  divine  influence  upon  him. 

(c)  From  the  fact  that  the  word  '  conversion  '  means  simply  a  '  turning,' 
•every  turning  of  the  Christian  from  sin,  subsequent  to  the  first,  may,  in  a 
subordinate  sense,  be  denominated  a  conversion  (Luke  22:32).  Since 
regeneration  is  not  complete  sanctification,  and  the  change  of  governing 
disposition  is  not  identical  with  complete  purification  of  the  nature,  such 
subsequent  turnings  from  sin  are  necessary  consequences  and  evidences  of 
the  first  ( c/.  John  13  :  10).  But  they  do  not,  like  the  first,  imply  a  change 
in  the  governing  disposition, —  they  are  rather  new  manifestations  of  a  dis- 
position already  changed.  For  this  reason,  conversion  proper,  like  the 
regeneration  of  which  it  is  the  obverse  side,  can  occur  but  once.  The 
phrase  'second  conversion,'  even  if  does  not  imply  radical  misconception 
of  the  nature  of  conversion,  is  misleading.  We  prefer,  therefore,  to  describe 
these  subsequent  experiences,  not  by  the  term  '  conversion, '  but  by  such 
phrases  as  '  breaking  off,  forsaking,  returning  from,  neglects  or  transgres- 
sions,' and  'coming  back  to  Christ,  trusting  anew  in  him.'  It  is  with 
repentance  and  faith,  as  elements  in  that  first  and  radical  change  by  which 
the  soul  enters  upon  a  state  of  salvation,  that  we  have  now  to  do. 

Luke  22  :  31,  32  — "  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  asked  to  have  you,  that  he  might  sift  you  as  wheat :  but  I  made  sup- 
plication for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not :  and  do  thou,  when  once  thou  hast  turned  again  [  A.  V. :  'art  converted '  ], 
stablish  thy  brethren  "  ;  John  13  : 10  — "  He  that  is  bathed  [  has  taken  a.  full  bath  ]  needeth  not  save  to  wash  his 
feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit  [  as  a  whole  ]." 

On  the  relation  between  the  divine  and  the  human  agencies,  we  quote  a  different  view 
from  another  writer:  "God  decrees  to  employ  means  which  in  every  case  are  suffi- 
cient, and  which  in  certain  cases  it  is  foreseen  will  be  effectual.  Human  action  converts 
a  sufficient  means  into  an  effectual  means.  The  result  is  not  always  according  to  the 
varying  use  of  means.  The  power  is  all  of  God.  Man  has  power  to  resist  only. 
There  is  an  universal  influence  of  the  Spirit,  but  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  vary  in 
different  cases,  just  as  external  opportunities  do.  The  love  of  holiness  is  blunted,  but  it 
still  lingers.  The  Holy  Spirit  quickens  it.  When  this  love  is  wholly  lost,  sin  against 


462  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION". 

the  Holy  Ghost  results.  Before  regeneration  there  is  a  desire  for  holiness,  an  apprehen- 
sion of  its  beauty,  but  this  is  overborne  by  a  greater  love  for  sin.  If  the  man  does  not 
quickly  grow  worse,  it  is  not  because  of  positive  action  on  his  part,  but  only  because 
negatively  he  does  not  resist  as  he  might.  'Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock.' 
God  leads  at  first  by  a  resistible  influence.  When  man  yields,  God  leads  by  an  irresist- 
ible influence.  The  second  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  confirms  the  Christian's  choice. 
This  second  influence  is  called  '  sealing.'  There  is  no  necessary  interval  of  time  between 
the  two.  Prevenient  grace  comes  first  ;  conversion  comes  after." 

To  this  view,  we  would  reply  that  a  partial  love  for  holiness,  and  an  ability  to  choose  it 
before  God  works  effectually  upon  the  heart,  seem  to  contradict  those  Scriptures  which 
assert  that  "  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  enmity  against  God  "  (  Rom.  8:7),  and  that  all  good  works  are  the 
result  of  God's  new  creation  (  Bph.  2  :  10  ).  Conversion  does  not  precede  regeneration  —  it 
chronologically  accompanies  regeneration,  though  it  logically  follows  it. 

1.     Repentance. 

We  may  analyze  repentance  into  three  constituents,  each  succeeding  term 
of  which  includes  and  implies  the  one  preceding  : 

A.  An  intellectual  element,  —  recognition  of  sin  as  involving  personal 
guilt,  defilement,  and  helplessness  (Ps.  51  :  3,  7,  11).  If  unaccompanied  by 
the  following  elements,  this  recognition  may  manifest  itself  in  fear  of  pun- 
ishment, although  as  yet  there  is  no  hatred  of  sin.  This  element  is  indica- 
ted in  the  Scripture  phrase  tTtiyvucLs  djuapriac  (Rom.  3  :  20  ;  cf.  1  :  32).  • 


Ps.  51  :  3,  11  —  "  For  I  acknowledge  my  transgressions,  And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me  .....  Cast  me  not  away  from 
thy  presence,  And  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me  "  ;  Rom.  3  :  20  —  "  through  the  law  cometh  the  knowledge  of  sin  "  ;. 
cf.  1  :  32  —  "who,  knowing  the  ordinance  of  God,  that  they  which  practice  such  things  are  worthy  of  death,  not  only 
do  the  same,  but  also  consent  with  them  that  practice  them." 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  God  requires  us  to  cherish  no  views  or  emotions  that  con- 
tradict the  truth.  He  wants  of  us  no  false  humility.  Humility  (humus)  =  groundness- 

—  a  coming  down  to  the  hard-pan  of  facts  —  a  facing  of  the  truth.    Repentance,  there- 
fore, is  not  a  calling  ourselves  by  hard  names.    It  is  not  cringing,  or  exaggerated  self- 
contempt.    It  is  simple  recognition  of  what  we  are. 

B.  An  emotional  element,  —  sorrow  for  sin  as  committed  against  goodness 
and  justice,  and  therefore  hateful  to  God,  and  hateful  in  itself  (Ps.  51  :  1, 
2,  10,  14  ).     This  element  of  repentance  is  indicated  in  the  Scripture  word 
/ueTa.[i£?io/Liai.    If  accompanied  by  the  following  elements,  it  is  a  Mirrj  /card  Qsov. 
If  not  so  accompanied,  it  is  a  AIOTT?  rov  n6ap.ov  =  remorse  and  despair  (  Mat. 
27  :  3  ;  Luke  18  :  23  ;  2  Cor.  7  :  9,  10). 

Ps.  51  :  1,  2,  10,  14  —  "  Have  mercy  upon  me  —  blot  out  my  transgressions.  Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 
And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin  ....  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God  .....  Deliver  me  from  blood  guiltiness,  0  God  "  ; 
Mat.  27  :  3—  "Then  Judas,  which  betrayed  him,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  condemned,  repented  himself,  and  brought. 
back  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  saying,  I  have  sinned  in  that  I  betrayed  innocent  blood  "  ; 
Luke  18  :  23  —  "when  he  heard  these  things,  he  became  exceeding  sorrowful;  for  he  was  very  rich"  ;  2  Cor.  7:9,  10 

—  "Now  I  rejoice,  not  that  ye  were  made  sorry,  but  that  ye  were  made  sorry  unto  repentance:  for  ye  were  made  sorry 
after  a  godly  sort  ----  For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repentance  unto  salvation,  a  repentance  which  bringeth  no  regret  :  but 
the  sorrow  of  the  world  worketh  death." 

C.  A  voluntary  element,  —  inward  turning  from  sin  and  disposition  to 
seek  pardon  and  cleansing  (Ps.  51  :  5,  7,  10;   Jer.  25  :  5).     This  includes 
and  implies  the  two  preceding  elements,  and  is  therefore  the  most  import- 
ant aspect  of  repentance.      It  is  indicated  in  the  Scripture  term  /ueTavota 
(Acts  2  :  38  ;  Rom.  2  :  4). 

Ps.  51  :  5,  7,  10—  "Behold,  I  was  shapen  in  iniquity:  And  in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me  ....  Purge  me  with 
hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean  :  Wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow  ....  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  And 


CONVERSION.  465 

renew  a  right  spirit  within  me  "  ;  Jer.  25  :  5  — "  Return  ye  now  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the  evil  of  your 
doings  "  ;  Acts  2  :  38  — "  And  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ"  ;  Rom.  2  :  4  — "despisest  thou  the  riches  of  his  goodness  and  forbearance  and  long-suffering,  not  knowing  that 
the  goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance  ?  " 

In  broad  distinction  from  the  Scriptural  doctrine,  we  find  the  Romanist 
view,  which  regards  the  three  elements  of  repentance  as  the  following : 
( 1 )  contrition  ;  ( 2 )  confession  ;  ( 3 )  satisfaction.  Of  these,  contrition  is 
the  only  element  properly  belonging  to  repentance;  yet  from  this  contri- 
tion the  Romanist  excludes  all  sorrow  for  sin  of  nature.  Confession  is  con- 
fession to  the  priest ;  and  satisfaction  is  the  sinner's  own  doing  of  outward 
penance,  as  a  temporal  and  symbolic  submission  and  reparation  to  violated 
law.  This  view  is  false  and  pernicious,  in  that  it  confounds  repentance  with 
its  outward  fruits,  conceives  of  it  as  exercised  rather  toward  the  church 
than  toward  God,  and  regards  it  as  a  meritorious  ground,  instead  of  a  mere 
condition,  of  pardon. 

On  the  Romanist  doctrine  of  Penance,  Thornwell  ( Collected  Writings,  1 : 423)  remarks : 
"  The  culpa  may  be  remitted,  they  say,  while  the  poetia  is  to  some  extent  retained."  The 
priest  absolves,  not  declaratively,  but  judicially.  Denying-  the  greatness  of  the  sin,  it 
makes  man  able  to  become  his  own  Savior.  Christ's  satisfaction,  for  sins  after  baptism^ 
is  not  sufficient ;  our  satisfaction  is  sufficient.  But  performance  of  one  duty,  we  object, 
cannot  make  satisfaction  for  the  violation  of  another. 

In  further  explanation  of  the  Scripture  representations,  we  remark  : 
(a)     That  repentance,  in  each  and  all  of  its  aspects,  is  wholly  an  inward 
act,  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  change  of  life  which  proceeds  from  it. 

True  repentance  is  indeed  manifested  and  evidenced  by  confession  of  sin 
before  God  (Luke  18  :  13),  and  by  reparation  for  wrongs  done  to  men  (Luke 
19  :  8).  But  these  do  not  constitute  repentance  ;  they  are  rather  fruits  of 
repentance.  Between  '  repentance '  and  *  fruit  worthy  of  repentance, '  Scrip- 
ture plainly  distinguishes  (Mat.  3  :  8). 

Luke  18  : 13  — "  But  the  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but  smote  his 
breast,  saying,  God,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  ['be  propitiated  to  me  the  sinner']";  19:8— "And 
Zacchaeus  stood,  and  said  unto  the  Lord,  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  wrongfully 
exacted  aught  of  any  man,  I  restore  fourfold"  ;  Mat.  3  :  8 — "Bring  forth,  therefore,  fruit  worthy  of  repentance." 

On  the  question  whether  the  requirement  that  we  forgive  without  atonement  implies 
that  God  does,  see  Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Rev.,  Oct.,  1881 : 678-691— "Answer:  1.  The 
present  constitution  of  things  is  based  upon  atonement.  Forgiveness  on  our  part  is 
required  upon  the  ground  of  the  cross,  without  which  the  world  would  be  hell.  2.  God 
is  Judge.  We  forgive,  as  brethren.  When  he  forgives,  it  is  as  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  of 
whom  all  earthly  judges  are  representatives.  If  earthly  judges  may  exact  justice,  much 
more  God.  The  argument  that  would  abolish  atonement  would  abolish  all  civil  govern- 
ment. 3.  I  should  forgive  my  brother  on  the  ground  of  God's  love,  and  Christ's  bearing 
of  his  sins.  4.  God,  who  requires  atonement,  is  the  same  being  that  provides  it.  This 
is  'handsome  and  generous.'  But  I  can  never  provide  atonement  for  my  brother.  I 
must,  therefore,  forgive  freely,  only  upon  the  ground  of  what  Christ  has  done  for  him." 

(6)  That  repentance  is  only  a  negative  condition,  and  not  a  positive 
means  of  salvation. 

This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  repentance  is  no  more  than  the  sinner's 
present  duty,  and  can  furnish  no  offset  to  the  claims  of  the  law  on  account 
of  past  transgression.  The  truly  penitent  man  feels  that  his  repentance  has 
no  merit.  Apart  from  the  positive  element  of  conversion,  namely,  faith  in 
Christ,  it  would  be  only  sorrow  for  guilt  unremoved.  This  very  sorrow,, 
moreover,  is  not  the  mere  product  of  human  will,  but  is  the  gift  of  God. 


464  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

Acts  5  :  31  — "  Him  did  God  exalt  with  his  right  hand  to  be  a  Prince  and  a  Savior,  for  to  give  repentance  to  Israel,  and 
remission  of  sins"  ;  11  :  18— "Then  to  the  Gentiles  also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto  life"  ;  2  Tim.  2  :  25— "If 
peradventure  God  may  give  them  repentance  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  The  truly  penitent  man  recog- 
nizes the  fact  that  his  sin  deserves  punishment.  He  never  regards  his  penitence  as  off- 
setting the  demands  of  law,  and  as  making  his  punishment  unjust.  Whitefield :  "  Our 
repentance  needeth  to  be  repented  of,  and  our  very  tears  to  be  washed  in  the  blood  of 
•Christ." 

(c)  That  true  repentance,  however,  never  exists  except  in  conjunction 
with  faith. 

Sorrow  for  sin,  not  simply  on  account  of  its  evil  consequences  to  the 
transgressor,  but  on  account  of  its  intrinsic  hatefulness  as  opposed  to  divine 
holiness  and  love,  is  practically  impossible  without  some  confidence  in  God's 
mercy.  It  is  the  cross  which  first  makes  us  truly  penitent  ( c/  John  12  : 
32,  33 ).  Hence  all  true  preaching  of  repentance  is  implicitly  a  preaching 
of  faith  (Mat.  3  :  1-12 ;  cf.  Acts  19  :  4),  and  repentance  toward  God  involves 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (Acts  20  :  21 ;  Luke  15  :  10,  24 ;  19  :  8,  9 ;  cf. 
Gal.  3  :  7). 

John  12  :  32,  33  — "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  myself.  But  this  he  said,  signifying 
by  what  manner  of  death  he  should  die."  Mat.  3  : 1-12  — John  the  Baptist's  preaching  of  repentance 
was  also  a  preaching  of  faith ;  as  is  shown  by  Acts  19  :  4 — "John  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repent- 
ance, saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on  him  which  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus."  Re- 
pentance involves  faith :  Acts  20  :  21— "testifying  both  to  Jews  and  to  Greeks  repentance  toward  God,  and 
faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ " ;  Luke  15  : 10,  24  — "  there  is  joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth  ....  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  he  was  lost,  and  is  found " ;  19  :  8,  9 — "the  half  of  my 
-goods  I  give  to  the  poor,  and  if  I  have  wrongfully  exacted  aught  of  any  man,  I  restore  fourfold.  And  Jesus  said  unto 
him,  To-day  is  salvation  come  to  this  house,  forasmuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham" — the  father  of  all  be- 
lievers ;  c/.  Gal.  3  :  6,  7— "Even  as  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  reckoned  to  him  for  righteousness.  Know 
therefore  that  they  which  be  of  faith,  the  same  are  sons  of  Abraham." 

(d]  That,  conversely,  wherever  there  is  true  faith,  there  is  true  repent- 
.ance  also. 

Since  repentance  and  faith  are  but  different  sides  or  aspects  of  the  same 
act  of  turning,  faith  is  as  inseparable  from  repentance  as  repentance  is  from 
faith.  That  must  be  an  unreal  faith  where  there  is  no  repentance,  just  as 
that  must  be  an  unreal  repentance  where  there  is  no  faith.  Yet  because  the 
one  aspect  of  his  change  is  more  prominent  in  the  mind  of  the  convert  than 
the  other,  we  are  not  hastily  to  conclude  that  the  other  is  absent.  Only  that 
degree  of  conviction  of  sin  is  essential  to  salvation,  which  carries  with  it  a 
forsaking  of  sin  and  a  trustful  surrender  to  Christ. 

2  Cor.  7  : 10  — "  repentance  unto  salvation."  In  consciousness,  sensation  and  perception  are  in 
inverse  ratio  to  each  other.  Clear  vision  is  hardly  conscious  of  sensation,  but  inflamed 
eyes  are  hardly  conscious  of  anything:  else  but  sensation.  So  repentance  and  faith  are 
seldom  equally  prominent  in  the  consciousness  of  the  converted  man ;  but  it  is  important 
to  know  that  neither  can  exist  without  the  other.  The  truly  penitent  man  will,  sooner 
or  later,  show  that  he  has  faith ;  and  the  true  believer  will  certainly  show,  in  due  season, 
that  he  hates  and  renounces  sin. 

The  question,  how  much  conviction  a  man  needs  to  ensure  his  salvation,  may  be  an- 
swered by  asking  how  much  excitement  one  needs  on  a  burning  steamer.  As,  in  the 
latter  case,  just  enough  to  prompt  persistent  effort  to  escape ;  so,  in  the  former  case, 
just  enough  remorseful  feeling  is  needed,  to  induce  the  sinner  to  betake  himself  believ- 
ingly  to  Christ. 

On  the  general  subject  of  repentance,  see  Anderson,  Regeneration,  279-288 ;  Bp.  Ossory, 
Nature  and  Effects  of  Faith,  40-48,  311-318 ;  Woods,  Works,  3  :  68-78 ;  Philippi,  Glaubens- 
lehre,  5  : 1-10,  208-246 ;  Luthardt,  Compendium,  3rd  ed.,  206-208 ;  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theo- 
logy, 375-381 ;  Alexander,  Evidences  of  Christianity,  47-60;  Crawford,  Atonement,  413-419. 


CONVERSION. 

2.     Faith. 

We  may  analyze  faith  also  into  three  constituents,  each  succeeding  term 
of  which  includes  and  implies  the  preceding  : 

A.  An  intellectual  element  (notitia), — recognition  of  the  truth  of  God*s* 
revelation,  or  of  the  objective  reality  of  the  salvation  provided  by  Christ. 
This  includes  not  only  a  historical  belief  in  the  facts  of  the  Scripture,  but 
an  intellectual  belief  in  the  doctrine  taught  therein  as  to  man's  sinfulness 
and  dependence  upon  Christ. 

John  2  :  23,  24  — "  Now  when  he  was  in  Jerusalem,  at  the  passover,  during  the  feast,  many  believed  on  his  name, 
beholding  his  signs  which  he  did.  But  Jesus  did  not  trust  himself  unto  them,  for  that  he  knew  all  men  "  ;  c/.  3  :  2  — 
Nicodemus  has  this  external  faith  :  "  no  man  can  do  these  signs  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him." 
.James  2  : 19  — "  Thou  believest  that  God  is  one ;  thou  doest  well :  the  demons  also  believe  and  shudder."  Even  this 
historical  faith  is  not  without  its  fruits.  It  is  the  spring:  of  much  philanthropic  work. 
There  were  no  hospitals  in  ancient  Rome.  Much  of  our  modern  progress  is  due  to  the 
leavening:  influence  of  Christianity,  even  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  not  personally 
accepted  Christ. 

B.  An  emotional  element  (  assensus  ), — assent  to  the  revelation  of  God's 
power  and  grace  in  Jesus  Christ,  as  applicable  to  the  present  needs  of  the 
soul.     Those  in  whom  this  awakening  of  the  sensibilities  is  unaccompanied 
by  the  fundamental  decision  of  the  will,  which  constitutes  the  next  element 
of  faith,  may  seem  to  themselves,  and  for  a  time  may  appear  to  others,  to 
have  accepted  Christ. 

Mat.  13  :  20,  21— "he  that  was  sown  upon  the  rocky  places,  this  is  he  that  heareth  the  word,  and  straightway  with 
joy  receiveth  it ;  yet  hath  he  not  root  in  himself,  but  endureth  for  a  while ;  and  when  tribulation  or  persecution  ariseth 
because  of  the  word,  straightway  he  stumbleth"  ;  c/.  Ps.  106  : 12,  13 — "Then  believed  they  his  words;  they  sang  his 
praise.  They  soon  forgat  his  works ;  they  waited  not  for  his  counsel " ;  Ez.  33  :  31,  32 — "  And  they  come  unto  thee  as 
the  people  cometh,  and  they  sit  before  thee  as  my  people,  and  they  hear  thy  words,  but  do  them  not :  for  with  their  mouth 
they  show  much  love,  but  their  heart  goeth  after  their  gain.  And,  lo,  thou  art  unto  them  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one 
that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instrument :  for  they  hear  thy  words,  but  they  do  them  not "  ;  John 
5  :  35  —  Of  John  the  Baptist :  "  He  was  the  lamp  that  burneth  and  shineth :  and  ye  were  willing  to  rejoice  for 
a  season  in  his  light." 

Saving  faith,  however,  includes  also  : 

C.  A  voluntary  element  (fiducia  ), —  trust  in  Christ  as  Lord  and  Savior ; 
or,  in  other  words  —  to  distinguish  its  two  aspects  : 

(a)     Surrender  of  the  soul,  as  guilty  and  denied,  to  Christ's  governance. 

Mat.  11  :  28,  29 — "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke 
upon  you,  and  learn  of  me  "  ;  John  8  : 12  — "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world :  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  the 
darkness  "  ;  14  : 1  — "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :  ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me  "  ;  Acts  16  :  31  — "  Believe 
on  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shall  be  saved."  Instances  of  the  use  of  mo-reva),  in  the  sense  of  trustful 
committance  or  surrender,  are  John  2  :  24— "But  Jesus  did  not  trust  himself  unto  them,  for  that  he  knew 
all  men"  ;  Rom.  3  :  2— "they  were  intrusted  with  the  oracles  of  God  "  ;  Gal.  2  :  7— "when  they  saw  that  I  had  been 
intrusted  with  the  gospel  of  the  circumcision."  TUO-TIS  =  "  trustful  self -surrender  to  God  "  ( Meyer ). 

(6)  Eeception  and  appropriation  of  Christ,  as  the  source  of  pardon  and 
spiritual  life. 

John  1 : 12— "as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe 
on  his  name  "  ;  4  : 14—"  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that 
I  shall  give  him  shall  become  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  eternal  life  "  ;  6  :  53  — "  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh 
of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves" ;  20  :  31— "these  are  written,  that  ye  may 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in  his  name  "  ;  Eph.  3  : 17— "that 
Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith  "  ;  Heb.  11  : 1  — "  Now  faith  is  assurance  of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction 
of  things  not  seen "  ;  Rev.  3  :  20— "Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock :  If  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the 
•door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 

30 


466  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

The  three  constituents  of  faith  may  be  illustrated  from  the  thought,  feeling-,  and  action- 
of  a  person  who  stands  by  a  boat,  upon  a  little  island  which  the  rising  stream  threatens 
to  submerge.  He  first  regards  the  boat  from  a  purely  intellectual  point  of  view  — it  is 
merely  an  actually  existing  boat.  As  the  stream  rises,  he  looks  at  it,  secondly,  with  some 
accession  of  emotion  —  his  prospective  danger  awakens  in  him  the  conviction  that  it  is  a 
good  boat  for  a  time  of  need,  though  he  is  not  yet  ready  to  make  use  of  it.  But,  thirdly, 
when  he  feels  that  the  rushing  tide  must  otherwise  sweep  him  away,  a  volitional  element 
is  added—  he  gets  into  the  boat,  trusts  himself  to  it,  accepts  it  as  his  present,  and  only,, 
means  of  safety.  Only  this  last  faith  in  the  boat  is  faith  that  saves,  although  this  last 
includes  both  the  preceding.  It  is  equally  clear  that  the  getting  into  the  boat  may  actu- 
ally save  a  man,  while  at  the  same  time  he  may  be  full  of  fears  that  the  boat  will  never 
bring  him  to  shore.  These  fears  may  be  removed  by  the  boatman's  word.  So  saving 
faith  is  not  necessarily  assurance  of  faith ;  but  it  becomes  assurance  of  faith  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  "beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  children  of  God"  (Rom.  8  : 16).  On  the  nature  of 
this  assurance,  and  on  the  distinction  between  it  and  saving  faith,  see  below. 

"Coming  to  Christ,"  "looking  to  Christ,"  "receiving  Christ,"  are  all  descriptions  of 
faith,  as  are  also  the  phrases:  "surrender  to  Christ,"  "submission  to  Christ,"  "closing 
in  with  Christ."  Paul  refers  to  a  confession  of  faith  in  Rom.  10  :  9— "If  thou  shalt  bonfess  with 
thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord."  Faith,  then,  is  a  taking  of  Christ  as  both  Savior  and  Lord ;  and  it 
includes  both  appropriation  of  Christ,  and  consecration  to  Christ.  McCosh,  Div.  Gov- 
ernment: "Saving  faith  is  the  consent  of  the  will  to  the  assent  of  the  understanding,, 
and  commonly  accompanied  with  emotion."  Pres.  Hopkins,  in  Princeton  Rev.,  Sept., 
1878  :  511-540— "In  its  intellectual  element,  faith  is  receptive,  and  believes  that  God  is;- 
in  its  affectional  element,  faith  is  assimilative,  and  believes  that  God  is  a  rewarder;  in  its 
voluntary  element,  faith  is  operative,  and  actually  comes  to  God  (Heb.  11 :  6)." 

The  passages  already  referred  to  refute  the  view  of  the  Romanist,  that 
saving  faith  is  simply  implicit  assent  to  the  doctrines  of  the  church ;  and  the- 
view  of  the  Disciple  or  Campbellite,  that  faith  is  merely  intellectual  belief 
in  the  truth,  on  the  presentation  of  evidence. 

The  Romanist  says  that  faith  can  coe'xist  with  mortal  sin.  The  Disciple  holds  that 
faith  may  and  must  exist  before  regeneration  —  regeneration  being  through  baptism. 
With  these  erroneous  views,  compare  the  noble  utterance  of  Luther,  Com.  on  Galatians,. 
1  : 191,  247,  quoted  in  Thomasius,  HI.  2  : 183— "True  faith,"  says  Luther,  "is  that  assured 
trust  and  firm  assent  of  heart,  by  which  Christ  is  laid  hold  of —  so  that  Christ  is  the  ob- 
ject of  faith.  Yet  he  is  not  merely  the  object  of  faith ;  but  in  the  very  faith,  so  to  speak,. 
Christ  is  present.  Faith  lays  hold  of  Christ,  and  grasps  him  as  a  present  possession,  just 
as  the  ring  holds  the  jewel."  Edwards,  Works,  4  :  71-73 ;  2  :  601-641  — "  Faith,"  says  Ed- 
wards, "  includes  the  whole  act  of  unition  to  Christ  as  a  Savior.  The  entire  active  unit- 
ing of  the  soul,  or  the  whole  of  what  is  called  coming  to  Christ,  and  receiving  of  him,  is 
called  faith  in  the  Scripture."  See  also  Belief,  What  Is  It?  150-179,  290-298. 

In  further  explanation  of  the  Scripture  representations,  we  remark  : 
(a)     That  faith  is  an  act  of  the  affections  and  will,  as  truly  as  it  is  an  act 
of  the  intellect. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  faith  and  unbelief  are  purely  intellectual  states, 
which  are  necessarily  determined  by  the  facts  at  any  given  time  presented 
to  the  mind  ;  and  that  they  are,  for  this  reason,  as  destitute  of  moral  quality 
and  as  far  from  being  matters  of  obligation,  as  are  our  instinctive  feelings 
of  pleasure  and  pain.  But  this  view  unwarrantably  isolates  the  intellect, 
and  ignores  the  fact  that,  in  all  moral  subjects,  the  state  of  the  affections  and 
will  affects  the  judgment  of  the  mind  with  regard  to  truth.  In  the  intellect- 
ual act  the  whole  moral  nature  expresses  itself.  Since  the  tastes  determine 
the  opinions,  faith  is  a  moral  act,  and  men  are  responsible  for  not  believing. 

John  3  : 18-20— "He  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  judged:  he  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because  he- 
hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God.  And  this  is  the  judgment,  that  light  is  come  into  the 
world,  and  men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the  light;  for  their  works  were  evil.  For  every  one  that  doeth  evil 
hateth  the  light,  and  cometh  not  to  the  light,  lest  his  works  should  be  reproved"  ;  5  :  40— "Ye  will  not  come  to  me,. 


CONVERSION.  467 

that  ye  may  have  life  "  ;  16  :  8,  9—"  And  he,  when  he  is  come,  will  convict  the  world  in  respect  of  sin of  sin, 

because  they  believe  not  on  me"  ;  Rev.  2  :  21— "she  willeth  not  to  repent."  Notice  that  the  -Revised  Ver- 
sion very  frequently  substitutes  the  voluntary  and  active  terms  "  disobedience  "  and  "  disobe- 
dient" for  the  "unbelief"  and  "unbelieving"  of  the  Authorized  Version,— as  in  Rom.  15:31;  Heb. 
3  : 18;  4  : 6, 11 ;  11 :  31.  See  Park,  Discourses,  45,  46. 

Savages  do  not  know  that  they  are  responsible  for  their  physical  appetites,  or  that 
there  is  any  right  and  wrong  in  matters  of  sense,  until  they  come  under  the  influence 
of  Christianity.  In  like  manner,  even  men  of  science  can  declare  that  the  intellectual 
sphere  has  no  part  in  man's  probation,  and  that  we  are  no  more  responsible  for  our  opin- 
ions and  beliefs  than  we  are  for  the  color  of  our  skin.  But  faith  is  not  a  merely  intel- 
lectual act— the  affections  and  will  give  it  quality.  There  is  no  moral  quality  in  the 
belief  that  2  +  2  =  4,  because  we  cannot  help  that  belief.  But  in  believing  on  Christ 
there  is  moral  quality,  because  there  is  the  element  of  choice.  Indeed  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned, whether,  in  every  judgment  upon  moral  things,  there  is  not  an  act  of  will. 

Hence  on  John  7 : 17 — "If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  be  of 
God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  myself  "— F.  L.  Patton  calls  attention  to  the  two  common  errors: 
(1)  that  obedience  will  certify  doctrine  —  which  is  untrue,  because  obedience  is  the 
result  of  faith,  not  vice  versa ;  ( 2 )  that  personal  experience  is  the  ultimate  test  of  faith 
—  which  is  untrue,  because  the  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  faith,  and  it  is  one  thing  to  re- 
ceive truth  through  the  feelings,  but  quite  another  to  test  truth  by  the  feelings.  The 
text  really  means,  that  if  any  man  is  willing  to  do  God's  will,  he  shall  know  whether  it 
be  of  God ;  and  the  two  lessons  to  be  drawn  are :  ( 1 )  the  gospel  needs  no  additional 
evidence ;  (2)  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  hope  of  the  world.  On  responsibility  for  opinions 
and  beliefs,  see  Mozley,  on  Blanco  White,  in  Essays  Philos.  and  Historical,  2  : 142;  T.  T. 
Smith,  Hulsean  Lectures  for  1839. 

(6)  That  faith  is  not  chronologically  subsequent  to  regeneration,  but  is 
its  accompaniment. 

As  the  soul's  appropriation  of  Christ  and  his  salvation,  it  is  not  the  result 
of  an  accomplished  renewal,  but  rather  the  medium  through  which  that 
renewal  is  effected.  Otherwise  it  would  follow  that  one  who  had  not  yet 
believed  (i.  e.,  received  Christ )  might  still  be  regenerate,  whereas  the  Scrip- 
ture represents  the  privilege  of  sonship  as  granted  only  to  believers. 

John  1 : 12,  13 — "But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them 
that  believe  on  his  name :  which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of 
God  "  ;  Gal.  3  :  26  — "  For  ye  are  all  sons  of  God,  through  faith,  in  Christ  Jesus." 

(c)  That  the  object  of  saving  faith  is,  in  general,  the  whole  truth  of  God, 
so  far  as  it  is  objectively  revealed  or  made  known  to  the  soul ;  but,  in  par- 
ticular, the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  constitutes  the  centre 
and  substance  of  God's  revelation  (Acts  17  :  18 ;  1  Cor.  1  :  23  ;  Col.  1  :  27 ; 
Rev.  19  :  10 ). 

The  patriarchs,  though  they  had  no  knowledge  of  a  personal  Christ,  were 
saved  by  believing  in  God  so  far  as  God  had  revealed  himself  to  them  ;  and 
whoever  among  the  heathen  are  saved,  must  in  like  manner  be  saved  by 
casting  themselves  as  helpless  sinners  upon  God's  plan  of  mercy,  dimly 
shadowed  forth  in  nature  and  providence.  But  such  faith,  even  among  the 
patriarchs  and  heathen,  is  implicitly  a  faith  in  Christ,  and  would  become 
explicit  and  conscious  trust  and  submission,  whenever  Christ  were  made 
known  to  them  ( Mat.  8  : 11,  12  ;  John  10  :  16  ;  Acts  4  :  12  ;  10  :  31,  34,  35, 
44  ;  16  :  31 ). 

Acts  17  : 18 — "he  preached  Jesus  and  the  resurrection"  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  23 — "we  preach  Christ  crucified"  ;  Col.  1 :  27 
—"this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles,  which  is  Christ  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory :  whom  we  proclaim  "  ;  Rev.  19  : 10  — 
"  the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy."  Saving  faith  is  not  belief  in  a  dogma,  but  per- 
sonal trust  in  a  personal  Christ.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  to  a  child.  Dorner:  "The 

object  of  faith  is  the  Christian  revelation  —  God  in  Christ Faith  is  union  with 

objective  Christianity  —  appropriation  of  the  real  contents  of  Christianity." 


468  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  Christ  is  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Truth  of 
God  ;  and  that  he  may,  therefore,  be  received  even  by  those  who  have  not  heard  of  his 
manifestation  in  the  flesh.  A  proud  and  self-righteous  morality  is  inconsistent  with 
saving-  faith ;  but  a  humble  and  penitent  reliance  upon  God,  as  a  Savior  from  sin  and  a 
guide  of  conduct,  is  an  implicit  faith  in  Christ;  for  such  reliance  casts  itself  upon  God, 
so  far  as  God  has  revealed  himself  —  and  the  only  Revealer  of  God  is  Christ.  We  have, 
therefore,  the  hope  that  even  among  the  heathen  there  may  be  some,  like  Socrates,  who, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  working  through  the  truth  of  nature  and  con- 
science, have  found  the  way  of  life  and  salvation. 

The  number  of  such  is  so  small  as  in  no  degree  to  weaken  the  claims  of  the  mission- 
ary enterprise  upon  us.  But  that  there  are  such  seems  to  be  intimated  in  Scripture : 
Mat.  8  : 11, 12—"  many  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 

in  the  kingdom  of  heaven:  but  the  sons  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  forth  into  the  outer  darkness"  ;  John  10  :  16 

"  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold :  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice ;  and  they 
shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd"  ;  Acts  4  : 12— "And  in  none  other  is  there  salvation:  for  neither  is  there  any 
other  name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein  we  must  be  saved  "  ;  10  :  31,  34,  35,  44 — "Cornelius,  thy 

prayer  is  heard,  and  thine  alms  are  had  in  remembrance  in  the  sight  of  God Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  God  is  no 

respecter  of  persons ;  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him 

While  Peter  yet  spake  these  words,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  which  heard  the  word  "  ;  16  :  31  — "  Believe  on  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  thou  and  thy  house." 

And  instances  are  found  of  apparently  regenerated  heathen ;  see  in  Godet  on  John  7  : 17, 
note  (vol.  2  :  277),  the  account  of  the  so-called  "Chinese  hermit,"  who  accepted  Christ, 
saying:  "This  is  the  only  Buddha  whom  men  ought  to  worship!"  Edwards,  Life  of 
Brainard,  173-175,  gives  an  account  "  of  one  who  was  a  devout  and  zealous  reformer,  or 
rather  restorer,  of  what  he  supposed  was  the  ancient  religion  of  the  Indians."  After  a 
period  of  distress,  he  says  that  God  "comforted  his  heart  and  showed  him  what  he 
should  do,  and  since  that  time  he  had  known  God  and  tried  to  serve  him  ;  and  loved  all 
men,  be  they  who  they  would,  so  as  he  never  did  before."  See  art.  by  Dr.  Lucius  E. 
Smith,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1881 :  622-645,  on  the  question  :  "  Is  salvation  possible  without  a 
knowledge  of  the  gospel?  "  H.  B.  Smith,  System,  323,  note,  rightly  bases  hope  for  the 
heathen,  not  on  morality,  but  on  sacrifice. 

On  the  question  whether  men  are  ever  led  to  faith,  without  intercourse  with  living 
Christians  or  preachers,  see  Life  of  Judson,  by  his  son,  84.  The  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  publish  a  statement,  made  upon  the  authority  of  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  that 
he  met  with  "  an  instance,  which  was  carefully  investigated,  in  which  all  the  inhabitants 
of  a  remote  village  in  the  Deccan  had  abjured  idolatry  and  caste,  removed  from  their 
temples  the  idols  which  had  been  worshiped  there  time  out  of  mind,  and  agreed  to 
profess  a  form  of  Christianity  which  they  had  deduced  for  themselves  from  the  care- 
ful perusal  of  a  single  gospel  and  a  few  tracts."  Max  Mliller,  Chips,  4  : 177-189,  appar- 
ently proves  that  Buddha  is  the  original  of  St.  Josaphat,  who  has  a  day  assigned  to  him 
in  the  calendar  of  both  the  Greek  and  the  Roman  churches.  "  Sancte  Socrates,  ora  pro 
nobis." 

(d)  That  the  ground  of  faith  is  the  external  word  of  promise.  The 
ground  of  assurance,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  inward  witness  of  the  Spirit 
that  we  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  promise  (  Bom.  4  :  20,  21 ;  8  :  16  ;  Eph. 
1  :  13  ;  1  John  4  :  13  ;  5  :  10 ).  This  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  not  a  new  reve- 
lation from  God,  but  a  strengthening  of  faith  so  that  it  becomes  conscious 
and  indubitable. 

True  faith  is  possible  without  assurance  of  salvation.  But  if  Alexander's 
view  were  correct,  that  the  object  of  saving  faith  is  the  proposition  :  "God, 
for  Christ's  sake,  now  looks  with  reconciling  love  on  me,  a  sinner,"  no  one 
could  believe,  without  being  at  the  same  time  assured  that  he  was  a  saved 
person.  Upon  the  true  view,  that  the  object  of  saving  faith  is  not  a  propo- 
sition, but  a  person,  we  can  perceive  not  only  the  simplicity  of  faith,  but 
the  possibility  of  faith  even  where  the  soul  is  destitute  of  assurance  or  of 
joy.  Hence  those  who  already  believe  are  urged  to  seek  for  assurance 
(Heb.  6:11;  2  Pet.  1:10). 


CONVERSION.  469 

Rom.  4  :  20,  21— "looking  unto  the  promise  of  God,  he  wavered  not  through  unbelief,  but  waxed  strong  through 
faith,  giving  glory  to  God,  and  being  fully  assured  that,  what  he  had  promised,  he  was  able  also  to  perform"  ;  8  : 16 

"The  Spirit  himself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  children  of  God" ;  Eph.  1  : 13 — "in  whom,  having 

also  believed,  ye  were  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise  "  ;  1  John  4  : 13 — "hereby  know  we  that  we  abide  in 
him,  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us  of  his  Spirit"  ;  5  : 10— "He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the  wit- 
ness in  him."  This  assurance  is  not  of  the  essence  of  faith,  because  believers  are  exhorted 
to  attain  to  it :  Heb.  6  : 11  — "  And  we  desire  that  each  one  of  you  may  show  the  same  diligence  unto  the  fulness  of 
hope  [  marg.  — '  full  assurance '  ]  even  to  the  end  " ;  2  Pet.  1  : 10  — "  Wherefore,  brethren,  give  the  more  diligence  to 
make  your  calling  and  election  sure." 

There  is  need  to  guard  the  doctrine  of  assurance  from  mysticism.  The  witness  of  the 
Spirit  is  not  a  new  and  direct  revelation  from  God.  It  is  a  strengthening-  of  previously 
existing  faith  until  he  who  possesses  this  faith  cannot  any  longer  doubt  that  he  pos- 
sesses it.  It  is  a  general  rule  that  all  our  emotions,  when  they  become  exceedingly 
strong,  also  become  conscious.  Instance  affection  between  man  and  woman. 

Edwards,  Religious  Affections,  in  Works,  3  :  83-91,  says  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  not 
a  new  word  or  suggestion  from  God,  but  an  enlightening  and  sanctifying  influence,  so 
that  the  heart  is  drawn  forth  to  embrace  the  truth  already  revealed,  and  to  perceive  that 
it  embraces  it.  "  Bearing  witness  "  is  not  in  this  case  to  declare  and  assert  a  thing  to  be 
true,  but  to  hold  forth  evidence  from  which  a  thing  may  be  proved  to  be  true :  God 

"bears  witness by  signs  and  wonders"  (Heb.  2:4).  So  the  "seal  of  the  Spirit"  is  not  a  voice 

or  suggestion,  but  a  work  or  effect  of  the  Spirit,  left  as  a  divine  mark  upon  the  soul,  to 
be  an  evidence  by  which  God's  children  may  be  known.  Seals  had  engraved  upon  them 
the  image  or  name  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  belonged.  The  "seal  of  the  Spirit," 
the  "earnest  of  the  Spirit,"  the  "  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  are  all  one  thing.  The  child- 
like spirit,  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  the  Holy  Spirit's  witness  or  evidence  in  us. 

See  also  illustration  of  faith  and  assurance,  in  C.  S.  Robinson's  Short  Studies  for  S.  S. 
Teachers,  179, 180.  Faith  should  be  distinguished  not  only  from  assurance,  but  also  from 
feeling  or  joy.  Instance  Abraham's  faith,  when  he  went  to  sacrifice  Isaac ;  and  Madame 
Guyon's  faith,  when  God's  face  seemed  hid  from  her.  See,  on  the  witness  of  the  Spirit, 
Short,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1846.  For  the  view  which  confounds  faith  with  assurance, 
see  Alexander,  Discourses  on  Faith,  63-118. 

(e)  That  faith  necessarily  leads  to  good  works,  since  it  embraces  the 
whole  truth  of  God  so  far  as  made  known,  and  appropriates  Christ,  not  only 
as  an  external  Savior,  but  as  an  internal  sanctifying  power  (  Heb.  7  :  16  ; 
Gal.  5:6). 

Good  works  are  the  proper  evidence  of  faith.  The  faith  which  does  not 
lead  men  to  act  upon  the  command  and  promises  of  Christ,  or,  in  other 
words,  does  not  lead  to  obedience,  is  called  in  Scripture  a  "dead,"  that  is, 
an  unreal,  faith.  Such  faith  is  not  saving,  since  it  lacks  the  voluntary  ele- 
ment—  actual  appropriation  of  Christ  (James  2  :  14-26). 

Heb.  7  : 16— "another  priest,  who  hath  been  made,  not  after  the  law  of  a  carnal  commandment,  but  after  the  power 
of  an  endless  life  "  ;  Gal.  5:6—"  For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision ;  but 
faith  working  through  love  "  ;  James  2  : 14,  26—"  What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,  if  a  man  say  he  hath  faith,  but 

have  not  works?  Can  that  faith  save  him? For  as  the  body  apart  from  the  spirit  is  dead,  even  so  faith  apart 

from  works  is  dead." 

The  best  evidence  that  I  believe  a  man's  word  is  that  I  act  upon  it.  Instance  the 
bank-cashier's  assurance  to  me  that  a  sum  of  money  is  deposited  with  him  to  my 
account.  If  I  am  a  millionaire,  the  communication  may  cause  me  no  special  joy.  My 
faith  in  the  cashier's  word  is  tested  by  my  going,  or  not-going,  for  the  money.  So  my 
faith  in  Christ  is  evidenced  by  my  acting  upon  his  commands  and  promises. 

(/)  That  faith,  as  characteristically  the  inward  act  of  reception,  is  not 
to  be  confounded  with  love  or  obedience,  its  fruit. 

Faith  is,  in  the  Scriptures,  called  a  work,  only  in  the  sense  that  man's 
active  powers  are  engaged  in  it.  It  is  a  work  which  God  requires,  yet 
which  God  enables  man  to  perform  ( John  6  :  29  —  epyov  rov  Qeov.  Of.  Bom. 
1:17  —  diKatoavvrf  Qeov ).  As  the  gift  of  God  and  as  the  mere  taking  of 


470  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

undeserved  mercy,  it  is  expressly  excluded  from  the  category  of  works 
upon  the  basis  of  which  man  may  claim  salvation  ( Bom.  3  :  28  ;  4  :  4,  5, 
16).  It  is  not  the  act  of  the  full  soul  bestowing,  but  the  act  of  an  empty 
soul  receiving.  Although  this  reception  is  prompted  by  a  drawing  of  heart 
toward  God  inwrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  drawing  of  heart  is  not  yet 
a  conscious  and  developed  love  :  such  love  is  the  result  of  faith  ( Gal.  5:6). 
What  precedes  faith  is  an  unconscious  and  undeveloped  tendency  or  dispo- 
sition toward  God.  Conscious  and  developed  affection  toward  God,  or  love 
proper,  must  always  follow  faith  and  be  the  product  of  faith.  So,  too, 
obedience  can  be  rendered  only  after  faith  has  laid  hold  of  Christ,  and  with 
him  has  obtained  the  spirit  of  obedience  ( .Rom.  1:5  —  VTTCLKOTJV  iriareuf 
"  obedience  resulting  from  faith  " ).  Hence  faith  is  not  the  procuring  cause 
of  salvation,  but  is  only  the  instrumental  cause.  The  procuring  cause  is 
the  Christ,  whom  faith  embraces. 

John  6  :  29  — "  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent "  ;  c/.  Rom.  1  : 17  — "  For  therein 
is  revealed  a  righteousness  of  God  from  faith  unto  faith :  as  it  is  written,  But  the  righteous  shall  live  from  faith  "  ;  Rom. 
3  :  28  — "  We  reckon,  therefore,  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  apart  from  the  works  of  the  law  "  ;  4  :  4,  5, 16  — "  Now 
to  him  that  worketh,  the  reward  is  not  reckoned  as  of  grace,  but  as  of  debt.  Bat  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth 

on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  reckoned  for  righteousness For  this  cause  it  is  of  faith,  that  it  may 

ba  according  to  grace"  ;  Gal.  5  :  6 — "For  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  anything,  nor  uncircumcision ; 
but  faith  working  through  love"  ;  Rom.  1 :  5— "through  whom  we  received  grace  and  apostleship,  unto  obedience  of 
faith  among  all  nations." 

Faith  stands  as  an  intermediate  factor  between  the  unconscious  and  undeveloped 
tendency  or  disposition  toward  God  inwrought  in  the  soul  by  God's  regenerating-  act, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  conscious  and  developed  affection  toward  God  which  is  one  of 
the  fruits  and  evidences  of  conversion,  on  the  other.  Illustrate  by  the  motherly  instinct 
shown  in  a  little  girl's  care  for  her  doll  —  a  motherly  instinct  which  becomes  a  developed 
mother's  love,  only  when  a  child  of  her  own  is  born  This  new  love  of  the  Christian  is 
an  activity  of  his  own  soul,  and  yet  it  is  a  "fruit  of  the  Spirit"  (Gal.  5  :  22).  To  attribute  it 
wholly  to  himself  would  be  like  calling  the  walking  and  leaping:  of  the  lame  man  ( Acts 
3:8)  merely  a  healthy  activity  of  his  own. 

(g)     That  faith  is  susceptible  of  increase. 

This  is  evident,  whether  we  consider  it  from  the  human  or  from  the  divine 
side.  As  an  act  of  man,  it  has  an  intellectual,  an  emotional,  and  a  voluntary 
element,  each  of  which  is  capable  of  growth.  As  a  work  of  God  in  the 
soul  of  man,  it  can  receive,  through  the  presentation  of  the  truth  and  the 
quickening  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  continually  new  accessions  of  knowl- 
edge, sensibility,  and  active  energy.  Such  increase  of  faith,  therefore,  we 
are  to  seek,  both  by  resolute  exercise  of  our  own  powers,  and  above  all,  by 
direct  application  to  the  source  of  faith  in  God  (Luke  17  :  5). 

Luke  17  :  5— "And  the  apostles  said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our  faith" ;  1  Cor.  12  :  8,  9— "For  to  one  is  given 

through  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom to  another  faith,  in  the  same  Spirit."  In  this  latter  passage,  it 

seems  to  be  intimated  that  for  special  exigencies  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  to  his  servants 
special  faith,  so  that  they  are  enabled  to  lay  hold  of  the  general  promise  of  God  and 
make  special  application  of  it.  Rom.  8  :  26,  27— "The  spirit  also  helpeth  our  infirmity  . . .  maketh  interces- 
sion for  us maketh  intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God"  ;  1  John  5  : 14,  15  —"And  this  is  the 

boldness  which  we  have  toward  him,  that,  if  we  ask  anything  according  to  his  will,  he  heareth  us :  and  if  we  know 
that  he  heareth  us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have  the  petitions  which  we  have  asked  of  him." 

On  the  general  subject  of  faith,  see  Kostlin,  Die  Lehre  von  dem  Glauben,  13-85,  301-341, 
and  in  Jahrbuch  f.  d.  Theol.,  4:177  sq. ;  Romaine  on  Faith,  9-89;  Bishop  of  Ossory, 
Nature  and  Effects  of  Faith,  1-40;  Venn,  Characteristics  of  Belief,  Introduction; 
Nitzsch,  System  of  Christ.  Doct.,  294. 


JUSTIFICATION. 


471 


IV.     JUSTIFICATION. 


1.  Definition  of  Justification. 

By  justification  we  mean  that  judicial  act  of  God  by  which,  on  account  of 
"Christ,  to  whom  the  sinner  is  united  by  faith,  he  declares  that  sinner  to  be 
no  longer  exposed  to  the  penalty  of  the  law,  but  to  be  restored  to  his  favor. 
-Or,  to  give  an  alternative  definition  from  which  all  metaphor  is  excluded, 
Justification  is  the  reversal  of  God's  attitude  toward  the  sinner,  because  of 
the  sinner's  new  relation  to  Christ.  God  did  condemn  ;  he  now  acquits. 
He  did  repel ;  he  now  admits  to  favor. 

Justification,  as  thus  defined,  is  therefore  a  declarative  act,  as  distinguished 
from  an  efficient  act ;  an  act  of  God  external  to  the  sinner,  as  distinguished 
from  an  act  within  the  sinner's  nature  and  changing  that  nature  ;  a  judicial 
.act,  as  distinguished  from  a  sovereign  act ;  an  act  based  upon  and  logically 
presupposing  the  sinner's  union  with  Christ,  as  distinguished  from  an  act 
which  causes  and  is  followed  by  that  union  with  Christ. 

The  word  '  declarative '  does  not  imply  a  '  spoken  '  word  on  God's  part  —  much  less 
that  the  sinner  hears  God  speak.  That  justification  is  sovereign,  is  held  by  Arminians, 
and  by  those  who  advocate  a  governmental  theory  of  the  atonement.  On  any  such 
theory,  justification  must  be  sovereign  ;  since  Christ  bore,  not  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
but  a  substituted  suffering  which  God  graciously  and  sovereignly  accepts  in  place  of 
our  suffering  and  obedience. 

Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  1100,  wrote  a  tract  for  the  consolation  of  the 
•dying,  who  were  alarmed  on  account  of  sin.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  it: 
"  Question.  Dost  thou  believe  that  the  Lord  Jesus  died  for  thee  ?  Answer.  I  believe  it. 
•Qu.  Dost  thou  thank  him  for  his  passion  and  death  ?  Ans.  I  do  thank  him.  Qu.  Dost 
thou  believe  that  thou  canst  not  be  saved  except  by  his  death?  Ans.  I  believe  it." 
And  then  Anselm  addresses  the  dying  man :  "  Come  then,  while  life  remaineth  in  thee ; 
in  his  death  alone  place  thy  whole  trust :  in  naught  else  place  any  trust ;  to  his  death 
commit  thyself  wholly ;  with  this  alone  cover  thyself  wholly ;  and  if  the  Lord  thy  God 
will  to  judge  thee,  say,  '  Lord,  between  thy  judgment  and  me  I  present  the  death  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  no  otherwise  can  I  contend  with  thee.'  And  if  he  shall  say  that  thou 
art  a  sinner,  say  thou  :  '  Lord,  I  interpose  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  between 
my  sins  and  thee.'  If  he  say  that  thou  hast  deserved  condemnation,  say :  '  Lord,  I  set 
the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  between  my  evil  deserts  and  thee,  and  his  merits  I 
-offer  for  those  which  I  ought  to  have  and  have  not.'  If  he  say  that  he  is  wroth  with 
thee,  say :  '  Lord,  I  oppose  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  between  thy  wrath  and 
me.'  And  when  thou  hast  completed  this,  say  again :  '  Lord,  I  set  the  death  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  between  thee  and  me.' "  See  Anselm,  Opera  ( Migne ),  1 : 686,  687.  The 
above  quotation  gives  us  reason  to  believe  that  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  justi  • 
fication  by  faith  was  implicitly,  if  not  explicitly,  held  by  many  pious  souls  through  all 
the  ages  of  papal  darkness. 

2.  Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Justification. 

A.     Scripture  proofs  of  the  doctrine  as  a  whole  a,re  the  following  : 

Rom.  1  : 17  — "a  righteousness  of  God  from  faith  unto  faith" ;  3  :  24-30— "being  justified  freely  by  his  grace 
through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus  ....  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus  ....  We  reckon  there- 
fore that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith  apart  from  the  works  of  the  law  ....  justify  the  circumcision  by  faith,  and  the 
uncircumcision  through  faith  "  ;  Gal.  3  : 11  — "  Now  that  no  man  is  justified  by  the  law  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  evident : 
for,  The  righteous  shall  live  by  faith ;  and  the  law  is  not  of  faith ;  but,  He  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in  them  "  ;  Eph.  1  : 
7 — "in  whom  we  have  our  redemption  through  his  blood,  the  forgiveness  of  our  trespasses,  according  to  the  riches  of  his 
grace"  ;  Heb.  11 :  4,  7  — "By  faith  Abel  offered  unto  God  a  more  excellent  sacrifice  than  Cain,  through  which  he  had 

witness  borne  to  him  that  he  was  righteous By  faith  Noah  . .  .  moved  with  godly  fear,  prepared  an  ark  .... 

became  heir  of  the  righteousness  which  is  according  to  faith "  ;  c/.  Gen.  15  :  6—"  And  he  believed  in  the  Lord ;  and  he 
counted  it  to  him  for  righteousness  "  ;  Is.  7  :  9  — "  If  ye  will  not  believe,  surely  ye  shall  not  be  established  "  ;  28  :  16 
— "  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste  "  ;  Hab.  2:4—"  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith." 


472  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

B.  Scripture  use  of  the  special  words  translated  "justify  "  and  "  justifi- 
cation "  in  the  Septuagint  and  in  the  New  Testament. 

(a)  6iKai6u  —  uniformly,  or  with  only  a  single  exception,  signifies  not  to 
make  righteous,  but  to  declare  just,  or  free  from  guilt  and  exposure  to  pun- 
ishment. The  only  O.  T.  passage  where  this  meaning  is  questionable  is 
Dan.  12  :  3.  But  even  here  the  proper  translation  is,  in  all  probability, 
not  '  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  '  but  '  they  that  justify  many,  ' 
i.  e.,  cause  many  to  be  justified.  For  the  Hiphil  force  of  the  verb,  see 
Girdlestone,  O.  T.  Syn.,  257,  258,  and  Delitzsch  on  Is.  53  :  11  ;  cf.  James 
5  :  19,  20. 

O.  T.  texts  :  Ex.  23  :  7  —  "  I  will  not  justify  the  wicked  "  ;  Deut.  25  :  1  —  "  they  [the  judges]  shall  justify 
the  righteous,  and  condemn  the  wicked"  ;  Job  27  :  5—  "God  forbid  that  I  should  justify  you"  ;  Ps.  143  :  2—  "in  thy 
sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified"  ;  Prov.  17  :  15—  "He  that  justifieth  the  wicked  and  he  that  condemneth  the 
righteous,  Both  of  them  alike  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord  "  ;  Is.  5  :  23  —  "  which  justify  the  wicked  for  a  reward, 
and  take  away  the  righteousness  of  the  righteous  from  him  "  ;  50  :  8  —  "  He  is  near  that  justifieth  me  "  ;  53  :  11  — 
"  by  his  knowledge  shall  my  right3ous  servant  justify  many  ;  for  he  shall  bear  their  iniquities  "  ;  Dan.  12  :  3  —  "  and 
they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness,  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever  "  (  '  they  that  justify  many,'  i.  e.,  cause 
many  to  be  justified  )  ;  cf.  James  5  :  19,  20  —  "  My  brethren,  if  any  among  you  do  err  from  the  truth,  and  one 
convert  him  ;  let  him  know,  that  he  which  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and 
shall  cover  a  multitude  of  sins." 

In  Rom.  6  :  7  —  6  yap  cnro^avuv  deoiKaiuTdi  a-rro  ri]<;  dfiapriaf  —  '  he  that  once 
died  with  Christ  was  acquitted  from  the  service  of  sin  considered  as  a  pen- 
alty. '  In  1  Cor.  4  :  4  —  ovdev  yap  ty/avrcj  n'vvoida.  dA/l'  OVK  kv  TOVTU  dedtKaiuftai 
=  '  I  am  conscious  of  no  fault,  but  that  does  not  in  itself  make  certain  God's 
acquittal  as  respects  this  particular  charge.'  The  usage  of  the  epistle  of 
James  does  not  contradict  this  ;  the  doctrine  of  James  is  that  we  are  justi- 
fied only  by  such  faith  as  brings  forth  good  works.  "He  uses  the  word 
exclusively  in  a  judicial  sense  ;  he  combats  a  mistaken  view  of  7r«rr/f  ,  not  a. 
mistaken  view  of  6iKai6u  "  •  see  James  2  :  21,  23,  24,  and  Cremer,  N.  T. 
Lexicon,  Eng.  trans.,  182,  183.  The  only  N.  T.  passage  where  this  mean- 
ing is  questionable  is  Rev.  22  :  11  ;  but  here  Alford,  with  x,  A,  and  B,  reads 


N.  T.  texts  :  Mat.  12  :  37  —  "  For  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  justified,  and  by  thy  words  thou  shalt  be  con- 
demned "  ;  Luke  7  :  29  —  "  And  all  the  people  .  .  .  justified  God,  being  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  John  "  ;  10  :  29  — 
"  But  he,  desiring  to  justify  himself,  said  unto  Jesus,  And  who  is  my  neighbor  ?  "  16  :  15  —  "  Ye  are  they  that  justify 
yourselves  in  the  sight  of  men  ;  but  God  knoweth  your  hearts  "  ;  18  :  14  —  "  This  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified 
rather  than  the  other  ";  cf.  13  (lit.)—  "God  be  propitiated  toward  me  the  sinner"  ;  Rom.  4  :  6-8  —  "  Even  as  David 
also  pronounceth  blessing  upon  the  man,  unto  whom  God  reckoneth  righteousness  apart  from  works,  saying,  Blessed  are 
they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are  covered.  Blessed  is  the  man  unto  whom  the  Lord  will  not 
reckon  sin"  ;  cf.  Ps.  32  :  1,  2  —  "Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is  covered.  Blessed  is  the 
man  unto  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile." 

Rom.  5  :  18,  19  —  "  So  then  as  through  one  trespass  the  judgment  came  unto  all  men  to  condemnation  ;  even  so  through 
one  act  of  righteousness  the  free  gift  came  unto  all  men  to  justification  of  life.  For  as  through  the  one  man's  disobedience 
the  many  were  made  sinners,  even  so  through  the  obedience  of  the  one  shall  the  many  be  made  righteous"  ;  8  :  33,. 
34  —  "  Who  shall  lay  anything  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect  ?  It  is  God  that  justifieth  ;  who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  " 
2  Cor.  5  :  19,  21  —  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  not  reckoning  unto  them  their  trespasses  .... 
him  who  knew  no  sin  he  made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf;  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  [God's  jus- 
tified persons]  in  him"  ;  Rom.  6,  7—  "he  that  hath  died  is  justified  from  sin"  ;  1  Cor.  4  :  4—  "For  I  know 
nothing  against  myself;  yet  am  I  not  hereby  justified  :  but  he  that  judgeth  me  is  the  Lord." 

James  2  :  21,  23,  24  —  "  Was  not  Abraham  our  father  justified  by  works,  in  that  he  offered  up  Isaac  his  son  upon  the 
altar?  ....  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  reckoned  unto  him  for  righteousness  ....  Ye  see  that  by  works  a  man 
is  justified,  and  not  only  by  faith."  James  is  denouncing  a  dead  faith,  while  Pavil  is  speaking  of 
the  necessity  of  a  living  faith  ;  or,  rather,  James  is  describing  the  nature  of  faith,  while 
Paul  is  describing  the  instrument  of  justification.  "  They  are  like  two  men  beset  by  a 
couple  of  robbers.  Back  to  back,  each  strikes  out  against  the  robber  opposite  him  — 


JUSTIFICATION.  473 

each  having  a  different  enemy  in  his  eye  "  ( Wni.  M.  Taylor).  Neander  on  James  2  : 14-26 
—"James  is  denouncing  mere  adhesion  to  an  external  law,  trust  in  intellectual  posses- 
sion of  it.  With  him,  law  means  an  inward  principle  of  life.  Paul,  contrasting  law  as 
he  does  with  faith,  commonly  means  by  law  mere  external  divine  requisition.  . .  .  James 
does  not  deny  salvation  to  him  who  has  faith,  but  only  to  him  who  falsely  professes  to 
have.  When  he  says  that '  by  works  a  man  is  justified,'  he  takes  into  account  the  out- 
ward manifestation  only,  speaks  from  the  point  of  view  of  human  consciousness.  In 
works  only  does  faith  show  itself  as  genuine  and  complete."  Rev.  22 : 11  — "  he  that  is  righteous, 
let  him  do  righteousness  still"—  not,  as  the  A.  V.  seemed  to  imply,  "  he  that  is  just,  let  him  be 
justified  still "—  i.  e.,  made  subjectively  holy. 

(b)  dmaiuoic  —  is  the  act,  in  process,  of  declaring  a  man  just, —  that  is,, 
acquitted  from  guilt  and  restored  to  the  divine  favor  (Bom.  4  :  25  ;  5  :  18). 

Rom.  4  :  25—"  who  was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses,  and  was  raised  for  our  justification "  ;  5  : 18— "unto  all 
men  to  justification  of  life." 

(c)  6iKaiufj,a  —  is  the  act,  as  already  accomplished,  of  declaring  a  man 
just, —  that  is,  no  longer  exposed  to  penalty,  but  restored  to  God's  favor 
(Bom.  5  :  16,  18;  c/.  1  Tim.  3  :  16).     Hence,  in  other  connections,  dinaiufza 
has  the  meaning  of  statute,  legal  decision,  act  of  justice  ( Luke  1:6;  Bom. 
2  :  26  ;  Heb.  9:1). 

Rom.  5  : 16, 18 — "of  many  trespasses  unto  justification through  one  act  of  righteousness  "  ;    c/.  1  Tim.  3  : 

16— "justified  in  the  spirit."  The  distinction  between  SueaiWis  and  fit/catw/xa  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  distinction  between  poesy  and  poem  —  the  former  denoting  something  in  process^ 
an  ever-working  spirit ;  the  latter  denoting  something  fully  accomplished,  a  completed 
work.  Hence  SiKauo/ota  is  used  in  Luke  1 :  6 — "ordinances  of  the  Lord"  ;  Rom.  2  :  26 — "ordinances  of 
the  law  "  ;  Heb.  9:1—"  ordinances  of  divine  service." 

(d)  diKaioavvrj  —  is  the  state  of  one  justified,  or  declared  just.     Bom.  8  : 
10  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  30.     In  Bom.  10  :  3,  Paul  inveighs  against  rrjv  Idiav  diKaioovvijv 
as  insufficient  and  false,  and  in  its  place  would  put  rrjv  rov  Qeov  duiaiocvvr/v  — 
that  is,  a  $iK.aLoavvr]  which  God  not  only  requires,  but  provides  ;  which  is  not 
only  acceptable  to  God,  but  proceeds  from  God,  and  is  appropriated  by 
faith, —  hence  called  diKaioovvq  TTIGTEUS  or  kx.  TT'ICTE^.     "  The  primary  significa- 
tion of  the  word,  in  Paul's  writings,  is  therefore  that  state  of  the  believer 
which  is  called  forth  by  God's  act  of  acquittal  —  the  state  of  the  believer  a& 
justified,"  that  is,  freed  from  punishment  and  restored  to  the  divine  favor. 

Rom.  8  : 10— "the  Spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness";  1  Cor.  1  :  30  — "Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us- 
....  righteousness  "  ;  Rom.  10  :  3 — "being  ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  and  seeking  to  establish  their  own,  they 
did  not  subject  themselves  to  the  righteousnes  of  God."  See,  on  Si/caioa-urrj,  Cremer,  N.  T.  Lexicon,  Eng. 
trans.,  174 ;  Meyer  on  Romans,  trans.,  68-70 — " SIKCUOO-UI'TJ  #eoC  (gen.  of  origin,  emana- 
tion from )  =  Tightness  which  proceeds  from  God  —  the  relation  of  being  right  into  which 
man  is  put  by  God  ( by  an  act  of  God  declaring  him  righteous )." 

Since  this  state  of  acquittal  is  accompanied  by  changes  in  the  character 
and  conduct,  dinatoovvr/  comes  to  mean,  secondarily,  the  moral  condition  of 
the  believer  as  resulting  from  this  acquittal  and  inseparably  connected  with 
it  ( Bom.  14:17;  2  Cor.  5  :  21 ).  This  righteousness  arising  from  justifica- 
tion becomes  a  principle  of  action  (Mat.  3  :  15;  Acts  10  :  35  ;  Bom.  6  :  13, 
18).  The  term,  however,  never  loses  its  implication  of  a  justifying  act 
upon  which  this  principle  of  action  is  based. 

Rom.  14  : 17— "the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  eating  and  drinking,  but  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost " ;  2  Cor.  5  :  21  — "  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him  "  ;  Mat.  3  : 15  — "  Suffer  it  now :  for 
thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  "  ;  Acts  10  :  35— "in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and  worketh 
righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him"  ;  Rom.  6  : 13— "present  yourselves  unto  God,  as  alive  from  the  dead,  and  your 
members  as  instruments  of  rightaousness  unto  God."  Meyer  on  Rom.  3  :  23—"  Every  mode  of  concep- 


474  SOTERIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    SALVATION. 

tion  which  refers  redemption  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  not  to  a  real  atonement 
through  the  death  of  Christ,  but  subjectively  to  the  dying  and  reviving  with  him  guaran- 
teed and  produced  by  that  death  ( Schleiermacher,  Nitzsch,  Hof  mann ),  is  opposed  to  the 
N.  T. —  a  mixing  up  of  justification  and  sanctiftcation." 

On  these  Scripture  terms,  see  Bp.  of  Ossory,  Nature  and  Effects  of  Faith,  436-496 ;  Lange, 
Com.,  on  Romans  3 :  24 ;  Buchanan  on  Justification,  226-249.  Per  contra,  see  Knox, 
Remains ;  Newman,  Lectures  on  Justification,  68-143 ;  N.  W.  Taylor,  Revealed  Theology, 
310-372. 

It  is  worthy  of  special  observation  that,  in  the  passages  cited  above,  the 
terms  "justify  "  and  "  justification "  are  contrasted,  not  with  the  process  of 
depraving  or  corrupting,  but  with  the  outward  act  of  condemning  ;  and  that 
the  expressions  used  to  explain  and  illustrate  them  are  all  derived,  not  from 
the  inward  operation  of  purifying  the  soul  or  infusing  into  it  righteousness, 
but  from  the  procedure  of  courts  in  their  judgments,  or  of  offended  persons 
in  their  forgiveness  of  offenders.  We  conclude  that  these  terms,  wherever 
they  have  reference  to  the  sinner's  relation  to  God,  signify  a  declarative  and 
judicial  act  of  God,  external  to  the  sinner,  and  not  an  efficient  and  sovereign 
act  of  God  changing  the  sinner's  nature  and  making  him  subjectively 
righteous. 

3.     Elements  of  Justification. 

These  are  two : 

A.     Eemission  of  punishment. 

(a)  God  acquits  the  ungodly  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  declares  them 
just.  This  is  not  to  declare  them  innocent  —  that  would  be  a  judgment 
contrary  to  truth.  It  declares  that  the  demands  of  the  law  have  been  satis- 
fied with  regard  to  them,  and  that  they  are  now  free  from  its  condemnation. 

Rom.  4  :  5— "But  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  reckoned 
for  righteousness." 

(6)  This  acquittal,  in  so  far  as  it  is  the  act  of  God  as  judge  or  executive, 
administering  law,  may  be  denominated  pardon.  In  so  far  as  it  is  the  act 
of  God  as  a  father  personally  injured  and  grieved  by  sin,  yet  showing  grace 
to  the  sinner,  it  is  denominated  forgiveness. 

Micah  7  : 18— "Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  transgression  of  the  remnant 
-of  his  heritage  ?  "  Ps.  130  :  4  — "  But  there  is  forgiveness  with  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  feared." 

(c)  In  an  earthly  tribunal,  there  is  no  acquittal  for  those  who  are  proved 
to  be  transgressors  —  for  such  there  is  only  conviction  and  punishment. 
But  in  God's  government  there  is  remission  of  punishment  for  believers, 
«ven  though  they  are  confessedly  offenders ;    and,   in  justification,   God 
declares  this  remission. 

There  is  no  forgiveness  in  nature.  F.  W.  Robertson  preached  this.  But  he  ignored 
the  vis  medicatrix  of  the  gospel,  in  which  forgiveness  is  offered  to  all.  The  natural  con- 
science says:  "I  must  pay  my  debt."  But  the  believer  finds  that  "Jesus  paid  it  all." 
Illustrate  by  the  poor  man,  who  on  coming  to  pay  his  mortgage  finds  that  the  owner  at 
death  had  ordered  it  to  be  burned,  so  that  now  there  is  nothing  to  pay. 

(d]  The  declaration  that  the  sinner  is  no  longer  exposed  to  the  penalty 
of  law,  has  its  ground,  not  in  any  satisfaction  of  the  law's  demand  on  the 
part  of  the  sinner  himself,  but  solely  in  the  bearing  of    the  penalty  by 


JUSTIFICATION".  475 

Christ,  to  whom  the  sinner  is  united  by  faith.  Justification,  in  its  first 
element,  is  therefore  that  act  by  which  God,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  acquits 
the  transgressor  and  suffers  him  to  go  free. 

Acts  13  :  38,  39  — "  Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore,  brethren,  that  through  this  man  is  proclaimed  unto  you  remission 
of  sins :  and  by  him  [  lit. :  '  in  him '  ]  every  one  that  believeth  is  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses  "  ;  Rom.  3  :  24,  26  — "  being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  ....  that  he  might  himself  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus  "  ;  1  Cor.  6  : 11  — "  but 
ye  were  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  "  ;  Eph.  1  :  7  — "  in  whom  we  have  our  redemption  through  his  blood, 
the  forgiveness  of  our  trespasses,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace." 

This  acquittal  is  not  to  be  conceived  of  as  the  sovereign  act  of  a  Governor,  but  rather 
as  a  judicial  procedure.  Christ  secures  a  new  trial  for  those  already  condemned  —  a  trial 
in  which  he  appears  for  the  guilty,  and  sets  over  against  their  sin  his  own  righteousness, 
or  rather  shows  them  to  be  righteous  in  him.  C.  H.  M. :  "  When  Balak  seeks  to  curse  the 
seed  of  Abraham,  it  is  said  of  Jehovah  :  '  He  hath  not  beheld  iniquity  in  Jacob,  neither  hath  seen  per- 
verseness  in  Israel '  ( Num.  23  :  21 ).  When  Satan  stands  forth  to  rebuke  Joshua,  the  word  is : 
•*  The  Lord  rebuke  thee,  0  Satan  ....  Is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire  ? '  ( Zech.  3:2).  Thus  he  ever 
puts  himself  between  his  people  and  every  tongue  that  would  accuse  them.  '  Touch  not 
mine  anointed  ones,'  he  says,  '  and  do  my  prophets  no  harm '  ( Ps.  105  :  15 ).  '  It  is  God  that  justifieth ;  who  is  he  that 
•condemneth  ? '  ( Rom.  8  :  34 )."  It  is  not  sin,  then,  that  condemns  —  it  is  the  failure  to  ask  pardon 
for  sin,  through  Christ.  Illustrate  by  the  ring  presented  by  Queen  Elisabeth  to  the  Earl 
of  Essex. 

B.     ^Restoration  to  favor. 

(a]  Justification  is  more  than  remission  or  acquittal.  These  would  leave 
the  sinner  simply  in  the  position  of  a  discharged  criminal ;  law  requires  a 
positive  righteousness  also.  Besides  deliverance  from  punishment,  justifi- 
cation implies  God's  treatment  of  the  sinner  as  if  he  were,  and  had  been, 
personally  righteous.  The  justified  person  receives  not  only  remission  of 
penalty,  but  the  rewards  promised  to  obedience. 

Luke  15  :  22-24 — "Bring  forth  quickly  the  best  robe,  and  put  it  on  him  ;  and  put  a  ring  on  his  hand,  and  shoes  on 
his  feet :  and  bring  the  fatted  calf,  and  kill  it,  and  let  us  eat,  and  make  merry :  for  this  my  son  was  dead,  and  is  alive 
Again  ;  he  was  lost  and  is  found"  ;  Rom.  5  : 1,  2— "Being  therefore  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
•our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  through  whom  also  we  have  had  our  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand ;  and  we 
rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God"— "this  grace"  being  a  permanent  state  of  divine  favor;  1  Cor. 
1 :  29,  30  — "  But  of  him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us  wisdom  from  God,  and  righteousness  and  sancti- 
fication,  and  redemption:  that  according  as  it  is  written,  He  that  glorieth,  let  him  glory  in  the  Lord"  ;  2  Cor.  5  :  21 
— "that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him." 

Gal.  3  :  6— "Even  as  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  reckoned  unto  him  for  righteousness"  ;  Eph.  2  :  7— "the 
•exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  in  kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  3  :  12  — "  in  whom  we  have  boldness  and  access 
in  confidence  through  our  faith  in  him  "  ;  Phil.  3  :  8,  9— "I  count  all  things  to  be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord  ....  the  righteousness  which  is  from  God  by  faith  "  ;  Col.  1  :  22 — "reconciled  in  the  body 
of  his  flesh  through  death,  to  present  you  holy  and  without  blemish  and  unreprovable  before  him  "  ;  Tit.  3  :  4,  7— "the 

kindness  of  God  our  Savior that  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we  might  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope  of 

•eternal  life  "  ;  Rev.  19  :  8  — "  And  it  was  given  unto  her  that  she  should  array  herself  in  fine  linen,  bright  and  pure : 
for  the  fine  linen  is  the  righteous  acts  of  the  saints." 

(6)  This  restoration  to  favor,  viewed  in  its  aspect  as  the  renewal  of  a 
broken  friendship,  is  denominated  reconciliation  ;  viewed  in  its  aspect  as  a 
renewal  of  the  soul's  true  relation  to  God  as  a  father,  it  is  denominated 
adoption. 

John  1 : 12  — "  But  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  the  right  to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that 
believe  on  his  name  "  ;  Rom.  5  : 11 — "and  not  only  so,  but  we  also  rejoice  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
through  whom  we  have  now  received  the  reconciliation "  ;  Gal.  4  :  5— "born  under  the  law,  that  he  might  redeem  them 
which  were  under,  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons  "  ;  Eph.  1:5—"  having  foreordained  us  unto 
adoption  as  sons  through  Jesus  Christ  unto  himself"  ;  cf.  Rom.  8 : 23— "even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  wait- 
ing for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body  "—that  is,  this  adoption  is  completed,  so  far 
as  the  body  is  concerned,  at  the  resurrection. 


476 


SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 


(c)  In  an  earthly  pardon,  there  are  no  special  helps  bestowed  upon  the 
pardoned.     There  are  no  penalties,  but  there  are  also  no  rewards  ;  law  can- 
not claim  anything  of  the  discharged,  but  then  they  also  can  claim  nothing 
of  the  law.     But  what,  though  greatly  needed,  is  left  unprovided  by  human 
government,  God  does  provide.     In  justification,  there  is  not  only  acquittal, 
but  approval ;  not  only  pardon,  but  promotion.     Kemission  is  never  sep- 
arated from  restoration. 

After  serving-  a  term  in  the  penitentiary,  the  convict  goes  out  with  a  stigma  upon  him 
and  with  no  friends.  His  past  conviction  and  disgrace  follow  him.  He  cannot  obtain 
employment.  He  cannot  vote.  Want  often  leads  him  to  commit  crime  again ;  and  then 
the  old  conviction  is  brought  up  as  proof  of  bad  character,  and  increases  his  punish- 
ment. Need  of  Friendly  Inns  and  Refuges  for  discharged  criminals.  But  the  justified 
sinner  is  differently  treated.  He  is  not  only  delivered  from  God's  wrath  and  eternal 
death,  but  he  is  admitted  to  God's  favor  and  eternal  life.  The  discovery  of  this  is  partly 
the  cause  of  the  convert's  joy.  Expecting  pardon,  at  most,  he  is  met  with  unmeasured 
favor.  The  prodigal  finds  the  father's  house  and  heart  open  to  him,  and  more  done  for 
him  than  if  he  had  never  wandered.  This  overwhelms  and  subdues  him.  The  two  ele- 
ments, acquittal  and  restoration  to  favor,  are  never  separated.  Like  the  expulsion  of 
darkness  and  restoration  of  light,  they  always  go  together.  No  one  can  have,  even  if  he 
would  have,  an  incomplete  justification. 

(d)  The  declaration  that  the  sinner  is  restored  to  God's  favor,  has  it» 
ground,  not  in  the  sinner's  personal  character  or  conduct,  but  solely  in  the 
obedience  and  righteousness  of  Christ,  to  whom  the  sinner  is  united  by 
faith.     Thus  Christ's  work  is  the  procuring  cause  of  our  justification,  in 
both  its  elements.     As  we  are  acquitted  on  account  of  Christ's  suffering  of 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  so  on  account  of  Christ's  obedience  we  receive  the 
rewards  of  law. 

All  this  comes  to  us  in  Christ.  We  participate  in  the  rewards  promised  to  his  obedi- 
ence :  John  20  :  31  — "  that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in  his  name  "  ;  1  Cor.  3 !  21-23  —  "  For  all  things  are  yours ; 

all  are  yours;  and  ye  are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's."  Denovan,  Toronto  Baptist,  Dec.,  1883, 

maintains  that  "  grace  operates  in  two  ways  :  ( 1 )  for  the  rebel  it  provides  a  scheme  of 
justification  —  this  is  judicial,  matter  of  debt;  (2)  for  the  child  it  provides  pardon  — 
fatherly  forgiveness  on  repentance."  But  see  : 

H.  B.  Smith,  System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  523,  524— "Justification  and  pardon  are 
not  the  same  in  Scripture.  We  object  to  the  view  of  Emmons  ( Works,  vol.  5 ),  that '  jus- 
tification is  no  more  nor  less  than  pardon,'  and  that  '  God  rewards  men  for  their  own, 
and  not  Christ's,  obedience,'  for  the  reason  that  the  words,  as  used  in  common  life,  relate 
to  wholly  different  things.  If  a  man  is  declared  just  by  a  human  tribunal,  he  is  not 
pardoned,  he  is  acquitted ;  his  own  inherent  righteousness,  as  respects  the  charge  against 
him,  is  recognized  and  declared.  The  gospel  proclaims  both  pardon  and  justification. 
There  is  no  significance  in  the  use  of  the  word  'justify,'  if  pardon  be  all  that  is 
intended. .  .  . 

"  Justification  involves  what  pardon  does  not,  a  righteousness  which  is  the  ground  of 
the  acquittal  and  favor ;  not  the  mere  favor  of  the  sovereign,  but  the  merit  of  Christ, 
is  at  the  basis  —  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God.  The  ends  of  the  law  are  so  far  sat- 
isfied by  what  Christ  has  done,  that  the  sinner  can  be  pardoned.  The  law  is  not  merely 
set  aside,  but  its  great  ends  are  answered  by  what  Christ  has  done  in  our  behalf.  God 
might  pardon  as  a  sovereign,  from  mere  benevolence  (as  regard  to  happiness ) ;  but  in 
the  gospel  he  does  more  —  he  pardons  in  consistency  with  his  holiness  —  upholding  that 
as  the  main  end  of  all  his  dealings  and  works.  Justification  involves  acquittal  from  all 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  and  the  inheritance  of  all  the  blessings  of  the  redeemed  state. 
The  penalty  of  the  law  —  spiritual,  temporal,  eternal  death  —  is  all  taken  away ;  and  the 
opposite  blessings  are  conferred,  in  and  through  Christ— the  resurrection  to  blessedness, 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  eternal  life 

"  If  justification  is  forgiveness  simply,  it  applies  only  to  the  past.  If  it  is  also  a  title  to 
life,  it  includes  the  future  condition  of  the  soul.  The  latter  alone  is  consistent  with  the 
plan  and  decrees  of  God  respecting  redemption  —his  seeing  the  end  from  the  beginning. 


JUSTIFICATION.  477 

The  reason  why  justification  has  been  taken  as  pardon  is  two  fold  :  first,  it  does  involve 
pardon  —  this  is  its  negative  side,  while  it  has  a  positive  side  also  —  the  title  to  eternal 
life :  secondly,  the  tendency  to  resolve  the  gospel  into  an  ethical  system.  Only  our  acts 
of  choice  as  meritorious  could  procure  a  title  to  favor,  a  positive  reward.  Christ  might 
remove  the  obstacle,  but  the  title  to  heaven  is  derived  only  from  what  we  ourselves  do. 

"Justification  is,  therefore,  not  a  merely  governmental  pro  vision,  as  it  must  be  on  any 
scheme  that  denies  that  Christ's  work  has  direct  respect  to  the  ends  of  the  law.  Views 
of  the  atonement  determine  the  views  on  justification,  if  logical  sequence  is  observed. 
We  have  to  do  here,  not  with  views  of  natural  justice,  but  with  divine  methods.  If  we 
regard  the  atonement  simply  as  answering  the  ends  of  a  governmental  scheme,  our 
view  must  be  that  justification  merely  removes  an  obstacle,  and  the  end  of  it  is  only 
pardon,  and  not  eternal  life." 

But  upon  the  true  view,  that  the  atonement  is  a  complete  satisfaction  to  the  holiness 
of  God,  justification  embraces  not  merely  pardon,  or  acquittal  from  the  punishments  of 
law,  but  also  restoration  of  favor,  or  the  rewards  promised  to  actual  obedience.  See 
also  Quenstedt,  3 :  524;  Philippi,  Active  Obedience  of  Christ. 

4.     Relation  of  Justification  to  GotiCs  Laiv  and  Holiness. 

A.  Justification  has  been  shown  to  be  a  forensic  term.     A  man  may, 
indeed,  be  conceived  of  as  just,  in  either  of  two  senses  :     (a)   as  just  in 
moral  character  —  that  is,  absolutely  holy  in  nature,  disposition,  and  con- 
duct ;    (b)  as  just  in  relation  to  law — or  as  free  from  all  obligation  to  suffer 
penalty,  and  as  entitled  to  the  rewards  of  obedience. 

So,  too,  a  man  may  be  conceived  of  as  justified,  in  either  of  two  senses  : 
(a)  made  just  in  moral  character  ;  or,  (6)  made  just  in  his  relation  to  law. 
But  the  Scriptures  declare  that  there  does  not  exist  on  earth  a  just  man,  in 
the  first  of  these  senses  (Eccl.  7  :  20).  Even  in  those  who  are  renewed  in 
moral  character  and  united  to  Christ,  there  is  a  remnant  of  moral  depravity. 

If,  therefore,  there  be  any  such  thing  as  a  just  man,  he  must  be  just,  not 
in  the  sense  of  possessing  an  unspotted  holiness,  but  in  the  sense  of  being 
delivered  from  the  penalty  of  law,  and  made  partaker  of  its  rewards.  If 
there  be  any  such  thing  as  justification,  it  must  be,  not  an  act  of  God  which 
renders  the  sinner  absolutely  holy,  but  an  act  of  God  which  declares  the 
sinner  to  be  free  from  legal  penalties  and  entitled  to  legal  rewards. 

Justus  is  derived  from  jus,  and  suggests  the  idea  of  courts  and  legal  procedures.  The 
fact  that  'justify'  is  derived  from  Justus  and  facia,  and  might  therefore  seem  to  imply 
the  making  of  a  man  subjectively  righteous,  should  not  blind  us  to  its  forensic  use.  The 
phrases  "  sanctify  the  Holy  One  of  Jacob  "  ( Is.  29  :  23 ;  c/.  1  Pet.  3  : 15  — "  sanctify  in  your  hearts  Christ  as  Lord  "  ) 
and  "glorify  God"  (1  Cor.  6  :  20)  do  not  mean,  to  make  God  subjectively  holy  or  glorious,  for 
this  he  is,  whatever  we  may  do  ;  they  mean  rather,  to  declare,  or  show,  him  to  be  holy  or 
glorious.  So  justification  is  not  making  a  man  righteous,  or  even  pronouncing  him 
righteous,  for  no  man  is  subjectively  righteous.  It  is  rather  to  count  him  righteous  so 
far  as  respects  his  relations  to  law,  to  treat  him  as  righteous,  or  to  declare  that  God  will, 
for  reasons  assigned,  so  treat  him  (Payne).  So  long  as  any  remnant  of  sin  exists,  no 
justification,  in  the  sense  of  making  holy,  can  be  attributed  to  man:  Eccl.  7  :  20— "Surely 
there  is  not  a  righteous  man  upon  earth,  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not."  If  no  man  is  just,  in  this  sense, 
then  God  cannot  pronounce  him  just,  for  God  cannot  lie.  Justification,  therefore,  must 
signify  a  deliverance  from  legal  penalties,  and  an  assignment  of  legal  rewards. 

B.  The  difficult  feature  of  justification  is  the  declaration,  on  the  part  of 
God,  that  a  sinner  whose  remaining  sinfulness  seems  to  necessitate  the 
vindicative  reaction  of  God's  holiness  against  him,  is  yet  free  from  such 
reaction  of  holiness  as  is  expressed  in  the  penalties  of  the  law. 

The  fact  is  to  be  accepted  on  the  testimony  of  Scripture.  If  this  testimony 
be  not  accepted,  there  is  no  deliverance  from  the  condemnation  of 'law.  But 


478  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

the  difficulty  of  conceiving  of  God's  declaring  the  sinner  no  longer  exposed 
to  legal  penalty  is  relieved,  if  not  removed,  by  the  threefold  consideration  : 

(a)     That  Christ  has  endured  the  penalties  of  the  law  in  the  sinner's  stead. 

Gal.  3  :  13  — "  Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us."  Denovan :  "  We 
are  justified  by  faith,  instrumentally,  in  the  same  sense  as  a  debt  is  paid  by  a  good  note  or 
a  check  on  a  substantial  account  in  a  distant  bank.  It  is  only  the  intelligent  and  honest 
acceptance  of  justification  already  provided." 

(6)  That  the  sinner  is  so  united  to  Christ,  that  Christ's  life  already  con- 
stitutes the  dominating  principle  within  him. 

Gal.  2  :  20— "I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  God 
does  not  justify  any  man  whom  he  does  not  foresee  that  he  can  and  will  sanctify.  Some- 
prophecies  produce  their  own  fulfilment.  Tell  a  man  he  is  brave,  and  you  help  him  to 
become  so.  So  declaratory  justification,  when  published  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit* 
helps  to  make  men  just. 

(c)  That  this  life  of  Christ  is  a  power  in  the  soul  which  will  gradually, 
but  infallibly,  extirpate  all  remaining  depravity,  until  the  whole  physical 
and  moral  nature  is  perfectly  conformed  to  the  divine  holiness. 

Phil.  3  :  21  — "  who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of  his  glory,, 
according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject  all  things  unto  himself"  ;  Col.  3  :  1-4  — "  If  then  ye  were 
raised  together  with  Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are  above,  where  Christ  is,  seated  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  Set  your 
mind  on  the  things  that  are  above,  not  on  the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth.  For  ye  died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God.  "When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  be  manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with  him  be  manifested  in  glory." 

Truth  of  fact,  and  ideal  truth,  are  not  opposed  to  each  other.  F.  W.  Robertson,  Lect- 
ures and  Addresses,  256— "When  the  agriculturalist  sees  a  small,  white,  almond-like 
thing  rising  from  the  ground,  he  calls  that  an  oak ;  but  this  is  not  a  truth  of  fact,  it  is  an 
ideal  truth.  The  oak  is  a  large  tree,  with  spreading  branches  and  leaves  and  acorns ;  but 
that  is  only  a  thing  an  inch  long,  and  imperceptible  in  all  its  development ;  yet  the  agri- 
culturalist sees  in  it  the  idea  of  what  it  shall  be,  and,  if  I  may  borrow  a  Scriptural  phrase, 
he  imputes  to  it  the  majesty,  and  excellence,  and  glory,  that  is  to  be  hereafter."  Thi& 
method  of  representation  is  effective  and  unobjectionable,  so  long  as  we  remember  that 
the  force  which  is  to  bring  about  this  future  development  and  perfection  is  not  the  force 
of  unassisted  human  nature,  but  rather  the  force  of  Christ  and  his  indwelling  Spirit.  See 
Philippi,  Glaubenslehre,  v.  1 :  201-208. 

5.  delation  of  Justification  to  Union  with  Christ  and  the  Work  of 
the  Spirit. 

A.  Since  the  sinner,  at  the  moment  of  justification,  is  not  yet  completely 
transformed  in  character,  we  have  seen  that  God  can  declare  him  just,  not 
on  account  of  what  he  is  in  himself,  but  only  on  account  of  what  Christ  is. 
The  ground  of  justification  is  therefore  not,  (a)  as  the  Romanists  hold, 
a  new  righteousness  and  love  infused  into  us,  and  now  constituting  our 
moral  character ;  nor,  (6)  as  Osiander  taught,  the  essential  righteousness 
of  Christ's  divine  nature,  which  has  become  ours  by  faith ;  but  (c)  the 
satisfaction  and  obedience  of  Christ,  as  the  head  of  a  new  humanity,  and  as 
embracing  in  himself  all  believers  as  his  members. 

As  Adam's  sin  is  imputed  to  us,  not  because  Adam  is  in  us,  but  because  we 
were  in  Adam ;  so  Christ's  righteousness  is  imputed  to  us,  not  because  Christ 
is  in  us,  but  because  we  are  in  Christ  —  that  is,  joined  by  faith  to  one  whose 
righteousness  and  life  are  infinitely  greater  than  our  power  to  appropriate 
or  contain.  In  this  sense,  we  may  say  that  we  are  justified  through  a  Christ 
outside  of  us,  as  we  are  sanctified  through  a  Christ  within  us.  Edwards : 


JUSTIFICATION.  470 

"The  justification  of  the  believer  is  no  other  than  his  being  admitted  to- 
communion  in,  or  participation  of,  this  head  and  surety  of  all  believers. " 

1  Tim.  1  : 14  — "  faith  and  love  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  3  : 16  — "  He  who  was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  justified  in 
the  spirit"  ;  Acts  13  :  39 — "and  by  him  [lit. :  'in  him  ']  every  one  that  believeth  is  justified  from  all  things,  from 
which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses "  ;  Rom.  4  :  25  — "  who  was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses,  and  was 
raised  for  our  justification." 

Here  we  have  the  third  instance  of  imputation.  The  first  was  the  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin  to  us ;  and  the  second  was  the  imputation  of  our  sins  to  Christ.  The  third  is 
now  the  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness  to  us.  In  each  of  the  former  cases,  we 
have  sought  to  show  that  the  legal  relation  presupposes  a  natural  relation.  Adam's  sin 
is  imputed  to  us,  because  we  are  one  with  Adam ;  our  sins  are  imputed  to  Christ,  because 
Christ  is  one  with  humanity.  So  here,  we  must  hold  that  Christ's  righteousness  is  im- 
puted to  us,  because  we  are  one  with  Christ.  Justification  is  not  an  arbitrary  transfer  to- 
us  of  the  merits  of  another  with  whom  we  have  no  real  connection.  This  would  make 
it  merely  a  legal  fiction  ;  and  there  are  no  legal  fictions  in  the  divine  government. 

Instead  of  this  external  and  mechanical  method  of  conception,  we  should  first  set 
before  us  the  fact  of  Christ's  justification,  after  he  had  borne  our  sins  and  risen  from  the 
dead.  In  him,  humanity,  for  the  first  time,  is  acquitted  from  punishment  and  restored 
to  the  divine  favor.  But  Christ's  new  humanity  is  the  germinal  source  of  spiritual  life 
for  the  race.  He  was  justified,  not  simply  as  a  private  person,  but  as  our  representative 
and  head.  By  becoming  partakers  of  the  new  life  in  him,  we  share  in  all  he  is  and  all 
he  has  done ;  and,  first  of  all,  we  share  in  his  justification.  So  Luther  gives  us,  for  sub- 
stance, the  formula :  "  We  in  Christ  =  justification ;  Christ  in  us  =  sanctification."  And 
in  harmony  with  this  formula  is  the  statement  quoted  in  the  text  above  from  Edwards, 
Works,  4  : 66. 

See  also  H.  B.  Smith,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  July,  1881—"  Union  with  Adam  and  with  Christ  is 
the  ground  of  imputation.  But  the  parallelism  is  incomplete.  While  the  sin  of  Adam 
is  imputed  to  us  because  it  is  ours,  the  righteousness  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  us  simply 
because  of  our  union  with  him,  not  at  all  because  of  our  personal  righteousness.  In  the 
one  case,  character  is  taken  into  the  account ;  in  the  other,  it  is  not.  In  sin,  our  demerits 
are  included ;  in  justification,  our  merits  are  excluded."  For  further  statements  of  Dr. 
Smith,  see  his  System  of  Christian  Theology,  524-552. 

C.  H.  M.  on  Genesis,  page  78— "The  question  for  every  believer  is  not  'What  am  I?  * 
but  '  What  is  Christ  ?  '  Of  Abel  it  is  said :  '  God  testified  of  his  gifts '  ( Heb.  11 :  4,  A.  V. ). 
So  God  testifies,  not  of  the  believer,  but  of  his  gift— and  his  gift  is  Christ.  Yet  Cain  was 
angry  because  he  was  not  received  in  his  sins,  while  Abel  was  accepted  in  his  gift.  This 
was  right,  if  Abel  was  justified  in  himself ;  it  was  wrong,  because  Abel  was  justified  only 
in  Christ."  See  also  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  384-388,  392;  Baird,  Elohim  Revealed, 
448. 

B.  The  relation  of  justification  to  regeneration  and  sanctification,  more- 
over, delivers  it  from  the  charges  of  externality  and  immorality.  God  does 
not  justify  ungodly  men  in  their  ungodliness.  He  pronounces  them  just 
only  as  they  are  united  to  Christ,  who  is  absolutely  just,  and  who,  by  his. 
Spirit,  can  make  them  just,  not  only  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  but  in  moral 
character.  The  very  faith  by  which  the  sinner  receives  Christ  is  an  act 
in  which  he  ratifies  all  that  Christ  has  done,  and  accepts  God's  judgment 
against  sin  as  his  own  ( John  16  :  11 ). 

Justification  is  possible,  therefore,  because  it  is  always  accompanied  by 
regeneration  and  union  with  Christ,  and  is  followed  by  sanctification.  But 
this  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  Romanist  confounding  of  justification 
and  sanctification,  as  different  stages  of  the  same  process  of  making  the 
sinner  actually  holy.  It  holds  fast  to  the  Scripture  distinction  between 
justification  as  a  declarative  act  of  God,  and  regeneration  and  sanctification 
as  those  efficient  acts  of  God  by  which  justification  is  accompanied  and 
followed. 

John  16  : 11  — "  of  judgment,  because  the  prince  of  this  world  hath  been  judged  "—the  Holy  Spirit  leads  the 


480  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

believer  to  ratify  God's  judgment  against  sin  and  Satan.  Accepting  Christ,  the  believer 
accepts  Christ's  death  for  sin,  and  resurrection  to  life,  for  his  own.  If  it  were  otherwise, 
the  first  act  of  the  believer,  after  his  discharge,  might  be  a  repetition  of  his  offences. 
Such  a  justification  would  offend  against  the  fundamental  principles  of  justice  and  the 
safety  of  government.  It  would  also  fail  to  satisfy  the  conscience.  This  clamors  not 
only  for  pardon,  but  for  renewal.  Union  with  Christ  has  one  legal  fruit  —  justification ; 
but  it  has  also  one  moral  fruit — sanctification. 

Both  history  and  our  personal  observation  show  that  nothing  can  change  the  life  and 
make  men  moral,  like  the  gospel  of  free  pardon  in  Jesus  Christ.  Mere  preaching  of 
morality  will  effect  nothing  of  consequence.  There  never  has  been  more  insistence 
upon  morality  than  in  the  most  immoral  times,  like  those  of  Seneca,  and  of  the  English 
deists.  As  to  their  moral  fruits,  we  can  safely  compare  Protestant  with  Roman  Catholic 
systems  and  leaders  and  countries.  The  prodigal  son  is  forgiven  before  he  actually 
confesses  and  amends  ( Luke  15  :  20,  21 ).  Justification  is  always  accompanied  by  regenera- 
tion, and  is  followed  by  sanctification ;  and  all  three  are  results  of  the  death  of  Christ. 

Hence  we  read  in  Eph.  5  :  25,  26  — "  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  up  for  it ;  that  he  might 
sanctify  it,  having  cleansed  [=  after  he  had  cleansed  ]  it  by  the  washing  of  water  with  the  word  "  [=  re- 
generation] ;  1  Pet.  1 : 1,  2— "elect according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  in  sanctification  of 

the  Spirit  [regeneration],  unto  obedience  [conversion]  and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  [jus- 
tification ]  "  ;  1  John  1 :  7 — "If  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with  another, 
and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin"— here  the  '  cleansing '  refers  primarily 
and  mainly  to  justification,  not  to  sanctiflcation ;  for  the  apostle  himself  declares  in 
verse  8  — "  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us." 

Quenstedt  says  well,  that  "justification,  since  it  is  an  act,  outside  of  man,  in  God, 
cannot  produce  an  intrinsic  change  in  us."  And  yet,  he  says,  "although  faith  alone 
justifies,  yet  faith  is  not  alone."  Melancthon:  "Sola  fides  justificat;  sed  fides  non  est 
sola."  With  faith  go  all  manner  of  gifts  of  the  Spirit  and  internal  graces  of  character. 
But  we  should  let  go  all  the  doctrinal  gains  of  the  Reformation  if  we  did  not  insist  that 
these  gifts  and  graces  are  accompaniments  and  consequences  of  justification,  instead  of 
being  a  part  or  a  ground  of  justification.  See  Girdlestone,  O.  T.  Synonyms,  104,  note. 
*'  Justification  is  God's  declaration  that  the  individual  sinner,  on  account  of  the  faith 
which  unites  him  to  Christ,  is  taken  up  into  the  relation  which  Christ  holds  to  the  Father, 
and  has  applied  to  him  personally  the  objective  work  accomplished  for  humanity  by 
Christ." 

6.     Relation  of  Justification  to  Faith. 

A.  We  are  justified  by  faith,  rather  than  by  love  or  by  any  other  grace  : 
{a)  not  because  faith  is  itself  a  work  of  obedience  by  which  we  merit  justi- 
fication,—  for  this  would  be  a  doctrine  of  justification  by  works  ;  (&)  nor 
because  faith  is  accepted  as  an  equivalent  of  obedience, —  for  there  is  no 
equivalent  except  the  perfect  obedience  of  Christ ;  (c)  nor  because  faith  is 
the  germ  from  which  obedience  may  spring  hereafter, —  for  it  is  not  the 
faith  which  accepts,  but  the  Christ  who  is  accepted,  that  renders  such 
obedience  possible  ;  but  (d)  because  faith,  and  not  repentance,  or  love,  or 
hope,  is  the  medium  or  instrument  by  which  we  receive  Christ  and  are 
united  to  him.  Hence  we  are  never  said  to  be  justified  did.  TT'KJTIV  —  on  account 
of  faith,  but  only  6ia  Trforewf ,  =  through  faith,  or  e*  Ttiareuq ,  =  by  faith.  Or, 
to  express  the  same  truth  in  other  words,  while  the  grace  of  God  is  the 
efficient  cause  of  justification,  and  the  obedience  and  sufferings  of  Christ 
are  the  meritorious  or  procuring  cause,  faith  is  the  mediate  or  instrumental 
cause. 

Edwards,  Works,  4  :  69-73— "Faith  justifies,  because  faith  includes  the  whole  act  of 
unition  to  Christ  as  a  Savior.  It  is  not  the  nature  of  any  other  graces  or  virtues  directly 
to  close  with  Christ  as  a  mediator,  any  further  than  they  enter  into  the  constitution  of 
justifying  faith,  and  do  belong  to  its  nature;"  Observations  on  Trinity,  64-67— "Sal- 
vation is  not  offered  to  us  upon  any  condition,  but  freely,  and  for  nothing.  We  are 
to  do  nothing  for  it  — we  are  only  to  take  it.  This  taking  and  receiving  is  faith." 


JUSTIFICATION.  481 

H.  B.  Smith,  System,  534— "An  internal  change  is  a  sine  qua  non  of  justification,  but 
not  its  meritorious  ground."  Give  a  man  a  gold  mine.  It  is  his.  He  has  not  to  work 
for  it ;  he  has  only  to  work  it.  The  marriage  of  a  poor  girl  to  a  wealthy  proprietor 
makes  her  possessor  of  his  riches,  despite  her  former  poverty.  Yet  her  acceptance  has 
not  purchased  wealth.  It  is  hers,  not  because  of  what  she  is  or  has  done,  but  because  of 
what  her  husband  is  and  has  done.  So  faith  is  the  condition  of  justification,  only  be- 
cause through  it  Christ  becomes  ours,  and  with  him  his  atonement  and  righteousness. 
Salvation  comes  not  because  our  faith  saves  us,  but  because  it  links  us  to  the  Christ 
who  saves;  and  believing  is  only  the  link.  There  is  no  more  merit  in  it  than  in  the 
beggar's  stretching  forth  his  hand  to  receive  the  offered  purse,  or  the  drowning  man's 
grasping  the  rope  that  is  thrown  to  him. 

The  Wesleyan  scheme  is  inclined  to  make  faith  a  work.  See  Dabney,  Theology,  637. 
This  is  to  make  faith  the  cause  and  ground,  or  at  least  to  add  it  to  Christ's  work  as  a 
joint  cause  and  ground,  of  justification ;  as  if  justification  were  Sia  Trio-Ttv,  instead  of 
Sid  TTt'o-reu)?  or  e/c  TriVTews.  Since  faith  is  never  perfect,  this  is  to  go  back  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  uncertainty  of  salvation.  See  Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  744,  745  (Syst.  Doct., 
4  :  206,  207).  C.  H.  M.  on  Gen.  3  :  7— "They  made  themselves  aprons  of  fig-leaves,  before 
God  made  them  coats  of  skins.  Man  ever  tries  to  clothe  himself  in  garments  of  his  own 
righteousness,  before  he  will  take  the  robe  of  Christ's.  But  Adam  felt  himself  naked 
when  God  visited  him,  even  though  he  had  his  fig-leaves  on  him." 

B.  Since  the  ground  of  justification  is  only  Christ,  to  whom  we  are 
united  by  faith,  the  justified  person  has  peace.  If  it  were  anything  in  our- 
selves, our  peace  must  needs  be  proportioned  to  our  holiness.  The  practi- 
cal effect  of  the  Romanist  mingling  of  works  with  faith,  as  a  joint  ground  of 
justification,  is  to  render  all  assurance  of  salvation  impossible.  ( Council  of 
Trent,  9th  chap.  :  "  Every  man,  by  reason  of  his  own  weakness  and  defects, 
must  be  in  fear  and  anxiety  about  his  state  of  grace.  Nor  can  any  one 
know,  with  infallible  certainty  of  faith,  that  he  has  received  forgiveness  of 
God.")  But  since  justification  is  an  instantaneous  act  of  God,  complete  at 
the  moment  of  the  sinner's  first  believing,  it  has  no  degrees.  Weak  faith 
justifies  as  perfectly  as  strong  faith  ;  although,  since  justification  is  a  secret 
act  of  God,  weak  faith  does  not  give  so  strong  assurance  of  salvation. 

Foundations  of  our  Faith,  216— "The  Catholic  doctrine  declares  that  justification 
is  not  dependent  upon  faith  and  the  righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  and  granted 
thereto,  but  on  the  actual  condition  of  the  man  himself.  But  there  remain  in  the  man 
an  undeniable  amount  of  fleshly  lusts  or  inclinations  to  sin,  even  though  the  man  be 
regenerate.  The  Catholic  doctrine  is  therefore  constrained  to  assert  that  these  lusts  are 
not  in  themselves  sinful,  or  objects  of  the  divine  displeasure.  They  are  allowed  to  re- 
main in  the  man,  that  he  may  struggle  against  them ;  and,  as  they  say,  Paul  designates 
them  as  sinful,  only  because  they  are  derived  from  sin,  and  incite  to  sin ;  but  they  only 
become  sin  by  the  positive  concurrence  of  the  human  will.  But  is  not  internal  lust 
displeasing  to  God?  Can  we  draw  the  line  between  lust  and  will?  The  Catholic  favors 
self  here,  and  makes  many  things  lust,  which  are  really  will.  A  Protestant  is  necessarily 
more  earnest  in  the  work  of  salvation,  when  he  recognizes  even  the  evil  desire  as  sin, 
according  to  Christ's  precept." 

All  systems  of  religion  of  merely  human  origin  tend  to  make  salvation,  in  larger  or 
smaller  degree,  the  effect  of  human  works,  but  only  with  the  result  of  leaving  man  in  de- 
spair. See,  in  Ecclesiasticus  2 :  30,  an  Apocryphal  declaration  that  alms  make  atonement 
for  sin.  So  Romanism  bids  me  doubt  God's  grace  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  See 
Dorner,  Gesch.  Prot.  Theol.,  228,  229,  and  his  quotations  from  Luther.  "  But  if  the 
Romanist  doctrine  is  true,  that  a  man  is  justified  only  in  such  measure  as  he  is  sancti- 
fied, then  :  1.  Justification  must  be  a  matter  of  degrees,  and  so  the  Council  of  Trent 
declares  it  to  be.  The  sacraments  which  sanctify  are  therefore  essential,  that  one  may 
be  increasingly  justified.  2.  Since  justification  is  a  continuous  process,  the  redeeming 
death  of  Christ,  on  which  it  depends,  must  be  a  continuous  process  also ;  hence  its  pro- 
longed reiteration  in  the  sacrifice  by  the  mass.  3.  Since  sanctification  is  obviously  never 
completed  in  this  life,  no  man  ever  dies  completely  justified  ;  hence  the  doctrine  of  pur- 
gatory." For  the  substance  of  the  Romanist  doctrine,  see  Moehler,  Symbolism,  79-190 ; 
31 


482  SOTERIOLOGY,    OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   SALVATION. 

Newman,  Lectures  on  Justification,  253-345 ;  Ritschl,  Christian  Doctrine  of  Justification,. 
121-226. 

A  better  doctrine  is  that  of  the  Puritan  divine :  "  It  is  not  the  quantity  of  thy  faith 
that  shall  save  thee.  A  drop  of  water  is  as  true  water  as  the  whole  ocean.  So  a  little 
faith  is  as  true  faith  as  the  greatest.  It  is  not  the  measure  of  thy  faith  that  saves  thee  — 
it  is  the  blood  that  it  grips  to  that  saves  thee.  The  weak  hand  of  the  child,  that  leads  the 
spoon  to  the  mouth,  will  feed  as  well  as  the  strong1  arm  of  a  man ;  for  it  is  not  the  hand 
that  feeds,  but  the  meat.  So,  if  thou  canst  grip  Christ  ever  so  weakly,  he  will  not  let 
thee  perish." 

A  child  may  be  heir  to  a  vast  estate,  even  while  he  does  not  know  it ;  and  a  child  of  God 
may  be  an  heir  of  glory,  even  while,  through  the  weakness  of  his  faith,  he  is  oppressed 
with  painful  doubts  and  fears.  No  man  is  lost  simply  because  of  the  greatness  of  his 
sins ;  however  ill-deserving  he  may  be,  faith  in  Christ  will  save  him.  Luther's  climbing 
the  steps  of  St.  John  Lateran,  and  the  voice  of  thunder:  "The  just  shall  live  by  faith," 
are  not  certain  as  historical  facts ;  but  they  express  the  substance  of  Luther's  experience. 
Not  obeying,  but  receiving,  is  the  substance  of  the  gospel.  A  man  cannot  merit  salva- 
tion ;  he  cannot  buy  it ;  but  one  thing  he  must  do  —  he  must  take  it.  And  the  least  faith 
makes  salvation  ours,  because  it  makes  Christ  ours.  See  Foundations  of  our  Faith,  216. 

C.  Justification  is  instantaneous,  complete,  and  final :  instantaneous, 
since  otherwise  there  would  be  an  interval  during  which  the  soul  was  neither 
approved  nor  condemned  by  God  ( Mat.  6  :  24 )  ;  complete,  since  the  soul, 
united  to  Christ  by  faith,  becomes  partaker  of  his  complete  satisfaction  to 
the  demands  of  law  (  Col.  2  :  9,  10 ) ;  and  final,  since  this  union  with  Christ  is 
indissoluble  (  John  10  :  28-30  ).  As  there  are  many  acts  of  sin  in  the  life  of 
the  Christian,  so  there  are  many  acts  of  pardon  following  them.  But  all 
these  acts  of  pardon  are  virtually  implied  in  that  first  act  by  which  he  was 
finally  and  forever  justified  ;  as  also  successive  acts  of  repentance  and  faith, 
after  such  sins,  are  virtually  implied  in  that  first  repentance  and  faith  which 
logically  preceded  justification. 

Mat.  6  :  24— "No  man  can  serve  two  masters" ;  Col.  2  :  9,  10— "in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily,  and  in  him  ye  are  made  full,  who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power"  ;  John  10  :  28-30— "they  shall 
never  perish,  and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father,  which  hath  given  them  unto  me,  is  greater 
than  all ;  and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  the  Father's  hand." 

Plymouth  Brethen  say  truly  that  the  Christian  has  sin  in  him,  but  not  on  him,  because 
Christ  had  sin  on  him,  but  not  in  him.  All  our  sins  are  buried  in  the  grave  with  Christ, 
and  Christ's  resurrection  is  our  resurrection.  Toplady :  "  From  whence  this  fear  and 
unbelief?  Hast  thou,  O  Father,  put  to  grief  Thy  spotless  Son  for  me?  And  will  the 
righteous  Judge  of  men  Condemn  me  for  that  debt  of  sin,  Which,  Lord,  was  laid  on 
thee  ?  If  thou  hast  my  discharge  procured,  And  freely  in  my  room  endured  The  whole 
of  wrath  divine,  Payment  God  cannot  twice  demand,  First  at  my  bleeding  Surety'a 
hand.  And  then  again  at  mine.  Complete  atonement  thou  hast  made,  And  to  the  utmost 
farthing  paid  Whate'er  thy  people  owed ;  How  then  can  wrath  on  me  take  place,  If  shel- 
tered in  thy  righteousness  And  sprinkled  with  thy  blood?  Turn,  then,  my  soul,  unto 
thy  rest ;  The  merits  of  thy  great  High-priest  Speak  peace  and  liberty ;  Trust  in  his 
efficacious  blood,  Nor  fear  thy  banishment  from  God,  Since  Jesus  died  for  thee !  " 

Justification,  however,  is  not  eternal  in  the  past.  We  are  to  repent  unto  the  remission 
of  our  sins  (Acts  2  :  38).  Remission  comes  after  repentance.  Sin  is  not  pardoned  before 
it  is  committed.  In  justification  God  grants  us  actual  pardon  for  past  sin,  but  virtual 
pardon  for  future  sin.  Edwards,  Works,  4  : 104  — "  Future  sins  are  respected,  in  that  first 
justification,  no  otherwise  than  as  future  faith  and  repentance  are  respected  in  it ;  and 
future  faith  and  repentance  are  looked  upon  by  him  that  justifies  as  virtually  implied 
in  that  first  repentance  and  faith,  in  the  same  manner  that  justification  from  future 
sins  is  implied  in  that  first  justification." 

7.    Advice  to  Inquirers  demanded  by  a  Scriptural  View  of  Justificatu 

(a)    Where  conviction  of  sin  is  yet  lacking,  our  aim  should  be  to  shoi 
the  sinner  that  he  is  under  God's  condemnation  for  his  past  sins,  and 


SA.NCTIFICATION.  483 

no  future  obedience  can  ever  secure  his  justification,  since  this  obedience, 
even  though  perfect,  could  not  atone  for  the  past,  and  even  if  it  could,  he 
is  unable,  without  God's  help,  to  render  it. 

With  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  conviction  of  sin  may  be  roused  by  presentation  of 
the  claims  of  God's  perfect  law,  and  by  drawing-  attention,  first  to  particular  overt 
transgressions,  and  then  to  the  manifold  omissions  of  duty,  the  general  lack  of  supreme 
and  all-pervading-  love  to  God,  and  the  guilty  rejection  of  Christ's  offers  and  commands. 

(b)  Where  conviction  of  sin  already  exists,  our  aim  should  be,  not,  in  the 
first  instance,  to  secure  the  performance  of  external  religious  duties,  such 
as  prayer,  or  Scripture-reading,  or  uniting  with  the  church,  but  to  induce 
the  sinner,  as  his  first  and  all-inclusive  duty,  to  accept  Christ  as  his  only  and 
sufficient  sacrifice  and  Savior,  and,  committing  himself  and  the  matter 
of  his  salvation  entirely  to  Christ's  hands,  to  manifest  this  trust  and  submis- 
sion by  entering  at  once  upon  a  life  of  obedience  to  Christ's  commands. 

A  convicted  sinner  should  be  exhorted,  not  first  to  prayer  and  then  to  faith,  but  first 
to  faith,  and  then  to  the  immediate  expression  of  that  faith  in  prayer  and  Christian 
activity.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  sinner  never  sins  ag-ainst  so  much  light, 
and  never  is  in  so  great  danger,  as  when  he  is  convicted  but  not  converted,  when  he  is 
moved  to  turn  but  yet  refuses  to  turn.  No  such  sinner  should  be  allowed  to  think 
that  he  has  the  right  to  do  any  other  thing  whatever  before  accepting  Christ.  This  ac- 
cepting Christ  is  not  an  outward  act,  but  an  inward  act  of  mind  and  heart  and  will, 
although  believing  is  naturally  evidenced  by  immediate  outward  action.  To  teach  the 
sinner,  however  apparently  well  disposed,  how  to  believe  on  Christ,  is  beyond  the  power 
of  man.  God  is  the  only  giver  of  faith.  But  Scripture  instances  of  faith,  and  illustra- 
tions drawn  from  the  child's  taking  the  father  at  his  word,  and  acting  upon  it,  have 
often  been  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  means  of  leading  men  themselves  to  put  faith  in 
Christ. 

On  the  general  subject  of  Justification,  see  Edwards,  Works,  4  :  64-133 ;  Buchanan  on 
Justification,  250-411 ;  Owen  on  Justification,  in  Works,  vol.  5 ;  Bp.  of  Ossory,  Nature 
and  Effects  of  Faith,  49-152  ;  Hodge,  Syst.  Theol.,  3  : 114-212 ;  Thomasius,  Christi  Person 
und  Werk,  3  : 193-200 ;  Herzog,  EncyclopSdie,  art. :  Rechtfertigung. 


SECTION"    III.  —  THE   APPLICATION"   OF   CHRIST'S   REDEMPTION 
IN   ITS   CONTINUATION. 

Under  this  head  we  treat  of  Sanctification  and  of  Perseverance.  These 
two  are  but  the  divine  and  the  human  sides  of  the  same  fact,  and  they  bear 
to  each  other  a  relation  similar  to  that  which  exists  between  ^Regeneration 
and  Conversion. 

I.     SANCTEPIOATION. 

1.     Definition  of  Sanctification. 

Sanctification  is  that  continuous  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which 
the  holy  disposition  imparted  in  regeneration  is  maintained  and  strength- 
ened. 

Godet:  "The  work  of  Jesus  in  the  world  is  twofold.  It  is  a  work  accomplished  for 
us,  destined  to  effect  reconciliation  between  God  and  man ;  it  is  a  work  accomplished  in 
its,  with  the  object  of  effecting  our  Sanctification.  By  the  one,  a  right  relation  is  estab- 


484  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

lished  between  God  and  us ;  by  the  other,  the  fruit  of  the  reestablished  order  is  secured. 
By  the  former,  the  condemned  sinner  is  received  into  the  state  of  grace;  by  the  latter, 
the  pardoned  sinner  is  associated  with  the  life  of  God  ....  How  many  express  them- 
selves as  if,  when  forgiveness  with  the  peace  which  it  procures  has  been  once  obtained, 
all  is  finished  and  the  work  of  salvation  is  complete !  They  seem  to  have  no  suspicion 
that  salvation  consists  in  the  health  of  the  soul,  and  that  the  health  of  the  soul  consists 
in  holiness.  Forgiveness  is  not  the  reestablishment  of  health  ;  it  is  the  crisis  of  conval- 
escence. If  God  thinks  fit  to  declare  the  sinner  righteous,  it  is  in  order  that  he  may  by 
that  means  restore  him  to  holiness." 

This  definition  implies : 

(a)  That,  although  in  regeneration  the  governing  disposition  of  the  soul 
is  made  holy,  there  still  remain  tendencies  to  evil  which  are  unsubdued. 

John  13  : 10  — "  He  that  is  bathed  needeth  not  save  to  wash  his  feet,  but  is  clean  every  whit  [i.  e.,  as  a  whole]  " ; 
Rom.  6  : 12  — "  Let  not  sin  therefore  reign  in  your  mortal  body,  that  ye  should  obey  the  lusts  thereof"—  sin  dwells  in 
a  believer,  but  it  reigns  in  an  unbeliever  ( C.  H.  M.).  Subordinate  volitions  in  the  Chris- 
tian are  not  always  determined  in  character  by  the  fundamental  choice ;  eddies  in  the 
stream  sometimes  run  counter  to  the  general  course  of  the  current. 

(b)  That  the  existence  in  the  believer  of  these  two  opposing  principles 
gives  rise  to  a  conflict  which  lasts  through  life. 

Gal.  5  : 17  — "  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the  Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  for  these  are  contrary  the  one  to 
the  other ;  that  ye  may  not  do  the  things  that  ye  would  "—  not,  as  the  A.  V.  had  it,  '  so  that  ye  cannot 
do  the  things  that  ye  would ' ;  the  Spirit  who  dwells  in  believers  is  represented  as  enab- 
ling them  successfully  to  resist  those  tendencies  to  evil  which  naturally  exist  within 
them ;  James  4 :  5  ( the  marginal  and  better  reading )— "  That  spirit  which  he  made  to  dwell  in  us 
yearneth  for  us  even  unto  jealous  envy" — i.  e.,  God's  love,  like  all  true  love,  longs  to  have  its 
objects  wholly  for  its  own.  The  Christian  is  two  men  in  one ;  but  he  is  to  "put  away  the  old 
man"  and  "put  on  th«  new  man"  (Eph.  4  :  22,  23).  Compare  Ecclesiasticus  2  : 1— "My  son,  if 
thou  dost  set  out  to  serve  the  Lord,  prepare  thy  soul  for  temptation." 

(c)  That  in  this  conflict  the  Holy  Spirit  enables  the  Christian,  through 
increasing  faith,  more  fully  and  consciously  to  appropriate  Christ,  and  thus 
progressively  to  make  conquest  of  the  remaining  sinf  ulness  of  his  nature. 

Rom.  8  : 13, 14— "for  if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  must  die;  but  if  by  the  Spirit  ye  put  to  death  the  deeds  of  the 
body,  ye  shall  live.  For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are  sons  of  God  "  ;  1  Cor.  6  : 11  — "  but  ye  were 
washed,  but  ye  were  sanctified,  but  ye  were  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  in  the  Spirit  of  our  God  "  ;  James 
1 ;  26  — "  If  any  man  thinketh  himself  to  be  religious,  while  he  bridleth  not  his  tongue  but  deceiveth  his  heart,  this 
man's  religion  is  vain" — see  Com.  of  Neander,  in  loco — "That  religion  is  merely  imaginary, 
seeming,  unreal,  which  allows  the  continuance  of  the  moral  defects  originally  predom- 
inant in  the  character." 

Dr.  Hastings :  "  When  Bourdaloue  was  probing  the  conscience  of  Louis  XIV,  applying 
to  him  the  words  of  St.  Paul  and  intending  to  paraphrase  them :  '  For  the  good  that 
I  would  I  do  not,  but  the  evil  that  I  would  not,  that  I  do,'  'I  find  two  men  in  me'— the 
King  interrupted  the  great  preacher  with  the  memorable  exclamation :  '  Ah,  these  two 
men,  I  know  them  well ! '  Bourdaloue  answered :  '  It  is  already  something  to  know 
them.  Sire;  but  it  is  not  enough  — one  of  the  two  must  perish.' "  And,  in  the  genuine 
believer,  the  old  does  little  by  little  die,  and  the  new  takes  its  place,  as  "  David  waied  stronger 
and  stronger,  and  the  house  of  Saul  waxed  weaker  and  weaker  "  ( 2  Sam.  3:1).  As  the  Welsh  minister  found 
himself  after  awhile  thinking  and  dreaming  in  English,  so  the  language  of  Canaan 
becomes  to  the  Christian  his  native  and  only  speech. 

2.     Explanations  and  Scripture  Proof. 

(a)     Sanctification  is  the  work  of  God. 

1  Thess.  5  :  23— "And  the  God  of  peace  himself  sanctify  you  wholly."  Much  of  our  modern  literature 
ignores  man's  dependence  upon  God,  and  some  of  it  seems  distinctly  intended  to  teach 
the  opposite  doctrine.  Auerbach's  "  On  the  Heights,"  for  example,  teaches  that  man 
can  make  his  own  atonement;  and  "The  Villa  on  the  Rhine,"  by  the  same  author, 
teaches  that  man  can  sanctify  himself. 


SAKCTIFICATION.  485 

(6)     It  is  a  continuous  process. 

Phil.  1:6—"  being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ"  ;  3  : 15 — "Let  us,  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded:  and  if  in  anything  ye 
are  otherwise  minded,  even  this  shall  God  reveal  unto  you"  ;  Col.  3  :  9,  10 — "Lie  not  one  to  another;  seeing  that  ye 
have  put  off  the  old  man  with  his  doings,  and  have  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is  being  renewed  unto  knowledge  after 
the  image  of  him  that  created  him  "  ;  c/.  Acts  2  :  47  — "  those  that  were  being  saved  "  ;  1  Cor.  1 : 18  —  "  unto  us  which 
are  being  saved  "  ;  2  Cor.  2  : 15— "in  them  that  are  being  saved  "  ;  1  Thess.  2  : 12—"  God,  who  calleth  you  into  his 
own  kingdom  and  glory." 

(e)  It  is  distinguished  from  regeneration  as  growth  from  birth,  or  as  the 
strengthening  of  a  holy  disposition  from  the  original  impartation  of  it. 

Eph.  4  : 15 — "speaking  the  truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him,  which  is  the  head,  even  Christ"  ; 
1  Thess.  3  : 12  — "  the  Lord  make  you  to  increase  and  abound  in  love  one  toward  another,  and  toward  all  men  "  ;  2  Pet. 
3  : 18 — "But  grow  in  the  grace  and  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ"  ;  c/.  1  Pet.  1  :  23 — "begotten 
again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  through  the  word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth"  ;  1  John  3  :  9 
— "  Whosoever  is  begotten  of  God  doeth  no  sin,  because  his  seed  abideth  in  him :  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is  begot- 
ten of  God."  Not  sin  only,  but  holiness  also,  is  a  germ  whose  nature  it  is  to  grow.  The 
new  love  in  the  believer's  heart  follows  the  law  of  all  life,  in  developing  and  extending 
itself  under  God's  husbandry.  George  Eliot:  "The  reward  of  one  duty  done  is  the 
power  to  do  another." 

(d]  The  operation  of  God  reveals  itself  in,  and  is  accompanied  by,  intel- 
ligent and  voluntary  activity  of  the  believer  in  the  discovery  and  mortifica- 
tion of  sinful  desires,  and  in  the  bringing  of  the  whole  being  into  obedience 
to  Christ  and  conformity  to  the  standards  of  his  word. 

John  17  : 17 — "Sanctify  them  in  the  truth:  thy  word  is  truth  "  ;  2  Cor.  10  :  5 — "casting  down  imaginations,  and 
every  high  thing  that  is  exalted  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  every  thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedi- 
ence of  Christ "  ;  Phil.  2  : 12, 13  — "  work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ;  for  it  is  God  which  work- 
eth  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure  "  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  2  — "  as  new-born  babes,  long  for  the  spiritual 
milk  which  is  without  guile,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby  unto  salvation." 

Baxter :  "  Every  man  must  grow,  as  trees  do,  downward  and  upward  at  once.  The 
visible  outward  growth  must  be  accompanied  by  an  invisible  inward  growth."  Drum- 
mond :  "  The  spiritual  man  having  passed  from  death  to  life,  the  natural  man  must  pass 
from  life  to  death."  There  must  be  increasing  sense  of  sin  :  "  My  sins  gave  sharpness 
to  the  nails,  And  pointed  every  thorn."  There  must  be  a  bringing  of  new  and  yet  newer 
regions  of  thought,  feeling,  and  action,  under  the  sway  of  Christ  and  his  truth.  There 
is  a  grain  of  truth  even  in  Macaulay's  jest  about  "essentially  Christian  cookery." 

(e)  The  agency  through  which  God  effects  the   sanctification   of   the 
believer  is  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  Christ.  • 

John  14  : 17, 18— "the  Spirit  of  truth  ....  he  abideth  with  you  and  shall  be  in  you.  I  will  not  leave  you  desolate  : 
I  come  unto  you  "  ;  15  :  3-5  — "  Already  ye  are  clean  ....  Abide  in  me  ....  Apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing  "  ;  Rom. 
8  :  9, 10 — "  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelleth  in  you.  But  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  And  if 
Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness  "  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  2,  30  — 
"  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus  ....  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us ....  sanctification  "  ;  6  : 19  — "  know  ye  not  that  your 
body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God  ?  "  Gal.  5  : 16  — "  Walk  by  the  Spirit,  and 
ye  shall  not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh"  ;  Eph.  5  : 18— "And  be  not  drunken  with  wine,  wherein  is  riot,  but  be  filled 
with  the  Spirit"  ;  Col.  1  :  27-29— "the  riches  of  the  glory  of  this  mystery  among  the  Gentiles,  which  is  Christ  in  you, 
the  hope  of  glory :  whom  we  proclaim,  admonishing  every  man  and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom,  that  we  may 
present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ ;  whereunto  I  labor  also,  striving  according  to  his  working,  which  worketh  in  me 
mightily"  ;  2  Tim.  1 : 14— "That  good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  thee  guard  through  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
dwelleth  in  us." 

Christianity  substitutes  for  the  old  sources  of  excitement  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Here  is  a  source  of  comfort,  energy,  and  joy,  infinitely  superior  to  any  which 
the  sinner  knows.  God  does  not  leave  the  soul  to  fall  back  upon  itself.  The  higher  up 
we  get  in  the  scale  of  being,  the  more  does  the  new  life  need  nursing  and  tending  — 
compare  the  sapling  and  the  babe.  God  gives  to  the  Christian,  therefore,  an  abiding 
presence  and  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit—  not  only  regeneration,  but  sanctification.  C.  E. 
Smith,  Baptism  of  Fire:  "The  soul  needs  the  latter  as  well  as  the  former  rain,  the 
sealing  as  well  as  the  renewing  of  the  Spirit,  the  baptism  of  fire  as  well  as  the  baptism 


486  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

of  water.    Sealing  gives  something  additional  to  the  document,  an  evidence  plainer 
than  the  writing  within,  both  to  one's  self  and  to  others." 

(/)  The  mediate  or  instrumental  cause  of  sanctiflcation,  as  of  justifica- 
tion, is  faith. 

Acts  15  :  9— "cleansing  their  hearts  by  faith  "  ;  Rom.  1  : 17— "For  therein  is  revealed  a  righteousness  of  God  from 
faith  unto  faith :  as  it  is  written,  But  the  righteous  shall  live  from  faith."  This  righteousness  includes  sanc- 
tiflcation as  well  as  justification;  and  the  subject  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  is  not  simply 
justification  by  faith,  but  rather  righteousness  by  faith,  or  salvation  by  faith.  Justifi- 
cation by  faith  is  the  subject  of  Chapters  1-7 ;  sanctification  by  faith  is  the  subject  of  Chapters 
8-16.  We  are  not  sanctified  by  efforts  of  our  own,  any  more  than  we  are  justified  by 
efforts  of  our  own. 

(g)  The  object  of  this  faith  is  Christ  himself,  as  the  head  of  a  new 
humanity  and  the  source  of  truth  and  life  to  those  united  to  him. 

2  Cor.  3  : 18  — "  we  all,  with  unveiled  face,  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the 
same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord  the  Spirit "  ;  Eph.  4  : 13  — "  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of 
the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  fullgrown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ."  Faith  here  is  of  course  much  more  than  intellectual  faith  — it  is  the  reception 
of  Christ  himself.  As  Christianity  furnishes  a  new  source  of  life  and  energy  —  in  the 
Holy  Spirit:  so  it  gives  a  new  object  of  attention  and  regard  — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
As  we  get  air  out  of  a  vessel  by  pouring  in  water,  so  we  can  drive  sin  out  only  by  bring- 
ing Christ  in.  See  Chalmers'  Sermon  on  the  Expulsive  Power  of  a  new  Affection. 
Drummond,  Nat.  Law  in  the  Spir.  World,  123-140— "Man  does  not  grow  by  making 
efforts  to  grow,  but  by  putting  himself  into  the  conditions  of  growth  by  living  in 
Christ." 

(h)  Though  the  weakest  faith  perfectly  justifies,  the  degree  of  sanctifi- 
cation is  measured  by  the  strength  of  the  Christian's  faith,  and  the  persist- 
ence with  which  he  apprehends  Christ  in  the  various  relations  which  the 
Scriptures  declare  him  to  sustain  to  us. 

Mat.  9  :  29  — "  According  to  your  faith  be  it  done  unto  you  " ;  Luke  17  :  5  — "  Lord,  increase  our  faith  "  ;  Rom.  12  :  2 
— "  be  not  fashioned  according  to  this  world :  but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove 
what  is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God  "  ;  13  : 14  — "  But  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make 
not  provision  for  the  flesh,  to  fulfil  the  lusts  thereof"  ;  Eph.  4  :  24— "put  on  the  new  man,  which  after  God  hath  been 
created  in  righteousness  and  holiness  of  truth  "  ;  1  Tim.  4:7—"  exercise  thyself  unto  godliness."  Leighton :  "  None 
of  the  children  of  God  are  born  dumb."  Milton :  "  Good,  the  more  communicated,  the 
more  abundant  grows." 

(i)  From  the  lack  of  persistence  in  using  the  means  appointed  for 
Christian  growth  —  such  as  the  word  of  God,  prayer,  association  with  other 
believers,  and  personal  effort  for  the  conversion  of  the  ungodly  —  sanctifi- 
cation does  not  always  proceed  in  regular  and  unbroken  course,  and  it  is 
never  completed  in  this  life. 

Phil.  3  : 12— "Not  that  I  have  already  obtained,  or  am  already  made  perfect;  but  I  press  on,  if  so  be  that  I  may  lay 
hold  on  that  for  which  also  I  was  laid  hold  on  by  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  1  John  1:8—"  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Carlyle,  in  his  Life  of  John  Sterling,  chap.  8,  says  of 
Coleridge,  that  "  whenever  natural  obligation  or  voluntary  undertaking  made  it  his  duty 
to  do  anything,  the  fact  seemed  a  sufficient  reason  for  his  not  doing  it."  A  regular, 
advancing  sanctification  is  marked,  on  the  other  hand,  by  a  growing  habit  of  instant 
and  joyful  obedience. 

(,;  )  Sanctification,  both  of  the  soul  and  of  the  body  of  the  believer,  is 
completed  in  the  life  to  come  —  that  of  the  former  at  death,  that  of  the  latter 
at  the  resurrection. 

Phil.  3  :  21— "who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  conformed  to  the  body  of 
his  glory,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject  all  things  unto  himself"  ;  Col.  3  :  4  -"When 
Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  be  manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with  him  be  manifested  in  glory"  ;  Heb.  12  : 14,  23  — 


SANCTIFICATION.  487 

•"  Follow  after  peace  with  all  men,  and  the  sanctification  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  ....  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect "  ;  1  John  3  :  2 — "Beloved,  now  are  we  children  of  God,  and  it  is  not  yet  made  manifest  what  we 
shall  be.  "We  know  that,  if  he  shall  be  manifested,  we  shall  be  like  him ;  for  we  shall  see  him  even  as  he  is  "  ;  Jude 
24  — "  able  to  guard  you  from  stumbling,  and  to  set  you  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  without  blemish  in  exceeding 
joy  " ;  Rev.  14  :  5  — "  And  in  their  mouth  was  found  no  lie :  they  are  without  blemish." 

See  Gordon,  The  Twofold  Life,  or  Christ's  Work  for  us  and  in  us ;  Brit,  and  For. 
Evans.  Rev.,  April,  1884  :  205-339 ;  Van  Oosterzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  657-662. 

3.     Erroneous  Views  refuted  by  these  Scripture  Passages. 

A.  The  Antinomian, —  which  holds  that,  since  Christ's  obedience  and 
sufferings  have  satisfied  the  demands  of  the  law,  the  believer  is  free  from 
obligation  to  observe  it. 

The  Antinomian  view  rests  upon  a  misinterpretation  of  Rom.  6  : 14— "ye  are  not  under  law, 
but  under  grace."  Agricola  and  Amsdorf  (1559)  were  representatives  of  this  view.  Ams- 
dorf  said  that  "good  works  are  hurtful  to  salvation."  But  Melancthon's  words 
furnish  the  reply :  "  Sola  fides  justificat,  sed  fides  non  est  sola."  F.  W.  Robertson  states 
it :  "  Faith  alone  justifies,  but  not  the  faith  that  is  alone."  And  he  illustrates :  "  Light- 
ning alone  strikes,  but  not  the  lightning  which  is  without  thunder ;  for  that  is  summer 
lightning  and  harmless." 

To  this  view  we  urge  the  following  objections  : 

(a)  That  since  the  law  is  a  transcript  of  the  holiness  of  God,  its  demands 
.as  a  moral  rule  are  unchanging.  Only  as  a  system  of  penalty  and  a  method 
of  salvation  is  the  law  abolished  in  Christ's  death. 

Mat.  5  : 17-19— "Think  not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets:  I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 
For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  away  from  the 
law,  till  all  things  be  accomplished.  Whosoever  therefore  shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments,  and  shall  teach 
men  so,  shall  be  called  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  but  whosoever  shall  do  and  teach  them,  he  shall  be  called  great 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  ;  48— "Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as  your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect"  ;  1  Pet.  1 : 16 
— "  Ye  shall  be  holy ;  for  I  am  holy  "  ;  Rom.  10  :  4  — "  For  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  unto  righteousness  to  every  one 
that  believeth"  ;  Gal.  2  :  20— "I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ"  ;  3  : 13— "Christ  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of 
the  law,  having  become  a  curse  for  us"  ;  Col.  2  : 14 — "having  blotted  out  the  bond  written  in  ordinances  that  was 
against  us,  which  was  contrary  to  us:  and  he  hath  taken  it  out  of  the  way,  nailing  it  to  the  cross"  ;  Heb.  2  : 15 
—"deliver  all  them  who  through  fear  of  death  were  all  their  life-time  subject  to  bondage." 

(6)  That  the  union  between  Christ  and  the  believer  secures  not  only  the 
bearing  of  the  penalty  of  the  law  by  Christ,  but  also  the  impartation  of 
Christ's  spirit  of  obedience  to  the  believer, — in  other  words,  brings  him 
into  communion  with  Christ's  work,  and  leads  him  to  ratify  it  in  his  own 
experience. 

Rom.  8  :  9, 10, 15  — "  ye  are  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Spirit,  if  so  be  that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in  you.  But  if  any 
man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the 

Spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness For  ye  received  not  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  unto  fear :    but  ye  received 

the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father";  Gal.  5  :  22-24— "But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meekness,  temperance :  against  such  there  is  no  law.  And  they 
that  are  of  Christ  Jesus  have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  passions  and  the  lusts  thereof  "  ;  1  John  1:6—"  If  we  say  that 
we  have  fellowship  with  him,  and  walk  in  the  darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth  "  ;  3  :  6 — "  Whosoever  abideth  in 
him  sinneth  not:  whosoever  sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  knoweth  him." 

(c)  That  the  freedom  from  the  law  of  which  the  Scriptures  speak,  is 
therefore  simply  that  freedom  from  the  constraint  and  bondage  of  the  law, 
which  characterizes  those  who  have  become  one  with  Christ  by  faith. 

Ps.  119  :  97  — "  0  how  love  I  thy  law !  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day  "  ;  Rom.  3  :  8,  31  — "  and  why  not  ( as  we 
be  slanderously  reported,  and  as  some  aflirm  that  we  say ),  Let  us  do  evil  that  good  may  come  ?  whose  condemnation 
is  just ....  Do  we  then  make  the  law  of  none  effect  through  faith  ?  God  forbid :  nay,  we  establish  the  law  "  ;  6  : 14, 
15,  22  — "  For  sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  you :  for  ye  are  not  under  law,  but  under  grace.  What  then  ?  shall 


488  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   SALVATION. 

we  sin,  because  we  are  not  under  law  but  under  grace  ?   God  forbid now  being  made  free  from  sin,  and  become 

servants  to  God,  ye  have  your  fruit  unto  sanctification,  and  the  end  eternal  life  "  ;  7  :  6  — "  But  now  we  have  been  dis- 
charged from  the  law,  having  died  to  that  wherein  we  were  holden ;  so  that  we  serve  in  newness  of  the  spirit,  and  not 
in  oldness  of  the  letter  "  ;  8:4—"  that  the  ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh, 
but  after  the  Spirit" ;  1  Cor.  7  :  22— "he  that  was  called  in  the  Lord,  being  a  bond-servant,  is  the  Lord's  freeman  "  ; 
Gal.  5  : 1  — "  For  freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free :  stand  fast  therefore,  and  be  not  entangled  again  in  a  yoke  of  bond- 
age "  ;  1  Tim.  1:9—"  law  is  not  made  for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the  lawless  and  unruly ' ' ;  James  1 :  25  — "  the 
perfect  law,  the  law  of  liberty." 

To  sum  up  the  doctrine  of  Christian  freedom  as  opposed  to  Antinomian- 
ism,  we  may  say  that  Christ  does  not  free  us,  as  the  Antinomian  believes, 
from  the  law  as  a  rule  of  life.  But  he  does  free  us  ( 1 )  from  the  law  as 
a  system  of  curse  and  penalty ;  this  he  does  by  bearing  the  curse  and 
penalty  himself.  Christ  frees  us  (2)  from  the  law  with  its  claims  as  a 
method  of  salvation  ;  this  he  does  by  making  his  obedience  and  merits  ours. 
Christ  frees  us  (  3  )  from  the  law  as  an  outward  and  foreign  compulsion  ; 
this  he  does  by  giving  to  us  the  spirit  of  obedience  and  sonship,  by  which 
the  law  is  progressively  realized  within. 

Christ,  then,  does  not  free  us,  as  the  Antinomian  believes,  from  the  law  as  a  rule  of 
life.  But  he  does  free  us  ( 1 )  from  the  law  as  a  system  of  curse  and  penalty.  This  he 
does  by  bearing  the  curse  and  penalty  himself.  Just  as  law  can  do  nothing-  with  a  man 
after  it  has  executed  its  death-penalty  upon  him,  so  law  can  do  nothing  with  us,  now 
that  its  death-penalty  has  been  executed  upon  Christ.  There  are  some  insects  that 
expire  in  the  act  of  planting  their  sting ;  and  so,  when  the  law  gathered  itself  up  and 
planted  its  sting  in  the  heart  of  Christ,  it  expended  all  its  power  as  a  judge  and  avenger 
over  us  who  believe.  In  the  cross,  the  law  as  a  system  of  curse  and  penalty  exhausted 
itself ;  so  we  were  set  free. 

Christ  frees  us  (2)  from  the  law  with  its  claims  as  a  method  of  salvation ;  in  other 
words,  he  frees  us  from  the  necessity  of  trusting  our  salvation  to  an  impossible  future 
obedience.  As  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  apart  from  any  sufferings  of  ours,  deliver  us 
from  eternal  death,  so  the  merits  of  Christ,  apart  from  any  merits  of  ours,  give  us  a 
title  to  eternal  life.  By  faith  in  what  Christ  has  done  and  simple  acceptance  of  his 
work  for  us,  we  secure  a  right  to  heaven.  Obedience  on  our  part  is  no  longer  rendered 
painfully,  as  if  our  salvation  depended  on  it,  but  freely  and  gladly,  in  gratitude  for  what 
Christ  has  done  for  us.  Illustrate  by  the  English  nobleman's  invitation  to  his  park,  and 
the  regulations  he  causes  to  be  posted  up. 

Christ  frees  us  (3)  from  the  law  as  an  outward  and  foreign  compulsion.  In  putting 
an  end  to  legalism,  he  provides  against  license.  This  he  does  by  giving  the  spirit  of 
obedience  and  sonship.  He  puts  love  in  the  place  of  fear ;  and  this  secures  an  obedience 
more  intelligent,  more  thorough,  and  more  hearty,  than  could  have  been  secured  by 
mere  law.  So  he  frees  us  from  the  burden  and  compulsion  of  the  law,  by  realizing  the 
law  within  us  by  his  Spirit.  See  John  Owen,  Works,  3  :  366-651 ;  6  : 1-313. 

B.  The  Perfectionist, —  which  holds  that  the  Christian  may,  in  this  life, 
become  perfectly  free  from  sin.  This  view  was  held  by  John  Wesley  in 
England,  and  by  Mahan  and  Finney  in  America. 

For  statements  of  the  Perfectionist  view,  see  John  Wesley's  Christian  Theology* 
edited  by  Thornley  Smith,  265-273 ;  Mahan,  Christian  Perfection,  and  art.  in  Bib.  Repos., 
2nd  Series,  vol.  iv,  Oct.,  1840  :  408-428 ;  Finney,  Systematic  Theology,  586-766 ;  Peck* 
Christian  Perfection ;  Ritschl,  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1878  :  656. 

In  reply,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  observe  : 

(a)  That  the  theory  rests  upon  false  conceptions  :  first,  of  the  law  —  as 
a  sliding-scale  of  requirement  graduated  to  the  moral  condition  of  creatures, 
instead  of  being  the  unchangeable  reflection  of  God's  holiness  ;  secondly, 
of  sin  —  as  consisting  only  in  voluntary  acts,  instead  of  embracing  also 


SANCTIFICATIOtf.  489 

those  dispositions  and  states  of  the  soul  which  are  not  conformed  to  the 
divine  holiness ;  thirdly,  of  the  human  will  —  as  able  to  choose  God  su- 
premely and  persistently  at  every  moment  of  life,  and  to  fulfil  at  every 
moment  the  obligations  resting  upon  it,  instead  of  being  corrupted  and 
enslaved  by  the  fall. 

This  view  reduces  the  debt  to  the  debtor's  ability  to  pay,—  a  short  and  easy  method  of 
discharging  obligations.  I  can  leap  over  a  church  steeple,  if  I  am  only  permitted  to 
make  the  church  steeple  low  enough ;  and  I  can  touch  the  stars,  if  the  stars  will  only 
come  down  to  my  hand.  The  fundamental  error  of  perfectionism  is  its  low  view  of 
God's  law ;  the  second  is  its  narrow  conception  of  sin.  John  Wesley :  "  I  believe  a  per- 
son filled  with  the  love  of  God  is  still  liable  to  involuntary  transgressions.  Such  trans- 
gressions you  may  call  sins,  if  you  please ;  I  do  not."  The  third  error  of  perfectionism 
is  its  exaggerated  estimate  of  man's  power  of  contrary  choice.  To  say  that,  whatever 
may  have  been  the  habits  of  the  past  and  whatever  may  be  the  evil  affections  of  the 
present,  a  man  is  perfectly  able  at  any  moment  to  obey  the  whole  law  of  God,  is  to  deny 
that  there  are  such  things  as  character  and  depravity. 

(6)  That  the  theory  finds  no  support  in,  but  rather  is  distinctly  contra- 
dicted by,  Scripture. 

First,  the  Scriptures  never  assert  or  imply  that  the  Christian  may  in  this 
life  live  without  sin ;  passages  like  1  John  3  :  6,  9,  if  interpreted  consist- 
ently with  the  context,  set  forth  either  the  ideal  standard  of  Christian  living, 
or  the  actual  state  of  the  believer  so  far  as  respects  his  new  nature. 

1  John  3  :  6  — "  Whosoever  abideth  in  him  sinneth  not :  whosoever  sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  known  him  "  ; 
9  — "  Whosoever  is  begotten  of  God  doeth  no  sin,  because  his  seed  abideth  in  him :  and  he  cannot  sin,  because  he  is 
begotten  of  God."  Ann.  Par.  Bible,  in  loco:— "  John  is  contrasting  the  states  in  which  sin 
and  grace  severally  predominate,  without  reference  to  degrees  in  either,  showing  that 
all  men  are  in  one  or  the  other."  Neander :  "  John  recognizes  no  intermediate  state,  no 
gradations.  He  seizes  upon  the  radical  point  of  difference.  He  contrasts  the  two 
states  in  their  essential  nature  and  principle.  It  is  either  love  or  hate,  light  or  darkness, 
truth  or  a  lie.  The  Christian  life  in  its  essential  nature  is  the  opposite  of  all  sin.  If 
there  be  sin,  it  must  be  the  afterworking  of  the  old  nature."  Yet  all  Christians  are 
required  in  Scripture  to  advance,  to  confess  sin,  to  ask  forgiveness,  to  maintain  warfare, 
to  assume  the  attitude  of  ill  desert  in  prayer,  to  receive  chastisement  for  the  removal 
of  imperfections,  to  regard  full  salvation  as  matter  of  hope,  not  of  present  experience. 

Secondly,  the  apostolic  admonitions  to  the  Corinthians  and  Hebrewa 
show  that  no  such  state  of  complete  sanctification  had  been  generally 
attained  by  the  Christians  of  the  first  century. 

Rom.  8  :  24  — "  For  in  hope  were  we  saved :  but  hope  that  is  seen  is  not  hope :  for  who  hopeth  for  that  which  he  seeth  ?  " 
The  party-feeling,  selfishness,  and  immorality  found  among  the  members  of  the  Corin- 
thian church  are  evidence  that  they  were  far  from  a  state  of  entire  sanctification. 

Thirdly,  there  is  express  record  of  sin  committed  by  the  most  perfect 
characters  of  Scripture  —  as  Noah,  Abraham,  Job,  David,  Peter. 

Fourthly,  the  word  T&EIOS,  as  applied  to  spiritual  conditions  already 
attained,  can  fairly  be  held  to  signify  only  a  relative  perfection,  equivalent 
to  sincere  piety  or  maturity  of  Christian  judgment. 

1  Cor.  2  :  6— "Howbeit  we  speak  wisdom  among  the  perfect,"  or,  as  the  Am.  Revisers  have  it,  "among 
them  that  are  fullgrown";  Phil.  3  : 15 — "Let  us  therefore,  as  many  as  be  perfect,  be  thus  minded."  Men  are 
often  called  perfect  when  free  from  any  fault  which  strikes  the  eyes  of  the  world.  See 

Gen.  6  :  9  — "  Noah  was  a  righteous  man  and  perfect " ;    Job  1 : 1  — "  That  man  was  perfect  and  upright." 

Fifthly,  the  Scriptures  distinctly  deny  that  any  man  on  earth  lives  with- 
out sin. 


490  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

1  K.  8  :  46  — "  there  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not "  ;  Eccles.  7  :  20  — "  Surely  there  is  not  a  righteous  man  upon  earth, 
that  doeth  good  and  sinneth  not"  ;  James  3  :  2— "For  in  many  things  we  all  stumble.  If  any  stumble  not  in  word, 
the  same  is  a  perfect  man,  able  to  bridle  the  whole  body  also  " ;  1  John  1:8—"  If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us." 

Sixthly,  the  declaration:  "ye  are  sanctified"  (1  Cor.  6:17),  and  the 
designation  :  "  saints  "  ( 1  Cor.  1:2),  applied  to  early  believers,  are,  as  the 
whole  epistle  shows,  expressive  of  a  holiness  existing  in  germ  and  anticipa- 
tion ;  the  expressions  deriving  their  meaning  not  so  much  from  what  these 
early  believers  were,  as  from  what  Christ  was,  to  whom  they  were  united  by 
faith. 

When  N.  T.  believers  are  said  to  be  "sanctified,"  we  must  remember  the  O.  T.  use  of 
the  word.  'Sanctify'  may  have  either  the  meaning-  'to  make  holy  outwardly,'  or  'to 
make  holy  inwardly.'  The  people  of  Israel  and  the  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  were 
made  holy  in  the  former  sense ;  their  sanctification  was  a  setting-  apart  to  the  sacred 
use.  Num.  8  : 17—  "all  the  firstborn  among  the  children  of  Israel  are  mine  ....  I  sanctified  them  for  myself" ;  Deut. 
33  :  3  —"yea,  he  loved  the  peoples;  all  his  saints  are  in  thy  hand  "  ;  2  Chron.  29  :  19—  "all  the  vessels  ....  have  we 
prepared  and  sanctified."  The  vessels  mentioned  were  first  immersed,  and  then  sprinkled  from 
day  to  day  according-  to  need.  So  the  Christian  by  his  regeneration  is  set  apart  for  God's 
service,  and  in  this  sense  is  a  "saint"  and  "sanctified."  More  than  this,  he  has  in  him  the 
beginning's  of  purity  —  he  is  "clean  as  a  whole,"  thoug-h  he  yet  needs  "  to  wash  his  feet"  (John  13  : 
10) ;  that  is,  to  be  cleansed  from  the  recurring-  defilements  of  his  daily  life. 

(c)  That  the  theory  is  disapproved  by  the  testimony  of  Christian  experi- 
ence.—  In  exact  proportion  to  the  soul's  advance  in  holiness  does  it  shrink 
from  claiming  that  holiness  has  been  already  attained,  and  humble  itself 
before  God  for  its  remaining  apathy,  ingratitude,  and  unbelief. 

Phil.  3  : 12-14 — "Not  that  I  have  already  obtained,  or  am  already  made  perfect;  but  I  press  on,  if  so  be  that  I  may 
lay  hold  on  that  for  which  also  I  was  laid  hold  on  by  Christ  Jesus."  Some  of  the  greatest  advocates  of 
perfectionism  have  been  furthest  from  claiming-  any  such  perfection  ;  although  many  of 
their  less  instructed  followers  claimed  it  for  them,  and  even  professed  to  have  attained 
it  themselves. 

Perfectionism  is  best  met  by  proper  statements  of  the  nature  of  the  law 
and  of  sin  ( Ps.  119  :  96 ).  While  we  thus  rebuke  spiritual  pride,  how- 
ever, we  should  be  equally  careful  to  point  out  the  inseparable  connection 
between  justification  and  sanctification,  and  their  equal  importance  as 
together  making  up  the  biblical  idea  of  salvation.  While  we  show  no  favor 
to  those  who  would  make  sanctification  a  sudden  and  paroxysmal  act  of  the 
human  will,  we  should  hold  forth  the  holiness  of  God  as  the  standard  of 
attainment  and  the  faith  in  a  Christ  of  infinite  fulness  as  the  medium 
through  which  that  standard  is  to  be  gradually  but  certainly  realized  in  us 
( 2  Cor.  3  :  18 ). 

We  should  imitate  Lyman  Beecher's  method  of  opposing  perfectionism  —  by  searching 
expositions  of  God's  law.  When  men  know  what  the  law  is,  they  will  say  with  the 
Psalmist:  "I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection;  thy  commandment  is  exceeding  broad "  (Ps.  119  :  96).  And 
yet  we  are  earnestly  and  hopefully  to  seek  in  Christ  for  a  continually  increasing-  meas- 
ure of  sanctification :  1  Cor.  1 :  30  — "  Christ  Jesus,  who  was  made  unto  us  ....  sanctification  " ;  2  Cor.  3  : 18 
— "  But  we  all,  with  unveiled  face  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same  image 
from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  from  the  Lord,  the  Spirit."  Arnold  of  Rugby :  "  Always  expect  to  succeed, 
and  never  think  you  have  succeeded." 

See  Hovey,  Doctrine  of  the  Higher  Christian  Life,  Compared  with  Scripture ;  Snod- 
grass,  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sanctification ;  Princeton  Essays,  1 :  335-365 ;  Hodge,  Syst. 
Theol.,  3  :  213-258;  Calvin,  Institutes,  in,  11 :  6;  Bib.  Repos.,  2nd  Series,  1 :  44r-58;  2  : 143- 
166 ;  Woods,  Works,  4  :  465-523. 


PERSEVERANCE. 


491 


II.     PERSEVERANCE.  ^ 

The  Scriptures  declare  that,  in  virtue  of  the  original  purpose  and  continu- 
ous operation  of  God,  all  who  are  united  to  Christ  by  faith  will  infallibly 
continue  in  a  state  of  grace  and  will  finally  attain  to  everlasting  life.  This 
voluntary  continuance,  on  the  part  of  the  Christian,  in  faith  and  well-doing 
we  call  perseverance.  Perseverance  is,  therefore,  the  human  side  or  aspect 
of  that  spiritual  process  which,  as  viewed  from  the  divine  side,  we  call 
sanctification.  It  is  not  a  mere  natural  consequence  of  conversion,  but 
involves  a  constant  activity  of  the  human  will  from  the  moment  of  conver- 
sion to  the  end  of  life. 

Adam's  holiness  was  mutable ;  God  did  not  determine  to  keep  him.  It  is  otherwise 
with  believers  in  Christ ;  God  has  determined  to  give  them  the  kingdom  (Luke  12  :  32). 
Yet  this  keeping  by  God,  which  we  call  sanctification,  is  accompanied  and  followed  by  a 
keeping  of  himself  on  the  part  of  the  believer,  which  we  call  perseverance.  The  former 

is  alluded  to  in  John  17  : 11, 12— "keep  them  in  thy  name I  kept  them  in  thy  name  ....  I  guarded  them 

and  not  one  of  them  perished,  but  the  son  of  perdition  "  ;  the  latter  is  alluded  to  in  1  John  5  : 18  — "  he  that 
was  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself."  Both  are  expressed  in  Jude  21,  24— "Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of 
God Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  guard  you  from  stumbling " 

A  German  treatise  on  Pastoral  Theology  is  entitled:  "Keep  What  Thou  Hast"— an 
allusion  to  2  Tim.  1  : 14  — "  That  good  thing  which  was  committed  unto  thee  guard  through  the  Holy  Ghost  which 
dwelleth  in  us."  Not  only  the  pastor,  but  every  believer,  has  a  charge  to  keep ;  and  the 
keeping  of  ourselves  is  as  important  a  point  of  Christian  doctrine  as  is  the  keeping  of 
•God. 

1.     Proof  of  the  Doctrine  of  Perseverance. 

A.  From  Scripture. 

John  10  :  28,  29  — "  they  shall  never  perish,  and  no  one  shall  snatch  them  out  of  my  hand.  My  Father,  which  hath 
given  them  unto  me,  is  greater  than  all ;  and  no  one  is  able  to  snatch  them  out  of  my  Father's  hand  " ;  Rom.  11  :  29 
— "For  the  gifts  and  the  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance"  ;  1  Cor.  13  :  7 — "endureth  all  things"  ;  cf.  13  — 
"But  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love"  ;  Phil.  1 :  6 — "being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he  which  began  a  good 
work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ " ;  2  Thess.  3:3—"  But  the  Lord  is  faithful,  who  shall  stablish 
you,  and  guard  you  from  the  evil  one  " ;  2  Tim.  1 : 12 — "I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  he  is 
able  to  guard  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him  against  that  day"  ;  1  Pet.  1 :  5— "who  by  the  power  of  God  are 
guarded  through  faith  unto  a  salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time"  ;  Rev.  3  : 10— "Because  thou  didst  keep 
the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  trial,  that  hour  which  is  to  come  upon  the  whole  world, 
to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth." 

B.  From  Reason. 

(a)  It  is  a  necessary  inference  from  other  doctrines, —  such  as  election, 
union  with  Christ,  regeneration,  justification,  sanctification. 

Election  of  certain  individuals  to  salvation  is  election  to  bestow  upon  them  such  influ- 
ences of  the  Spirit  as  will  lead  them  not  only  to  accept  Christ,  but  to  persevere  and 
be  saved.  Union  with  Christ  is  indissoluble;  regeneration  is  the  beginning  of  a  work 
of  new  creation,  which  is  declared  in  justification,  and  completed  in  sanctification.  All 
these  doctrines  are  parts  of  a  general  scheme,  which  would  come  to  naught  if  any  single 
Christian  were  permitted  to  fall  away. 

(6)  It  accords  with  analogy, —  God's  preserving  care  being  needed  by, 
and  being  granted  to,  his  spiritual,  as  well  as  his  natural,  creation. 

As  natural  life  cannot  uphold  itself,  but  we  "live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being"  in  God  (Acts 
17  :  28),  so  spiritual  life  cannot  uphold  itself,  and  God  maintains  the  faith,  love,  and  holy 
activity  which  he  has  originated.  If  he  preserves  our  natural  life,  much  more  may  we 
expect  him  to  preserve  the  spiritual. 

(c)     It  is  implied  in  all  assurance  of  salvation, —  since  this  assurance  is 


492  SOTERIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    SALVATION. 

given,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  based  not  upon  the  known  strength  of 
human  resolution,  but  upon  the  purpose  and  operation  of  God. 

S.  R.  Mason :  "  If  Satan  and  Adam  both  fell  away  from  perfect  holiness,  it  is  a  million 
to  one  that,  in  a  world  full  of  temptations  and  with  all  appetites  and  habits  against  me, 
I  shall  fall  away  from  imperfect  holiness,  unless  God  by  his  almighty  power  keep  me." 
It  is  in  the  power  and  purpose  of  God,  then,  that  the  believer  puts  his  trust.  But  since 
this  trust  is  awakened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  must  be  that  there  is  a  divine  fact  corres- 
ponding: to  it ;  namely,  God's  purpose  to  exert  his  power  in  such  a  way  that  the  Christian 
shall  persevere.  See  Wardlaw,  Syst.  Theol.,  2 : 550-578 ;  N.  W.  Taylor,  Revealed  The- 
ology, 445-460. 

2.     Objections  to  the  Doctrine  of  Perseverance. 

These  objections  are  urged  chiefly  by  Arminians  and  by  Romanists. 

A.  That  it  is  inconsistent  with  human  freedom. —  Answer  :    It  is  no  more 
so  than  is  the  doctrine  of  Election  or  the  doctrine  of  Decrees. 

The  doctrine  is  simply  this,  that  God  will  bring  to  bear  such  influences  upon  all  true 
believers,  that  they  will  freely  persevere. 

B.  That  it  tends  to  immorality. — Answer:    This  cannot  be,  since  the 
doctrine  declares  that  God  will  save  men  by  securing  their  perseverance  in 
holiness. 

2  Tim.  2 : 19  — "  Howbeit  the  firm  foundation  of  God  standeth,  having  this  seal,  The  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his : 
and  let  every  one  that  nameth  the  name  of  the  Lord  depart  from  unrighteousness  "  ;  that  is,  the  temple  of  Chris- 
tian character  has  upon  its  foundation  two  significant  inscriptions,  the  one  declaring 
God's  power,  wisdom,  and  purpose  of  salvation ;  the  other  declaring  the  purity  and  holy 
activity,  on  the  part  of  the  believer,  through  which  God's  purpose  is  to  be  fulfilled ;  1  Pet. 

1  : 1,  2— "elect according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  in  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience 

and  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ "  ;  2  Pet.  1  : 10, 11  — "  Wherefore,  brethren,  give  the  more  diligence  to  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure :  for  if  ye  do  these  things,  ye  shall  never  stumble :  for  thus  shall  be  richly  supplied  unto 
you  the  entrance  into  the  eternal  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ." 

C.  That  it  leads  to  indolence. — Answer  :    This  is  a  perversion  of  the  doc- 
trine, continuously  possible  only  to  the  unregenerate  ;   since,  to  the  regen- 
erate, certainty  of  success  is  the  strongest  incentive  to  activity  in  the  con- 
flict with  sin. 

1  John  5  :  4  — "  For  whatsoever  is  begotten  of  God  overcometh  the  world :  and  this  is  the  victory  that  hath  overcome 
the  world,  even  our  faith."  It  is  notoriously  untrue  that  confidence  of  success  inspires  timid- 
ity or  indolence. 

D.  That  the  Scripture  commands  to  persevere  and  warnings  against 
apostasy  show  that  certain,  even  of  the  regenerate,  will  fall  away. — Answer  r 

(a)  They  show  that  some,  who  are  apparently  regenerate,  will  fall  away. 

Mat.  18  :  7  — "  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  occasions  of  stumbling !  for  it  must  needs  be  that  the  occasions  come ; 
but  woe  to  that  man  through  whom  the  occasion  cometh  " ;  1  Cor.  11  : 19— "For  there  must  be  also  factions  [  lit. 
'heresies'  ]  among  you,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be  made  manifest  among  you"  ;  1  John  2  : 19— "They 
went  out  from  us,  but  they  were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would  have  continued  with  us :  but  they 
went  out,  that  they  might  be  made  manifest  how  that  they  all  are  not  of  us."  Judas  probably  experienced 
strong  emotions,  and  received  strong  impulses  toward  good,  under  the  influence  of 
Christ. 

(b)  They  show  that  the  truly  regenerate,  and  those  who  are  only  appar- 
ently so,  are  not  certainly  distinguishable  in  this  life. 

Mai.  3  : 18  — "  Then  shall  ye  return,  and  discern  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked ;  between  him  that  serveth 
God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not";  Mat.  13  :  25,  47  — "while  men  slept,  his  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares  also 
among  the  wheat,  and  went  away  ....  Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net,  that  was  cast  into  the  sea,  and 


PERSEVERANCE.  493 

gathered  of  every  kind"  ;  Rom.  9  :  6— "For  they  are  not  all  Israel,  which  are  of  Israel :  neither,  because  they  are 
Abraham's  seed,  are  they  all  children  "  ;  Rev.  3  : 1  — "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and 
thou  art  dead." 

(c)  They  show  the  fearful  consequences  of  rejecting  Christ,  to  those  who 
have  enjoyed  special  divine  influences,  but  who  are  only  apparently  regen- 
erate. 

Heb.  10  :  26-29—"  For  if  we  sin  wilfully  after  that  we  have  received  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no 
more  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  but  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judgment,  and  a  fierceness  of  fire  which  shall  devour  the 
adversaries.  A  man  that  hath  set  at  nought  Moses1  law  dieth  without  compassion  on  the  word  of  two  or  three  witnesses : 
of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and 
hath  counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was  sanctified,  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
Spirit  of  grace?"  Here  "sanctified"  =  external  sanctification,  like  that  of  the  ancient  Israel- 
ites, by  outward  connection  with  G-od's  people ;  c/.  1  Cor.  7  : 14  — "  the  unbelieving  husband  is  sanc- 
tified in  the  wife." 

(d)  They  show  what  the  fate  of  the  truly  regenerate  would  be,  in  case 
they  should  not  persevere. 

Heb.  6:4-6—"  For  as  touching  those  who  were  once  enlightened  and  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  par- 
takers of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  tasted  the  good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  and  then  fell  away,  it  is 
impossible  to  renew  them  again  unto  repentance ;  seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  him 
to  an  open  shame."  This  is  to  be  understood  as  a  hypothetical  case.  Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick: 
44  If  passages  like  this  teach  the  possibility  of  falling  from  grace,  they  teach  also  the 
impossibility  of  restoration  to  it.  The  saint  who  once  apostatizes  has  apostatized  for- 
ever." So  Ez.  18  :  24  —  "  When  the  righteous  turneth  away  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity 

in  them  shall  he  die  "  ;  2  Pet  2  :  20  —"For  if,  after  they  have  escaped  the  defilements  of  the  world  through  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  they  are  again  entangled  therein  and  overcome,  the  last  state  is  become  worse 
with  them  than  the  first." 

(e)  They  show  that  the  perseverance  of  the  truly  regenerate  may  be 
secured  by  these  very  commands  and  warnings. 

1  Cor.  9  :  27  — "  I  buffet  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  bondage :  lest  by  any  means,  after  that  I  have  preached  to  others, 
I  myself  should  be  rejected  "  —  or,  to  bring  out  the  meaning  more  fully :  "  I  beat  my  body  blue  [  or, 
4  strike  it  under  the  eye '  ],  and  make  it  a  slave,  lest  after  having  been  a  herald  to  others,  I  myself  should  be 
rejected"  ('unapproved,'  'counted  unworthy  of  the  prize');  10:12 — ""Wherefore  let  him  that 
thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall." 

(/)  They  do  not  show  that  it  is  certain,  or  possible,  that  any  truly  regen- 
erate person  will  fall  away. 

E.     That  we  have  actual  examples  of  such  apostasy. — We  answer  : 

(a)  Such  are  either  men  once  outwardly  reformed,  like  Judas  and 
Ananias,  but  never  renewed  in  heart ; 

Instance  the  young  profligate  who,  in  a  moment  of  apparent  drowning,  repented,  was 
then  rescued,  and  afterward  lived  a  long  life  as  a  Christian.  If  he  had  never  been 
rescued,  his  repentance  would  never  have  been  known,  nor  the  answer  to  his  mother's 
prayers.  So,  in  the  moment  of  a  backslider's  death,  God  can  renew  repentance  and 
faith. 

(6)  Or  they  are  regenerate  men,  who,  like  David  and  Peter,  have  fallen 
into  temporary  sin,  from  which  they  will,  before  death,  be  reclaimed  by 
God's  discipline. 

But,  per  contra,  instance  the  experience  of  a  man  in  typhoid  fever,  who  apparently 
repented,  but  who  never  remembered  it  when  he  was  restored  to  health.  Sick-bed  and 
death-bed  conversions  are  not  the  best.  There  was  one  penitent  thief,  that  none  might 
despair ;  there  was  but  one  penitent  thief,  that  none  might  presume. 

On  the  general  subject,  see  Edwards,  Works,  3  :  509-532,  and  4  : 104 ;  Ridgeley,  Body  of 
Divinity,  2:164-194;  John  Owen,  Works,  vol.  11 ;  Woods,  Works,  3  :  221-246 ;  Van  Oos- 
terzee,  Christian  Dogmatics,  662-666. 


PAET  VII. 

ECCLESIOLOGY,  OE  THE  DOCTBINE  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   THE   CHURCH,   OR    CHURCH   POLITY. 

I.     DEFINITION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

(a)  The  church  of  Christ,  in  its  largest  signification,  is  the  whole  com- 
pany of  regenerate  persons  in  all  times  and  ages,  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 
(Mat.  16:  18;  Eph.  1 :  22,  23;  3  :  10;  5  :  24,  25;  Col.  1 :  18 ;  Heb.  12  :  23). 
In  this  sense,  the  church  is  identical  with  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God  ; 
both  signify  that  redeemed  humanity  in  which  God  in  Christ  exercises  act- 
ual spiritual  dominion  (John  3  :  3,  5 ). 

Mat.  16  : 18  — "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church ;  and  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail 
against  it"  ;  Eph.  1 :  22,  23 — "and  he  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet,  and  gave  him  to  be  head  over  all 
things  to  the  church,  which  is  his  body,  the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all " ;  3  : 10  — "  to  the  intent  that  now  unto 
the  principalities  and  the  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  might  be  made  known  through  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God"  ;  5  :  24,  25 — "But  as  the  church  is  subject  to  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  also  be  to  their  husbands  in  every  thing. 
Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved  the  church,  and  gave  himself  up  for  it" ;  Col.  1  : 18—"  And  he  is 
the  head  of  the  body,  the  church :  who  is  the  beginning,  the  firstborn  from  the  dead ;  that  in  all  things  he  might  have 
the  preeminence" ;  Heb.  12  :  23 — "the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  firstborn  who  are  enrolled  in  heaven"; 
John  3  :  3,  5  — "  Except  a  man  be  born  anew,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God  ....  Sicept  a  man  be  born  of  water  and 
the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Cicero's  words  apply  here:  "Una  navis  est  jam  bonorum  omnium"— all  good  men 
are  in  one  boat.  Cicero  speaks  of  the  state,  but  it  is  still  more  true  of  the  church  invisi- 
ble. Andrews,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1883  :  54,  mentions  the  following-  differences  between 
the  church  and  the  kingdom,  or,  as  we  prefer  to  say,  between  the  visible  church  and 
the  invisible  church:  (1)  the  church  began  with  Christ  —  the  kingdom  began  earlier; 
(2)  the  church  is  confined  to  believers  in  the  historic  Christ— the  kingdom  include* 
all  God's  children ;  (3)  the  church  belongs  wholly  to  this  world— not  so  the  kingdom ; 
(4)  the  church  is  visible  —  not  so  the  kingdom ;  (5)  the  church  has  quasi  organic  char- 
acter, and  leads  out  into  local  churches  —  this  is  not  so  with  the  kingdom.  On  the  uni- 
versal or  invisible  church,  see  Cremer,  Lexicon  N.  T.,  transl.,  113, 114,  331 ;  Jacob,  EccL 
Polity  of  N.  T.,  12. 

(6)  The  Scriptures,  however,  distinguish  between  this  invisible  or  uni- 
versal church,  and  the  individual  church,  in  which  the  universal  church  takes 
local  and  temporal  form,  and  in  which  the  idea  of  the  church  as  a  whole  is 
concretely  exhibited. 

Mat.  10  :  32  — "  Every  one  therefore,  who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  which 
is  in  heaven" ;  12  :  34,  35— "out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh.  The  good  man  out  of  his  good 

494 


DEFINITION    OF   THE    CHURCH.  495 

treasure  bringeth  forth  good  things"  ;  Rom.  10  :  9, 10— "if  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  shalt 
believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved :  for  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto 
righteousness ;  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is  made  unto  salvation  "  ;  James  1  : 18  — "  Of  his  own  will  he  brought  us 
forth  by  the  word  of  truth,  that  he  should  be  a  kind  of  first-fruits  of  his  creatures" — we  are  saved,  not  for 
ourselves  only,  but  as  parts  and  beginnings  of  an  organic  kingdom  of  God;  believers 
are  called  "first-fruits,"  because  from  them  the  blessing  shall  spread,  until  the  whole  world 
shall  be  pervaded  with  the  new  life ;  Pentecost,  as  the  feast  of  first-fruits,  was  but  the 
beginning  of  a  stream  that  shall  continue  to  flow  until  the  whole  race  of  man  is  gath- 
ered in. 

R.  S.  Storrs :  "  When  any  truth  becomes  central  and  vital,  there  comes  the  desire  to 
utter  it" — and  we  may  add,  not  only  in  words,  but  in  organization.  So  beliefs  crystal- 
lize into  institutions.  But  Christian  faith  is  something  more  vital  than  the  common 
beliefs  of  the  world.  Linking  the  soul  to  Christ,  it  brings  Christians  into  living  fellow- 
ship with  one  another  before  any  bonds  of  outward  organization  exist ;  outward  or- ' 
ganization,  indeed,  only  expresses  and  symbolizes  this  inward  union  of  spirit  to  Christ 
and  to  one  another. 

(c)  The  individual  church  may  be  defined  as  that  smaller  company  of 
regenerate  persons,  who,  in  any  given  community,  unite  themselves  volun- 
tarily together,  in  accordance  with  Christ's  laws,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
the  complete  establishment  of  his  kingdom  in  themselves  and  in  the  world. 

Mat.  18  : 17 — "And  if  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church :  and  if  he  refuse  to  hear  the  church  also,  let  him 
be  unto  thee  as  the  Gentile  and  the  publican  "  ;  Acts  14  :  23  — "  appointed  for  them  elders  in  every  church  "  ;  Rom.  16  :  5 
— "  salute  the  church  that  is  in  their  house  "  ;  1  Cor.  1 :  2  — "  the  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth  "  ;  4:17—"  even 
as  I  teach  everywhere  in  every  church  "  ;  1  Thess.  2  : 14  — "  the  churches  of  God  which  are  in  Judea  in  Christ  Jesus." 

We  do  not  define  the  church  as  a  body  of  "  baptized  believers,"  because  baptism  is  but 
one  of  "  Christ's  laws,"  in  accordance  with  which  believers  unite  themselves.  Since  these 
laws  are  the  laws  of  church-organization  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  no  Temper- 
ance Society  or  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  properly  a  church. 

We  may  summarize  these  laws  as  follows:  (1)  the  sufficiency  and  sole  authority  of 
Scripture  as  the  rule  both  of  doctrine  and  polity ;  ( 2 )  credible  evidence  of  regeneration 
and  conversion  as  prerequisite  to  church-membership  ;  (3)  immersion  only,  as  answer- 
ing to  Christ's  command  of  baptism,  and  to  the  symbolic  meaning  of  the  ordinance ; 
(4)  the  order  of  the  ordinances,  Baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  of  divine  appoint- 
ment, as  well  as  the  ordinances  themselves ;  ( 5 )  the  right  of  each  member  of  the  church 
to  a  voice  in  its  government  and  discipline  ;  (6 )  each  church,  while  holding  fellowship 
with  other  churches,  solely  responsible  to  Christ ;  ( 7 )  the  freedom  of  the  individual 
conscience,  and  the  total  independence  of  church  and  state. 

These  are  the  essential  principles  of  Baptist  churches,  although  other  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians have  come  to  recognize  a  portion  of  them.  Bodies  of  Christians  which  refuse  to 
accept  these  principles  we  may,  in  a  somewhat  loose  and  modified  sense,  call  churches  ; 
but  we  cannot  regard  them  as  churches  organized  in  all  respects  according  to  Christ'a 
laws,  or  as  completely  answering  to  the  New  Testament  model  of  church  organization. 

As  Luther,  having  found  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  could  not  recognize 
that  doctrine  as  Christian  which  taught  justification  by  works,  but  denounced  the  church 
which  held  it  as  Antichrist,  saying,  "  Here  I  stand :  I  cannot  do  otherwise,  God  help 
me,"  so  we,  in  matters  not  indifferent,  as  feet-washing,  but  vitally  affecting  the  exist- 
ence of  the  church,  as  regenerate  church-membership,  must  stand  by  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  refuse  to  call  any  other  body  of  Christians  a  regular  church,  that  is  not 
organized  according  to  Christ's  laws.  The  English  word  '  church,'  like  the  Scotch  '  kirk ' 
and  the  German  ' Kirche,'  is  derived  from  the  Greek  xvpia/oj,  and  means  'belonging  to- 
the  Lord.'  The  term  itself  should  teach  us  to  regard  only  Christ's  laws  as  our  rule  of 
organization. 

(d)  Besides  these  two  significations  of  the  term  'church,'  there  are  prop- 
erly in  the  New  Testament  no  others.     The  word  kuK^Tjcia  is  indeed  used  in 
Acts  7  :  38 ;   19  :  32,  39 ;   Heb.  2  :  12,  to  designate  a  popular  assembly ;  but 
since  this  is  a  secular  use  of  the  term,  it  does  not  here  concern  us.     In  cer- 
tain passages,  as  for  example  Acts  9  :  31  (eKK^aia,  sing.,  XABC),  1  Cor.  12  r 
28,  Phil.  3  :  6,  and  1  Tim.  3  :  15,  e/ocA^crm  appears  to  be  used  either  as  a  generic 


496  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OB   THE  .DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

or  as  a  collective  term,  to  denote  simply  the  body  of  independent  local 
churches  existing  in  a  given  region  or  at  a  given  epoch.  But  since  there  is 
no  evidence  that  these  churches  were  bound  together  in  any  outward  organ- 
ization, this  use  of  the  term  EKKkrjaia  cannot  be  regarded  as  adding  any  new 
sense  to  those  of  'the  universal  church'  and  'the  local  church'  already 
mentioned. 

Acts  7  :  38  —  "the  church  [marg.  'congregation']  in  the  wilderness"  =  the  whole  body  of  the  people 
•of  Israel;  19:32—  "the  assembly  was  in  confusion  "—  the  tumultuous  mob  in  the  theatre  at 
Ephesus  ;  39  —  "  the  regular  assembly  "  ;  9  :  31  —  "  So  the  church  throughout  all  Judea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria  had 
peace,  being  edified"  ;  1  Cor.  12  :  28  —  "and  God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly 
teachers  "  ;  Phil.  3  :  6  —  "  as  touching  zeal,  persecuting  the  church  "  ;  1  Tim.  3  :  15  —  "  that  thou  mayest  know  how  men 
ought  to  behave  themselves  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth." 

In  the  original  use  of  the  word  ex/cArjo-ia,  as  a  popular  assembly,  there  was  doubtless  an 
allusion  to  the  derivation  from  e/c  and  /caAe'w,  to  call  out,  by  herald.  Some  have  held  that 
the  N.  T.  term  contains  an  allusion  to  the  fact  that  the  members  of  Christ's  church  are 
called,  chosen,  elected  by  God.  This,  however,  is  more  than  doubtful.  In  common  use, 
the  term  had  lost  its  etymological  meaning-,  and  signified  merely  an  assembly,  however 
gathered  or  summoned.  The  church  was  never  so  large  that  it  could  not  assemble.  The 
church  of  Jerusalem  gathered  for  the  choice  of  deacons  (Acts  6  :  2,  5),  and  the  church  of 
Antioch  gathered  to  hear  Paul's  account  of  his  missionary  journey  (Acts  14  :  27). 

It  is  only  by  a  common  figure  of  rhetoric  that  many  churches  are  spoken  of  together 
in  the  singular  number,  in  such  passages  as  Acts  9  :  31.  We  speak  generically  of  '  man,' 
meaning  the  whole  race  of  men  ;  and  of  '  the  horse,'  meaning  all  horses.  Gibbon,  speak- 
ing of  the  successive  tribes  that  swept  down  upon  the  Roman  Empire,  uses  a  noun  in 
the  singular  number,  and  describes  them  as  "  the  several  detachments  of  that  immense 
army  of  northern  barbarians  "—  yet  he  does  not  mean  to  intimate  that  these  tribes 
had  any  common  government.  So  we  may  speak  of  "the  American  college"  or  "the 
American  theological  seminary,"  but  we  do  not  thereby  mean  that  the  colleges  or 
the  seminaries  are  bound  together  by  any  tie  of  outward  organization. 

So  Paul  says  that  God  has  set  in  the  church  apostles,  prophets,  and  teachers  (1  Cor.  12  : 
28  ),  but  the  word  '  church  '  is  only  a  collective  term  for  the  many  independent  churches. 
In  this  same  sense,  we  may  speak  of  "  the  Baptist  church  "  of  New  York,  or  of  America  ; 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  use  the  term  without  any  such  implication  of 
common  government  as  is  involved  in  the  phrases  'the  Presbyterian  church,'  or  'the 
Protestant  Episcopal  church,'  or  '  the  Roman  Catholic  church  '  ;  with  us,  in  this  con- 
nection, the  term  '  church  '  means  simply  '  churches.' 

On  the  meaning  of  eKKArjon'a,  see  Cremer,  Lex.  N,  T.,  339  ;  Trench,  Syn.  N.  T.,  1  :  18  ; 
Girdlestone,  Syn.  O.  T.,  367;  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  301;  Dexter,  Con- 
gregationalism, 25;  Dagg,  Church  Order,  100-130;  Robinson,  N.  T.  Lex.,  suit  voce. 


The  prevailing  usage  of  the  N.  T.  gives  to  the  term  eKK^oia  the  second 
of  these  two  significations.  It  is  this  local  church  only  which  has  definite 
and  temporal  existence,  and  of  this  alone  we  henceforth  treat.  Our  defini- 
tion of  the  individual  church  implies  the  two  following  particulars  : 

A.  The  church,  like  the  family  and  the  state,  is  an  institution  of 
divine  appointment.  This  is  plain  :  (a)  from  its  relation  to  the  church 
universal,  as  its  concrete  embodiment  ;  (b)  from  the  fact  that  its  neces- 
sity is  grounded  in  the  social  and  religious  nature  of  man  ;  (c)  from  the 
Scripture,  —  as  for  example,  Christ's  command  in  Mat.  18  :  17,  and  the 
designation  '  church  of  God,'  applied  to  individual  churches  (  1  Cor.  1:2). 

President  Wayland  :  "  The  universal  church  comes  before  the  particular  church. 
The  society  which  Christ  has  established  is  the  foundation  of  every  particular  associa- 
tion calling  itself  a  church  of  Christ."  Andrews,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Jan.,  1883  :  35-58,  on  the 
conception  exicA^cri'a  in  the  N.  T.,  says  that  "the  'church'  is  the  j>riws  of  all  local 
'  churches.'  ^KArjo-ia  in  Acts  9  :  31  =  the  church,  so  far  as  represented  in  those  provinces. 
It  is  ecumenical-local,  as  in  1  Cor.  10  :  33.  The  local  church  is  a  microcosm,  a  specialized 


ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   CHURCH.  497 

localization  of  the  universal  body.  ^Hp,  in  the  O.  T.  and  in  the  Targums,  means  the 
whole  congregation  of  Israel,  and  then  secondarily  those  local  bodies  which  were  parts 
and  representations  of  the  whole.  Christ,  using  Aramaic,  probably  used  ^HD  in  Mat. 
18  : 17.  He  took  his  idea  of  the  church  from  it,  not  from  the  heathen  use  of  the  word 
eK/cArjcna,  which  expresses  the  notion  of  locality  and  state  much  more  than  ^Hf?.  The 
larger  sense  of  e/cKArjtna  is  the  primary.  Local  churches  are  points  of  consciousness  and 
activity  for  the  great  all-inclusive  unit,  and  they  are  not  themselves  the  units  for  an 
ecclesiastical  aggregate.  They  are  faces,  not  parts  of  the  one  church." 

B.  The  church,  unlike  the  family  and  the  state,  is  a  voluntary  society. 
>(d)  This  results  from  the  fact  that  the  local  church  is  the  outward  expres- 
sion of  that  rational  and  free  life  in  Christ  which  characterizes  the  church 
.as  a  whole.  In  this  it  differs  from  those  other  organizations  of  divine  ap- 
pointment, entrance  into  which  is  not  optional.  Membership  in  the  church 
is  not  hereditary  or  compulsory.  (6)  The  doctrine  of  the  church,  as  thus 
defined,  is  a  necessary  outgrowth  of  the  doctrine  of  regeneration.  As  this 
fundamental  spiritual  change  is  mediated  not  by  outward  appliances,  but 
by  inward  and  conscious  reception  of  Christ  and  his  truth,  union  with  the 
church  logically  follows,  not  precedes,  the  soul's  spiritual  union  with 
Christ. 

Dorner  includes  under  his  doctrine  of  the  Church :  ( 1 )  the  genesis  of  the  church, 
through  the  new-birth  of  the  Spirit,  or  Regeneration ;  ( 2 )  the  growth  and  persistence 
of  the  church  through  the  continuous  operation  of  the  Spirit  in  the  means  of  grace,  or 
Ecclesiology  proper,  as  others  call  it ;  ( 3 )  the  completion  of  the  church,  or  Eschatology . 
While  this  scheme  seems  designed  to  favor  a  theory  of  baptismal  regeneration,  we  must 
commend  its  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  doctrine  of  the  church  grows  out  of  the  doc- 
trine of  regeneration  and  is  determined  in  its  nature  by  it.  If  regeneration  has  always 
conversion  for  its  obverse  side,  and  if  conversion  always  includes  faith  in  Christ,  it  is 
vain  to  speak  of  regeneration  without  faith.  And  if  union  with  the  church  is  but  the 
outward  expression  of  a  preceding  union  with  Christ  which  involves  regeneration  and 
conversion,  then  involuntary  church-membership  is  an  absurdity,  and  a  misrepresenta- 
tion of  the  whole  method  of  salvation. 

The  value  of  compulsory  religion  may  be  illustrated  from  David  Hume's  experience. 
A  godly  matron  of  the  Canongate,  so  runs  the  story,  when  Hume  sank  in  the  mud  in 
her  vicinity,  and  on  account  of  his  obesity  could  not  get  out,  compelled  the  sceptic  to 
say  the  Lord's  Prayer  before  she  would  help  him.  Amos  Kendall,  on  the  other  hand, 
concluded  in  his  old  age  that  he  had  not  been  acting  on  Christ's  plan  for  saving  the 
world,  and  so,  of  his  own  accord,  connected  himself  with  the  church. 


II.     ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
1.     The  fact  of  organization. 

Organization  may  exist  without  lists  of  members  or  formal  choice  of 
officers.  These  last  are  the  proofs,  reminders,  and  helps  of  organization, 
but  they  are  not  essential  to  it.  It  is  however  not  merely  informal,  but 
formal,  organization  in  the  church,  to  which  the  New  Testament  bears  wit- 
ness. 9 

That  there  was  such  organization  is  abundantly  shown  from  (a)  its  stated 
meetings,  (6)  elections,  and  (c)  officers ;  (d)  from  the  designations  of  its 
ministers,  together  with  (e)  the  recognized  authority  of  the  minister  and 
of  the  church ;  (/)  from  its  discipline,  (g]  contributions,  (A)  letters  of 
commendation,  (i)  registers  of  widows,  (j)  uniform  customs,  and  (A;)  ordi- 
32 


498  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

nances ;    (I)  from  the  order  enjoined  and  observed,  (ra)  the  qualifications 
for  membership,  and  (ri)  the  common  work  of  the  whole  body. 

(a)  Acts  20  :  7 — "upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread,  Paul  discoursed 
with  them"  ;  Heb.  10  :  25— "not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together,  as  the  custom  of  some  is,  but  exhort- 
ing one  another." 

(b)  Acts  1 :  23-26  —  the  election  of  Matthias ;   6  :  5,  6  —  the  election  of  deacons. 

(c)  Phil.  1  : 1 — "the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops  and  deacons." 

(d)  Acts  20  : 17,  28  — "  the  elders  of  the  church the  flock  in  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  bishops. 

[marg. :  'overseers']." 

(e)  Mat.  18  : 17—"  And  if  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church :    and  if  he  refuse  to  hear  the  church  also, 
let  him  be  unto  thee  as  the  Gentile  and  the  publican" ;    1  Pet.  5  :  2  — "Tend  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you, 
exercising  the  oversight,  not  of  constraint,  but  willingly,  according  to  the  will  of  God." 

(/)  1  Cor.  5  :  4,  5, 13— "in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  ye  being  gathered  together,  and  my  spirit,  with  the  power 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  in  the 
day  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ....  Put  away  the  wicked  man  from  among  yourselves." 

(Q)  Rom.  15 :  26  — "  For  it  hath  been  the  good  pleasure  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia  to  make  a  certain  contribution  for 
the  poor  among  the  saints  that  are  at  Jerusalem  "  ;  1  Cor.  16  : 1,  2 — "Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints,  as  I 
gave  order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  so  also  do  ye.  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in 
store,  as  he  may  prosper,  that  no  collection  be  made  when  I  come." 

(h)  Acts  18  :  27 — "And  when  he  was  minded  to  pass  over  into  Achaia,  the  brethren  encouraged  him,  and  wrote  to 
the  disciples  to  receive  him" ;  2  Cor.  3  : 1 — "Are  we  beginning  again  to  commend  ouraelves?  or  need  we,  as  do 
some,  epistles  of  commendation  to  you  or  from  you  ?  " 

(i)  1  Tim.  5  :  9  — "  Let  none  be  enrolled  as  a  widow  under  three  score  years  old  " ;  c/.  Acts  6  :  1  — "  there  arose  a 
murmuring  of  the  Grecian  Jews  against  the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministration." 

(j)  1  Cor.  11  : 16 — "But  if  any  man  seemeth  to  be  contentious,  we  have  no  such  custom,  neither  the  churches  of 
God." 

(k)  Acts  2  :  41— "Then  they  that  received  his  word  were  baptized  "  ;  1  Cor.  11  :  23-26—"  For  I  received  of  the 
Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you  " — the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

(1)  1  Cor.  14  : 40— "Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order"  ;  Col.  2  :  5— "For  though  I  am  absent  in  the 
flesh,  yet  am  I  with  you  in  the  spirit,  joying  and  beholding  your  order,  and  the  steadfastness  of  your  faith  in  Christ." 

(m)  Mat.  28  : 19 — "Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  ;  Acts  2  :  47  — "  And  the  Lord  added  to  them  day  by  day  those  that  were 
being  saved." 

(n)  Phil.  2  :  30— "because  for  the  work  of  Christ  he  came  nigh  unto  death,  hazarding  his  life  to  supply  that  which 
was  lacking  in  your  service  toward  me." 

As  indicative  of  a  developed  organization  in  the  N.  T.  church,  of  which 
only  the  germ  existed  before  Christ's  death,  it  is  important  to  notice  the 
progress  in  names  from  the  gospels  to  the  epistles.  In  the  gospels,  the 
word  "  disciples  "  is  the  common  designation  of  Christ's  followers,  but  it  is 
not  once  found  in  the  epistles.  In  the  epistles,  there  are  only  "saints," 
"brethren,"  "churches."  A  consideration  of  the  facts  here  referred  to  is 
sufficient  to  evince  the  unscriptural  nature  of  two  modern  theories  of  the 
church  : 

A.  The  theory  that  the  church  is  an  exclusively  spiritual  body,  destitute 
of  all  formal  organization,  and  bound  together  only  by  the  mtuual  relation 
of  each  believer  to  his  indwelling  Lord. 

The  church,  upon  this  view,  so  far  as  outward  bonds  are  concerned,  is. 
only  an  aggregation  of  isolated  .units.  Those  believers  who  chance  to 
gather  at  a  particular  place,  or  to  live  at  a  particular  time,  constitute  the 
church  of  that  place  or  time.  This  view  is  held  by  the  Friends  anfl.  by  the 
Plymouth  Brethren.  It  ignores  the  tendencies  tp  organization  inherent  in 
human  nature  ;  confounds  the  visible  with  the  invisible  church  ;  and  i& 
directly  opposed  to  the  Scripture  representations  of  the  visible  church  as 
comprehending  some  who  are  not  true  believers. 

Acts  5  : 1-11  —  Ananias  and  Sapphira  show  that  the  visible  church  comprehended  some 


ORGANIZATION    OF   THE    CHURCH.  499 

who  were  not  true  believers  ;  1  Cor.  14  :  23  — "  If  therefore  the  whole  church  be  assembled  together,  and  all 
speak  with  tongues,  and  there  come  in  men  unlearned  or  unbelieving,  will  they  not  say  that  ye  are  mad  ?  "  —  here,  if 
the  church  had  been  an  unorganized  assembly,  the  unlearned  visitors  who  came  in 
would  have  formed  a  part  of  it ;  Phil.  3  : 18  — "  For  many  walk,  of  whom  I  told  you  often,  and  now  tell 
you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ." 

Some  years  ago  a  book  was  placed  upon  the  Index,  at  Rome,  entitled :  "  The  Priest- 
hood a  Chronic  Disorder  of  the  Human  Race."  The  Plymouth  Brethren  dislike  church 
organizations,  for  fear  they  will  become  machines ;  they  dislike  ordained  ministers,  for 
fear  they  will  become  bishops.  They  object  to  praying  for  the  Holy  Ghost,  because  he 
was  given  on  Pentecost,  ignoring  the  fact  that  the  church  after  Pentecost  so  prayed : 
see  Acts  4  :  31  — "  And  when  they  had  prayed,  the  place  was  shaken  wherein  they  were  gathered  together ;  and  they 
were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness."  What  we  call  a  giving  or 
descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is,  since  the  Holy  Spirit  is  omnipresent,  only  a  manifestation 
of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  this  certainly  may  be  prayed  for;  see  Luke  11 : 13 
— "  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father 
give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  ?  " 

The  Plymouth  brethren  would  "  unite  Christendom  by  its  dismemberment,  and  do 
away  with  all  sects  by  the  creation  of  a  new  sect,  more  narrow  and  bitter  in  its  hostility 
to  existing  sects  than  any  other."  Yet  the  tendency  to  organize  is  so  strong  in  human 
nature,  that  even  Plymouth  brethren,  when  they  meet  regularly  together,  fall  into  an 
informal,  if  not  a  formal,  organization ;  certain  teachers  and  leaders  are  tacitly  recog- 
nized as  officers  of  the  body ;  committees  and  rules  are  unconsciously  used  for  facilitat- 
ing business.  Even  one  of  their  own  writers,  C.  H.  M.,  speaks  of  the  "  natural  tendency 
to  association  without  God  — as  in  the  Shinar  Association  or  Babel  Confederacy  of 
Gen.  11,  which  aimed  at  building  up  a  name  upon  the  earth.  The  Christian  church  is 
God's  appointed  association  to  take  the  place  of  all  these.  Hence  God  confounds  the 
tongues  in  Gen.  11  (judgment) ;  gives  tongues  in  Acts  2  (grace) ;  but  only  one  tongue  is 
spoken  in  Rev.  7  (glory)." 

Dr.  Wm.  Reid,  Plymouth  Brethrenism  Unveiled,  79-143,  attributes  to  the  sect  the 
following  Church-principles:  (1)  the  church  did  not  exist  before  Pentecost;  (2)  the 
visible  and  the  invisible  church  identical;  (3)  the  one  assembly  of  God;  (3)  the 
presidency  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  (5)  rejection  of  a  one-man  and  man-made  ministry; 
(6)  the  church  is  without  government.  Also  the  following  heresies:  (1)  Christ's 
heavenly  humanity;  (2)  denial  of  Christ's  righteousness,  as  being  obedience  to  law; 
(3)  denial  that  Christ's  righteousness  is  imputed  ;  (4)  justification  in  the  risen  Christ; 
(5)  Christ's  non-atoning  sufferings;  (6)  denial  of  moral  law  as  rule  of  life;  (7)  the 
Lord's  day  is  not  the  Sabbath;  (8)  perfectionism;  (9)  secret  rapture  of  the  saints 
—  caught  up  to  be  with  Christ.  To  these  we  may  add:  (10)  premillenial  advent  of 
Christ. 

On  the  Plymouth  Brethren  and  their  doctrine,  see  British  Quar.,  Oct.  1873:202; 
Princeton  Rev.,  1872  :  48-77 ;  H.  M.  King,  in  Baptist  Review,  1881 :  438-465 ;  Fish,  Ecclesi- 
ology,  314-316 ;  Dagg,  Church  Order,  80-83 ;  R.  H.  Carson,  The  Brethren,  8-14 ;  J.  C.  L. 
Carson,  The  Heresies  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren ;  Croskery,  Plymouth  Brethrenism ; 
Teulon,  Hist,  and  Teachings  of  Plymouth  Brethren. 

B.  The  theory  that  the  form  of  church  organization  is  not  definitely 
prescribed  in  the  New  Testament,  but  is  a  matter  of  expediency,  each  body 
of  believers  being  permitted  to  adopt  that  method  of  organization  which 
best  suits  its  circumstances  and  condition. 

The  view  under  consideration  seems  in  some  respects  to  be  favored  by 
Neander,  and  is  often  regarded  as  incidental  to  his  larger  conception  of 
church  history  as  a  progressive  development.  But  a  proper  theory  of 
development  does  not  exclude  the  idea  of  a  church  organization  already 
complete  in  all  essential  particulars  before  the  close  of  the  inspired  canon, 
so  that  the  record  of  it  may  constitute  a  providential  example  of  binding 
authority  upon  all  subsequent  ages.  The  view  mentioned  exaggerates  the 
differences  of  practice  between  the  N.  T.  churches  ;  underestimates  the  need 
of  divine  direction  as  to  methods  of  church  union  ;  and  admits  a  principle 


500  ECCLESIOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

of  *  church  powers, '  which  may  be  historically  shown  to  be  subversive  of 
the  very  existence  of  the  church  as  a  spiritual  body. 

Dr.  Galusha  Anderson  finds  the  theory  of  optional  church  government  in  Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical  Polity,  and  says  that  not  until  Bishop  Bancroft  was  there  claimed  a  divine 
right  of  Episcopacy.  Hunt,  also,  in  his  Religious  Thought  in  England,  1 :  57,  says  that 
Hooker  gives  up  the  divine  origin  of  Episcopacy.  So  Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  the  N.  T., 
and  Hatch,  Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches  —  both  Hatch  and  Jacob  belong- 
ing to  the  Church  of  England.  But  we  may  well  ask:  Shall  missionaries  conform 
church  order  to  the  degraded  ideas  of  the  nations  among  which  they  labor?  Shall 
Church  government  be  despotic  in  Turkey,  a  limited  monarchy  in  England,  a  democ- 
racy in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  two-headed  in  Japan  ?  For  the  development 
theory  of  Neander,  see  his  Church  History,  1 : 179-190.  On  the  general  subject,  see 
Hitchcock,  in  Presb.  Rev.  1868 :  265 ;  Davidson,  Eccl.  Polity,  1-42 ;  Harvey,  The  Church. 

2.     The  nature  of  this  organization. 

The  nature  of  any  organization  may  be  determined  by  asking,  first :  who 
constitute  its  members  ?  secondly  :  for  what  object  has  it  been  formed  ? 
and,  thirdly  :  what  are  the  laws  which  regulate  its  operations  ? 

The  three  questions  with  which  our  treatment  of  the  nature  of  this  organization 
begins  are  furnished  us  by  Pres.  Wayland,  in  his  Principles  and  Practices  of  Baptists. 

A.  They  only  can  properly  be  members  of  the  local  church,  who  have 
previously  become  members  of  the  church  universal, —  or,  in  other  words, 
have  become  regenerate  persons. 

Only  those  who  have  been  previously  united  to  Christ  are,  in  the  New  Testament,  per- 
mitted to  unite  with  his  church.  See  Acts  2  :  47— "And  the  Lord  added  to  them  day  by  day  those  that 
were  being  saved  [  Am.  Rev. :  'those  that  were  saved1  ]  " ;  5  : 14— "and  believers  were  the  more  added  to  the 
lord  "  ;  1  Cor.'l  :  2  — "  the  church  of  God  which  is  at  Corinth,  even  them  that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be 
saints,  with  all  that  call  upon  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  every  place,  their  Lord  and  ours." 

From  this  limitation  of  membership  to  regenerate  persons,  certain  results 
follow  : 

(a)  Since  each  member  bears  supreme  allegiance  to  Christ,  the  church 
as  a  body  must  recognize  Christ  as  the  only  lawgiver.     The  relation  of  the 
individual  Christian   to  the  church  does  not  supersede,  but  furthers  and 
expresses,  his  relation  to  Christ. 

1  John  2  :  20 — "And  ye  have  an  anointing  from  the  Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things" — see  Neander,  Com. 
in  loco  — "  No  believer  is  at  liberty  to  forego  this  maturity  and  personal  independence, 
bestowed  in  that  inward  anointing  [  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ],  or  to  place  himself  in  a  depend- 
ent relation,  inconsistent  with  this  birthright,  to  any  teacher  whatever  among  men 

....  This  inward  anointing  furnishes  an  element  of  resistance  to  such  arrogated  author- 
ity." Here  we  have  reproved  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  ministers  to  take  the  place  of 
the  church,  in  Christian  work  and  worship,  instead  of  leading  it  forward  in  work  and 
worship  of  its  own.  The  missionary  who  keeps  his  converts  in  prolonged  and  unneces- 
sary tutelage  is  also  untrue  to  the  church  organization  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
untrue  to  Christ  whose  aim  in  church  training  is  to  educate  his  followers  to  the  bear- 
ing of  responsibility  and  the  use  of  liberty.  Macaulay :  "  The  only  remedy  for  the  evils 
of  liberty  is  liberty." 

(b)  Since  each  regenerate  man  recognizes  in  every  other  a  brother  in 
Christ,  the  several  members  are  upon  a  footing  of  absolute  equality  ( Mat. 
23:  8-10). 

Mat.  23  :  8-10  — "  But  be  not  ye  called  Rabbi :  for  one  is  your  teacher,  and  all  ye  are  brethren.  And  call  no  man 
your  father  on  the  earth :  for  one  is  your  Father,  even  he  who  is  in  heaven  " ;  John  15  :  5  — "  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the 
branches" — no  one  branch  of  the  vine  outranks  another;  one  may  be  more  advanta- 


ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    CHURCH.  501 

geously  situated,  more  ample  in  size,  more  fruitful ;  but  all  are  alike  in  kind,  draw  vital- 
ity from  one  source.  Among  the  planets  "  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory  "  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  41 ), 
yet  all  shine  in  the  same  heaven,  and  draw  their  light  from  the  same  sun.  "  The  serving-- 
man may  know  more  of  the  mind  of  God  than  the  scholar."  Christianity  has  therefore 
been  the  foe  to  heathen  castes.  The  Japanese  noble  objected  to  it,  "because  the  broth- 
erhood of  man  was  incompatible  with  proper  reverence  for  rank."  There  can  be  no 
rightful  human  lordship  over  God's  heritage  (1  Pet.  5  :  3— "neither  as  lording  it  over  the  charge 
allotted  to  you,  but  making  yourselves  ensamples  to  the  flock  "  ). 

(c)  Since  each  local  church  is  directly  subject  to  Christ,  there  is  no 
jurisdiction  of  one  church  over  another,  but  all  are  on  an  equal  footing,  and 
all  are  independent  of  interference  or  control  by  the  civil  power. 

Mat.  22  :  21— "Render  therefore  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's;  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's"  ; 
Acts  5  :  29— "We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men."  As  each  believer  has  personal  dealings  with 
Christ  and  for  even  the  pastor  to  come  between  him  and  his  Lord  is  treachery  to  Christ 
and  harmful  to  his  soul,  so  much  more  does  the  New  Testament  condemn  any  attempt 
to  bring  the  church  into  subjection  to  any  other  church  or  combination  of  churches, 
or  to  make  the  church  the  creature  of  the  state.  Absolute  liberty  of  conscience  under 
Christ  has  always  been  a  distinguishing  tenet  of  Baptists,  as  it  is  of  the  New  Testament 
( c/.  Rom.  14  :  4— "Who  art  thou  that  judgest  the  servant  of  another?  to  his  own  Lord  he  standeth  or  falleth.  Yea, 
he  shall  be  made  to  stand ;  for  the  Lord  hath  power  to  make  him  stand  "  ). 

B.  The  sole  object  of  the  local  church  is  the  glory  of  God,  in  the  com- 
plete establishment  of  his  kingdom,  both  in  the  hearts  of  believers  and  in 
the  world.     This  object  is  to  be  promoted  : 

(a)     By  united  worship, —  including  prayer  and  religious  instruction  ; 

fleb.  10  :  25 — "not  forsaking  our  own  assembling  together,  as  the  custom  of  some  is,  but  exhorting  one  another." 

(6)     By  mutual  watch-care  and  exhortation  ; 

1  Thess.  5  : 11  — "  Wherefore  exhort  one  another,  and  build  each  other  up,  even  as  also  ye  do  "  ;  Heb.  3  : 13  — "  exhort 
one  another  day  by  day,  so  long  as  it  is  called  To-day ;  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  by  the  deceitfulness  of  sin." 

(c)     By  common  labors  for  the  reclamation  of  the  impenitent  world. 

Mat.  28  : 19  — "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations  "  ;  Acts  8:4—"  They  therefore  that  were  scat- 
tered abroad  went  about  preaching  the  word  "  ;  2  Cor.  8:5—"  and  this,  not  as  we  had  hoped,  but  first  they  gave  their 
own  selves  to  the  Lord,  and  to  us  by  the  will  of  God"  ;  Jude  23 — "And  on  some  have  mercy,  who  are  in  doubt;  and 
some  save,  snatching  them  out  of  the  fire."  Inscribed  upon  a  mural  tablet  of  a  Christian  church, 
in  Aneityum  in  the  South  Seas,  to  the  mercy  of  Dr.  John  Geddie,  the  pioneer  mission- 
ary in  that  field,  are  the  words :  "  When  he  came  here,  there  were  no  Christians ;  when 
he  went  away,  there  were  no  heathen." 

C.  The  law  of  the  church  is  simply  the  will  of  Christ,  as  expressed  in 
the  Scriptures  and  interpreted  by  the  Holy  Spirit.     This  law  respects  : 

(a)  The  qualifications  for  membership.  —  These  are  regeneration  and 
baptism,  i.  e. ,  spiritual  new  birth  and  ritual  new  birth ;    the  surrender  of 
the  inward  and  of  outward  life  to  Christ ;  the  spiritual  entrance  into  com- 
munion with  Christ's  death  and  resurrection,  and  the  formal  profession  of 
this  to  the  world  by  being  buried  with  Christ  and  raising  with  him  in 
baptism. 

(b)  The  duties  imposed  on  members. — In  discovering  the  will  of  Christ 
from  the  Scriptures,  each  member  has  the  right  of  private  judgment,  being 
directly  responsible  to  Christ  for  his  use  of  the  means  of  knowledge,  and 
for  his  obedience  to  Christ's  commands  when  these  are  known. 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Dagg,  Church  Order,  74-99 ;  Curtis,  on  Communion,  1-61. 


502  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

3.     The  genesis  of  this  organization. 

(a)  The  church  existed  in  germ  before  the  day  of  Pentecost, —  otherwise 
there  would  have  been  nothing  to  which  those  converted  upon  that  day 
could  have  been  "added"  (Acts  2  :  47).     Among  the  apostles,  regenerate 
as  they  were,  united  to  Christ  by  faith  and  in  that  faith  baptized  ( Acts  19  : 
4),  under  Christ's  instruction  and  engaged  in  common  work  for  him,  there 
were  already  the  beginnings  of  organization.     There  was  a  treasurer  of  the 
body  ( John  13  :  29 ),  and  as  a  body  they  celebrated  for  the  first  time  the 
Lord's  Supper  ( Mat.  29  :  26-29 ).     To  all  intents  and  purposes  they  consti- 
tuted a  church,  although  the  church  was  not  yet  fully  equipped  for  its  work 
by  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  (  Acts  2 ),  and  by  the  appointment  of  pastors 
and  deacons.     The  church  existed  without  officers,  as  in  the  first  days  suc- 
ceeding Pentecost. 

Acts  2  :  47 — "  And  the  Lord  added  to  them  [  marg. :  '  together '  ]  day  by  day  those  that  were  being  saved  " ;  19  :  4 
— "  And  Paul  said,  John  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on 
him  which  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus" ;  John  13  :  29 — "For  some  thought,  because  Judas  had  the  bag, 
that  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Buy  what  things  we  have  need  of  for  the  feast ;  or,  that  we  should  give  something  to  the 
poor  "  ;  Mat.  26  :  26-29  — "  And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  bread  ....  and  he  gave  to  the  disciples  and  said,  Take, 

eat And  he  took  a  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave  to  them,  saying,  Drink  ye  all  of  it"  ;  Acts  2  —  the  Holy 

Spirit  is  poured  out.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Christ  himself  is  the  embodied  union 
between  God  and  man,  the  true  temple  of  God's  indwelling-.  So  soon  as  the  first 
believer  joined  himself  to  Christ,  the  church  existed  in  miniature  and  germ. 

Fish,  Ecclesiology,  11-14,  by  a  striking  analogy,  distinguishes  three  periods  of  the 
church's  life:  (1)  the  pre-natal  period,  in  which  the  church  is  not  separated  from 
Christ's  bodily  presence;  (2)  the  period  of  childhood,  in  which  the  church  is  under 
tutelage,  preparing  for  an  independent  life;  (3)  the  period  of  maturity,  in  which  the 
church,  equipped  with  doctrines  and  officers,  is  ready  for  self-government.  The  three 
periods  may  be  likened  to  bud,  blossom,  and  fruit.  Before  Christ's  death,  the  church 
existed  in  bud  only. 

(b)  That  provision  for  these  offices  was  made  gradually  as  exigencies 
arose,  is  natural  when  we  consider  that  the  church  immediately  after  Christ's 
ascension  was  under  the  tutelage  of  inspired  apostles,  and  was  to  be  pre- 
pared, by  a  process  of  education,  for  independence  and  self-government.    As 
doctrine  was  communicated  gradually  yet  infallibly,  through  the  oral  and 
written  teaching  of  the  apostles,  so  we  are  warranted  in  believing  that  the 
church  was  gradually  but  infallibly  guided  to  the  adoption  of  Christ's  own 
plan  of  church  organization  and  of  Christian  work.     The  same  promise  of 
the  Spirit  which  renders  the  New  Testament  an  unerring  and  sufficient  rule 
of  faith,  renders  it  also  an  unerring  and  sufficient  rule  of  practice,  for  the 
church  in  all  places  and  times. 

John  16  : 12-16  is  to  be  interpreted  as  a  promise  of  gradual  leading  by  the  Spirit  into  all 

the  truth;    1  Cor.  14  :  37— "the  things  which  I  write  unto  you they  are  the  commandments  of  the  Lord." 

An  examination  of  Paul's  epistles  in  their  chronological  order  shows  a  progress  in  defl- 
niteness  of  teaching  with  regard  to  church  polity,  as  well  as  with  regard  to  doctrine  in 
general.  In  this  matter,  as  in  other  matters,  apostolic  instruction  was  given  as  providen- 
tial exigencies  demanded  it.  In  the  earliest  days  of  the  church,  attention  was  paid 
to  preaching  rather  than  to  organization.  Like  Luther,  Paul  thought  more  of  church 
order  in  his  later  days  than  at  the  beginning  of  his  work.  Yet  even  in  his  first  epistle 
we  find  the  germ  which  is  afterwards  continuously  developed.  See  : 

(1)  1  Thess.  5  : 12,  13  (A.  D.  52)— "But  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them  that  labor  among  you,  and  are 
over  you  ( n-poi(rraju.eVovs )  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you ;  and  to  esteem  them  exceeding  highly  in  love  for  their 
work's  sake." 

(2)  1  Cor.  12  :  28  (A.  D.  57)— "And  God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly 


GOVERNMENT   OF   THE    CHURCH.  503 


teachers,  then  miracles,  then  gifts  of  healings,  helps  [  avrtAij/a^ei?  =  gifts  needed  by  deacons],  governments 
[  Kvpep^o-ei?  =  gifts  needed  by  pastors],  divers  kinds  of  tongues." 

(3)  Rom.  12  :  6-8  (A.  D.  58)  —  "And  having  gifts  differing  according  to  the  grace  that  is  given  to  us,  whether 
prophecy,  let  us  prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of  our  faith  ;  or  ministry  [  fiiaxofiav  ],  let  us  give  ourselves  to 
our  ministry  ;  or  he  that  teacheth,  to  his  teaching  ;  or  he  that  exhorteth,  to  his  exhorting  :  he  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it 
with  liberality;  he  that  ruleth  [6  irpoi<na.^evo<;  ],  with  diligence;  he  that  showeth  mercy,  with  cheerfulness." 

(  4  )  Phil.  1:1  (  A.  D.  62  )—  "  Paul  and  Timothy,  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are 
at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops  [  eTriovcoTroi?,  marg.  :  'overseers'  ]  and  deacons  [  6ia*6vois]." 

(  5  )  Eph.  4  :  11  (  A.  D.  63  )—  "And  he  gave  some  to  be  apostles  ;  and  some,  prophets  ;  and  some,  evangelists  ;  and 
some,  pastors  and  teachers,  [  Troi/xeyas  KOU  8t6a<rAcdAovs  ]," 

(6  )  1  Tim.  3  :  1,  2  (  A.  D.  66  )—  "If  a  man  seeketh  the  office  of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work.  The  bishop 
[  TOI/  enio-Koirov  ]  therefore  must  be  without  reproach."  On  this  last  passage,  Huther  in  Meyer's  Com. 
remarks:  "Paul  in  the  beginning-  looked  at  the  church  in  its  unity  —  only  gradually 
does  he  make  prominent  its  leaders.  We  must  not  infer  that  the  churches  in  the  earlier 
time  were  without  leadership,  but  only  that  in  the  later  time  circumstances  were  such 
as  to  require  him  to  lay  emphasis  upon  the  pastor's  office  and  work."  See  also  Schaff, 
Teaching-  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  62-75. 

On  the  question  how  far  our  Lord  and  his  apostles,  in  the  organization  of  the  church, 
availed  themselves  of  the  synag-og-ue  as  a  model,  see  Neander,  Planting-  and  Training-, 
28-34.  The  ministry  of  the  church  is  without  doubt  an  outgrowth  and  adaptation  of  the 
eldership  of  the  synag-og-ue.  In  the  synag-ogue,  there  were  elders  who  g-ave  themselves 
to  the  study  and  expounding-  of  the  Scriptures.  The  synag-og-ues  held  united  prayer,  and 
exercised  discipline.  They  were  democratic  in  government,  and  independent  of  each 
other.  It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  election  of  officers  by  the  membership  of  the 
church  came  from  the  Greek  ex/cAr/cna,  or  popular  assembly.  But  Edersheim,  Life  and 
Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah,  1  :  438,  says  of  the  elders  of  the  synag-ogue  that  "  their  elec- 
tion depended  on  the  choice  of  the  congregation."  Talmud,  Berachob,  55  a:  "No  ruler 
is  appointed  over  a  congregation,  unless  the  congregation  is  consulted." 

(c)  Any  number  of  believers,  therefore,  may  constitute  themselves  into  a 
Christian  church,  by  adopting  for  their  rule  of  faith  and  practice  Christ's 
law  as  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament,  and  by  associating  themselves 
together,  in  accordance  with  it,  for  his  worship  and  service.  It  is  import- 
ant, where  practicable,  that  a  council  of  churches  be  previously  called,  to 
-advise  the  brethren  proposing  this  union  as  to  the  desirableness  of  consti- 
tuting a  new  and  distinct  local  body  ;  and  if  it  be  found  desirable,  to  recog- 
nize them,  after  its  formation,  as  being  a  church  of  Christ.  But  such  action 
of  a  council,  however  valuable  as  affording  ground  for  the  fellowship  of 
other  churches,  is  not  constitutive,  but  is  simply  declaratory  ;  and,  without 
such  action,  the  body  of  believers  alluded  to,  if  formed  after  the  N.  T. 
example,  may  notwithstanding  be  a  true  church  of  Christ.  Still  further,  a 
band  of  converts,  among  the  heathen  or  providentially  precluded  from 
access  to  existing  churches,  might  rightfully  appoint  one  of  their  number 
to  baptize  the  rest,  and  then  might  organize,  de  novo,  a  New  Testament 
church. 

Hag-enbach,  Hist.  Doct.,  2  :  294,  quotes  from  Luther,  as  follows  :—  "  If  a  company  of 
pious  Christian  laymen  were  captured  and  sent  to  a  desert  place,  and  had  not  among- 
them  an  ordained  priest,  and  were  all  agreed  in  the  matter,  and  elected  one  and  told 
him  to  baptize,  administer  the  mass,  absolve,  and  preach,  such  a  one  would  be  as  true 
a,  priest  as  if  all  the  bishops  and  popes  had  ordained  him." 

III.     GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

1.     Nature  of  this  government  in  general. 

It  is  evident  from  the  direct  relation  of  each  member  of  the  church,  and 
so  of  the  church  as  a  whole,  to  Christ  as  sovereign  and  lawgiver,  that  the 


504          ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

government  of  the  church,  so  far  as  regards  the  source  of  authority,  is  an 
absolute  monarchy. 

In  ascertaining  the  will  of  Christ,  however,  and  in  applying  his  commands 
to  providential  exigencies,  the  Holy  Spirit  enlightens  one  member  through 
the  counsel  of  another,  and,  as  the  result  of  combined  deliberation,  guides 
the  whole  body  to  right  conclusions.  This  work  of  the  Spirit  is  the  funda- 
tion  of  the  Scripture  injunctions  to  unity.  This  unity,  since  it  is  a  unity  of 
the  Spirit,  is  not  an  enforced,  but  an  intelligent  and  willing  unity.  While 
Christ  is  sole  king,  therefore,  the  government  of  the  church,  so  far  as  re- 
gards the  interpretation  and  execution  of  his  will  by  the  body,  is  an  absolute 
democracy,  in  which  the  whole  body  of  members  is  intrusted  with  the  duty 
and  responsibility  of  carrying  out  the  laws  of  Christ  as  expressed  in  his 
word. 

The  seceders  from  the  established  church  of  Scotland,  on  the  memorable  18th  of  May, 
1843,  embodied  in  their  protest  the  following  words :  We  go  out  "  from  an  establishment 
which  we  loved  and  prized,  through  interference  with  conscience,  the  dishonor  done  to 
Christ's  crown,  and  the  rejection  of  his  sole  and  supreme  authority  as  King  in  his 
church."  The  church  should  be  rightly  ordered,  since  it  is  the  representative  and 
guardian  of  God's  truth  —  its  "pillar  and  ground"  (1  Tim.  3  : 15)  —the  Holy  Spirit  working  in 
and  through  it. 

But  it  is  this  very  relation  of  the  church  to  Christ  and  his  truth  which  renders  it 
needful  to  insist  upon  the  right  of  each  member  of  the  church  to  his  private  judgment 
as  to  the  meaning  of  Scripture ;  in  other  words,  absolute  monarchy,  in  this  case,  re- 
quires for  its  complement  an  absolute  democracy.  President  Wayland :  "  No  individual 
Christian  or  number  of  individual  Christians,  no  individual  church  or  number  of  indi- 
vidual churches,  has  original  authority,  or  has  power  over  the  whole.  None  can  add  to 
or  subtract  from  the  laws  of  Christ,  or  interfere  with  his  direct  and  absolute  sovereignty 
over  the  hearts  and  lives  of  his  subjects."  Each  member,  as  equal  to  every  other,  ha& 
right  to  a  voice  in  the  decisions  of  the  whole  body ;  and  no  action  of  the  majority  can 
bind  him  against  his  conviction  of  duty  to  Christ. 

A.  Proof  that  the  government  of  the  church  is  democratic  or  congrega- 
tional. 

(a)     From  the  duty  of  the  whole  church  to  preserve  unity  in  its  action. 

Rom.  12  : 16— "Be  of  the  same  mind  one  toward  another"  ;  1  Cor.  1  : 10— "Now  I  beseech  you that  ye  all 

speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you ;  but  that  ye  be  perfected  together  in  the  same  mind  and 
in  the  same  judgment "  ;  2  Cor.  13  : 11  — "  be  of  the  same  mind  "  ;  Eph.  4  :  3  — "  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace  "  ;  Phil.  1 :  27  — "  that  ye  stand  fast'in  one  spirit,  with  one  soul  striving  for  the  faith  of 
the  gospel "  ;  1  Pet.  3:8-"  be  ye  all  likeminded." 

These  exhortations  to  unity  are  not  mere  counsels  to  passive  submission,  such  as 
might  be  given  under  a  hierarchy,  or  to  the  members  of  a  society  of  Jesuits ;  they  are 
counsels  to  cooperation  and  to  harmonious  judgment.  Each  member,  while  forming 
his  own  opinions  under  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit,  is  to  remember  that  the  other  mem- 
bers have  the  Spirit  also,  and  that  a  final  conclusion  as  to  the  will  of  God  is  to  be  reached 
only  through  comparison  of  views.  The  exhortation  to  unity  is  therefore  an  exhorta- 
tion to  be  open-minded,  docile,  ready  to  subject  our  opinions  to  discussion,  to  welcome 
new  light  with  regard  to  them,  and  to  give  up  any  opinion  when  we  find  it  to  be  in  the 
wrong.  The  church  is  in  general  to  secure  unanimity  by  moral  suasion  only ;  though,  in 
case  of  wilful  and  perverse  opposition  to  its  decisions,  it  may  be  necessary  to  secure 
unity  by  excluding  an  obstructive  member,  for  schism. 

A  quiet  and  peaceful  unity  is  the  result  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  work  in  the  hearts  of 
Christians.  New  Testament  church  government  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  that 
Christ  dwells  in  all  believers.  Baptist  polity  is  the  best  possible  polity  for  good  people. 
Christ  has  made  no  provision  for  an  unregenerate  church-membership,  and  for  Satanic 
possession  of  Christians.  It  is  best  that  a  church  in  which  Christ  does  not  dwell  should 
by  dissension  reveal  its  weakness,  and  fall  to  pieces ;  and  any  outward  organization  that 
conceals  inward  disintegration,  and  compels  a  merely  formal  union  after  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  departed,  is  a  hindrance  instead  of  a  help  to  true  religion. 


GOVERNMENT    OF   THE    CHURCH. 


505 


(6)     From  the  responsibility  of  the  whole  church  for  maintaining  p 
doctrine  and  practice. 

1  Tim.  3  : 15  — "  the  church  of  the  living  God.  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth  "  ;    Jude  3  — "  exhorting  you  to 
tend  earnestly  for  the  faith  which  was  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints  "  ;    Rev.  2  and  3  —  exhortations 
the  seven  churches  of  Asia  to  maintain  pure  doctrine  and  practice.    In  all  these 
sages,  pastoral  charges  are  given,  not  by  a  so-called  bishop  to  his  subordinate 
but  by  an  apostle  to  the  whole  church  and  to  all  its  members. 

(c)  From  the  committing  of  the  ordinances  to  the  charge  of  the  whole 
church  to  observe  and  guard.     As  the  church  expresses  truth  in  her  teach- 
ing, so  she  is  to  express  it  in  symbol  through  the  ordinances. 

Mat.  28  : 19,  20  — "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  ....  teaching  them  "  ;  c/. 
Luke  24  :  33— "And  they  rose  up  that  very  hour,  and  found  the  eleven  gathered  together,  and  them  that  were  with 
them  "  ;  Acts  1  : 15  — "  And  in  these  days  Peter  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  the  brethren,  and  said  ( and  there  was  a  mul- 
titude of  persons  gathered  together,  about  a  hundred  and  twenty)  "  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  6— "then  he  appeared  to  above  five 
hundred  brethren  at  once  "—these  passages  show  that  it  was  not  to  the  eleven  apostles  alone 
that  Jesus  committed  the  ordinances.  f 

1  Cor.  11  :  2  —  "  Now  I  praise  you  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  hold  fast  the  traditions,  even  as  I  delivered 
them  to  you  "  ;  c/.  23,  24  — "  For  I  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  how  that  the  Lord  Jesus, 
in  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed  took  bread ;  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said,  This  is  my 
body,  which  is  for  you :  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me  "—  here  Paul  commits  the  Lord's  Supper  into  the 
charge,  not  of  a  body  of  officials,  but  of  the  whole  church.  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  therefore,  are  not  to  be  administered  at  the  discretion  of  the  individual  minis- 
ter. He  is  simply  the  organ  of  the  church  ;  and  pocket  baptismal  and  communion  ser- 
vices are  without  warrant.  See  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  299 ;  Robinson, 
Harmony  of  Gospels,  notes,  §  170. 

(d)  From  the  election  by  the  whole  church,  of  its  own  officers  and  dele- 
gates.    In  Acts  14  :  23,  the  literal  interpretation  of  xstPOTOVfoavT£c  is  not  to 
be  pressed.     In  Titus  1  :  5,  "when  Paul  empowers  Titus  to  set  presiding 
officers  over  the  communities,  this  circumstance  decides  nothing  as  to  the 
mode  of  choice,  nor  is  a  choice  by  the  community  itself  thereby  necessarily 
excluded. " 

Acts  1  :  23,  26  — "  And  they  put  forward  two and  they  gave  lots  for  them ;  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias ;  and  he 

was  numbered  with  the  eleven  apostles  "  ;  6:3,  5— "Look  ye  out  therefore,  brethren,  from  among  you  seven  men  of 

good  report And  the  saying  pleased  the  whole  multitude ;  and  they  chose  Stephen and  Philip,  and  Prochorus, 

and  Nicanor,  and  Timon,  and  Parmenas,  and  Nicolas" — as  deacons  ;  Acts.  13  :  2,  3 — "And  as  they  ministered  to 
the  Lord  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them. 
Then  when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away." 

On  this  passage,  see  Meyer's  comment:  "'Ministered'  here  expresses  the  act  of  cele- 
brating divine  service  on  the  part  of  the  whole  church.  To  refer  avruv  to  the  'prophets 
and  teachers'  is  forbidden  by  the  a^opiVare  — and  by  verse  3.  This  interpretation  would  con- 
fine this  most  important  mission-act  to  five  persons,  of  whom  two  were  the  missionaries 
sent ;  and  the  church  would  have  had  no  part  in  it,  even  through  its  presbyters.  This 
agrees,  neither  with  the  common  possession  of  the  Spirit  in  the  apostolic  church,  nor 
with  the  concrete  cases  of  the  choice  of  an  apostle  ( ch.  1 )  and  of  deacons  ( ch.  6 ).  Compare 
14  :  27  where  the  returned  missionaries  report  to  the  church.  The  imposition  of  hands 
(verse  3)  is  by  the  presbyters,  as  representatives  of  the  whole  church.  The  subject  in 
verses  2  and  3  is 'the  church '  —  ( represented  by  the  presbyters  in  this  case).  The  church 
sends  the  missionaries  to  the  heathen,  and  consecrates  them  through  its  elders." 

Acts  15  :  2,  4,  22,  30— "the  brethren  appointed  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  certain  other  of  them,  should  go  up  to- 
Jerusalem  ....  And  when  they  were  come  to  Jerusalem,  they  were  received  of  the  church  and  the  apostles  and  the  elders. 

Then  it  seemed  good  to  the  apostles  and  the  elders,  with  the  whole  church,  to  choose  men  out  of  their  company,  and 

send  them  to  Antioch  with  Paul  and  Barnabas ....  So  they  .  .  .  came  down  to  Antioch ;  and  having  gathered  the  multi- 
tude together,  they  delivered  the  epistle  "  ;  2  Cor.  8  : 19  —  "  who  was  also  appointed  by  the  churches  to  travel  with  us 
in  the  matter  of  this  grace"— the  contribution  for  the  poor  in  Jerusalem  ;  Acts  14  :  23— "And  when, 
they  had  appointed  (  xfipo-roj/Tjo-avTes )  for  them  elders  in  every  church"— the  apostles  announced  the 
election  of  the  church,  as  a  College  President  confers  degrees,  i.  e.,  by  announcing  de- 
grees conferred  by  the  Board  of  Trustees. 


506  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

Hackett,  Com.  on  Acts  — "  xeiP0'rov*iffav'Te<>  is  not  to  be  pressed,  since  Paul  and  Barnabas 
constitute  the  persons  ordaining.  It  may  possibly  indicate  a  concurrent  appointment, 
in  accordance  with  the  usual  practice  of  universal  suff  rage ;  but  the  burden  of  proof  lies 
on  those  who  would  so  modify  the  meaning  of  the  verb.  The  verb  is  frequently  used 
in  the  sense  of  choosing,  appointing,  with  reference  to  the  formality  of  raising  the 
hand."  Per  contra,  see  Meyer,  in  loco :  "  The  church  officers  were  elective.  As  appears 
from  analogy  of  6 : 2-6  ( election  of  deacons ),  the  word  xeiporo^^travTes  retains  its  etymolog- 
ical sense,  and  does  not  mean  '  constituted  '  or  '  created.'  Their  choice  was  a  recognition 
of  a  gift  already  bestowed,— not  the  ground  of  the  office  and  source  of  authority,  but 
merely  the  means  by  which  the  gift  becomes  [  known,  recognized,  and  ]  an  actual  office 
in  the  church." 

Baumgarten,  Apostolic  History,  1 :  456  — "  They  —  the  two  apostles  —  allow  presbyters 
to  be  chosen  for  the  community  by  voting."  Alexander,  Com.  on  Acts  — "  The  method 
of  election  here,  as  the  expression  xe<-POTOV1iffai''res  indicates,  was  the  same  as  that  in  Acts  6  : 
5.  6,  where  the  people  chose  the  seven,  and  the  twelve  ordained  them."  Barnes,  Com.  on 
Acts :  "  The  apostles  presided  in  the  assembly  where  the  choice  was  made  —  appointed 
them  in  the  usual  way  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people."  Dexter,  Congregationalism,  138 
— "  'Ordained'  means  here  '  prompted  and  secured  the  election '  of  elders  in  every  church." 
So  in  Titus  1 :  5— "appoint  elders  in  every  city."  Compare  the  Latin :  "  dictator  consules  creavit " 
=  prompted  and  secured  the  election  of  consuls  by  the  people.  See  Neander,  Church 
History,  1 : 189  ;  Guericke,  Church  History,  1 : 110;  Meyer,  on  Acts  13  :  2. 

(e)  From  the  power  of  the  whole  church  to  exercise  discipline.  Pas- 
sages which  show  the  right  of  the  whole  body  to  exclude,  show  also  the 
right  of  the  whole  body  to  admit,  members. 

Mat.  18  : 17  — "  And  if  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church :  and  if  he  refuse  to  hear  the  church  also,  let  him 
be  to  thee  as  the  Gentile  and  the  publican.  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  What  things  soever  ye  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be 
bound  in  heaven :  and  what  things  soever  ye  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven  "— words  often  in- 
scribed over  Roman  Catholic  confessionals,  but  improperly,  since  they  refer  not  to  the 
decisions  of  a  single  priest,  but  to  the  decisions  of  a  whole  body  of  believers  guided  by 
the  Holy  Spirit. 

1  Cor.  5  :  4,  5,  13 — "ye  being  gathered  together  ....  to  deliver  such  an  one  unto  Satan  ....  Put  away  that  wicked 
man  from  among  yourselves"  ;  2  Cor.  2  :  6,  7 — "Sufficient  to  such  a  one  is  this  punishment  which  was  inflicted  by 
the  many;  so  that  contrariwise  ye  should  rather  forgive  him  and  comfort  him"  ;  7  : 11 — "For  behold  this  self  same 
thing  ....  what  earnest  care  it  wrought  in  you,  yea,  what  clearing  of  yourselves  ....  In  every  thing  ye  approved 
yourselves  to  be  pure  in  the  matter  "  ;  2  Thess.  3  :  6,  14, 15—"  withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh 
disorderly  ....  If  any  man  obeyeth  not  our  word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man,  that  ye  have  no  company  with  him,  to 
the  end  that  he  may  be  ashamed.  And  yet  count  him  not  as  an  enemy,  but  admonish  him  as  a  brother." 

The  educational  influence  upon  the  whole  church  of  this  election  of  officers,  admission 
and  exclusion  of  members,  general  conduct  of  business,  and  responsibility  for  doctrine 
and  practice,  cannot  be  over-estimated.  The  whole  body  can  know  those  who  apply 
for  admission,  better  than  pastor  or  elders  can.  To  put  the  whole  government  of  the 
church  into  the  hands  of  a  few  is  to  deprive  the  membership  of  one  great  means  of 
Christian  training  and  progress.  Hence  the  pastor's  duty  is  to  develop  the  self-govern- 
ment of  the  church.  The  missionary  should  not  command,  but  advise.  That  minister 
is  most  successful  who  gets  the  whole  body  to  move,  and  who  renders  the  church  inde- 
pendent of  himself.  The  test  of  his  work  is  not  while  he  is  with  them,  but  after  he 
leaves  them.  Then  it  can  be  seen  whether  he  has  taught  them  to  follow  him,  or  to  fol- 
low Christ ;  whether  he  has  led  them  to  the  formation  of  habits  of  independent  Christian 
activity,  or  whether  he  has  made  them  passively  dependent  upon  himself. 

A  Christian  pastor  can  either  rule,  or  he  can  have  the  reputation  of  ruling ;  but  he  can 
not  do  both.  Real  ruling  involves  a  sinking  of  self,  a  working  through  others,  a  doing 
of  nothing  that  some  one  one  else  can  be  got  to  do.  The  reputation  of  ruling  leads 
sooner  or  later  to  the  loss  of  real  influence,  and  to  the  decline  of  the  activities  of  the 
church  itself.  See  Coleman,  Manual  of  Prelacy  and  Ritualism,  87-125 ;  and  on  the  ad- 
vantages of  Congregationalism  over  every  other  form  of  church-polity,  see  Dexter, 
Congregationalism,  236-296.  Dexter,  290,  note,  quotes  from  Belcher's  Religious  Denom- 
inations of  the  U.  S.,  184,  as  follows :  "  Jefferson  said  that  he  considered  Baptist  church 
government  the  only  form  of  pure  democracy  which  then  existed  in  the  world,  and  had 
concluded  that  it  would  be  the  best  plan  of  government  for  the  American  Colonies. 
This  was  eight  or  ten  years  before  the  American  Revolution." 


GOVERNMENT   OF   THE   CHURCH.  507 

B.     Erroneous  views  as  to  church  government  refuted  by  the  foregoing 


(a)  The  world-church  theory,  or  the  Romanist  view. — This  holds  that  all 
local  churches  are  subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
.as  the  successor  of  Peter  and  the  infallible  vicegerent  of  Christ,  and,  as  thus 
united,  constitute  the  one  and  only  church  of  Christ  on  earth.  We  reply  : 

First, — Christ  gave  no  such  supreme  authority  to  Peter.  Mat.  16  :  18,  19, 
simply  refers  to  the  personal  position  of  Peter  as  first  confessor  of  Christ 
and  preacher  of  his  name  to  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Hence  other  apostles  also 
constituted  the  foundation  (Eph.  2  :  20 ;  Rev.  21  :  14).  On  one  occasion, 
the  counsel  of  James  was  regarded  as  of  equal  weight  with  that  of  Peter 
.(Acts  15  :  7-30),  while  on  another  occasion  Peter  was  rebuked  by  Paul  (Gal. 
2:11),  and  Peter  calls  himself  only  a  fellow-elder  ( 1  Pet.  5:1).  Secondly, 
—  if  Peter  had  such  authority  given  him,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  had 
power  to  transmit  it  to  others.  Thirdly, —  there  is  no  conclusive  evidence 
that  Peter  ever  was  at  Rome,  much  less  that  he  was  bishop  of  Rome. 
Fourthly, — there  is  no  evidence  that  he  really  did  so  appoint  the  bishops 
of  Rome  as  his  successors.  Fifthly, — if  he  did  so  appoint  the  bishops  of 
Rome,  the  evidence  of  continuous  succession  since  that  time  is  lacking. 
Sixthly, —  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  a  hierarchical  form  of  church 
government  is  corrupting  to  the  church  and  dishonoring  to  Christ. 

Mat.  16  : 18,  19 — "And  I  also  say  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church; -and  the 
gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  and  whatsoever 
thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven :  and  whatsoever  thou  shall  loose  on  earth  shalt  be  loosed  in  heaven." 
Peter  exercised  this  power  of  the  keys  for  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  by  being:  the  first  to 
preach  Christ  to  them,  and  so  admit  them  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  confession  of 
•Christ  makes  him  a  rock  upon  which  the  church  can  be  built.  Plumptre  on  Epistles  of 
Peter,  Introd.,  14—"  He  was  a  stone— one  with  that  rock  with  which  he  was  now  joined 
by  an  indissoluble  union."  But  others  come  to  be  associated  with  him  :  Eph.  2  :  20  — "  built 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christ  Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone" ;  Rev.  21  : 14  — 
"  And  the  wall  of  the  city  had  twelve  foundations,  and  on  them  twelve  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb."  Acts 
15  :  7-30  —the  Council  of  Jerusalem.  Gal.  2  : 11— "But  when  Cephas  came  to  Antioch,  I  resisted  him  to  the 
face,  because  he  stood  condemned "  ;  1  Pet.  5:1  — "The  elders  therefore  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  a  fellow  elder." 

Here  it  should  be  remembered  that  three  things  were  necessary  to  constitute  an  apos- 
tle:  ( 1 )  he  must  have  seen  Christ  after  his  resurrection,  so  as  to  be  a  witness  to  the  fact 
that  Christ  had  risen  from  the  dead;  (2)  he  must  be  a  worker  of  miracles,  to  certify 
that  he  was  Christ's  messenger;  (3)  he  must  be  an  inspired  teacher  of  Christ's  truth, 
so  that  his  final  utterances  are  the  very  word  of  God.  In  Rom.  16  : 17— "Salute  Andronicus  and 
Junias,  my  kinsmen,  and  my  fellow-prisoners,  who  are  of  note  among  the  apostles  "  means  simply :  '  who  are 
highly  esteemed  among,  or  by,  the  apostles.'  Barnabas  is  called  an  apostle,  in  the  etymo- 
logical sense  of  a  messenger:  Acts  13  :  2— "Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have 
called  them.  Then  when  they  had  fastad  and  prayed  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away  "  ;  Heb.  3  : 1 
— "consider  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  confession,  even  Jesus."  In  this  latter  sense,  the  number  of 
the  apostles  was  not  limited  to  twelve. 

On  the  question  whether  Peter  founded  the  Roman  church,  see  Meyer,  Com.  on  Ro- 
mans, transl.,  vol.  1 :  23— "Paul  followed  the  principle  of  not  interfering  with  another 
apostle's  field  of  labor.  Hence  Peter  could  not  have  been  laboring  at  Rome,  at  the  time 
when  Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Romans  from  Ephesus ;  c/.  Acts  19  :  21 ;  Rom.  15  :  20 ;  2  Cor. 
10  : 16.  Meyer  thinks  Peter  was  martyred  at  Rome,  but  that  he  did  not  found  the  Roman 
church,  the  origin  of  which  is  unknown.  "  The  epistle  to  the  Romans,"  he  says,  "since 
Peter  cannot  have  labored  at  Rome  before  it  was  written,  is  a  fact  destructive  of  the 
historical  basis  of  the  Papacy  "  ( p.  28 ).  See  also  Elliott,  Horae  Apocalypticse,  3  :  560. 

" Romanism,"  says  Dorner,  "identifies  the  church  and  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  pro- 
fessedly perfect  hierarchy  is  itself  the  church,  or  its  essence."  Yet  Moehler,  the  greatest 
modern  advocate  of  the  Romanist  system,  himself  acknowledges  that  there  were  popes 
before  the  Reformation  "  whom  hell  has  swallowed  up  " ;  see  Dorner,  Hist.  Prot.  Theol., 


508  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

Introd.,  ad  finem.  If  the  Romanist  asks:  "  Where  was  your  church  before  Luther?  '" 
the  Protestant  may  reply :  "  Where  was  your  face  this  morning  before  it  was  washed  ?  " 
Disciples  of  Christ  have  sometimes  kissed  the  feet  of  Antichrist,  but  it  recalls  an  ancient 
story.  When  an  Athenian  noble  thus,  in  old  times,  debased  himself  to  the  king-  of  Per- 
sia, his  fellow-citizens  at  Athens  doomed  him  to  death.  See  Coleman,  Manual  on  Prelacy 
and  Ritualism,  265-274;  Park,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  2  :  451;  Princeton  Rev.,  Apr.,  1876  :  265. 

(6)  The  national-church  theory,  or  the  theory  of  provincial  or  national 
churches.  This  holds  that  all  members  of  the  church  in  any  province  or 
nation  are  bound  together  in  provincial  or  national  organization,  and  thai 
this  organization  has  jurisdiction  over  the  local  churches. —  We  reply  : 

First, —  the  theory  has  no  support  in  the  Scriptures.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  the  word  sKK^aia  in  the  New  Testament  ever  means  a  national 
church  organization.  1  Cor.  12  :  28,  Phil.  3  :  6,  and  1  Tim.  3  :  15,  may  be 
more  naturally  interpreted  as  referring  to  the  generic  church.  In  Acts  9  r 
31,  EKKfyaia  is  a  mere  generalization  for  the  local  churches  then  and  there 
existing,  and  implies  no  sort  of  organization  among  them.  Secondly, — it  is- 
contradicted  by  the  intercourse  which  the  New  Testament  churches  held 
with  each  other  as  independent  bodies, —  for  example,  at  the  council  of 
Jerusalem  (Acts  15).  Thirdly, — it  has  no  practical  advantages  over  the 
Congregational  polity,  but  rather  tends  to  formality,  division,  and  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  principles  of  self-government  and  direct  responsibility  to 
Christ.  Fourthly, — it  is  inconsistent  with  itself,  in  binding  a  professedly 
spiritual  church  by  formal  and  geographical  lines.  Fifthly, —  it  logically 
leads  to  the  theory  of  Romanism.  If  two  churches  need  a  superior  author- 
ity to  control  them  and  settle  their  differences,  then  two  countries  and 
two  hemispheres  need  a  common  ecclesiastical  government, — and  a  world- 
church,  under  one  visible  head,  is  Romanism. 

1  Cor.  12  :  28 — "  And  God  hath  set  some  in  the  church,  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  then  miracles,, 
then  gifts  of  healings,  helps,  governments,  divers  kinds  of  tongues";  Phil.  3  :  6— "as  touching  zeal,  persecuting  the 
church  "  ;  1  Tim  3  : 15  — "  that  thou  mayest  know  how  men  ought  to  behave  themselves  in  the  house  of  God,  which  is  the 
church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth" ;  Acts  9  :  31— "So  the  church  throughout  all  Judea  and 
Galilee  and  Samaria  had  peace,  being  edified."  For  advocacy  of  the  Presbyterian  system,  see  Cun- 
ning-ham, Historical  Theology,  2  :  514-556 ;  McPherson,  Presbyterianism.  Per  contra,  see 
Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  N.  T.,  9— "There  is  no  example  of  a  national  church  in  the  New 
Testament." 

There  were  no  councils  that  claimed  authority  till  the  second  century,  and  the 
independence  of  the  churches  was  not  given  up  until  the  third  or  fourth  century.  In 
Bp.  Lightfoot's  essay  on  the  Christian  Ministry,  in  the  appendix  to  his  Com.  on  Philip- 
pians,  progress  to  episcopacy  is  thus  described :  "  In  the  time  of  Ignatius,  the  bishop,, 
then  primus  inter  pares,  was  regarded  only  as  a  centre  of  unity ;  in  the  time  of  Irenaeus, 
as  a  depositary  of  primitive  truth ;  in  the  time  of  Cyprian,  as  absolute  vicegerent  of 
Christ  in  things  spiritual." 

Hatch,  in  his  Hampton  Lectures  on  Organization  of  Early  Christian  Churches,  without 
discussing-  the  evidence  from  the  New  Testament,  proceeds  to  treat  of  the  post-apostolic 
development  of  organization,  as  if  finding  the  germs  of  episcopacy  very  soon  after  the 
apostles  rendered  such  a  system  legitimate  or  obligatory.  In  reply,  we  would  ask 
whether  we  are  under  moral  obligation  to  conform  to  whatever  succeeded  in  developing- 
itself  ?  If  so,  then  the  priests  of  Baal,  as  well  as  the  priests  of  Rome,  had  just  claims  to 
human  belief  and  obedience.  Prof.  Black :  "  We  have  no  objection  to  antiquity,  if  they 
will  only  go  back  far  enough.  We  wish  to  listen,  not  only  to  the  fathers  of  the  church,, 
but  also  to  the  grandfathers." 

In  the  Episcopal  system,  bishops  qualified  to  ordain  must  be:  (1)  baptized  persons; 
(2)  not  scandalously  immoral;  (3)  not  having  obtained  office  by  bribery;  (4)  must 
not  have  been  deposed.  In  view  of  these  qualifications,  Archbishop  Whately  pronoun- 
ces the  doctrine  of  apostolic  succession  untenable,  and  declares  that  "there  is  no  Chris- 
tian minister  existing  now,  who  can  trace  up  with  complete  certainty  his  own  ordination,. 


GOVERNMENT    OF   THE    CHURCH.  509 

through  perfectly  regular  steps,  to  the  time  of  the  apostles."  See  Macaulay's  Review 
of  Gladstone  on  Church  and  State,  in  his  Essays,  4  : 166-178.  There  are  breaks  in  the  line, 
and  a  chain  is  only  as  strong  as  its  weakest  part.  See  Presb.  Rev.,  1886  :  89-126. 

Instance  the  evils  of  Presbyterianism  in  practice.  Dr.  Park  says  that  "the  split  be- 
tween the  Old  and  the  New  School  was  due  to  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  majority  to 

impose  their  will  on  the  minority The  Unitarian  defection  in  New  England  would 

have  ruined  Presbyterian  churches,  but  it  did  not  ruin  Congregational  churches.  A 
Presbyterian  church  may  be  deprived  of  the  minister  it  has  chosen,  by  the  votes  of 
neighboring  churches,  or  by  the  few  leading  men  who  control  them,  or  by  one  single 
vote  in  a  close  contest." 

We  see  leanings  toward  the  world-church  idea  in  Pananglican  and  Panpresbyterian 
€ouncils.  Human  nature  ever  tends  to  substitute  the  unity  of  external  organization 
for  the  spiritual  unity  which  belongs  to  all  believers  in  Christ.  There  is  no  necessity 
for  common  government,  whether  Presbyterian  or  Episcopal ;  since  Christ's  truth  and 
Spirit  are  competent  to  govern  all  as  easily  as  one.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the 
Baptist  denomination,  without  external  bonds,  has  maintained  a  greater  unity  in  doc- 
trine, and  a  closer  general  conformity  to  New  Testament  standards,  than  the  churches 
which  adopt  the  principle  of  episcopacy,  or  of  provincial  organization.  See  Jacob,  Eccl. 
Polity  of  N.  T.,  130;  Dexter,  Congregationalism,  236;  Coleman,  Manual  on  Prelacy  and 
Ritualism,  128-264 ;  Albert  Barnes,  Apostolic  Church. 

2.     Officers  of  the  Church. 

A.  The  number  of  offices  in  the  church  is  two  —  first,  the  office  of 
bishop,  presbyter,  or  pastor  ;  and,  secondly,  the  office  of  deacon. 

(a)  That  the  appellations  '  bishop, '  'presbyter, '  and  '  pastor '  designate  the 
same  office  and  order  of  persons,  may  be  shown  from  Acts  20  :  28  —  eiricKdirovc 
iroifjiaivsiv  ( cf.  17  —  Trpeoftvripmjq }  ;  Phil.  1  :  1 ;  1  Tim.  3  :  1,  8  ;  Titus  1  :  5,  7  ; 
1    Pet.     5:1,    2  —  irpeo{3vr&pov£   •    •   '  Tra/ja/ca/lw  6  av/nTrpeaf3vTEpug   •   •    •  Troifj,dvare 
iroifj-viov  •  •  '  eTTioKOTTovvrts.     Conybeare  and  Howson  :    * '  The  terms  '  bishop  ' 
and  '  elder '  are  used  in  the  New  Testament  as  equivalent  —  the  former  denot- 
ing (  as  its  meaning  of  overseer  implies )  the  duties,  the  latter  the  rank,  of 
the  office."     See  passages  quoted  in  Giessler,  Church  History,  1  :  90,  note 
1  —  as,  for  example,  Jerome  :    ' '  Apud  veteres  iidem  episcopi  et  presbyteri, 
quia  illud  nomen  dignitatis  est,  hoc  setatis.      Idem  est  ergo  presbyter  qui 
episcopus. " 

Acts  20  :  28 — "Take  heed  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock,  in  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  bishops 
[marg.  'overseers'],  to  feed  [lit.  'to  shepherd,'  'be  pastors  of  ]  the  church  of  the  Lord,  which  he  purchased  with 
his  own  blood  "  ( so  Am.  Rev. ) ;  cf.  17  — "  the  elders  of  the  church  "  are  those  whom  Paul  addresses 
as  bishops  or  overseers,  and  whom  he  exhorts  to  be  good  pastors.  Phil.  1 : 1— "bishops  and 
deacons "  ;  1  Tim.  3  : 1,  8  — "  If  a  man  seeketh  the  office  of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good  work  ....  Deacons  in  like  man- 
ner must  be  grave  "  ;  Tit.  1  :  5,  7  — "  Appoint  elders  in  every  city ;  for  the  bishop  must  be  blameless  "  ;  1  Pet.  5  : 1,  2 
— "The  elders  therefore  among  you  I  exhort,  who  am  a  fellow-elder  ....  Tend  [lit.  'shepherd,'  '  be  pastors  of  ]  the 
flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  exercising  the  oversight  [acting  as  bishops],  not  of  constraint,  but  willingly, 
according  to  the  will  of  God."  In  this  last  passage,  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  Tischendorf 's  8th 
edition,  follow  X  and  B  in  omitting  emo-KonovvTes.  Tregelles  and  our  Revised  Version 
follow  A  and  NC  jn  retaining  it.  Rightly,  we  think ;  since  it  is  easy  to  see  how,  in  a  grow- 
ing ecclesiasticism,  it  should  have  been  omitted,  from  the  feeling  that  too  much  was  here 
ascribed  to  a  mere  presbyter. 

Dexter,  Congregationalism,  114,  shows  that  bishop,  elder,  pastor  are  names  for  the 
same  office:  (1)  from  the  significance  of  the  words;  (2)  from  the  fact  that  the  same 
qualifications  are  demanded  from  all ;  ( 3 )  from  the  fact  that  the  same  duties  are 
assigned  to  all ;  ( 4 )  from  the  fact  that  the  texts  held  to  prove  higher  rank  of  the  bishop 
do  not  support  that  claim. 

(b)  The  only  plausible  objection  to  the  identity  of  the  presbyter  and  the 
bishop  is  that  first  suggested  by  Calvin,  on  the  ground  of  1  Tim.  5  :  17. 
But  this  text  only  shows  that  the  one  office  of  presbyter  or  bishop  involved 


510  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    CHURCH. 

two  kinds  of  labor,  and  that  certain  presbyters  or  bishops  were  more  suc- 
cessful in  one  kind  than  in  the  other.  That  gifts  of  teaching  and  ruling  be- 
longed to  the  same  individual,  is  clear  from  Acts  20  :  28-31  ;  Eph.  4  :  11  ; 
Heb.  13  :  7  ;  1  Tim.  3  :  2  —  eiri 


1  Tim.  5  :  17—"  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  double  honor,  especially  those  who  labor  in  the 
word  and  in  teaching";  Wilson,  Primitive  Government  of  Christian  Churches,  concedes 
that  this  last  text  "  expresses  a  diversity  in  the  exercise  of  the  presbyterial  office,  but 
not  in  the  office  itself  "  ;  and  although  he  was  a  Presbyterian,  he  very  consistently  re- 
fused to  have  any  ruling-  elders  in  his  church. 

Acts  20  :  28-31  —"bishops,  to  feed  the  church  of  the  Lord  ____  wherefore  watch  ye"  ;  Eph.  4  :  11—  "and  some,. 
pastors  and  teachers  "—  here  Meyer  remarks  that  the  single  article  binds  the  two  words 
together,  and  prevents  us  from  supposing  that  separate  offices  are  intended.  Jerome  r 
"Nemo  .  .  .  pastoris  sibi  nomen  assumere  debet,  nisi  possit  docere  quos  pascit."  Heb. 
13  :  7—  "Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  which  spake  unto  you  the  word  of  God"  ;  1  Tim.  3  :  2—  "the 
bishop  must  be  ----  apt  to  teach."  The  great  temptation  to  ambition  in  the  Christian  ministry 
is  provided  against  by  having  no  gradation  of  ranks.  The  pastor  is  a  priest,  only  as  every 
Christian  is.  See  Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  N.  T.,  56  ;  Olshausen,  on  1  Tim.  5  :  17  ;  Hackett 
on  Acts  14  :  23  ;  Presb.  Rev.,  1886  :  89-126. 

(c)  In  certain  of  the  N.  T.  churches  there  appears  to  have  been  a  plu- 
rality of  elders  (  Acts  20  :  17  ;  Phil.  1:1;  Tit.  1:5).  There  is,  however, 
no  evidence  that  the  number  of  elders  was  uniform,  or  that  the  plurality 
which  frequently  existed  was  due  to  any  other  cause  than  the  size  of  the 
churches  for  which  these  elders  cared.  The  N.  T.  example,  while  it  per- 
mits the  multiplication  of  assistant  pastors  according  to  need,  does  not 
require  a  plural  eldership  in  every  case  ;  nor  does  it  render  this  eldership, 
where  it  exists,  of  coordinate  authority  with  the  church.  There  are  indica- 
tions, moreover,  that,  at  least  in  certain  churches,  the  pastor  was  one, 
while  the  deacons  were  more  than  one,  in  number. 

Acts  20  :  17  —  "  And  from  Miletus  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  to  him  the  elders  of  the  church  "  ;  Phil.  1:1—"  Paul 
and  Timothy,  servants  of  Christ  Jesus,  to  all  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus  which  are  at  Philippi,  with  the  bishops  and 
deacons  "  ;  Tit.  1  :  5  —  "  For  this  cause  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting, 
and  appoint  elders  in  every  city,  as  I  gave  thee  charge."  See,  however,  Acts  12  :  17—  "Tell  these  things  unto 
James,  and  to  the  brethren";  15  :  13—  "and  after  they  had  held  their  peace,  James  answered,  saying,  Brethren, 
hearken  unto  me"  ;  21  :  18  —  "And  the  day  following  Paul  went  in  with  us  unto  James;  and  all  the  elders  were 
present"  ;  Gal.  1  :  19  —  "But  other  of  the  apostles  saw  I  none,  save  James  the  Lord's  brother";  2  :  12  —  "certain 
came  from  James."  These  passages  seem  to  indicate  that  James  was  the  pastor  or  president 
of  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  an  intimation  which  tradition  corroborates. 

1  Tim.  3  :  2  —  "The  bishop  therefore  must  be  without  reproach"  ;  Tit.  1  :  7  —  "  For  the  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as 
God's  steward  "  ;  cf.  1  Tim.  3  :  8,  10,  12  —  "  Deacons  in  like  manner  must  be  grave  ....  And  let  these  also  first  be 
proved  ;  then  let  them  serve  as  deacons,  if  they  be  blameless  ....  Let  deacons  be  husbands  of  one  wife,  ruling  their 
children  and  their  own  houses  well  "  —  in  all  these  passages  the  bishop  is  spoken  of  in  the  singular 
number,  the  deacons  in  the  plural.  So,  too,  in  Rev.  2  :  1,  8,  12,  18  and  3  :  1,  7,  14,  "the  angel  of 
the  church  "  is  best  interpreted  as  meaning  the  pastor  of  the  church  ;  and,  if  this  be  correct, 
it  is  clear  that  each  church  had,  not  many  pastors,  but  one. 

It  would,  moreover,  seem  antecedently  improbable  that  every  church  of  Christ,  how- 
ever small,  should  be  required  to  have  a  plural  eldership,  particularly  since  churches 
exist  that  have  only  a  single  male  member.  A  plural  eldership  is  natural  and  advan- 
tageous, only  where  the  church  is  very  numerous  and  the  pastor  needs  assistants  in  his 
work  ;  and  only  in  such  cases  can  we  say  that  New  Testament  example  favors  it.  For 
advocacy  of  the  theory  of  plural  eldership,  see  Fish,  Ecclesiology,  229-249  ;  Ladd,  Prin- 
ciples of  Church  Polity,  22-29.  On  the  whole  subject  of  offices  in  the  church,  see  Dexter, 
Congregationalism,  77-98  ;  Dagg,  Church  Order,  241-266. 

t 
B.     The  duties  belonging  to  these  offices. 

(a)     The  pastor,  bishop,  or  elder  is  : 

First,  —  a  spiritual  teacher,  in  public  and  private  ; 


GOVERNMENT    OF    THE    CHURCH.  511 

Acts  20  :  20,  21,  35— "how  that  I  shrank  not  from  declaring  unto  you  anything  that  was  profitable,  and  teaching 
you  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house,  testifying  both  to  Jews  and  to  Greeks  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ....  In  all  things  I  gave  you  an  example,  how  that  so  laboring  ye  ought  to  help  the  weak,  and  to 
remember  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  himself  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive  "  ;  1  Thess.  5  :  12 
—"But  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  to  know  them  that  labor  among  you,  and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish 
you"  ;  Heb.  13  :  7,  17— "Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  which  spake  unto  you  the  word  of  God;  and 
considering  the  issue  of  their  life,  imitate  their  faith  ....  Obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  to  them 
for  they  watch  in  behalf  of  your  souls,  as  they  that  shall  give  account." 

Here  we  should  remember  that  the  pastor's  private  work  of  religious  conversation 
and  prayer  is  equally  important  with  his  public  ministrations  ;  in  this  respect  he  is  to 
be  an  example  to  his  flock,  and  they  are  to  learn  from  him  the  art  of  winning  the  uncon- 
verted and  of  caring  for  those  who  are  already  saved. 

Secondly, —  administrator  of  the  ordinances  ; 

Mat.  28  : 19,  20  — "  Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded"  ;  1  Cor.  1  :  16,  16  — 
"  And  I  baptized  also  the  household  of  Stephens :  besides,  I  know  not  whether  I  baptized  any  other.  For  Christ  sent  me 
not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gospel."  Here  it  is  evident  that,  although  the  pastor  administers 
the  ordinances,  this  is  not  his  main  work,  nor  is  the  church  absolutely  dependent  upon 
him  in  the  matter.  He  is  not  set,  like  an  O.  T.  priest,  to  minister  at  the  altar,  but  to 
preach  the  gospel.  In  an  emergency  any  other  member  appointed  by  the  church  may 
adminster  them  with  equal  propriety,  the  church  always  determining  who  are  fit  sub- 
jects of  the  ordinances,  and  constituting  him  their  organ  in  administering  them.  Any 
other  view  is  based  on  sacramental  notions,  and  on  ideas  of  apostolic  succession. 

Thirdly, —  superintendent  of  the  discipline,  as  well  as  presiding  officer  at 
meetings  of  the  church. 

Superintendent  of  discipline :  1  Tim.  5  : 17—"  Let  the  elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  double 
honor,  especially  those  who  labor  in  word  and  in  teaching  "  ;  3  :  5  — "  If  a  man  knoweth  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house, 
how  shall  he  take  care  of  the  church  of  God  ?  "  Presiding  officer  at  meetings  of  the  church  :  1  Cor.. 
12  :  28  — "  governments  "  ;  1  Pet.  5  :  2,  3  — "  Tend  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  exercising  the  oversight,  not 
of  constraint,  but  willingly,  according  to  the  will  of  God ;  nor  yet  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind ;  neither  as 
lording  it  over  the  charge  allotted  to  you,  but  making  yourselves  examples  to  the  flock." 

In  the  old  Congregational  churches  of  New  England,  an  authority  was  accorded  to 
the  pastor  which  exceeded  the  New  Testament  standard.  "  Dr.  Bellamy  could  break  in 
upon  a  festival  which  he  deemed  improper,  and  order  the  members  of  his  parish  to  their 
homes."  The  congregation  rose  as  the  minister  entered  the  church,  and  stood  uncov- 
ered as  he  passed  out  of  the  porch.  We  must  not  hope  or  desire  to  restore  the  New 
England  regime,.  The  pastor  is  to  take  responsibility,  to  put  himself  forward  when 
there  is  need,  but  he  is  to  rule  only  by  moral  suasion,  and  that  only  by  guiding,  teach- 
ing, and  carrying  into  effect  the  rules  imposed  by  Christ  and  the  decisions  of  the  church 
in  accordance  with  those  rules. 

Dexter,  Congregationalism,  115, 155, 157—"  The  Governor  of  New  York  suggests  to  the 
Legislature  such  and  such  enactments,  and  then  executes  such  laws  as  they  please  to 
pass.  He  is  chief  ruler  of  the  State,  while  the  Legislature  adopts  or  rejects  what  he  pro- 
poses." So  the  pastor's  functions  are  not  legislative,  but  executive.  Christ  is  the  only 
lawgiver.  In  fulfilling  this  office,  the  manner  and  spirit  of  the  pastor's  work  are  of  as 
great  importance  as  are  correctness  of  judgment  and  faithfulness  to  Christ's  law.  "  The 
young  man  who  cannot  distinguish  the  wolves  from  the  dogs  should  not  think  of  be- 
coming a  shepherd."  Gregory  Nazianzen  :  "  Either  teach  none,  or  let  your  life  teach 
too."  See  Harvey,  The  Pastor ;  Wayland,  Apostolic  Ministry  ;  Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of 
N.  T.,  99 ;  Samson,  in  Madison  Avenue  Lectures,  261-288. 

(6)  The  deacon  is  helper  to  the  pastor  and  the  church,  in  both  spiritual 
and  temporal  things. 

First  —  relieving  the  pastor  of  external  labors,  informing  him  of  the  con- 
dition and  wants  of  the  church,  and  forming  a  bond  of  union  between  pastor 
and  people. 

Acts  6  : 1-4— "Now  in  these  days,  when  the  number  of  the  disciples  was  multiplying,  there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the. 
Grecian  Jews  against  the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministration.  And  the  twelve  called 
the  multitude  of  the  disciples  unto  them,  and  said,  It  is  not  fit  that  we  should  forsake  the  word  of  God,  and  serve  tables. 


512  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    CHURCH. 

Look  ye  out  therefore,  brethren,  from  among  you,  seven  men  of  good  report,  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom,  whom  we 
may  appoint  over  this  business.  But  we  will  continue  stedfastly  in  prayer,  and  in  the  ministry  of  the  word.  And  the 
saying  pleased  the  whole  multitude  :  and  they  chose  Stephen,  a  man  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  Philip,  and 
Prochorus,  and  Nicanor,  and  Timon,  and  Parmenas,  and  Nicolas  a  proselyte  of  Antioch  :  whom  they  set  before  the  apostles  : 
and  when  they  had  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  upon  them"  ;  cf.  8-10  —  where  Stephen  shows  power  in 
disputation  ;  Rom.  12  :  7  —  "or  ministry  [  Sianoviav  ],  let  us  give  ourselves  to  our  ministry  "  ;  1  Cor.  12  :  28  _ 
"  helps  "  ;  Phil.  1  :  1  —  "  bishops  and  deacons." 

Secondly  —  helping  the  church  by  relieving  the  poor  and  sick,  and  min- 
istering in  an  informal  way  to  the  church's  spiritual  needs,  as  well  as  per- 
forming certain  external  duties  connected  with  the  service  of  the  sanctuary. 

Since  deacons  are  to  be  helpers,  it  is  not  necessary  in  all  cases  that  they  should  be  old 
or  rich  :  in  fact,  it  is  better  that  among  the  number  of  deacons  the  various  differences 
in  station,  age,  wealth,  and  opinion  in  the  church  should  be  represented.  The  quali- 
fications for  the  diaconate  mentioned  in  Acts  6  :  1-4  and  1  Tim.  3  :  8-13,  are,  in  substance  : 
wisdom,  sympathy,  and  spirituality.  There  are  advantages  in  electing  deacons,  not  for 
life,  but  for  a  term  of  years.  While  there  is  no  New  Testament  prescription  in  this 
matter,  and  each  church  may  exercise  its  option,  service  for  a  term  of  years,  with  re- 
election where  the  office  has  been  well  discharged,  would  at  least  seem  favored  by  1  Tim. 
3  :  10—  "Let  these  also  first  be  proved;  then  let  them  serve  as  deacons,  if  they  be  blameless"  ;  13—  "For  they  that 
have  served  well  as  deacons  gain  to  themselves  a  good  standing,  and  great  boldness  in  the  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

In  Rom.  16  :  1,  2,  we  have  apparent  mention  of  a  deaconess—  "I  commend  unto  you  Phoebe,  our 
sister,  who  is  a  servant  [marg.  —  '  deaconess  '  ]  of  the  church  that  is  in  Cenchreae  ....  for  she  herself  also  hath  been  a 
succorer  of  many,  and  of  mine  own  self."  See  also  1  Tim.  3  :  11—  "Women  in  like  manner  must  be  grave,  not 
slanderous,  temperate,  faithful  in  all  things"—  here  Ellicott  and  Alford  claim  that  the  word  "women" 
refers,  not  to  deacons'  wives,  as  our  Auth.  Vers.  had  it,  but  to  deaconesses.  Dexter,  Con- 
gregationalism, 69,  132,  maintains  that  the  office  of  deaconess,  though  it  once  existed,  has 
passed  away,  as  belonging  to  a  time  when  men  could  not,  without  suspicion,  minister  to 
women. 

This  view  that  there  are  temporary  offices  in  the  church  does  not,  however,  commend 
itself  to  us.  It  is  more  correct  to  say  that  there  is  yet  doubt  whether  there  was  such  an 
office  as  deaconess,  even  in  the  early  church.  Each  church  has  a  right  in  this  matter  to 
interpret  Scripture  for  itself,  and  to  act  accordingly.  An  article  in  the  Bap.  Quar., 
1869  :  40,  denies  the  existence  of  any  diaconal  rank  or  office,  for  male  or  female.  Fish, 
is  his  Ecclesiology,  holds  that  Stephen  was  a  deacon,  but  an  elder  also,  and  preached  as 
elder,  not  as  deacon  —  Acts  6  :  1-4  being  called  the  institution,  not  of  the  diaconate,  but  of 
the  Christian  ministry.  The  use  of  the  phrase  SiaKovelv  rpaTre^ai?,  and  the  distinction 
between  the  diaconate  and  the  pastorate  subsequently  made  in  the  Epistles,  seem  to 
refute  this  interpretation.  On  the  fitness  of  women  for  the  ministry  of  religion,  see 
F.  P.  Cobbe,  Peak  of  Darien,  199-262.  On  the  general  subject,  see  Howell,  The  Deacon- 
ship  ;  Williams,  The  Deaconship  ;  Robinson,  N.  T.  Lexicon,  ai 


C.     Ordination  of  officers. 

(a)     What  is  ordination  ? 

Ordination  is  the  setting  apart  of  a  person  divinely  called  to  a  work  of 
special  ministration  in  the  church.  It  does  not  involve  the  communication 
of  power,  —  it  is  simply  a  recognition  of  powers  previously  conferred  by  God, 
and  a  consequent  formal  authorization,  on  the  part  of  the  church,  to  exercise 
the  gifts  already  bestowed.  This  recognition  and  authorization  should  not 
only  be  expressed  by  the  vote  in  which  the  candidate  is  approved  by  the 
church  or  the  council  which  represents  it,  but  should  also  be  accompanied 
by  a  special  service  of  admonition,  prayer,  and  the  laying-on  of  hands  (Acts 
6  :  5,  6  ;  13  :  2,  3  ;  14  :  23  ;  1  Tim.  4  :  14  ;  5  :  22  ). 

Licensure  simply  commends  a  man  to  the  churches  as  fitted  to  preach. 
Ordination  recognizes  him  as  set  apart  to  the  work  of  preaching  and  admin- 
istering ordinances,  in  some  particular  church  or  in  some  designated  field 
of  labor,  as  representative  of  the  church. 


GOVERNMENT   OF   THE    CHURCH.  513 

Of  his  call  to  the  ministry,  the  candidate  himself  is  to  be  first  persuaded 
{ 1  Cor.  9  :  16  ;  1  Tim.  1:12);  but,  secondly,  the  church  must  be  persuaded 
also,  before  he  can  have  authority  to  minister  among  them  ( 1  Tim.  3  :  2-7  ; 
4:  14;  Titus  1  :  6-9). 

The  word  '  ordain '  has  come  to  have  a  technical  signification  not  found  in  the  New 
Testament.  There  it  means  simply  to  choose,  appoint,  set  apart.  In  1  Tim.  2:7—"  there- 
unto I  was  appointed  [ereflTji']  a  preacher  and  an  apostle  ....  a  teacher  of  the  Gentiles  in  faith  and  truth" — it 
apparently  denotes  ordination  of  God.  In  the  following  passages  we  read  of  an  ordina- 
tion by  the  church  :  Acts  6  :  5,  6—"  And  the  saying  pleased  the  whole  multitude :  and  they  chose  Stephen,  .... 
and  Philip,  and  Prochorus,  and  Nicanor,  and  Timon,  and  Parmenus,  and  Nicolas  ....  whom  they  set  before  the  apostles : 
and  when  they  had  prayed,  they  laid  their  hands  on  them  "—  the  ordination  of  deacons  ;  13  :  2,  3  — "  And  as 
they  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and  fasted,  the  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I 
have  called  them.  Then,  when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed  and  laid  their  hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away  "  ;  14  :  23 
— "  And  when  they  had  appointed  for  them  elders  in  every  church,  and  had  prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended  them 
to  the  Lord,  on  whom  they  had  believed  "  ;  1  Tim  4  :  14  — "  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  which  was  given  thee  by 
prophecy,  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  "  ;  5  :  22— "Lay  hands  hastily  on  no  man,  neither  be  par- 
taker of  other  men's  sins." 

Since  ordination  is  simply  choosing,  appointing,  setting  apart,  it  seems  plain  that  in 
the  case  of  deacons,  who  sustain  official  relations  only  to  the  church  that  constitutes 
them,  ordination  requires  no  consultation  with  other  churches.  But  in  the  ordination 
of  a  pastor,  there  are  three  natural  stages:  (1)  the  call  of  the  church;  (2)  the  de- 
cision of  a  council  ( the  council  being  virtually  only  the  church  advised  by  its  brethren ) ; 
( 3 )  the  publication  of  this  decision  by  a  public  service  of  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of 
hands.  The  prior  call  to  be  pastor  may  be  said,  in  the  case  of  a  man  yet  unordained,  to 
be  given  by  the  church  conditionally,  and  in  anticipation  of  a  ratification  of  its  action 
by  the  subsequent  judgment  of  the  council.  In  a  well-instructed  church,  the  calling  of 
a  council  is  a  regular  method  of  appeal  from  the  church  unadvised  to  the  church  ad- 
vised by  its  brethren  ;  and  the  vote  of  the  council  approving  the  candidate  is  only  the 
essential  completing  of  an  ordination,  of  which  the  vote  of  the  church  calling  the  candi- 
date to  the  pastorate  was  the  preliminary  stage. 

This  setting  apart  by  the  church,  with  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  council,  is  all 
that  is  necessarily  implied  in  the  New  Testament  words  which  are  translated  "  ordain  "  ; 
and  such  ordination,  by  simple  vote  of  church  and  council,  could  not  be  counted  invalid. 
But  it  would  be  irregular.  New  Testament  precedent  makes  certain  accompaniments 
not  only  appropriate,  but  obligatory.  A  formal  publication  of  the  decree  of  the  council, 
by  laying-on  of  hands,  in  connection  with  prayer,  is  the  last  of  the  duties  of  this  advi- 
sory body,  which  serves  as  the  organ  and  assistant  of  the  church.  The  laying-oii  of 
hands  is  appointed  to  be  the  regular  accompaniment  of  ordination,  as  baptism  is  ap- 
pointed to  be  the  regular  accompaniment  of  regeneration;  while  yet  the  laying-on  of 
hands  is  no  more  the  substance  of  ordination,  than  baptism  is  the  substance  of  regene- 
ration. 

The  imposition  of  hands  is  the  natural  symbol  of  the  communication,  not  of  grace, 
but  of  authority.  It  does  not  make  a  man  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  any  more  than  coro- 
nation makes  Victoria  a  Queen.  What  it  does  signify  and  publish,  is  formal  recognition 
and  authorization.  Viewed  in  this  light,  there  not  only  can  be  no  objection  to  the  impo- 
sition of  hands  upon  the  ground  that  it  favors  sacramentalism,  but  insistauce  upon  it  is 
the  bounden  duty  of  every  council  of  ordination. 

(b)     Who  are  to  ordain  ? 

Ordination  is  the  act  of  the  church,  not  the  act  of  a  privileged  class  in 
the  church,  as  the  eldership  has  sometimes  wrongly  been  regarded,  nor  yet 
the  act  of  other  churches,  assembled  by  their  representatives  in  council. 
No  ecclesiastical  authority  higher  than  that  of  the  local  church  is  recognized 
in  the  New  Testament.  This  authority,  however,  has  its  limits  ;  and  since 
the  church  has  no  authority  outside  of  its  own  body,  the  candidate  for  ordi- 
nation should  be  a  member  of  the  ordaining  church. 

Since  each  church  is  bound  to  recognize  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  in 
other  rightly  constituted  churches,  and  its  own  decisions,  in  like  manner, 
33 


514  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    CHURCH. 

are  to  be  recognized  by  others,  it  is  desirable  in  ordination,  as  in  all  im- 
portant steps  affecting  other  churches,  that  advice  be  taken  before  the  can- 
didate is  inducted  into  office,  and  that  other  churches  be  called  to  sit  with 
it  in  council,  and  if  thought  best,  assist  in  setting  the  candidate  apart  for 
the  ministry. 

It  is  always  to  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  power  to  ordain  rests 
with  the  church,  and  that  the  church  may  proceed  without  a  council,  or 
even  against  the  decision  of  the  council.  Such  ordination,  of  course,  would 
give  authority  only  within  the  bounds  of  the  individual  church.  Where  no 
immediate  exception  is  taken  to  the  decision  of  the  council,  that  decision  is 
to  be  regarded  as  virtually  the  decision  of  the  church  by  which  it  was  called. 
The  same  rule  applies  to  a  council's  decision  to  depose  from  the  ministry. 
In  the  absence  of  immediate  protest  from  the  church,  the  decision  of  the 
council  is  rightly  taken  as  virtually  the  decision  of  the  church. 

In  so  far  as  ordination  is  an  act  performed  by  the  local  church  with  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  other  rightly  constituted  churches,  it  is  justly  re- 
garded as  giving  formal  permission  to  exercise  gifts  and  administer  ordi- 
nances within  the  bounds  of  such  churches.  Ordination  is  not,  therefore, 
to  be  repeated  upon  the  transfer  of  the  minister's  pastoral  relation  from  one 
church  to  another.  In  every  case,  however,  where  a  minister  from  a  body 
of  Christians  not  scripturally  constituted  assumes  the  pastoral  relation  in  a 
rightly  organized  church,  there  is  peculiar  propriety,  not  only  in  the  exami- 
nation, by  a  council,  of  his  Christian  experience,  call  to  the  ministry,  and 
views  of  doctrine,  but  also  in  that  act  of  formal  recognition  and  authoriza- 
tion which  is  called  ordination. 

The  council  of  ordination  is  not  to  be  composed  simply  of  ministers  who  have  been* 
themselves  ordained.  As  the  whole  church  is  to  preserve  the  ordinances  and  to  main- 
tain sound  doctrine,  and  as  the  unordained  church  member  is  often  a  more  sagacious 
judge  of  a  candidate's  Christian  experience  than  his  own  pastor  would  be,  there  seems 
no  warrant,  either  in  Scripture  or  in  reason,  for  the  exclusion  of  lay-delegates  from 
ordaining-  councils.  It  was  not  merely  the  apostles  and  elders,  but  the  whole  church  at 
Jerusalem,  that  passed  upon  the  matters  submitted  to  them  at  the  council,  and  others 
than  ministers  appear  to  have  been  delegates.  The  theory  that  only  ministers  can  or- 
dain has  in  it  the  beginnings  of  a  hierarchy.  To  make  the  ministry  a  close  corporation 
is  to  recognize  the  principle  of  apostolic  succession,  to  deny  the  validity  of  all  our  past 
ordinations,  and  to  sell  to  an  ecclesiastical  caste  the  liberties  of  the  church  of  God. 

The  council  should  be  numerous  and  impartially  constituted.  The  church  calling  the 
council  should  be  represented  in  it  by  a  fair  number  of  delegates.  Neither  the  church,, 
nor  the  council,  should  permit  a  prejudgment  of  the  case  by  the  previous  announcement 
of  an  ordination  service.  While  the  examination  of  the  candidate  should  be  public,  all 
danger  that  the  council  be  unduly  influenced  by  pressure  from  without  should  be  ob- 
viated by  its  conducting  its  deliberations,  and  arriving  at  its  decision,  in  private  session. 
We  subjoin  the  form  of  a  letter  missive,  calling  a  council  of  ordination ;  an  order  of 
procedure  after  the  council  has  assembled ;  and  a  programme  of  exercises  for  the  pub- 
lic service : 

LETTER  MISSIVE.  The church  of to  the church  of :  Dear  Brcllnrn  : 

By  vote  of  this  church,  you  are  requested  to  send  your  pastor  and  two  delegates  to  meet 
with  us  in  accordance  with  the  following  resolutions,  passed  by  us  on  the  —  — ,  188— : 

Whereas,  brother ,  a  member  of  this  church,  has  offered  himself  to  the  work  of  the 

gospel  ministry,  and  has  been  chosen  by  us  as  our  pastor,  therefore,  Resolved,  1.  That 
such  neighboring  churches,  in  fellowship  with  us,  as  shall  be  herein  designated,  be 
requested  to  send  their  pastor  and  two  delegates  each,  to  meet  and  counsel  with  this 

church,  at  —  o'clock  — .  M.,  on ,  188—,  and  if,  after  examination  by  the  Council,  he  be 

approved,  that  brother be  on  the  next  day  set  apart,  formally,  by  public  service,  to 

the  gospel  ministry.  Resolved,  2.  That  the  Council,  if  they  approve  the  ordination,  be 


GOVERNMENT    OF   THE    CHURCH. 


515 


requested  to  appoint  two  of  their  number  to  act  with  the  candidate,  in  arranging  the 
ordination  services.  Resolved,  3.  That  printed  letters  of  invitation,  embodying  these 
resolutions,  and  signed  by  the  clerk  of  this  church,  be  sent  to  the  following  churches, 
— ,  and  that  these  churches  be  requested  to  furnish  to  their  delegates 
an  officially  signed  certificate  of  their  appointment,  to  be  presented  at  the  organization 

of  the  Council.  Resolved,  4.  That  Rev.  ,  and  brethren ,  be  also  invited  by 

the  clerk  of  the  church  to  be  present  as  members  of  the  Council.  Resolved,  5.  That 

brethren , ,  and ,  be  appointed  as  our  delegates,  to  represent  this  church  in 

the  deliberations  of  the  Council ;  and  that  brother be  requested  to  present  the  can- 
didate to  the  Council,  with  an  expression  of  the  high  respect  and  warm  attachment  with 

which  we  have  welcomed  him  and  his  labors  among  us.  In  behalf  of  the  church, 

— ,  Clerk. ,188-. 

ORDER  OF  PROCEDURE.  1.  Reading,  by  the  clerk  of  the  church,  of  the  letter-missive, 
followed  by  a  call,  in  their  order,  upon  all  churches  and  individuals  invited,  to  present 
responses  and  names  in  writing ;  each  delegate,  as  he  presents  his  credentials,  taking  his 
seat  in  a  portion  of  the  house  reserved  for  the  Council.  2.  Announcement,  by  the  clerk 
of  the  church,  that  a  Council  has  convened,  and  call  for  the  nomination  of  a  moderator 
—the  motion  to  be  put  by  the  clerk  —  after  which  the  moderator  takes  the  chair.  3.  Or- 
ganization completed  by  election  of  a  clerk  of  the  Council,  the  offering  of  prayer,  and 
the  invitation  of  visiting  brethren  to  sit  with  the  Council,  but  not  to  vote.  4.  Reading, 
on  behalf  of  the  church,  by  its  clerk,  of  the  records  of  the  church  concerning  the  call 
extended  to  the  candidate,  and  his  acceptance,  together  with  documentary  evidence  of 
his  licensure,  of  his  present  church  membership,  and  of  his  standing  in  other  respects, 
if  coming  from  another  denomination.  5.  Vote,  by  the  Council,  that  the  proceedings  of 
the  church,  and  the  standing  of  the  candidate,  warrant  an  examination  of  his  claim  to 
ordination.  6.  Introduction  of  the  candidate  to  the  Council,  by  some  representative  of 
the  church,  with  an  expression  of  the  church's  feeling  respecting  him  and  his  labors. 
7.  Vote  to  hear  his  Christian  experience.  Narration  on  the  part  of  the  candidate,  fol- 
lowed by  questions  as  to  any  features  of  it  still  needing  elucidation.  8.  Vote  to  hear 
the  candidate's  reasons  for  believing  himself  called  to  the  ministry.  Narration  and 
questions.  9.  Vote  to  hear  the  candidate's  views  of  Christian  doctrine.  Narration  and 
questions.  10.  Vote  to  conclude  the  public  examination,  and  to  withdraw  for  private 
session.  11.  In  private  session,  after  prayer,  the  Council  determines,  by  three  separate 
votes,  in  order  to  secure  separate  consideration  of  each  question,  whether  it  is  satisfied 
with  the  candidate's  Christian  experience,  call  to  the  ministry,  and  views  of  Christian 
doctrine.  12.  Vote  that  the  candidate  be  hereby  set  apart  to  the  gospel  ministry,  and 
that  a  public  service  be  held,  expressive  of  this  fact ;  that  for  this  purpose,  a  committee 
of  two  be  appointed,  to  act  with  the  candidate,  in  arranging  such  service  of  ordination, 
and  to  report  before  adjournment.  13.  Reading  of  minutes,  by  clerk  of  Council,  and 
correction  of  them,  to  prepare  for  presentation  at  the  ordination  service,  and  for  pres- 
ervation in  the  archives  of  the  church.  14.  Vote  to  give  the  candidate  a  certificate  of 
ordination,  signed  by  the  moderator  and  clerk  of  the  Council,  and  to  publish  an  account 
of  the  proceedings  in  the  journals  of  the  denomination.  15.  Adjourn  to  meet  at  the 
service  of  ordination. 

PROGRAMME  OF  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ( two  hours  in  length ).  1.  Voluntary  —  five  minutes. 
2.  Anthem  —  five.  3.  Reading  minutes  of  the  Council,  by  the  clerk  of  the  council  —  ten. 
4.  Prayer  of  invocation  —  five.  5.  Reading  of  Scripture  —  five.  6.  Sermon  —  twenty-five. 
7.  Prayer  of  ordination,  with  laying-on  of  hands  — fifteen.  8.  Hymn  — ten.  9.  Right 
hand  of  fellowship  —  five.  10.  Charge  to  the  candidate  —  fifteen.  11.  Charge  to  the 
church  — fifteen.  12.  Doxology  —  five.  13.  Benediction  by  the  newly  ordained  pastor. 

The  tenor  of  the  N.  T.  would  seem  to  indicate  that  deacons  should  be  ordained  with 
prayer  and  the  laying-on  of  hands,  though  not  by  council  or  public-service.  Evangel- 
ists, missionaries,  ministers  serving  as  secretaries  of  benevolent  societies,  should  also 
be  ordained,  since  they  are  organs  of  the  church,  set  apart  for  special  religious  work  on 
behalf  of  the  churches.  The  same  rule  applies  to  those  who  are  set  to  be  teachers  of  the 
teachers,  the  professors  of  theological  seminaries.  Philip,  baptizing  the  eunuch,  is 
to  be  regarded  as  an  organ  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  Both  home  missionaries  and 
foreign  missionaries  are  evangelists ;  and  both,  as  organs  of  the  home  churches  to  which 
they  belong,  are  not  under  obligation  to  take  letters  of  dismission  to  the  churches  they 
gather. 

Retirement  from  the  office  of  public  teacher  should  work  a  forfeiture  of  the  official 
character.  The  authorization  granted  by  the  Council  was  based  upon  a  previous  recog- 
nition of  a  divine  call.  When  by  reason  of  permanent  withdrawal  from  the  ministry, 


516          ECCLESIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

and  devotion  to  wholly  secular  pursuits,  there  remains  no  longer  any  divine  call  to  be 
recognized,  all  authority  and  standing  as  a  Christian  minister  should  cease  also.  We 
therefore  repudiate  the  doctrine  of  the  "indelibility  of  sacred  orders,"  and  the  corres- 
ponding maxim:  "Once  ordained,  always  ordained";  although  we  do  not,  with  the 
Cambridge  Platform,  confine  the  ministerial  function  to  the  pastoral  relation.  That 
Platform  held  that  "  the  pastoral  relation  ceasing,  the  ministerial  function  ceases,  and 
the  pastor  becomes  a  layman  again,  to  be  restored  to  the  ministry  only  by  a  second  ordi- 
nation, called  installation.  This  theory  of  the  ministry  proved  so  inadequate,  that  it  was 
held  scarcely  more  than  a  single  generation.  It  was  rejected  by  the  Congregational 
churches  of  England  ten  years  after  it  was  formulated  in  New  England." 

"  The  National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches,  in  1880,  resolved  that  any  man 
serving  a  church  as  minister  can  be  dealt  with  and  disciplined  by  any  church,  no  matter 
what  his  relations  may  be  in  church  membership,  or  ecclesiastical  affiliations.  If  the 
church  choosing  him  will  not  call  a  council,  then  any  church  can  call  one  for  that  pur- 
pose"; see  New  Englander,  July,  1883:461-491.  This  latter  course,  however,  presup- 
poses that  the  steps  of  fraternal  labor  and  admonition,  provided  for  in  our  next  section 
on  the  Relation  of  Local  Churches  to  each  other,  have  been  taken,  and  have  been  insuf- 
ficient to  induce  proper  action  on  the  part  of  the  church  to  which  such  minister  belongs. 
See  articles  on  Councils  of  Ordination,  their  Powers  and  Duties,  by  A.  H.  Strong,  in 
The  Examiner,  Jan.  2  and  9,  1879 ;  Wayland,  Principles  and  Practices  of  Baptists,  114 ; 
Dexter,  Congregationalism,  136, 145,  146, 150,  151.  Per  contra,  see  Fish,  Ecclesiology,  365- 
399 ;  Presb.  Rev.,  1886  :  89-126. 

3.     Discipline  of  the  Church. 

A.  Kinds  of  discipline.  Discipline  is  of  two  sorts,  according  as  offences 
are  private  or  public,  (a)  Private  offences  are  to  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  the  rule  in  Mat.  5  :  23,  24 ;  18  :  15-17. 

Mat.  5  :  23,  24  — "  If  therefore  thou  art  offering  thy  gift  at  the  altar,  and  there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath 
aught  against  thee,  leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way,  first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then 
come  and  offer  thy  gift "—  here  is  provision  for  self-discipline  on  the  part  of  each  offender ; 
18  : 15,  17  — "  And  if  thy  brother  sin  against  thee,  go,  shew  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone :  if  he  hear  thee, 
thou  hast  gained  thy  brother.  But  if  he  hear  thee  not,  take  with  thee  one  or  two  more,  that  at  the  mouth  of  two  witnesses 
or  three  every  word  may  be  established.  And  if  he  refuse  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church :  and  if  he  refuse  to  hear 
the  church  also,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as  the  Gentile  and  the  publican  "—here  is,  first,  private  discipline,  one 
of  another ;  and  then,  only  as  a  last  resort,  discipline  by  the  church. 

(6)  Public  offences  are  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  the  rule  in  1  Cor. 
5  :  3-5,  13,  and  2  Thess.  3  :  6. 

1  Cor.  5  :  3-5,  13— "For  I  verily,  being  absent  in  body  but  present  in  spirit,  have  already,  as  though  I  were  present, 
judged  him  that  hath  so  wrought  this  thing,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  ye  being  gathered  together,  and  my  spirit, 
with  the  power  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  to  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be 
saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ....  Put  away  the  wicked  man  from  among  yourselves." 

Notice  here  that  Paul  gave  the  incestuous  person  no  opportunity  to  repent,  confess, 
and  avert  sentence.  The  church  can  have  no  valid  evidence  of  repentance  immediately 
upon  discovery  and  arraignment.  At  such  a  time  the  natural  conscience  always  reacts 
in  remorse  and  self-accusation,  but  whether  the  sin  is  hated  because  of  its  inherent 
wickedness,  or  only  because  of  its  unfortunate  consequences,  cannot  be  known  at  once. 
Only  fruits  meet  for  repentance  can  prove  repentance  real.  But  such  fruits  take  time. 
And  the  church  has  no  time  to  wait.  Its  good  repute  in  the  community,  and  its  in- 
fluence over  its  own  members,  are  at  stake.  These  therefore  demand  the  instant  exclu- 
sion of  the  wrong-doer,  as  evidence  that  the  church  clears  its  skirts  from  all  complicity 
with  the  wrong.  In  the  case  of  gross  public  offences,  labor  with  the  offender  is  to  come, 
not  before,  but  after,  his  excommunication. 

2  Thess.  3  :  6— "Now  we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from 
every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradition  which  they  received  of  us."    The  mere  "  drop- 
ping" of  names  from  the  list  of  members  seems  altogether  contrary  to  the  spirit  of 
the  N.  T.  polity.    That  recognizes  only  three  methods  of  exit  from  the  local  church  : 
(1)  exclusion;    ( 2 )  dismission ;    (3)  death.    To  provide  for  the  case  of  members  whose 
residence  has  long  been  unknown,  it  is  well  for  the  church  to  have  a  standing  rule  that 
all  members  residing  at  a  distance  shall  report  each  year  by  letter  or  by  contribution, 


RELATION   OF   LOCAL   CHURCHES   TO   ONE   ANOTHER.  517 

and,  in  case  of  failure  to  report  for  two  successive  years,  shall  be  subject  to  discipline. 
The  action  of  the  church,  in  such  cases,  should  take  the  form  of  an  adoption  of  preamble 
and  resolution:  "  Whereas,  A.  B.  has  been  absent  from  the  church  for  more  than  two 
years,  and  has  failed  to  comply  with  the  standing  rule  requiring  a  yearly  report  or 
contribution,  therefore,  Resolved,  that  the  church  withdraw  from  A.  B.  the  hand  of 
fellowship." 

In  all  cases  of  exclusion,  the  resolution  may  uniformly  read  as  above;  the  preamble 
may  indefinitely  vary,  and  should  always  cite  the  exact  nature  of  the  offence.  In  this 
way,  neglect  of  the  church  or  breach  of  covenant  obligations  may  be  distinguished  from 
offences  against  common  morality,  so  that  exclusion  upon  the  former  ground  shall  not 
be  mistaken  for  exclusion  upon  the  latter.  As  the  persons  excluded  are  not  commonly 
present  at  the  meeting  of  the  church  when  they  are  excluded,  a  written  copy  of  the 
preamble  and  resolution,  signed  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Church,  should  always  be  imme- 
diately sent  to  them. 

B.  Relation  of  the  pastor  to  discipline,  (a)  He  has  no  original  author- 
ity ;  (6)  but  is  the  organ  of  the  church,  and  (c)  superintendent  of  its 
labors  for  its  own  purification  and  for  the  reclamation  of  offenders ;  and 
therefore  (d]  may  best  do  the  work  of  discipline,  not  directly,  by  constitu- 
ting himself  a  special  policeman  or  detective,  but  indirectly,  by  securing 
proper  labor  on  the  part  of  the  deacons  or  brethren  of  the  church. 

It  is  not  well  for  the  pastor  to  be,  or  to  have  the  reputation  of  being,  a  ferreter-out  of 
misdemeanors  among  his  church  members.  It  is  best  for  him  in  general  to  serve  only 
as  presiding  officer  in  cases  of  discipline,  instead  of  being  a  partisan  or  a  counsel  for  the 
prosecution.  For  this  reason  it  is  well  for  him  to  secure  the  appointment  by  his  church 
of  a  Prudential  Committee,  or  Committee  on  Discipline,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  at  a  fixed 
time  each  year  to  look  over  the  list  of  members,  initiate  labor  in  the  case  of  delinquents, 
and,  after  the  proper  steps  have  been  taken,  present  proper  preambles  and  resolutions 
in  cases  where  the  church  needs  to  take  action.  This  regular  yearly  process  renders 
discipline  easy ;  whereas  the  neglect  of  it  for  several  successive  years  results  in  an  ac- 
cumulation of  cases,  in  each  of  which  the  person  exposed  to  discipline  has  friends,  and 
these  are  tempted  to  obstruct  the  church's  dealing  with  others  from  fear  that  the 
taking  up  of  any  other  case  may  lead  to  the  taking  up  of  that  one  in  which  they  are 
most  nearly  interested. 

As  the  Prudential  Committee,  or  Committee  on  Discipline,  is  simply  the  church  itself 
preparing  its  own  business,  the  church  may  well  require  all  complaints  to  be  made  to  it 
through  the  committee.  In  this  way  it  may  be  made  certain  that  the  preliminary  steps 
of  labor  have  been  taken,  and  the  disquieting  of  the  church  by  premature  charges  may 
be  avoided.  Where  the  committee,  after  proper  representations  made  to  it,  fails  to  do 
its  duty,  the  individual  member  may  appeal  directly  to  the  assembled  church ;  and  the 
difference  between  the  New  Testament  order  and  that  of  a  hierarchy  is  this,  that 
according  to  the  former  all  final  action  and  responsibility  is  taken  by  the  church  itself 
in  its  collective  capacity,  whereas  on  the  latter  the  minister,  the  session,  or  the  bishop, 
so  far  as  the  individual  church  is  concerned,  determines  the  result.  See  Savage, 
Church  Discipline,  Formative  and  Corrective ;  Dagg,  Church  Order,  268-274. 

IV.     RELATION  OF  LOCAL  CHURCHES  TO  ONE  ANOTHER. 

1.  The  general  nature  of  this  relation  is  that  of  fellowship  between 
equals. — Notice  here  : 

(a)  The  absolute  equality  of  the  churches.  —  No  church  or  council  of 
churches,  no  association  or  convention  or  society,  can  relieve  any  single 
church  of  its  direct  responsibility  to  Christ,  or  assume  control  of  its  action. 

(b)  The  fraternal  fellowship  and  cooperation   of   the   churches. —  No 
church  can  properly  ignore,  or  disregard,  the  existence  or  work  of  other 
churches  around  it.     Every  other  church  is  presumptively  possessed  of  the 
Spirit,  in  equal  measure  with  itself.     There  must  therefore  be  sympathy 


518  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

and  mutual  furtherance  of  each  other's  welfare  among  churches,  as  among 
individual  Christians.  Upon  this  principle  are  based  letters  of  dismission, 
recognition  of  the  pastors  of  other  churches,  and  all  associational  unions,  or 
unions  for  common  Christian  work. 

2.  This  fellowship   involves   the  duty  of  special  consultation  with 
regard  to  matters  affecting  the  common  interest. 

(a)  The  duty  of  seeking  advice. —  Since  the  order  and  good  repute  of 
each  is  valuable  to  all  the  others,  cases  of  grave  importance  and  difficulty  in 
internal  discipline,  as  well  as  the  question  of  ordaining  members  to  the  min- 
istry, should  be  submitted  to  a  council  of  churches  called  for  the  purpose. 

(6)  The  duty  of  taking  advice.  — For  the  same  reason,  each  church 
should  show  readiness  to  receive  admonition  from  others.  So  long  as  this 
is  in  the  nature  of  friendly  reminder  that  the  church  is  guilty  of  defects 
from  the  doctrine  or  practice  enjoined  by  Christ,  the  mutual  acceptance  of 
whose  commands  is  the  basis  of  all  church  fellowship,  no  church  can  justly 
refuse  to  have  such  defects  pointed  out,  or  to  consider  the  scripturalness  of 
its  own  proceeding.  Such  admonition  or  advice,  however,  whether  coming 
from  a  single  church  or  from  a  council  of  churches,  is  not  itself  of  bind- 
ing authority.  It  is  simply  in  the  nature  of  moral  suasion.  The  church 
receiving  it  has  still  to  compare  it  with  Christ's  laws.  The  ultimate  decis- 
ion rests  entirely  with  the  church  so  advised  or  asking  advice. 

3.  This  fellowship  may  be  broken  by  manifest  departures  from  the 
faith  or  practice  of  the  Scriptures,  on  the  part  of  any  church. 

In  such  case,  duty  to  Christ  requires  the  churches  whose  labors  to  reclaim 
a  sister  church  from  error  have  proved  unavailing  to  withdraw  their  fellow- 
ship from  it,  until  such  time  as  the  erring  church  shall  return  to  the  path 
of  duty.  In  this  regard,  the  law  which  applies  to  individuals  applies  to 
churches,  and  the  polity  of  the  New  Testament  is  congregational  rather 
than  independent. 

Independence  is  qualified  by  interdependence.  While  each  church  is,  in  the  last  resort, 
thrown  upon  its  own  responsibility  in  ascertaining1  doctrine  and  duty,  it  is  to  acknowl- 
edge the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  other  churches  as  well  as  in  itself,  and  the 
value  of  the  public  opinion  of  the  churches  as  an  indication  of  the  mind  of  the  Spirit- 
The  church  in  Antioch  asks  advice  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  although  Paul  himself 
was  at  Antioch.  Although  no  church  or  union  of  churches  has  rightful  jurisdiction 
over  the  single  local  body,  yet  the  Council,  when  rightly  called  and  constituted,  has 
the  power  of  moral  influence.  Its  decision  is  an  index  to  truth  which  only  the  gravest 
reasons  will  justify  the  church  in  ignoring  or  refusing  to  follow. 

The  fact  that  the  church  has  always  the  right,  for  just  cause,  of  going  behind  the 
decision  of  the  Council,  and  of  determining  for  itself  whether  it  will  ratify  or  reject  that 
decision,  shows  conclusively  that  the  church  has  parted  with  no  particle  of  its  original 
independence  or  authority.  Yet,  though  the  Council  is  simply  a  counsellor  —  an  organ 
and  helper  of  the  church  —the  neglect  of  its  advice  may  involve  such  ecclesiastical  or 
moral  wrong  as  to  justify  the  churches  represented  in  it,  as  well  as  other  churches,  in 
withdrawing,  from  the  church  that  called  it,  their  denominational  fellowship.  The  rela- 
tion of  churches  to  one  another  is  analogous  to  the  relation  of  private  Christians  to  one 
another.  No  meddlesome  spirit  is  to  be  allowed ;  but  in  matters  of  grave  moment,  a 
church,  as  well  as  an  individual,  may  be  justified  in  giving  advice  unasked. 

Lightfoot,  in  his  new  edition  of  Clemens  Romanus,  shows  that  the  Epistle,  instead  of 
emanating  from  Clement  as  Bishop  of  Rome,  is  a  letter  of  the  church  at  Rome  to  the 


RELATION   OF   LOCAL   CHURCHES  TO   ONE   ANOTHER.  519 

'Corinthians,  urging1  them  to  peace.  No  pope  and  no  bishop  existed,  but  the  whole 
church  congregationally  addressed  its  counsels  to  its  sister  body  of  believers  at  Corinth. 
Congregationalism,  in  A.  D.  95,  considered  it  a  duty  to  labor  with  a  sister  church  that 
had  in  its  judgment  gone  astray,  or  that  was  in  danger  of  going  astray.  The  only  pri- 
macy was  the  primacy  of  the  church,  not  of  the  bishop ;  and  this  primacy  was  a  primacy 
of  goodness,  backed  up  by  metropolitan  advantages.  All  this  fraternal  fellowship  fol- 
lows from  the  fundamental  conception  of  the  local  church  as  the  concrete  embodiment 
of  the  universal  church.  Park :  "  Congregationalism  recognizes  a  voluntary  coopera- 
tion and  communion  of  the  churches,  which  Independency  does  not  do.  Independent 
churches  ordain  and  depose  pastors  without  asking  advice  from  other  churches." 

In  accordance  with  this  general  principle,  in  a  case  of  serious  disagreement  between 
different  portions  of  the  same  church,  the  council  called  to  advise  should  be,  if  possible, 
a  mutual,  not  an  ex  parte,  council ;  see  Dexter,  Congregationalism,  2,  3,  61-64.  It  is  a 
more  general  application  of  the  same  principle,  to  say  that  the  pastor  should  not  shut 
himself  in  to  his  own  church,  but  should  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  other  pastors 
and  with  other  churches,  should  be  present  and  active  at  the  meetings  of  Associations 
and  State  Conventions,  and  at  the  Anniversaries  of  the  National  Societies  of  the  de- 
nomination. His  example  of  friendly  interest  in  the  welfare  of  others  will  affect  his 
<3hurch.  The  strong  should  be  taught  to  help  the  weak,  after  the  example  of  Paul  in 
raising  contributions  for  the  poor  churches  of  Judea. 

The  principle  of  church  independence  is  not  only  consistent  with,  but  it  absolutely 
requires  under  Christ,  all  manner  of  Christian  cooperation  with  other  churches ;  and 
Social  and  Mission  Unions  to  unify  the  work  of  the  denomination,  to  secure  the  start- 
ing of  new  enterprises,  to  prevent  one  church  from  trenching  upon  the  territory  or 
appropriating  the  members  of  another,  are  only  natural  outgrowths  of  the  principle. 
President  Wayland's  remark,  "  He  who  is  displeased  with  everybody  and  everything 
gives  the  best  evidence  that  his  own  temper  is  defective  and  that  he  is  a  bad  associate," 
applies  to  churches  as  well  as  to  individuals.  Each  church  is  to  remember  that,  though 
it  is  honored  by  the  indwelling  of  its  Lord,  it  constitutes  only  a  part  of  that  great  body 
of  which  Christ  is  the  head. 

See  Davidson,  Eccl.  Polity  of  the  N.  T. ;  Ladd,  Principles  of  Church  Polity  ;  and  on 
the  general  subject  of  the  Church,  Hodge,  Essays,  201;  Flint,  Christ's  Kingdom  on 
Earth,  53-82;  Hooker,  Ecclesiastical  Polity;  The  Church,— a  collection  of  essays  by 
Luthardt,  Kahnis,  etc.;  Hiscox,  Baptist  Church  Directory;  Ripley,  Church  Polity; 
Harvey,  The  Church;  Crowell,  Church  Members'  Manual;  R.  W.  Dale,  Manual  of 
Congregational  Principles ;  Lightf oot,  Com.  on  Philippians,  excursus  on  the  Christian 
Ministry. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    ORDINANCES    OF   THE    CHURCH. 

By  the  ordinances,  we  mean  those  outward  rites  which  Christ  has  appointed 
to  be  administered  in  his  church  as  visible  signs  of  the  saving  truth  of  the 
gospel.  They  are  signs,  in  that  they  vividly  express  this  truth  and  confirm 
it  to  the  believer. 

In  contrast  with  this  characteristically  Protestant  view,  the  Eomanist  re- 
gards the  ordinances  as  actually  conferring  grace  and  producing  holiness. 
Instead  of  being  the  external  manifestation  of  a  preceding  union  with 
Christ,  they  are  the  physical  means  of  constituting  and  maintaining  this 
union.  With  the  Romanist,  in  this  particular,  sacramentalists  of  every  name 
substantially  agree.  The  Papal  Church  holds  to  seven  sacraments  or  ordi- 
nances : —  ordination,  confirmation,  matrimony,  extreme  unction,  penance, 
baptism  and  the  eucharist.  The  ordinances  prescribed  in  the  N.  T.,  how- 
ever, are  two  and  only  two,  viz.  : —  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper. 

I.     BAPTISM. 

Christian  Baptism  is  the  immersion  of  a  believer  in  water,  in  token  of  his 
previous  entrance  into  the  communion  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection, — 
or,  in  other  words,  in  token  of  his  regeneration  through  union  with  Christ. 

1.     Baptism  an  Ordinance  of  Christ. 

A.     Proof  that  Christ  instituted  an  external  rite  called  baptism. 
(a)     From  the  words  of  the  great  commission. 

Mat.  28  : 19  — "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  ;  Mark  16  : 16  — "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  "—  we  hold, 
with  Westcott  and  Hort,  that  Mark  16  :  9-20  is  of  canonical  authority,  though  probably  not 
written  by  Mark  himself. 

(6)     From  the  injunctions  of  the  apostles. 

Acts  2  :  38 — "And  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
unto  the  remission  of  your  sins." 

(c)  From  the  fact  that  the  members  of  the  New  Testament  churches 
were  baptized  believers. 

Rom.  6  :  3-5  — "  Or  are  ye  ignorant  that  all  we  who  were  baptized  into  Christ  Jesus  were  baptized  into  his  death  ? 
We  were  buried  therefore  with  him  through  baptism  into  death :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through 
the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life.  For  if  we  have  become  united  with  him  by  the  like- 
ness of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  by  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection  "  ;  Col.  2  : 11, 12 — "  in  whom  ye  were  also  cir- 
cumcised with  a  circumcision  not  made  with  hands,  in  the  putting  off  of  the  body  of  the  flesh,  in  the  circumcision  of 
Christ ;  having  been  buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  were  also  raised  with  him  through  faith  in  the  working, 
of  God,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead.'" 

530 


BAPTISM.  521 

(d)  From  the  universal  practice  of  such  -a  rite  in  Christian  churches  of 
subsequent  times. 

B.  This  external  rite  intended  by  Christ  to  be  of  universal  and  perpetual 
obligation. 

(a)  Christ  recognized  John  the  Baptist's  commission  to  baptize  as  de- 
rived immediately  from  heaven. 

Mat.  21 : 25 — "The  baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it?  from  heaven  or  from  men?" — here  Jesus  clearly  inti- 
mates that  John's  commission  to  baptize  was  derived  directly  from  God ;  c/.  John  1 :  25  — 
the  delegates  sent  to  the  Baptist  by  the  Sanhedrin  ask  him  :  "  Why  then  baptizest  thou,  if  thou  art 
not  the  Christ,  neither  Elijah,  neither  the  prophet?"  thus  indicating  that  John's  baptism  either  in  its 
form  or  its  application  was  a  new  ordinance,  that  required  special  divine  authorization. 

For  the  view  that  proselyte-baptism  did  not  exist  among  the  Jews  before  the  time  of 
John,  see  Schneckenburger,  Ueber  das  Alter  der  jlidischen  Proselytentaufe ;  Stuart,  in 
Bib.  Repos.,  1833  :  338-355 ;  Toy,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  1872  :  301-332.  Dr.  Toy,  however,  in 
a  private  note  to  the  author  (1884),  says :  "  I  am  disposed  now  to  regard  the  Christian 
rite  as  borrowed  from  the  Jewish,  contrary  to  my  view  in  1872."  So  holds  Edersheim, 
Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  2  :  742-744—"  We  have  positive  testimony  that  the  baptism  of 
proselytes  existed  in  the  times  of  Hillel  and  Shammai.  For,  whereas  the  school  of 
Shammai  is  said  to  have  allowed  a  proselyte  who  was  circumcised  on  the  eve  of  the 
Passover,  to  partake,  after  baptism,  of  the  Passover,  the  school  of  Hillel  forbade  it. 
This  controversy  must  be  regarded  as  proving  that  at  that  time  ( previous  to  Christ)  the 
baptism  of  proselytes  was  customary." 

Although  the  O.  T.  and  the  Apocrypha,  Josephus  and  Philo,  are  silent  with  regard  to 
proselyte  baptism,  it  is  certain  that  it  existed  among  the  Jews  in  the  early  Christian 
centuries ;  and  it  is  almost  equally  certain  that  the  Jews  could  not  have  adopted  it  from 
the  Christians.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  baptism  of  John  was  an  application  to 
Jews  of  an  immersion  which,  before  that  time,  was  administered  to  proselytes  from 
among  the  Gentiles ;  and  that  it  was  this  adaptation  of  the  rite  to  a  new  class  of  subjects, 
and  with  a  new  meaning,  which  excited  the  inquiry  and  criticism  of  the  Sanhedrin. 
We  must  remember,  however,  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  likewise  an  adaptation  of 
certain  portions  of  the  old  Passover  service  to  a  new  use  and  meaning.  See  also 
Kitto,  Bib.  Cyclop.,  3  :  593. 

(6)  In  his  own  submission  to  John's  baptism,  Christ  gave  testimony  to 
the  binding  obligation  of  the  ordinance  (Mat.  3  :  13-17).  John's  baptism 
was  essentially  Christian  baptism  (Acts  19  :  4),  although  the  full  signifi- 
cance of  it  was  not  understood  until  after  Jesus'  death  and  resurrection 
(Mat.  20  : 17-23  ;  Luke  12  :  50 ;  Eom.  6  :  3-6). 

Mat.  3  : 13-17  — "  Suffer  it  now :  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  "  ;  Acts  19  :  4  — "  John  baptized  with 
the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on  him  which  should  come  after  him,  that  is, 
on  Jesus  "  ;  Mat.  20  :  18,  19,  23  — "  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  delivered  unto  the  chief  priests  and  scribes ;  and  they  shall 

condemn  him  to  death,  and  shall  deliver  him  unto  the  Gentiles  to  mock,  and  to  scourge,  and  to  crucify Are  ye 

able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  am  about  to  drink  ?  "  Luke  12  :  50  — "  But  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with ;  and 
how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished ! "  Rom.  6  :  3,  4  — "  Or  are  ye  ignorant  that  all  we  who  were  baptized  into 
Christ  Jesus  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  We  were  buried  therefore  with  him  through  baptism  unto  death,  that  like  as. 
Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life." 

Robert  Hall,  Works  1 :  367-399,  denies  that  John's  baptism  was  Christian  baptism,  and 
holds  that  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  that  all  the  apostles  were  baptized.  The  fact 
that  John's  baptism  was  a  baptism  of  faith  in  the  coming  Messiah,  as  well  as  a  baptism  of 
repentance  for  past  and  present  sin,  refutes  this  theory.  The  only  difference  between 
John's  baptism,  and  the  baptism  of  our  time,  is  that  John  baptized  upon  profession  of 
faith  in  a  Savior  yet  to  come;  baptism  is  now  administered  upon  profession  of  faith  in 
a  Savior  who  has  actually  and  already  come. 

(c)  In  continuing  the  practice  of  baptism  through  his  disciples  ( John 
4:1,  2 ),  and  in  enjoining  it  upon  them  as  part  of  a  work  which  was  to  last 


522  ECCLESIOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

to  the  end  of  the  world  (  Mat.  28  :  19,  20 ),  Christ  manifestly  adopted  and 
appointed  baptism  as  the  invariable  law  of  his  church. 

John  4  : 1,  2  — "  When  therefore  the  Lord  knew  how  that  the  Pharisees  had  heard  that  Jesus  was  making  and  baptizing 
more  disciples  than  John  ( although  Jesus  himself  baptized  not,  but  his  disciples ) "  ;  Mat.  28  : 19, 20  — "  Go  ye  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost : 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you :  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of 
of  the  world." 

(d)  The  analogy  of  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  also  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  baptism  is  to  be  observed  as  an  authoritative  memorial  of 
•Christ  and  his  truth,  until  his  second  coming. 

1  Cor.  11  :  26— "For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  the  cup,  ye  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come." 

(e)  There  is  no  intimation  whatever  that  the  command  of  baptism  is 
limited,  or  to  be  limited,  in  its  application, —  that  it  has  been  or  ever  is  to  be 
repealed  ;  and,  until  some  evidence  of  such  limitation  or  repeal  is  produced, 
the  statute  must  be  regarded  as  universally  binding. 

On  the  proof  that  baptism  is  an  ordinance  of  Christ,  see  Pepper,  in  Madison  Avenue 
Lectures,  85-114 ;  Dagg,  Church  Order,  9-21. 

2.     The  Mode  of  Baptism. 

This  is  immersion,  and  immersion  only.  This  appears  from  the  following 
considerations  : 

A.     The  command  to  baptize  is  a  command  to  immerse. — We  show  this  : 
(a)     From  the  meaning  of  the  original  work  fiaTTrifa.      That  this  is  to 

immerse,  appears : 

First, —  from  the  usage  of  Greek  writers  —  including  the  church  Fathers, 

when  they  do  not  speak  of  the  Christian  rite,  and  the  authors  of  the  Greek 

version  of  the  Old  Testament. 

Liddell  and  Scott,  Greek  Lexicon  —  "j3a7rTt£io,  to  dip  in  or  under  water ;  Lat.  imraer- 
gere."  Sophocles,  Lexicon  of  Greek  Usage  in  the  Roman  and  Byzantine  Periods,  140 

B.  C.  to  1000  A.  D.— "  /SaTTTt'^o),  to  dip,  to  immerse,  to  sink There  is  no  evidence  that 

Luke  and  Paul  and  the  other  writers  of  the  N.  T.  put  upon  this  verb  meanings  not  rec- 
ognized by  the  Greeks." 

Conant,  Appendix  to  Bible  Union  Version  of  Matthew,  1-64,  has  examples  "  drawn 
from  writers  in  almost  every  department  of  literature  and  science  ;  from  poets,  rhetor- 
icians, philosophers,  critics,  historians,  geographers ;  from  writers  on  husbandry,  on 
medicine,  on  natural  history,  on  grammar,  on  theology  ;  from  almost  every  form  and 
style  of  composition,  romances,  epistles,  orations,  fables,  odes,  epigrams,  sermons,  nar- 
ratives; from  writers  of  various  nations  and  religions,  Pagan,  Jew,  and  Christian, 
belonging  to  many  countries  and  through  a  long  succession  of  ages.  In  all,  the  word 
has  retained  its  ground-meaning  without  change.  From  the  earliest  age  of  Greek  liter- 
ature down  to  its  close,  a  period  of  nearly  two  thousand  years,  not  an  example  has  been 
found  in  which  the  word  has  any  other  meaning.  There  is  no  instance  in  which  it  signi- 
fies to  make  a  partial  application  of  water  by  affusion  or  sprinkling,  or  to  cleanse,  to 
purify,  apart  from  the  literal  act  of  immersion  as  the  means  of  cleansing  or  purifying." 
See  Stuart,  in  Bib.  Repos.,  1833  :  313  ;  Broadus  on  Immersion,  57,  note. 

Dale,  in  his  Classic,  Judaic,  Christie,  and  Patristic  Baptism,  maintains  that  /Sa^™  alone 
means  'to  dip,'  and  that  j3a7rTi'£u>  never  means  'to  dip,'  but  only  'to  put  within,'  giving 
no  intimation  that  the  object  is  to  be  taken  out  again.  But  see  Review  of  Dale,  by 
A.  C.  Kendrick,  in  Bap.  Quarterly,  1869  :  129,  and  by  Harvey,  in  Bap.  Review,  1879  : 141- 
163.  "  Plutarch  used  the  word  /3airTi£w,  when  he  describes  the  soldiers  of  Alexander  on  a 
riotous  march  as  by  the  roadside  dipping  (lit.:  baptizing)  with  cups  from  huge  wine 
jars  and  mixing  bowls,  and  drinking  to  one  another.  Here  we  have  ^tm-ri^  used  where 
Dr.  Dale's  theory  would  call  for  /San-xto.  The  truth  is  that  panrifr,  the  stronger  word, 


BAPTISM. 


523 


•came  to  be  used  in  the  same  sense  with  the  weaker ;  and  the  attempt  to  prove  a  broad 
and  invariable  difference  of  meaning-  between  them  breaks  down.  Of  Dr.  Dale's  three 
meanings  of  ftanrL^  —  (1)  intusposition  without  influence  (stone  in  water),  (2)  intus- 
position  with  influence  ( man  drowned  in  water ),  ( 3 )  influence  without  intusposition  — 
the  last  is  a  figment  of  Dr.  Dale's  imagination.  It  would  allow  me  to  say  that  when  I 
burned  a  piece  of  paper,  I  baptized  it.  The  grand  result  is  this :  Beginning  with  the  posi- 
tion that  baptize  means  immerse,  Dr.  Dale  ends  by  maintaining  that  immersion  is  not 
baptism.  Because  Christ  speaks  of  drinking  a  cup,  Dr.  Dale  infers  that  this  is  baptism." 
For  a  complete  reply  to  Dale,  see  Ford,  Studies  on  Baptism. 

Secondly, — -every  passage  where  the  word  occurs  in  the  New  Testament 
either  requires  or  allows  the  meaning  '  immerse. ' 

Mat.  3:6,  11  — "  I  indeed  baptize  you  with  [  lit. :  '  in '  ]  water  unto  repentance  ....  he  shall  baptize  you  with 
[  lit. :  '  in '  ]  the  Holy  Ghost  and  fire  "  ;  c/.  2  Kings  5  : 14  —  "  Then  went  he  [  Naaman  ]  down  and  dipped  himself 
£ e/SaTTTio-aro ]  seven  times  in  Jordan"  ;  Mark  1  :  5,  9 — "they  were  baptized  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan,  confessing 
their  sins ....  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  was  baptized  of  John  in  [lit. :  'into'  ]  the  Jordan"  ;  7:4 
— "and  when  they  come  from  the  market-place,  except  they  bathe  [lit.:  'baptize']  themselves,  they  eat  not:  and 
many  other  things  there  be,  which  they  have  received  to  hold,  washings  [lit. :  'baptizings'  ]  of  cups,  and  pots,  and 
brazen  vessels"— in  this  verse,  Westcott  and  Hort,  with  K  and  B,  read  pavritruvrai,  instead 
of  £a7TTiVwvTa<, ;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  how  subsequent  ignorance  of  Pharisaic  scrupulous- 
ness might  have  changed  /San-n'o-ioi'Tcu  into  pavTt'crwi'Tai ;  but  not  easy  to  see  how  pavTiVwvTeu 
should  have  been  changed  into  fiamiatavrai. 

Meyer,  Com.  in  loco  —"  eav  /XT)  jSaTTTiVw^Tat  is  not  to  be  understood  of  washing  the  hands 
(Lightfoot,  Wetstein),  but  of  immersion,  which  the  word  in  classic  Greek  and  in  the  N. 
T.  everywhere  means;  here,  according  to  the  context,  to  take  a  bath."  The  Revised 
Version  omits  the  words  "and  couches,"  although  Maimonides  speaks  of  a  Jewish  im- 
mersion of  couches ;  see  quotation  from  Maimonides  in  Ingharn,  Handbook  of  Baptism, 
373 :  "  Whenever  in  the  law  washing  of  the  flesh  or  of  the  clothes  is  mentioned,  it  means 
nothing  else  than  the  dipping  of  the  whole  body  in  a  laver ;  for  if  any  man  dip  himself 

all  over  except  the  tip  of  his  little  finger,  he  is  still  in  his  uncleanness A  bed  that 

is  wholly  defiled,  if  a  man  dip  it  part  by  part,  it  is  pure."  Watson,  in  Annotated  Par. 
Bible,  1126. 

Luke  11 :  38  — "  And  when  the  Pharisee  saw  it,  he  marvelled  that  he  had  not  first  bathed  [  lit. :  '  baptized '  ]  himself 
before  dinner"  ;  c/.  Ecclesiasticus  31 :  25—"  He  that  washeth  himself  after  the  touching  of 
a  dead  body"  ( |3a7rTt(Jo/aevos  anb  veKpov);  Judith  12  :  7 — "washed  herself  [ e^arrri^ero ]  in  a 
fountain  of  water  by  the  camp"  ;  Lev.  22  :  4-6 — "Whoso  toucheth  anything  that  is  unclean  by  the  dead 
....  unclean  until  even  ....  bathe  his  flesh  with  water."  Acts  2  :  41 — "They  then  that  received  his  word  were  bap- 
tized :  and  there  were  added  unto  them  in  that  day  about  three  thousand  souls."  Although  the  water  supply 
of  Jerusalem  is  naturally  poor,  the  artificial  provision  of  aqueducts,  cisterns,  and  tanks, 
made  water  abundant.  During  the  siege  of  Titus,  though  thousands  died  of  famine,  we 
read  of  no  suffering  from  lack  of  water.  The  following  are  the  dimensions  of  pools  in 
modern  Jerusalem :  King's  Pool,  15  feet  x  16  x  3 ;  Siloam,  53  x  18  x  19 ;  Hezekiah,  240  x 
140  x  10 ;  Bethesda  ( so-called ),  360  x  130  x  75 ;  Upper  Gihon,  316  x  218  x  19 ;  Lower  Gihon, 
592  x  260  x  18 ;  see  Robinson,  Biblical  Researches,  1 :  323-348,  and  Samson,  Water-supply 
of  Jerusalem,  pub.  by  Am.  Bap.  Pub.  Soc'y.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  baptizing  three 
thousand  in  one  day ;  for,  in  the  time  of  Chrysostom,  when  all  candidates  of  the  year 
were  baptized  in  a  single  day,  three  thousand  were  once  baptized ;  and,  in  1879,  2222 
Telugu  Christians  were  baptized  by  two  administrators  in  nine  hours. 

Acts  16  :  33  — "  And  he  took  them  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes ;  and  was  baptized,  he  and  all 
his,  immediately"—  the  prison  was  doubtless,  as  are  most  large  edifices  in  the  east,  whether 
public  or  private,  provided  with  tank  and  fountain.  See  Cremer,  Lexicon  of  N.  T. 
Greek,  sub  voce—"  panrifa,  immersion  or  submersion  for  a  religious  purpose."  Grimm's 
ed.  of  Wilke— "jSaTTTi'^w,  1.  Immerse,  submerge;  2.  Wash  or  bathe,  by  immersing  or 
submerging  ( Mark  7  :  4,  also  Naaman  and  Judith ) ;  3.  Figuratively,  to  overwhelm,  as 
with  debts,  misfortunes,  &c."  In  the  N.  T.  rite,  he  says  it  denotes  "an  immersion  in 
water,  intended  as  a  sign  of  sins  washed  away,  and  received  by  those  who  wished  to  be 
admitted  to  the  benefits  of  Messiah's  reign." 

Dollinger,  Kirche  und  Kirchen,  337  — "  The  Baptists  are,  however,  from  the  Protestant 
point  of  view,  unassailable,  since  for  their  demand  of  baptism  by  submersion  they  have 
the  clear  Bible  text ;  and  the  authority  of  the  church  and  of  her  testimony  is  not 
regarded  by  either  party  "—  I.  e.,  by  either  Baptists  or  Protestants,  generally.  Prof.  Har- 
nack,  of  Giessen,  writes  in  the  Independent,  Feb.  19,  1885— "1,  Baptizein  undoubtedly 


524          ECCLESIOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

signifies  immersion  "(  eintauchen).  2.  No  proof  can  be  found  that  it  signifies  anything 
else  in  the  N.  T.  and  in  the  most  ancient  Christian  literature.  The  suggestion  regarding 
a  'sacred  sense'  is  out  of  the  question.  3.  There  is  no  passage  in  the  N.  T.  which  sug- 
gests the  supposition  that  any  New  Testament  author  attached  to  the  word  baptizein 
any  other  sense  than  eintauchen  =  untertauchcn  (immerse,  submerge)."  See  further 
statement  of  Prof.  Harnack,  below.  On  the  Scripture  passages  mentioned,  see  Com.  of 
Meyer,  and  Cunningham,  Croall  Lectures. 

Thirdly,—  the  absence  of  any  use  of  the  word  in  the  passive  voice  with 
'water'  as  its  subject  confirms  our  conclusion  that  its  meaning  is  "to 
immerse.  "  Water  is  never  said  to  be  baptized  upon  a  man. 


(6)     From  the  use  of  the  verb  Sa-n-rifa  with  prepositions  : 
First,  —  with  ei?  (Mark  1  :  9  —  where  'Inptidvyv  is  the  element  into  which 
the  person  passes  in  the  act  of  being  baptized). 

Mark  1:9—"  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  was  baptized  of  John 
in  [  lit.  :  'into  '  ]  the  Jordan." 

Secondly,—  with  h  (  Mark  1  :  5,  8  ;  cf.  Mat.  3  :  11.  John  1  :  26,  31,  33  ; 
cf.  Acts  2  :  2,  4).  In  these  texts,  ev  is  to  be  taken,  not  instrumentally,  but 
as  indicating  the  element  in  which  the  immersion  takes  place. 

Mark  1  :  5,  8—  "they  were  baptized  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins  .....  I  baptized  you  with 
[lit.:  'in']  water;  but  he  shall  baptize  you  with  [lit.:  'in']  the  Holy  Ghost  "—  here  see  Meyer's  Com. 
on  Mat.  3  :  11—  "e^  is,  in  accordance  with  the  meaning  of  pairrifr  (immerse),  not  to  be 
understood  instrumentally,  but  on  the  contrary,  in  the  sense  of  the  element  in  which 
the  immersion  takes  place."  Those  who  pray  for  a  '  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  '  pray 
for  such  a  pouring  out  of  the  Spirit  as  shall  fill  the  place  and  permit  them  to  be  flooded 
or  immersed  in  his  abundant  presence  and  power;  see  C.  E.  Smith,  Baptism  of  Fire, 
1881  :  305-311. 

(c)  From  circumstances  attending  the  administration  of  the  ordinance 
(  Mark  1  :  10  —  avapaivurv  en  rov  vdaroq  ;    John  3  :  23  —  vdara  iroAM.  ;  Acts  8  :  38, 
39  —  Kareflqaav  eif  TO  vdup  —  avkfirjaav  £/c  TOV  vdaroc  ). 

Mark  1  :  10—  "coming  up  out  of  the  water"  ;  John  3  :  23—  "And  John  also  was  baptizing  in  .finon  near  to  Salim, 
because  there  was  much  water  there"—  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  for  baptizing;  see  Prof.  W.  A. 
Stevens,  on  ^Enon  near  to  Salim,  in  Journ.  Soc.  of  Bib.  Lit.  and  Exegesis,  Dec.,  1883.  Acts 
8  :  38,  39—"  And  they  both  went  down  into  the  watsr,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch  ;  and  he  baptized  him.  And  when 
they  came  up  out  of  the  water  ____  " 

(d)  From  figurative  allusions  to  the  ordinance. 

Mark  10  :  38—  "Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  drink?  or  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized 
with?"—  here  the  cup  is  the  cup  of  suffering  in  Gethsernane  ;  cf.  Luke  22  :  42—  "Father,  if  thou 
be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  me"  ;  and  the  baptism  is  the  baptism  of  death  on  Calvary,  and 
of  the  grave  that  was  to  follow  ;  cf.  Luke  12  :  50  —"I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with  ;  and  how  am  I 
straitened  till  it  be  accomplished  !"  Death  presented  itself  to  the  Savior's  mind  as  a  baptism, 
because  it  was  a  sinking  under  the  floods  of  suffering.  Rom.  6  :  4  —  "We  were  buried  therefore 
with  him  through  baptism  into  death  :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so 
we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life  "—  Conybeare  and  Howson,  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,. 
say  on  this  passage  that  "  it  cannot  be  understood  without  remembering  that  the  primi- 
tive method  of  baptism  was  by  immersion." 

1  Cor.  10  :  1,  2  —  "  our  fathers  were  all  under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed  through  the  sea  ;  and  were  all  baptized  unto 
Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea  "  ;  Col.  2  :  12  —  "  having  been  buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  were  also  raised 
with  him  "  ;  Heb.  10  :  22  —  "  having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  and  our  body  washed  [  AeAou<r/u.eVoi  ] 
with  pure  water"—  here  Trench,  N.  T.  Synonyms,  216,  217,  says  that  "Aovu>  implies  always, 
not  the  bathing  of  a  part  of  the  body,  but  of  the  whole."  1  Pet.  3  :  20,  21—  "saved  through 
water  :  which  also  aftar  a  true  likeness  doth  now  save  you,  even  baptism,  not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh, 
but  the  interrogation  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,  through  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ"—  as  the  ark  whose 
sides  were  immersed  in  water  saved  Noah,  so  the  immersion  of  believers  typically  saves- 
them  ;  that  is,  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience,  the  turning  of  the  soul  to  God,  which 
baptism  symbolizes. 


BAPTISM.  525 

(e)     From  the  testimony  of  church  history  as  to  the  practice  of  the  early 
ohurch. 

Dean  Stanley,  in  his  Address  at  Eton  College,  March,  1879,  on  Historical  Aspects  of 
American  Churches,  speaks  of  immersion  as  "  the  primitive  apostolical,  and,  till  the  13th 
century,  the  universal,  mode  of  baptism,  which  is  still  retained  throughout  the  Eastern 
churches,  and  which  is  still  in  our  own  church  as  positively  enjoined  in  theory  as  it  is  uni- 
versally neglected  in  practice."  The  same  writer,  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  Oct.,  1879, 
says  that  "the  change  from  immersion  to  sprinkling  has  set  aside  the  larger  part  of  the 
apostolic  language  regarding  baptism,  and  has  altered  the  very  meaning  of  the  word." 
Neander,  Church  Hist.,  1 :  310—"  In  respect  to  the  form  of  baptism,  it  was,  in  conformity 
with  the  original  institution  and  the  original  import  of  the  symbol,  performed  by  im- 
mersion, as  a  sign  of  entire  baptism  into  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  being  entirely  penetrated 

by  the  same It  was  only  with  the  sick,  where  exigency  required  it,  that  any 

exception  was  made.  Then  it  was  administered  by  sprinkling ;  but  many  superstitious 
persons  imagined  such  sprinkling  to  be  not  fully  valid,  and  stigmatized  those  thus 
baptized  as  clinics." 

Until  recently,  there  has  been  no  evidence  that  clinic  baptism,  i.  e.,  the  baptism  of  a 
sick  or  dying  person  in  bed  by  pouring  water  copiously  around  him,  was  practised 
earlier  than  the  time  of  Novatian,  in  the  third  century ;  and  in  these  cases  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  a  regenerating  efficacy  was  ascribed  to  the  ordinance.  We  are 
now,  however,  compelled  to  recognize  a  departure  from  N.  T.  precedent  somewhat 
further  back.  The  latest  testimony  is  that  of  Prof.  Harnack,  of  Giessen,  in  the  Inde- 
pendent of  Feb.  19, 1885—"  Up  to  the  present  moment  we  possess  no  certain  proof  from 
the  period  of  the  second  century,  in  favor  of  the  fact  that  baptism  by  aspersion  was 
then  even  facultatively  administered ;  for  Tertullian  ( De  Pcenit.,  6,  and  De  Baptismo, 
12)  is  uncertain ;  and  the  age  of  those  pictures  upon  which  is  represented  a  baptism  by 
aspersion  is  not  certain.  The  '  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,'  however,  has  now 
instructed  us  that  already,  in  very  early  times,  people  in  the  church  took  no  offense 
when  aspersion  was  put  in  place  of  immersion,  when  any  kind  of  outward  circumstan- 
ces might  render  immersion  impossible  or  impracticable But  the  rule  was  also 

certainly  maintained  that  immersion  was  obligatory  if  the  outward  conditions  of  such 
a  performance  were  at  hand."  This  seems  to  show  that,  while  the  corruption  of  the 
N.  T.  rite  began  soon  after  the  death  of  the  apostles,  baptism  by  any  other  form  than 
immersion  was  even  then  a  rare  exception,  which  those  who  introduced  the  change 
sought  to  justify  upon  the  plea  of  necessity.  See  Schaff,  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles, 29-57,  and  other  testimony  in  Coleman,  Christian  Antiquities,  275 ;  Stuart,  in  Bib. 
Repos.,  1883  : 355-363. 

Dexter,  in  his  True  Story  of  John  Smyth  and  Sebaptism,  maintains  that  immersion 
was  a  new  thing  in  England  in  1641.  But  if  so,  it  was  new,  as  Congregationalism  was 
new  —  a  newly  restored  practice  and  ordinance  of  apostolic  times.  For  reply  to  Dexter, 
see  Long,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1883  : 12, 13,  who  tells  us,  on  the  authority  of  Blunt's  Ann. 
Book  of  Com.  Prayer,  that  from  1085  to  1549,  the  '  Salisbury  Use '  was  the  accepted  mode^ 
and  this  provided  for  the  child's  trine  immersion.  "The  Prayerbook  of  Edward  VI. 
succeeded  to  the  Salisbury  Use  in  1549 ;  but  in  this,  too,  immersion  has  the  place  of  honor 
—  affusion  is  only  for  the  weak.  The  English  church  has  never  sanctioned  sprinkling 
(Blunt,  226).  In  1664,  the  Westminster  Assembly  said  'sprinkle  or  pour,'  thus  annulling 
Avhat  Christ  commanded  1600  years  before.  Queen  Elizabeth  was  immersed  in  1533.  If 
in  1641  immersion  had  been  so  generally  and  so  long  disused  that  men  saw  it  with  won- 
der and  regarded  it  as  a  novelty,  then  the  more  distinct,  emphatic,  and  peculiarly  their 
own  was  the  work  of  the  Baptists.  They  come  before  the  world,  with  no  partners,  or 
rivals,  or  abettors,  or  sympathizers,  as  the  restorers  and  preservers  of  Christian  baptism." 

(/)     From  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Greek  church. 

De  Stourdza,  the  greatest  modern  theologian  of  the  Greek  church,  writes:  " /San-r^w 
signifies  literally  and  always  '  to  plunge.'  Baptism  and  immersion  are  therefore  identi- 
cal, and  to  say  'baptism  by  aspersion  '  is  as  if  one  should  say  'immersion  by  aspersion,' 
or  any  other  absurdity  of  the  same  nature.  The  Greek  church  maintain  that  the  Latin 
church,  instead  of  a  (San-Tio-jLtos,  practice  a  mere  pai/ncr/uo?,—  instead  of  baptism,  a  mere 
sprinkling" — quoted  in  Conant  on  Mat.,  appendix,  99.  See  also  Broadus  on  Immer- 
sion, 18. 

The  prevailing  usage  of  any  word  determines  the  sense  it  bears,  when 


526  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

found  in  a  command  of  Christ.  We  have  seen,  not  only  that  the  prevailing 
usage  of  the  Greek  language  determines  the  meaning  of  the  word  '  baptize  *" 
to  be  'immerse,'  but  that  this  is  its  fundamental,  constant,  and  only  mean- 
ing. The  original  command  to  baptize  is  therefore  a  command  to  immerse. 

For  the  view  that  sprinkling-  or  pouring-  constitutes  valid  baptism,  see  Hall,  Mode  of 
Baptism.  Per  contra,  see  Hovey,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  April,  1875 ;  Wayland,  Principle* 
and  Practices  of  Baptists,  85 ;  Carson,  Noel,  Judson,  and  Pengilly,  on  Baptism ;  espe- 
cially recent  and  valuable  is  Burrage,  Act  of  Baptism. 

B.  No  church  has  the  right  to  modify  or  dispense  with  this  command  of 
Christ.  This  is  plain  : 

(a)     From  the  nature  of  the  church.     Notice  : 

First, —  that,  besides  the  local  church,  no  other  visible  church  of  Christ  is 
known  to  the  New  Testament.  Secondly, — that  the  local  church  is  not  a 
legislative,  but  is  simply  an  executive,  body.  Only  the  authority  which 
originally  imposed  its  laws  can  amend  or  abrogate  them.  Thirdly, —  that 
the  local  church  cannot  delegate  to  any  organization  or  council  of  churches 
any  power  which  it  does  not  itself  rightfully  possess.  Fourthly, —  that  the 
opposite  principle  puts  the  church  above  the  Scriptures  and  above  Christ, 
and  would  sanction  all  the  usurpations  of  Borne. 

(6)     From  the  nature  of  God's  command  : 

First, —  as  forming  a  part,  not  only  of  the  law,  but  of  the  fundamental 
law,  of  the  church  of  Christ.  The  power  claimed  for  a  church  to  change 
it  is  not  only  legislative  but  constitutional.  Secondly, —  as  expressing  the 
wisdom  of  the  Lawgiver.  Power  to  change  the  command  can  be  claimed 
for  the  church,  only  on  the  ground  that  Christ  has  failed  to  adapt  the  ordi- 
nance to  changing  circumstances,  and  has  made  obedience  to  it  unneces- 
sarily difficult  and  humiliating.  Thirdly, —  as  providing  in  immersion  the 
only  adequate  symbol  of  those  saving  truths  of  the  gospel  which  both  of 
the  ordinances  have  it  for  their  office  to  set  forth,  and  without  which  they 
become  empty  ceremonies  and  forms.  In  other  words,  the  church  has  no 
right  to  change  the  method  of  administering  the  ordinance,  because  such  a 
change  vacates  the  ordinance  of  its  essential  meaning.  As  this  argument, 
however,  is  of  such  vital  importance,  we  present  it  more  fully  in  a  special 
discussion  of  the  Symbolism  of  Baptism. 

For  advocacy  of  the  church's  right  to  modify  the  form  of  an  ordinance,  see  Coleridge, 
Aids  to  Reflection,  in  Works,  1 :  333-349 — "Where  a  ceremony  answered,  and  was  in- 
tended to  answer,  several  purposes  which  at  its  first  institution  were  blended  in  respect 
of  the  time,  but  which  afterward,  by  change  of  circumstances,  were  necessarily  dis- 
united, then  either  the  church  hath  no  power  or  authority  delegated  to  her,  or  she  must 
be  authorized  to  choose  and  determine  to  which  of  the  several  purposes  the  ceremony 
should  be  attached."  Baptism,  for  example,  at  the  first  symbolized  not  only  entrance 
into  the  church  of  Christ,  but  personal  faith  in  him  as  Savior  and  Lord.  It  is  assumed 
that  entrance  into  the  church  and  personal  faith  are  now  necessarily  disunited.  Since 
baptism  is  in  charge  of  the  church,  she  can  attach  baptism  to  the  former,  and  not  to  the 
latter. 

We  of  course  deny  that  the  separation  of  baptism  from  faith  is  ever  necessary.  We 
maintain,  on  the  contrary,  that  thus  to  separate  the  two  is  to  pervert  the  ordinance,  and 
to  make  it  teach  the  doctrine  of  hereditary  church  membership  and  salvation  by  out- 
ward manipulation  apart  from  faith.  We  say  with  Dean  Stanley  ( on  Baptism,  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  Oct.,  1879),  though  not,  as  he  does,  with  approval,  that  the  change  in 
the  method  of  admistering  the  ordinance  shows  "  how  the  spirit  that  lives  and  moves  in 


BAPTISM.  527 

human  society  can  override  the  most  sacred  ordinances."  We  cannot  with  him  call  this 
spirit "  the  free  spirit  of  Christianity  "—  we  regard  it  rather  as  an  evil  spirit  of  disobe- 
dience and  unbelief.  See  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  234-245. 

Objections :  J.  Immersion  is  often  impracticable.— We  reply  that,  when  really  imprac- 
ticable, it  is  no  longer  a  duty.  Where  the  will  to  obey  is  present,  but  providential 
circumstances  render  outward  obedience  impossible,  Christ  takes  the  will  for  the  deed. 

2.  It  is  often  dangerous  to  health  and  life.— We  reply  that,  when  it  is  really  danger- 
ous, it  is  no  longer  a  duty.    But  then,  we  have  no  warrant  for  substituting  another  act 
for  that  which  Christ  has  commanded.    Duty  demands  simple  delay  until  it  can  be  ad- 
ministered with  safety.    It  must  be  remembered  that  ardent  feeling  nerves  even  the 
body.    "Brethren,  if  your  hearts  be  warm,  Ice  and  snow  can  do  uo  harm."    The  cold 
climate  of  Russia  does  not  prevent  the  universal  practice  of  immersion  by  the  Greek 
church  of  that  country. 

3.  It  is  indecent.— We  reply,  that  there  is  need  of  care  to  prevent  exposure,  but  that 
with  this  care  there  is  no  indecency,  more  than  in  fashionable  sea-bathing.    The  argu- 
ment is  valid  only  against  a  careless  administration  of  the  ordinance,  not  against  im- 
mersion itself. 

4.  It  is  inconvenient.— We  reply  that,  in  a  matter  of  obedience  to  Christ,  we  are  not 
to  consult  convenience.    The  ordinance  which  symbolizes  his  sacrificial  death,  and  our 
spiritual  death  with  him,  may  naturally  involve  something  of  inconvenience,  but  joy  in 
submitting  to  that  inconvenience  will  be  a  test  of  the  spirit  of  obedience.    When  the  act 
is  performed,  it  should  be  performed  as  Christ  enjoined. 

5.  Other  methods  of  administration  have  been  blessed  to  those  who  submitted  to 
them.— We  reply  that  God  has  often  condescended  to  human  ignorance,  and  has  given 
his  Spirit  to  those  who  honestly  sought  to  serve  him,  even  by  erroneous  forms,  such  as 
the  mass.    This,  however,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  a  divine  sanction  of  the  error,  much  less 
as  a  warrant  for  the  perpetuation  of  a  false  system  on  the  part  of  those  who  know  that 
it  is  a  violation  of  Christ's  commands.    It  is,  in  great  part,  the  position  of  its  advocates, 
as  representatives  of  Christ  and  his  church,  that  gives  to  this  false  system  its  power  for 
evil. 

3.     The  Symbolism  of  Baptism. 

Baptism  symbolizes  the  previous  entrance  of  the  believer  into  the  com- 
munion of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection, —  or,  in  other  words,  regenera- 
tion through  union  with  Christ. 

A.  Expansion  of  this  statement  as  to  the  symbolism  of  baptism.  Bap- 
tism, more  particularly,  is  a  symbol : 

(a)     Of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ. 

Rom.  6  :  3— "Or  are  ye  ignorant  that  all  we  who  were  baptized  into  Christ  Jesus  were  baptized  into  his  death?" 
cf.  Mat.  3  : 13  — "  Then  cometh  Jesus  from  Galilee  to  the  Jordan  unto  John,  to  be  baptized  of  him  "  ;  Mark  10  :  38  — 
"  Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  drink  ?  or  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with  ?  "  Luke  IE  : 
50 — "  But  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished!"  For  the 
meaning  of  these  latter  passages,  see  note  on  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  under  B.,  (a),  below. 

(6)  Of  the  purpose  of  that  death  and  resurrection, —  namely,  to  atone 
for  sin,  and  to  deliver  sinners  from  its  penalty  and  power. 

Rom.  6:4—"  We  were  buried  therefore  with  him  through  baptism  into  death :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from 
the  dead  through  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life  "  ;  cf.  7,  10,  11  — "  for  he  that  hath 
died  is  justified  from  sin  ....  For  the  death  that  he  died,  he  died  unto  sin  once :  but  the  life  that  he  liveth,  he  liveth 
unto  God.  Even  so  reckon  ye  yourselves  to  be  dead  unto  sin,  but  alive  unto  God  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 14  — "  we 
thus  judge  that  one  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died." 

(c)  Of  the  accomplishment  of  that  purpose  in  the  person  baptized, — 
who  thus  professes  his  death  to  sin  and  resurrection  to  spiritual  life. 

Gal.  3  :  27— "For  as  many  of  you  as  were  baptized  into  Christ  did  put  on  Christ"  ;  1  Pet.  3  :  21— "which  [water] 
also  after  a  true  likeness  doth  now  save  you,  even  baptism,  not  the  putting  away  of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  inter- 
rogation of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,  through  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ" ;  cf.  Gal.  2  : 19,  20 — "For  I 


528  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

through  the  law  died  unto  the  law,  that  I  might  live  unto  God.  I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ ;  and  it  is  no  longer 
I  that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me,  and  that  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in  the 
Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for  me  "  ;  Col.  3:3—"  For  ye  died,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God." 

(d)  Of  the  method  in  which  that  purpose  is  accomplished, —  by  union 
with  Christ,  receiving  him  and  giving  one's  self  to  him  by  faith. 

Rom.  6:5—"  For  if  we  have  become  united  [O-U/X^VTOI]  with  him  by  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  by 
the  likeness  of  his  resurrection  "  —  <ri;/a(/)UToi,  or  <rvnire<j>vi«a<;,  is  used  of  the  man  and  the  horse  as 
grown  together  in  the  Centaur,  by  Lucian,  Dial.  Mort.,  16  :  4,  and  by  Xenophon,  Cyrop., 
4:3:18.  Col.  2  : 12  — "  Having  been  buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  were  also  raised  with  him  through 
faith  in  the  working  of  God,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead."  Dr.  N.  S.  Burton  :  "  The  oneness  of  the 
believer  and  Christ  is  expressed  by  the  fact  that  the  one  act  of  immersion  sets  forth 
the  death  and  resurrection  of  both  Christ  and  the  believer." 

(e)  Of  the  consequent  union  of  all  believers  in  Christ. 

Eph.  4  :  5— "one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism" ;  1  Cor.  12  : 13— "For  in  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one 
body,  whether  Jews  or  Greeks,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and  were  all  made  to  drink  of  one  Spirit "  ;  cf.  10  :  3,  4 — "  and 
did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat ;  and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink :  for  they  drank  of  a  spiritual  rock  that 
followed  them :  and  the  rock  was  Christ." 

(/)  Of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  body, —  which  will  complete 
the  work  of  Christ  in  us,  and  which  Christ's  death  and  resurrection  assure 
to  all  his  members. 

1  Cor.  15  : 12,  22  — "  Now  if  Christ  is  preached  that  he  hath  been  raised  from  the  dead,  how  say  some  among  you  that 

there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."    In  the 

Scripture  passages  quoted  above,  we  add  to  the  argument  from  the  meaning  of  the  word 
y3a7TT(.£u)  the  argument  from  the  meaning  of  the  ordinance.  Luther :  Baptism  is  "  a  sign 
both  of  death  and  resurrection.  Being  moved  by  this  reason,  I  would  have  those  that 
are  baptized  to  be  altogether  dipped  into  the  water,  as  the  word  means  and  the  mystery 
signifies."  See  Calvin  on  Acts  8  :  38;  Conybeare  and  Howson  on  Rom.  6:4;  Boardman,  in 
Madison  Avenue  Lectures,  115-135. 

B.     Inferences  from  the  passages  referred  to  : 

(a)  The  central  truth  set  forth  by  baptism  is  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  Christ, — and  our  own  death  and  resurrection  only  as  connected  with  that. 

The  baptism  of  Jesus  in  Jordan,  equally  with  the  subsequent  baptism  of  his  followers, 
was  a  symbol  of  his  death.  It  was  his  death  which  he  had  in  mind,  when  he  said  "  Are  ye 
able  to  drink  the  cup  that  I  drink?  or  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with?  "  (Mark  10  :  38) ; 
"But  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with ;  and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  be  accomplished !  "  ( Luke  12  :  50 ).  The 
being  immersed  and  overwhelmed  in  waters  is  a  frequent  metaphor  in  all  languages  to 
express  the  rush  of  successive  troubles ;  compare  Ps.  69  :  2  — "  I  am  come  into  deep  waters,  where 
the  floods  overflow  ms "  ;  42  :  7  — "  All  thy  waves  and  thy  billows  are  gone  over  me  "  ;  124  :  4,  5  — "  Then  the  waters 
had  overwhelmed  us,  The  stream  had  gone  over  our  soul :  Then  the  proud  waters  had  gone  over  our  soul." 

So  the  suffering,  death,  and  burial,  which  were  before  our  Lord,  presented  themselves 
to  his  mind  as  a  baptism,  because  the  very  idea  of  baptism  was  that  of  a  complete  sub- 
mersion under  the  floods  of  waters.  Death  was  not  to  be  poured  upon  Christ  — it  was 
no  mere  sprinkling  of  suffering  which  he  was  to  endure,  but  a  sinking  into  the  mighty 
waters,  and  a  being  overwhelmed  by  them.  It  was  the  giving  of  himself  to  this,  which  he 
symbolized  by  his  baptism  in  Jordan.  That  act  was  not  arbitrary,  or  formal,  or  ritual. 
It  was  a  public  consecration,  a  consecration  to  death,  to  death  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 
It  expressed  the  essential  nature  and  meaning  of  his  earthly  work :  the  baptism  of  water 
at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  consciously  and  designedly  prefigured  the  baptism  of 
death  with  which  that  ministry  was  to  close. 

Jesus'  submission  to  John's  baptism  of  repentance,  the  rite  that  belonged  only  to  sin- 
ners, can  be  explained  only  upon  the  ground  that  he  was  "made  to  be  sin  on  our  behalf"  (2  Cor. 
5  :  21).  He  had  taken  our  nature  upon  him,  without  its  hereditary  corruption  indeed, 
but  with  all  its  hereditary  guilt,  that  he  might  redeem  that  nature  and  reunite  it  to  God. 
As  one  with  humanity,  he  had  in  his  unconscious  childhood  submitted  to  the  rites  of 


BAPTISM. 


529 


circumcision,  purification,  and  legal  redemption  ( Luke  2  :  21-24 ;  of.  Ex.  13  :  2, 13 ;  see  Lange, 
Alf ord,  Webster,  and  Wilkinson  on  Luke  2  :  24 )  —  all  of  them  rites  appointed  for  sinners. 
"Made  in  the  likeness  of  men"  (Phil.  2  :  7),  "the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh"  (Rom.  8  :  3),  he  was  "to  put  away  sin 
by  the  sacrifice  of  himself"  (Heb.  9  :  26). 

In  his  baptism,  therefore,  he  could  say,  "Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness"  (Mat.  3  : 15), 
because  only  through  the  final  baptism  of  suffering-  and  death,  which  this  baptism  in 
water  foreshadowed,  could  he  "make  an  end  of  sins"  and  "bring  in  everlasting  righteousness"  (Dan. 
9  :  24)  to  the  condemned  and  ruined  world.  He  could  not  be  "the  Lord  our  Righteousness"  (Jer. 
23  :  6 )  except  by  first  suffering1  the  death  due  to  the  nature  he  had  assumed,  thereby  de- 
livering1 it  from  its  guilt  and  perfecting1  it  forever.  All  this  was  indicated  in  that  act 
by  which  he  was  first  "made  manifest  to  Israel "  (John  1 :  31).  In  his  baptism  in  Jordan,  he  was 
buried  in  the  likeness  of  his  coming-  death,  and  raised  in  the  likeness  of  his  coming- 
resurrection. 

As  that  baptism  pointed  forward  to  Jesus'  death,  so  our  baptism  points  backward  to 
the  same,  as  the  centre  and  substance  of  his  redeeming-  work,  the  one  death  by  which 
we  live.  We  who  are  "baptized  into  Christ"  are  "baptized  into  his  death"  (Rom.  6:3),  that  is,  into 
spiritual  communion  and  participation  in  that  death  which  he  died  for  our  salvation ;  in 
short,  in  baptism  we  declare  in  symbol  that  his  death  has  become  ours. 

(6)  The  correlative  truth  of  the  believer's  death  and  resurrection,  set  forth 
in  baptism,  implies,  first, — confession  of  sin  and  humiliation  on  account  of 
it,  as  deserving  of  death  ;  secondly, — declaration  of  Christ's  death  for  sin, 
and  of  the  believer's  acceptance  of  Christ's  substitutionary  work  ;  thirdly, — 
acknowledgment  that  the  soul  has  become  partaker  of  Christ's  life,  and  now 
lives  only  in  and  for  him. 

A  false  mode  of  administering  the  ordinance  has  so  obscured  the  meaning  of  baptism 
that  it  has  to  multitudes  lost  all  reference  to  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  Lord's  Supper 
is  assumed  to  be  the  only  ordinance  which  is  intended  to  remind  us  of  the  atoning-  sacri- 
fice to  which  we  owe  our  salvation.  For  evidence  of  this,  see  the  remarks  of  President 
Woolsey  in  the  Sunday  School  Times  :  "  Baptism  it  [the  Christian  religion]  could  share 
in  with  the  doctrine  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  if  a  similar  rite  had  existed  under  the 
Jewish  law,  it  would  have  been  regarded  as  appropriate  to  a  religion  which  inculcated 
renunciation  of  sin  and  purity  of  heart  and  life.  But  [in  the  Lord's  Supper]  we  go  be- 
yond the  province  of  baptism  to  the  very  penetrale  of  the  gospel,  to  the  efficacy  and 
meaning  of  Christ's  death." 

(o)  Baptism  symbolizes  purification,  but  purification  in  a  peculiar  and 
divine  way, —  namely,  through  the  death  of  Christ  and  the  entrance  of  the 
soul  into  communion  with  that  death.  The  radical  defect  of  sprinkling  or 
pouring,  as  a  mode  of  administering  the  ordinance,  is  that  it  does  not  point 
to  Christ's  death  as  the  procuring  cause  of  our  purification. 

It  is  a  grievous  thing  to  say  by  symbol,  as  those  do  say  who  practice  sprinkling  in 
place  of  immersion,  that  a  man  may  regenerate  himself,  or,  if  not  this,  yet  that  his  re- 
generation may  take  place  without  connection  with  Christ's  death.  Edward  Beecher's 
chief  argument  against  Baptist  views  is  drawn  from  John  3  :  22,  25  — "  a  questioning  on  the  part 
of  John's  disciples  with  a  Jew  about  purifying."  Purification  is  made  to  be  the  essential  meaning  of 
baptism,  and  the  conclusion  is  drawn  that  any  form  expressive  of  purification  will  an- 
swer the  design  of  the  ordinance.  But  if  Christ's  death  is  the  procuring  cause  of  our 
purification,  we  may  expect  it  to  be  symbolized  in  the  ordinance  which  declares  that 
purification ;  if  Christ's  death  is  the  central  fact  of  Christianity,  we  may  expect  it  to  be 
symbolized  in  the  initiatory  rite  of  Christianity. 

(d)  In  baptism  we  show  forth  the  Lord's  death  as  the  original  source  of 
holiness  and  life  in  our  souls,  just  as  in  the  Lord's  Supper  we  show  forth 
the  Lord's  death  as  the  source  of  all  nourishment  and  strength,  after  this 
life  of  holiness  has  been  once  begun.  As  the  Lord's  Supper  symbolizes  the 
sanctifying  power  of  Jesus'  death,  so  baptism  symbolizes  its  regenerating 
power. 

34 


530  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

The  truth  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection  is  a  precious  jewel,  and  it  is  given  us  in 
these  outward  ordinances  as  in  a  casket.  Let  us  care  for  the  casket  lest  we  lose  the  gem. 
As  a  scarlet  thread  runs  through  every  rope  and  cord  of  the  British  navy,  testifying 
that  it  is  the  property  of  the  Crown,  so  through  every  doctrine  and  ordinance  of  Chris- 
tianity runs  the  red  line  of  Jesus'  blood.  It  is  their  common  reference  to  the  death  of 
Christ  that  binds  the  two  ordinances  together. 

(e)  There  are  two  reasons,  therefore,  why  nothing  but  immersion  will 
satisfy  the  design  of  the  ordinance :  first, — because  nothing  else  can  sym- 
bolize the  radical  nature  of  the  change  effected  in  regeneration  —  a  change 
from  spiritual  death  to  spiritual  life  ;  secondly, —  because  nothing  else  can 
set  forth  the  fact  that  this  change  is  due  to  the  entrance  of  the  soul  into 
communion  with  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ. 

Christian  truth  is  an  organism.  Part  is  bound  to  part,  and  all  together  constitute  one 
vitalized  whole.  To  give  up  any  single  portion  of  that  truth  is  like  maiming  the  human 
body.  Life  may  remain,  but  one  manifestation  of  life  has  ceased.  The  whole  body  of 
Christian  truth  has  lost  its  symmetry  and  a  part  of  its  power  to  save. 

(/)  To  substitute  for  baptism  anything  which  excludes  all  symbolic 
reference  to  the  death  of  Christ,  is  to  destroy  the  ordinance,  just  as  substi- 
tuting for  the  broken  bread  and  poured  out  wine  of  the  communion  some 
form  of  administration  which  leaves  out  all  reference  to  the  death  of  Christ 
would  be  to  destroy  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  to  celebrate  an  ordinance  of 
human  invention. 

Baptism,  like  the  Fourth  of  July,  the  Passover,  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  a  historical  monu- 
ment. It  witnesses  to  the  world  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again.  In  celebrating  it,  we 
show  forth  the  Lord's  death  as  truly  as  in  the  celebration  of  the  Supper.  But  it  is  more 
than  a  historical  monument.  It  is  also  a  pictorial  expression  of  doctrine.  Into  it  are 
woven  all  the  essential  truths  of  the  Christian  scheme.  It  tells  of  the  nature  and  penalty 
of  sin,  of  human  nature  delivered  from  sin  in  the  person  of  a  crucified  and  risen  Savior, 
of  salvation  secured  for  each  human  soul  that  is  united  to  Christ,  of  obedience  to  Christ 
as  the  way  to  life  and  glory.  Thus  baptism  stands  from  age  to  age  as  a  witness  for  God 
—  a  witness  both  to  the  facts  and  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  To  change  the  form  of 
administering  the  ordinance  is  therefore  to  strike  a  blow  at  Christianity  and  at  Christ, 
and  to  defraud  the  world  of  a  part  of  God's  means  of  salvation.  See  Ebrard's  view  of 
Baptism,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  1869  :  257,  and  in  Olshausen's  Com.  on  N.  T.,  1 :  270,  and 
3  :  594. ,  Also  Lightfoot,  Com.  on  Col.,  2  :  20,  and  3:1;  A.  H.  Strong,  Baptism  of  Jesus. 

4.     The  Subjects  of  Baptism. 

The  proper  subjects  of  baptism  are  those  only  who  give  credible  evidence 
that  they  have  been  regenerated  by  the  Holy  Spirit, —  or,  in  other  words, 
have  entered  by  faith  into  the  communion  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection. 

A.  Proof  that  only  persons  giving  evidence  of  being  regenerated  are 
proper  subjects  of  baptism  : 

(a)  From  the  command  and  example  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  which 
show : 

First,  that  those  only  are  to  be  baptized  who  have  previously  been  made 
disciples. 

Mat.  28  : 19—"  Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  ;  Acts  2  :  41  — "  Then  they  that  received  his  word  were  baptized." 

Secondly,  that  those  only  are  to  be  baptized  who  have  previously  re- 
pented and  believed. 


BAPTISM.  531 

Mat.  3  : 1,  2,  6— "Repent  ye  ....  make  ye  ready  the  way  of  the  Lord  ....  and  they  were  baptized  of  him  in  the 
river  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins"  ;  Acts  2  :  37,  38— "Now  when  they  heard  this,  they  were  pricked  in  their  heart, 
and  said  unto  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  Brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?  And  Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent  ye,  and 
be  baptized  every  one  of  you  "  ;  8  : 12  — "  But  when  they  believed  Philip  preaching  good  tidings  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women"  ;  18  :  8 — "And  Crispus,  the  ruler  of 
the  synagogue,  believed  in  the  Lord  with  all  his  house ;  and  many  of  the  Corinthians  hearing  believed,  and  were  bap- 
tized" ;  19  :  4— "John  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on 
him  which  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus." 

(6)     From  the  nature  of  the  church  —  as  a  company  of  regenerate  persons. 

John  3  :  5  — "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  " ;  Rom.  6  : 13 
— "  Neither  present  your  members  unto  sin  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness ;  but  present  yourselves  unto  God,  as  alive 
from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as  instruments  of  righteousness  unto  God." 

(c)  From  the  symbolism  of  the  ordinance  —  as  declaring  a  previous 
spiritual  change  in  him  who  submits  to  it. 

Acts  10  :  47—"  Can  any  man  forbid  the  water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost 
as  well  as  we  ?  "  Rom.  6  :  2-5  — "  We  who  died  to  sin,  how  shall  we  any  longer  live  therein  ?  Or  are  ye  ignorant  that 
all  we  who  were  baptized  into  Christ  Jesus  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  We  were  buried  therefore  with  him  through 
baptism  into  death :  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk 
in  newness  of  life.  For  if  we  have  become  united  with  him  by  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  by  the  likeness 
of  his  resurrection." 

See  Dean  Stanley  on  Baptism,  24  — "  In  the  apostolic  age  and  in  the  three  centuries  which 
followed,  it  is  evident  that,  as  a  general  rule,  those  who  came  to  baptism  came  in  full 
age,  of  their  own  deliberate  choice.  The  liturgical  service  of  baptism  was  framed  for 
full-grown  converts,  and  is  only  by  considerable  adaptation  applied  to  the  case  of  in- 
fants" ;  Wayland,  Principles  and  Practices  of  Baptists,  93;  Robins,  in  Madison  Avenue 
Lectures,  136-159. 

B.  Inferences  from  the  fact  that  only  persons  giving  evidence  of  being 
regenerate  are  proper  subjects  of  baptism  : 

(a)  Since  only  those  who  give  credible  evidence  of  regeneration  are 
proper  subjects  of  baptism,  baptism  cannot  be  the  means  of  regeneration. 
It  is  the  appointed  sign,  but  is  never  the  condition,  of  the  forgiveness  of 
sins. 

Passages  like  Mat.  3  :  11,  Mark  1  :  4,  16  :  16,  John  3  :  5,  Acts  2  :  38,  22  : 
16,  Eph.  5  :  26,  Titus  3  :  5,  and  Heb.  10  :  22,  23,  are  to  be  explained  as  par- 
ticular instances  "of  the  general  fact  that,  in  Scripture  language,  a  single 
part  of  a  complex  action,  and  even  that  part  of  it  which  is  most  obvious 
to  the  senses,  is  often  mentioned  for  the  whole  of  it,  and  thus,  in  this  case, 
the  whole  of  the  solemn  transaction  is  designated  by  the  external  symbol." 
In  other  words,  the  entire  change,  internal  and  external,  spiritual  and  ritual, 
is  referred  to  in  language  belonging  strictly  only  to  the  outward  aspect  of 
it.  So  the  other  ordinance  is  referred  to  by  simply  naming  the  visible 
"breaking  of  bread,"  and  the  whole  transaction  of  the  ordination  of  minis- 
ters is  termed  the  "imposition  of  hands"  (c/.  Acts  2  :  42 ;  1  Tim.  4  :  14). 

Mat.  3  : 11— "I  indeed  baptized  you  with  water  unto  repentance"  ;  Mark  1 :  4— "the  baptism  of  repentance  unto 
remission  of  sins  "  ;  16  : 16  — "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  "  ;  John  3:5—"  Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water  and  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God"— here  Nicodemus,  who  was  familiar 
with  John's  baptism,  and  with  the  refusal  of  the  Sanhedrin  to  recognize  its  claims,  is 
told  that  the  baptism  of  water,  which  he  suspects  may  be  obligatory,  is  indeed  neces- 
sary to  that  complete  change  by  which  one  enters  outwardly,  as  well  as  inwardly,  into 
the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  he  is  taught  also,  that  to  "  be  born  of  water  "  is  worthless  unless  it 
is  the  accompaniment  and  sign  of  a  new  birth  of  "the  Spirit" ;  and  therefore,  in  the  fur- 
ther statements  of  Christ,  baptism  is  not  alluded  to ;  see  verses  6,  8— "that  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 


532  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Acts  2  :  38— "Repent  ye,  and  be  baptized unto  the  remission  of  your  sins"— on  this  passage  see  Hack- 

ett:  "The  phrase  'in  order  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins  '  we  connect  naturally  with  both 
the  preceding  verbs  ('repent'  and  'be  baptized').  The  clause  states  the  motive  or  object 
which  should  induce  them  to  repent  and  be  baptized.  It  enforces  the  entire  exhortation, 
not  one  part  to  the  exclusion  of  theother  " — i.  e.,  they  were  to  repent  for  the  remission 
of  sins,  quite  as  much  as  they  were  to  be  baptized  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Acts  22 : 16  — 
"  Arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  his  name  "  ;  Bph.  5 : 26 — "that  he  might  sanctify  it  [  the 
church  ],  having  cleansed  it  by  the  washing  of  water  with  the  word  "  ;  Tit.  3  :  5  — "  According  to  his  mercy  he  saved 
us,  through  the  washing  of  regeneration  [  baptism  ]  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  [  the  new  birth  ]  "  ! 
Heb.  10  :  22— "Having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience  [regeneration]  and  our  bodies  washed  with 
pure  water  [  baptism  ]  "  ;  cf.  Acts  2  :  42  — "  the  breaking  of  bread  " ;  1  Tim.  4  : 14  — "  the  laying  on  of  the  hands 
of  the  presbytery." 

Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick :  "  Considering  how  inseparable  they  were  in  the  Christian  pro- 
fession—believe and  be  baptized  — and  how  imperative  and  absolute  was  the  requisition 
upon  the  believer  to  testify  his  allegiance  by  baptism,  it  could  not  be  deemed  singular 
that  the  two  should  be  thus  united,  as  it  were,  in  one  complex  conception  ....  We  have 
no  more  right  to  assume  that  the  birth  from  water  involves  the  birth  from  the  Spirit, 
and  thus  do  away  with  the  one,  than  to  assume  that  the  birth  from  the  Spirit  involves 
the  birth  from  water,  and  thus  do  away  with  the  other.  We  have  got  to  have  them 
both,  each  in  its  distinctness,  in  order  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  membership  in  the 
kingdom  of  God." 

Campbellism,  however,  holds  that  instead  of  regeneration  preceding  baptism  and  ex- 
pressing itself  in  baptism,  it  is  completed  only  in  baptism,  so  that  baptism  is  a  means  of 
regeneration.  With  this  form  of  sacramentalism,  Baptists  are  necessarily  less  in  sym- 
pathy than  with  pedobaptism  or  with  sprinkling.  The  view  of  the  Disciples,  of  whom 
Alexander  Campbell  was  the  founder,  confines  the  divine  efficiency  to  the  word.  It 
was  anticipated  by  Claude  Pajon,  the  Reformed  theologian,  in  1673;  see  Dorner,  Gesch. 
Prot.  Theologie,  448-450.  That  this  was  not  the  doctrine  of  John  the  Baptist  would  ap- 
pear from  Josephus,  Ant.,  18  :  5  :  2,  who  in  speaking  of  John's  baptism  says :  "  Baptism 
appears  acceptable  to  God,  not  in  order  that  those  who  were  baptized  might  get  free 
from  certain  sins,  but  in  order  that  the  body  might  be  sanctified,  because  the  soul  be- 
forehand had  already  been  purified  through  righteousness." 

For  the  High  Church  view,  see  Sadler,  Church  Doctrine,  41-124.  On  F.  W.  Robertson's 
view  of  Baptismal  Regeneration,  see  Gordon,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1869  : 405.  On  the  whole 
matter  of  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins,  see  Willmarth,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1877  : 1-26 
( verging  toward  the  Disciple  view ) ;  and,  per  contra,  see  Bap.  Quar.,  1877  :  476-489 ;  1872  : 
214;  Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  N.  T.,  255,  256. 

(6)  As  the  profession  of  a  spiritual  change  already  wrought,  baptism  is 
primarily  the  act,  not  of  the  administrator,  but  of  the  person  baptized. 

Upon  the  person  newly  regenerate  the  command  of  Christ  first  ter- 
minates ;  only  upon  his  giving  evidence  of  the  change  within  him  does  it 
become  the  duty  of  the  church  to  see  that  he  has  opportunity  to  follow 
Christ  in  baptism.  Since  baptism  is  primarily  the  act  of  the  convert,  no 
lack  of  qualification  on  the  part  of  the  administrator  invalidates  the  bap- 
tism, so  long  as  the  proper  outward  act  is  performed,  with  intent  on  the 
part  of  the  person  baptized  to  express  the  fact  of  a  preceding  spiritual  re- 
newal (Acts  2  :  37,  38). 

Acts  2  :  37,  38— "Brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ? Repent  ye  and  be  baptized."    If  baptism  be  primarily 

the  act  of  the  administrator  or  of  the  church,  then  invalidity  in  the  administrator  or 
the  church  renders  the  ordinance  itself  invalid.  But  if  baptism  be  primarily  the  act  of 
the  person  baptized  —  an  act  which  it  is  the  church's  business  simply  to  scrutinize  and  fur- 
ther, then  nothing  but  the  absence  of  immersion,  or  of  an  intent  to  profess  faith  in  Christ, 
can  invalidate  the  ordinance.  It  is  the  erroneous  view  that  baptism  is  the  act  of  the 
administrator  which  causes  the  anxiety  of  High  Church  Baptists  to  deduce  their  Baptist 
lineage  from  regularly  baptized  ministers  all  the  way  back  to  John  the  Baptist,  and 
which  induces  many  modern  endeavors  of  pedobaptists  to  prove  that  the  earliest  Bap- 
tists of  England  and  the  Continent  did  not  immerse.  All  these  solicitudes  are  unneces- 
sary. We  have  no  need  to  prove  a  Baptist  apostolical  succession.  If  we  can  derive  our 
doctrine  and  practice  from  the  New  Testament,  it  is  all  we  require. 


BAPTISM.  533 

(c)  As  intrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  ordinances,  however,  the 
church  is,  on  its  part,  to  require  of  all  candidates  for  baptism  credible  evi- 
dence of  regeneration. 

This  follows  from  the  nature  of  the  church  and  its  duty  to  maintain  its 
own  existence  as  an  institution  of  Christ.  The  church  which  cannot  restrict 
admission  to  its  membership  to  such  as  are  like  itself  in  character  and  aims 
must  soon  cease  to  be  a  church  by  becoming  indistinguishable  from  the 
world.  The  duty  of  the  church  to  gain  credible  evidence  of  regeneration 
in  the  case  of  every  person  admitted  to  the  body  involves  its  right  to  re- 
quire of  candidates,  in  addition  to  a  profession  of  faith  with  the  lips,  some 
satisfactory  proof  that  this  profession  is  accompanied  by  change  in  the  con- 
duct. The  kind  and  amount  of  evidence  which  would  have  justified  the 
reception  of  a  candidate  in  times  of  persecution  may  not  now  constitute  a 
sufficient  proof  of  change  of  heart. 

If  an  Odd  Fellows'  Lodge,  in  order  to  preserve  its  distinct  existence,  must  have  its 
own  rules  for  admission  to  membership,  much  more  is  this  true  of  the  church.  The 
church  may  make  its  own  regulations  with  a  view  to  secure  credible  evidence  of  regen- 
eration. Yet  it  is  bound  to  demand  of  the  candidate  no  more  than  reasonable  proof  of 
his  repentance  and  faith.  Since  the  church  is  to  be  convinced  of  the  candidate's  fitness 
before  it  votes  to  receive  him  to  its  membership,  it  is  generally  best  that  the  experience 
of  the  candidate  should  be  related  before  the  church.  Yet  in  extreme  cases,  as  of  sick- 
ness, the  church  may  hear  this  relation  of  experience  through  certain  appointed  repre- 
sentatives. 

Baptism  is  sometimes  figuratively  described  as  "the  door  into  the  church."  The 
phrase  is  unfortunate,  since,  if  by  the  church  is  meant  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God, 
then  Christ  is  its  only  door ;  if  the  local  body  of  believers  is  meant,  then  the  faith  of  the 
candidate,  the  credible  evidence  of  regeneration  which  he  gives,  the  vote  of  the  church 
itself,  are  all,  equally  with  baptism,  the  door  through  which  he  enters.  The  door,  in 
this  sense,  is  a  double  door,  one  part  of  which  is  his  confession  of  faith,  and  the  other 
his  baptism. 

(d)  As  the  outward  expression  of  the  inward  change  by  which  the  be- 
liever enters  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  baptism  is  the  first,  in  point  of  time, 
of  all  outward  duties. 

Regeneration  and  baptism,  although  not  holding  to  each  other  the  relation 
of  effect  and  cause,  are  both  regarded  in  the  New  Testament  as  essential  to 
the  restoration  of  man's  right  relations  to  God  and  to  his  people.  They 
properly  constitute  parts  of  one  whole,  and  are  not  to  be  unnecessarily  sepa- 
rated. Baptism  should  follow  regeneration  with  the  least  possible  delay, 
after  the  candidate  and  the  church  have  gained  evidence  that  a  spiritual 
change  has  been  accomplished  within  him.  No  other  duty  and  no  other 
ordinance  can  properly  precede  it. 

Neither  the  pastor  nor  the  church  should  encourage  the  convert  to  wait  for  others' 
company  before  being  baptized.  We  should  aim  continually  to  deepen  the  sense  of 
individual  responsibility  to  Christ,  and  of  personal  duty  to  obey  his  command  of  baptism 
just  so  soon  as  a  proper  opportunity  is  afforded.  That  participation  in  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per cannot  properly  precede  baptism,  will  be  shown  hereafter. 

(e)  Since  regeneration  is  a  work  accomplished  once  for  all,  the  baptism 
which  symbolizes  this  regeneration  is  not  to  be  repeated. 

Even  where  the  persuasion  exists,  on  the  part  of  the  candidate,  that  at  the 
time  of  baptism  he  was  mistaken  in  thinking  himself  regenerated,  the  ordi- 
nance is  not  to  be  administered  again,  so  long  as  it  has  once  been  submitted 
to,  with  honest  intent,  as  a  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  We  argue  this 


534  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

from  the  absence  of  any  reference  to  second  baptisms  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  from  the  grave  practical  difficulties  attending  the  opposite  view. 
In  Acts  19  :  1-5,  we  have  an  instance,  not  of  rebaptism,  but  of  the  baptism 
for  the  first  time  of  certain  persons  who  had  been  wrongly  taught  with  re- 
gard to  the  nature  of  John  the  Baptist's  doctrine,  and  so  had  ignorantly 
submitted  to  an  outward  rite  which  had  in  it  no  reference  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  expressed  no  faith  in  him  as  a  Savior.  This  was  not  John's  baptism, 
nor  was  it  in  any  sense  true  baptism.  For  this  reason  Paul  commanded 
them  to  be  "baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

In  the  respect  of  not  being  repeated,  Baptism  is  unlike  the  Lord's  Supper,  which 
symbolizes  the  continuous  sustaining-  power  of  Christ's  death,  while  baptism  symbolizes 
its  power  to  begin  a  new  life  within  the  soul.  In  Acts  19 : 1-5,  Paul  instructs  the  new 
disciples  that  the  real  baptism  of  John,  to  which  they  erroneously  supposed  they  had 
submitted,  was  not  only  a  baptism  of  repentance,  but  a  baptism  of  faith  in  the  coming- 
Savior.  "And  when  they  heard  this  they  were  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus" — as  they  had  not 
been  before.  Here  there  was  no  rebaptism,  for  the  mere  outward  submersion  in  water 
to  which  they  had  previously  submitted,  with  no  thought  of  professing  faith  in  Christ, 
was  no  baptism  at  all  —  whether  Johannine  or  Christian.  See  Brooks,  in  Baptist  Quar- 
terly, April,  1867,  art. :  Rebaptism. 

Whenever  it  is  clear,  as  in  many  cases  of  Campbellite  immersion,  that  the  candidate 
has  gone  down  into  the  water,  not  with  intent  to  profess  a  previously  existing  faith,  but 
in  order  to  be  regenerated,  baptism  is  still  to  be  administered  if  the  person  subsequently 
believes  on  Christ.  But  wherever  it  appears  that  there  was  intent  to  profess  an  already 
existing  faith  and  regeneration,  there  should  be  no  repetition  of  the  immersion,  even 
though  the  ordinance  had  been  administered  by  the  Campbellites. 

To  rebaptize  whenever  a  Christian's  faith  and  joy  are  rekindled  so  that  he  begins  to 
doubt  the  reality  of  his  early  experiences,  would,  in  the  case  of  many  fickle  believers, 
require  many  repetitions  of  the  ordinance.  The  presumption  is  that,  when  the  profes- 
sion of  faith  Avas  made  by  baptism,  there  was  an  actual  faith  which  needed  to  be  pro- 
fessed, and  therefore  that  the  baptism,  though  followed  by  much  unbelief  and  many 
wanderings,  was  a  valid  one.  Rebaptism,  in  the  case  of  unstable  Christians,  tends  to 
bring  reproach  upon  the  ordinance  itself. 

(/)  So  long  as  the  mode  and  the  subjects  are  such  as  Christ  has  en- 
.  joined,  mere  accessories  are  matters  of  individual  judgment. 

The  use  of  natural  rather  than  of  artificial  baptisteries  is  not  to  be  elevated 
into  an  essential.  The  formula  of  baptism  prescribed  by  Christ  is  "into 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. " 

Mat.  28  : 19  — " baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  ;  cf.  Acts  8  : 16 
— "  They  had  been  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  "  ;  Rom.  6  :  3  — "  Or  are  ye  ignorant  that  all  we  who  were 
baptized  into  Christ  Jesus  were  baptized  into  his  death  ?  "  Gal.  3  :  27— "For  as  many  of  you  as  were  baptized  into 
Christ  did  put  on  Christ."  Baptism  is  immersion  into  God,  into  the  presence,  communion,  life 
of  the  Trinity ;  see  Com.  of  Clark,  and  of  Lange,  on  Mat.  28  : 19 ;  also  C.  E.  Smith,  in  Bap. 
Rev.,  1881:305-311.  President  Wayland  and  the  Revised  Version  read,  "into  the  name." 
Per  contra,  see  Meyer  ( transl.,  1 :  281,  note )  on  Rom.  6:3;  c/.  Mat.  10  :  41 ;  18  :  20 ;  in  all  which 
passages,  as  well  as  in  Mat.  28  : 19,  he  claims  that  ei?  rb  ovo^a  signifies  "with  reference  to 
the  name."  In  Acts  2  :  38,  and  10  :  48,  we  have  "in  the  name."  For  the  latter  translation  of  Mat. 
28  : 19,  see  Conant,  Notes  on  Mat.,  171.  On  the  whole  subject  of  this  section,  see  Dagg, 
Church  Order,  13-73 ;  Ingham,  Subjects  of  Baptism. 

C.     Infant  Baptism. 

This  we  reject  and  reprehend,  for  the  following  reasons  : 

(a)  Infant  baptism  is  without  warrant,  either  express  or  implied,  in  the 
Scripture. 

First, —  there  is  no  express  command  that  infants  should  be  baptized. 


BAPTISM.  535 

Secondly, — there  is  no  clear  example  of  the  baptism  of  infants.  Thirdly, — 
the  passages  held  to  imply  infant  baptism  contain,  when  fairly  interpreted, 
no  reference  to  such  a  practice.  In  Mat.  19  :  14,  none  would  have  '  forbid- 
den,' if  Jesus  and  his  disciples  had  been  in  the  habit  of  baptizing  infants. 
From  Acts  16  :  15,  cf.  40,  and  Acts  16  :  33,  cf.  34,  Neander  says  that  we 
cannot  infer  infant  baptism.  For  1  Cor.  16 :  15  shows  that  the  whole 
family  of  Stephanas,  baptized  by  Paul,  were  adults  ( 1  Cor.  1  :  16  ).  It  is 
impossible  to  suppose  a  whole  heathen  household  baptized  upon  the  faith  of 
its  head.  As  to  1  Cor.  7  :  14,  Jacobi  calls  this  text  "  a  sure  testimony 
against  infant  baptism,  since  Paul  would  certainly  have  referred  to  the  bap- 
tism of  children  as  a  proof  of  their  holiness,  if  infant  baptism  had  been 
practiced."  Moreover,  this  passage  would  in  that  case  equally  teach  the 
baptism  of  the  unconverted  husband  of  a  believing  wife.  It  plainly  proves 
that  the  children  of  Christian  parents  were  no  more  baptized,  and  had  no 
closer  connection  with  the  Christian  church,  than  the  unbelieving  partners 
of  Christians. 

Mat.  19  : 14  — "  Suffer  the  little  children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me ;  for  to  such  belongeth  the  kingdom  of 
heaven";  Acts  16:15— "And  when  she  [Lydia]  was  baptized,  and  her  household";  cf.  40  — " And  they  went 
out  of  the  prison,  and  entered  into  the  house  of  Lydia :  and  when  they  had  seen  the  brethren,  they  comforted  them,  and 
departed."  Acts  16  :  33— The  jailor  "was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  immediately";  cf.  34— "And  he  brought 
them  up  into  his  house,  and  set  meat  before  them,  and  rejoiced  greatly,  with  all  his  house,  having  believed  in  God  " ; 
1  Cor.  16  : 15— "Ye  know  the  house  of  Stephanas,  that  it  is  the  first-fruits  of  Achaia,  and  that  they  have  set  themselves 
to  minister  unto  the  saints  "  ;  1  : 16  — "  And  I  baptized  also  the  household  of  Stephanas "  ;  7  : 14  — "  For  the  unbelieving 
husband  is  sanctified  in  the  wife,  and  the  unbelieving  wife  is  sanctified  in  the  husband :  else  were  your  children  unclean ; 
but  now  are  they  holy"— here  the  sanctity  or  holiness  attributed  to  unbelieving  members  of 
the  household  is  evidently  that  of  external  connection  and  privilege,  like  that  of  the 
O.  T.  Israel. 

A  review  of  the  passages  held  by  pedobaptists  to  support  their  views  leads  us  to  the 
conclusion  expressed  in  the  North  British  Review,  Aug.,  1852  :  211,  that  infant  baptism  is 
utterly  unknown  to  Scripture.  See  also  Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  N.  T.,  270-275 ;  Neander's 
view,  in  Kitto,  Bib.  Cyclop.,  art. :  Baptism  ;  Kendrick,  in  Christian  Rev.,  April,  1863 ; 
Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  96 ;  Wayland,  Principles  and  Practices  of  Bap- 
tists, ]25  ;  Cunningham,  lect.  on  Baptism,  in  Croall  Lectures  for  1886. 

(b)     Infant  baptism  is  expressly  contradicted  : 

First, —  by  the  Scriptural  prerequisites  of  faith  and  repentance,  as  signs 
•of  regeneration.  In  the  great  commission,  Matthew  speaks  of  baptizing 
disciples,  and  Mark  of  baptizing  believers  ;  but  infants  are  neither  of  these. 
Secondly, —  by  the  Scriptural  symbolism  of  the  ordinance.  As  we  should 
not  bury  a  person  before  his  death,  so  we  should  not  symbolically  bury  a 
person  by  baptism  until  he  has  in  spirit  died  to  sin.  Thirdly, — by  the 
Scriptural  constitution  of  the  church.  The  church  is  a  company  of  persons 
whose  union  with  one  another  presupposes  and  expresses  a  previous  con- 
scious and  voluntary  union  of  each  with  Jesus  Christ.  But  of  this  con- 
scious and  voluntary  union  with  Christ  infants  are  not  capable.  Fourthly, 
—  by  the  Scriptural  prerequisites  for  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper  is  the  right  only  of  those  who  can  "  dis- 
cern the  Lord's  body"  (1  Cor.  11  :  29).  No  reason  can  be  assigned  for 
restricting  to  intelligent  communicants  the  ordinance  of  the  Supper,  which 
would  not  equally  restrict  to  intelligent  believers  the  ordinance  of  Baptism. 

Infant  baptism  has  accordingly  led  in  the  Greek  church  to  infant  communion.  This 
course  seems  logically  consistent.  If  baptism  is  administered  to  unconscious  babes, 
they  should  participate  in  the  Lord's  Supper  also.  But  if  confirmation  or  any  intelli- 


536  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

gent  profession  of  faith  is  thought  necessary  before  communion,  why  should  not  such 
confirmation  or  profession  be  thought  necessary  before  baptism?  On  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  the  Halfway  Covenant,  see  New  Englander,  Sept.,  1884  :  601-614. 

(c)  The  rise  of  infant  baptism  in  the  history  of  the  church  is  due  to  sac- 
ramental conceptions  of  Christianity,   so  that  all  arguments  in  its  favor 
from  the  writings  of  the  first  three  centuries  are  equally  arguments  for  bap- 
tismal regeneration. 

Neander's  view  may  be  found  in  Kitto,  Encyc.,  1 :  287  — "  Infant  baptism  was  established 
neither  by  Christ  nor  by  his  apostles.  Even  in  later  times  Tertullian  opposed  it,  the 
North  African  church  holding  to  the  old  practice."  The  newly  discovered  Teaching  of 
the  Apostles,  which  Bryennios  puts  at  140-160  A.  D.,  and  Lightfoot  at  80-110  A.  D.,  seems 
to  know  nothing  of  infant  baptism. 

Prof.  A.  H.  Newman,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1884—"  Infant  baptism  has  always  gone  hand 
in  hand  with  State  churches.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  an  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ment could  be  maintained  without  infant  baptism  or  its  equivalent.  We  should  think, 
if  the  facts  did  not  show  us  so  plainly  the  contrary,  that  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith  alone  would  displace  infant  baptism.  But  no.  The  establishment  must  be  main- 
tained. The  rejection  of  infant  baptism  implies  insistence  upon  a  baptism  of  believers. 
Only  the  baptized  are  properly  members  of  the  church.  Even  adults  would  not  all 
receive  baptism  on  professed  faith,  unless  they  were  actually  compelled  to  do  so.  Infant 
baptism  must  therefore  be  retained  as  the  necessary  concomitant  of  a  State  church. 

"  But  what  becomes  of  the  justification  by  faith  ?  Baptism,  if  it  symbolizes  anything, 
symbolizes  regeneration.  It  would  be  ridiculous  to  make  the  symbol  to  forerun  the 
fact  by  a  series  of  years.  Luther  saw  the  difficulty ;  but  he  was  sufficient  for  the  emer- 
gency. 'Yes,'  said  he,  'justification  is  by  faith  alone.  No  outward  rite,  apart  from 
faith,  has  any  efficacy.'  Why,  it  was  against  opera  operata  that  he  was  laying  out  all 
his  strength.  Yet  baptism  is  the  symbol  of  regeneration,  and  baptism  must  be  admin- 
istered to  infants,  or  the  State  church  falls.  With  an  audacity  truly  sublime,  the  great 
reformer  declares  that  infants  are  regenerated  in  connection  with  baptism,  and  that 
they  are  simultaneously  justified  by  personal  faith.  An  infant  eight  days  old  believe  ? 
'  Prove  the  contrary  if  you  can ! '  triumphantly  ejaculates  Luther,  and  his  point  is 
gained.  If  this  kind  of  personal  faith  is  said  to  justify  infants,  is  it  wonderful  that 
those  of  maturer  years  learned  to  take  a  somewhat  superficial  view  of  the  faith  that 
justifies?" 

See  Christian  Review,  Jan.,  1851;  Neander,  Church  History,  1:811,  313;  Coleman, 
Christian  Antiquities,  258-360 ;  Arnold,  in  Bap.  Quarterly,  1869  : 32 ;  Hovey,  in  Baptist 
Quarterly,  1871 :  75. 

(d)  The  reasoning  by  which  it  is  supported  is  unscriptural,  unsound,  and 
dangerous  in  its  tendency  : 

First, — in  assuming  the  power  of  the  church  to  modify  or  abrogate  a 
command  of  Christ.  This  has  been  sufficiently  answered  above.  Secondly, 
—  in  maintaining  that  infant  baptism  takes  the  place  of  circumcision  under 
the  Abrahamic  covenant.  To  this  we  reply  that  the  view  contradicts  the 
New  Testament  idea  of  the  church,  by  making  it  a  hereditary  body,  in 
which  fleshly  birth,  and  not  the  new  birth,  qualifies  for  membership.  "  As 
the  national  Israel  typified  the  spiritual  Israel,  so  the  circumcision  which 
immediately  followed,  not  preceded,  natural  birth,  bids  us  baptize  children, 
not  before,  but  after  spiritual  birth."  Thirdly, — in  declaring  that  baptism 
belongs  to  the  infant  because  of  an  organic  connection  of  the  child  with  the 
parent,  which  permits  the  latter  to  stand  for  the  former  and  to  make  pro- 
fession of  faith  for  it, —  faith  already  existing  germinally  in  the  child  by 
virtue  of  this  organic  union,  and  certain  for  this  same  reason  to  be  devel- 
oped as  the  child  grows  to  maturity.  "A  law  of  organic  connection  as 
regards  character  subsisting  between  the  parent  and  the  child, —  such  a  con- 


BAPTISM.  537 

iiection  as  induces  the  conviction  that  the  character  of  the  one  is  actually 
included  in  the  character  of  the  other,  as  the  seed  is  formed  in  the  capsule. " 
We  object  to  this  view  that  it  unwarrantably  confounds  the  personality  of 
the  child  with  that  of  the  parent ;  practically  ignores  the  necessity  of  the 
Holy  Spirit's  regenerating  influences  in  the  case  of  children  of  Christian 
parents ;  and  presumes  in  such  children  a  gracious  state  which  facts  con- 
clusively show  not  to  exist. 

On  the  theory  that  baptism  takes  the  place  of  circumcision,  see  Pepper,  Baptist  Quar- 
terly, April,  1857 ;  Palmer,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  1871  : 314.  The  Christian  Church  is 
either  a  natural,  hereditary  body,  or  it  was  merely  typified  by  the  Jewish  people.  In 
the  former  case,  baptism  belongs  to  all  children  of  Christian  parents,  and  the  church  is 
indistinguishable  from  the  world.  In  the  latter  case,  it  belongs  only  to  spiritual 
descendants,  and  therefore  only  to  true  believers.  "  That  Jewish  Christians,  who  of 
course  had  been  circumcised,,  were  also  baptized,  and  that  a  large  number  of  them  in- 
sisted that  Gentiles  who  had  been  baptized  should  also  be  circumcised,  shows  conclu- 
sively that  baptism  did  not  take  the  place  of  circumcision The  notion  that  the 

family  is  the  unit  of  society  is  a  relic  of  barbarism.  This  appears  in  the  Roman  law, 
which  was  good  for  property  but  not  for  persons.  It  left  none  but  a  servile  station  to 
wife  or  son,  thus  degrading  society  at  the  fountain  of  family  life.  To  gain  freedom, 
the  Roman  wife  had  to  accept  a  form  of  marriage  which  opened  the  way  for  unlimited 
liberty  of  divorce." 

Prof.  Moses  Stuart  urged  that  the  form  of  baptism  was  immaterial,  but  that  the 
temper  of  heart  was  the  thing  of  moment.  Francis  Way  land,  then  a  student  of  his, 
asked  :  "  If  such  is  the  case,  with  what  propriety  can  baptism  be  administered  to  those 
who  cannot  be  supposed  to  exercise  any  temper  of  heart  at  all,  and  with  whom  the  form 
must  be  everything?  " — The  third  theory  of  organic  connection  of  the  child  with  its 
parents  is  elaborated  by  Bushnell,  in  his  Christian  Nurture,  90-223.  Per  contra,  see  Bun- 
sen,  Hippolytus  and  his  Times,  179,  211 ;  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  262. 
Hezekiah's  son  Manasseh  was  not  godly ;  and  it  would  be  rash  to  say  that  all  the 
drunkard's  children  are  presumptively  drunkards. 

(e)  The  lack  of  agreement  among  pedobaptists  as  to  the  warrant  for 
infant  baptism  and  as  to  the  relation  of  baptized  infants  to  the  church,  to- 
gether with  the  manifest  decline  of  the  practice  itself,  are  arguments 
against  it. 

The  propriety  of  infant  baptism  is  variously  argued,  says  Dr.  Bushnell, 
upon  the  ground  of  "natural  innocence,  inherited  depravity,  and  federal 
holiness  ;  because  of  the  infant's  own  character,  the  parents'  piety,  and  the 
church's  faith  ;  for  the  reason  that  the  child  is  an  heir  of  salvation  already, 

and  in  order  to  make  it  such No  settled  opinion  on  infant  baptism 

and  on  Christian  nurture  has  ever  been  attained  to." 

Bushnell,  Christian  Nurture,  9-89,  denies  original  sin,  denies  that  hereditary  connec- 
tion can  make  a  child  guilty.  But  he  seems  to  teach  transmitted  righteousness,  or  that 
hereditary  connection  can  make  a  child  holy.  He  disparages  "sensible  experiences" 
and  calls  them  "  explosive  conversions."  But  because  we  do  not  know  the  time  of  con- 
version, shall  we  say  that  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  child  experienced  God's 
grace  ?  See  Bib.  Sac.,  1872  :  665. 

On  the  Decline  of  Infant  Baptism,  see  Vedder,  in  Baptist  Review,  April,  1882  : 173-189, 
who  shows  that  in  fifty  years  past  the  proportion  of  infant  baptisms  to  communicants 
has  decreased  from  one  in  seven  to  one  in  eleven  ;  among  the  Reformed,  from  one  in 
twelve  to  one  in  twenty ;  among  the  Presbyterians,  from  one  in  fifteen  to  one  in 
thirty-three ;  among  the  Methodists,  from  one  in  twenty-two  to  one  in  twenty-nine ; 
among  the  Congregationalists,  from  one  in  fifty  to  one  in  seventy-seven. 

(/)     The  evil  effects  of  infant  baptism  are  a  strong  argument  against  it : 

First, —  in  forestalling  the  voluntary  act  of  the  child  baptized,  and  thus 
practically  preventing  his  personal  obedience  to  Christ's  commands. 


-538  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHURCH. 

The  person  baptized  in  infancy  has  never  performed  any  act  with  intent  to  obey 
Christ's  command  to  be  baptized,  never  has  put  forth  a  single  volition  looking-  toward 
obedience  to  that  command ;  see  Wilkinson,  The  Baptist  Principle,  40-46. 

Secondly, —  in  inducing  superstitious  confidence  in  an  outward  rite  as 
possessed  of  regenerating  efficacy. 

French  peasants  still  regard  infants  before  baptism  as  only  animals  ( Stanley ).  The 
haste  with  which  the  minister  is  summoned  to  baptize  the  dying  child  shows  that  super- 
stition still  lingers  in  many  an  otherwise  evangelical  family  in  our  own  country.  The 
English  Prayerbook  declares  that  in  baptism  the  infant  is  "  made  a  child  of  God  and 
an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Even  the  Westminster  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism, 28  :  6,  holds  that  grace  is  actually  conferred  in  baptism,  though  the  efficacy  of  it 
is  delayed  till  riper  years.  Mercersburg  Review :  "  The  objective  medium  or  instru- 
mental cause  of  regeneration  is  baptism.  Men  are  not  regenerated  outside  the  church 
and  then  brought  into  it  for  preservation,  but  they  are  regenerated  by  being  incorpo- 
rated with  or  engrafted  into  the  church  through  the  sacrament  of  baptism."  Catholic 
Review :  "  Unbaptized,  these  little  ones  go  into  darkness ;  but  baptized,  they  rejoice 
in  the  presence  of  God  forever." 

Thirdly, —  in  obscuring  and  corrupting  Christian  truth  with  regard  to  the 
sufficiency  of  Scripture,  the  connection  of  the  ordinances,  and  the  incon- 
sistency of  an  impenitent  life  with  church-membership. 

Infant  baptism  in  England  is  followed  by  confirmation  as  a  matter  of  course,  whether 
there  has  been  any  conscious  abandonment  of  sin  or  not.  In  Germany,  a  man  is  always 
understood  to  be  a  Christian  unless  he  expressly  states  to  the  contrary —in  fact,  he  feels 
insulted  if  his  Christianity  is  questioned.  At  the  funerals  even  of  infidels  and  debau- 
chees the  pall  used  may  be  inscribed  with  the  words :  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die 
in  the  Lord."  Confidence  in  one's  Christianity  and  hopes  of  heaven  based  only  on  the 
fact  of  baptism  in  infancy,  are  a  great  obstacle  to  evangelical  preaching  and  to  the 
progress  of  true  religion. 

Fourthly, —  in  destroying  the  church  as  a  spiritual  body,  by  merging  it  in 
the  nation  and  the  world. 

Ladd,  Principles  of  Church  Polity :  "  Unitarianism  entered  the  Congregational 
ohurches  of  New  England  through  the  breach  in  one  of  their  own  avowed  and  most 
important  tenets,  namely,  that  of  a  regenerate  church-membership.  Formalism,  in- 
differentism,  neglect  of  moral  reforms,  and,  as  both  cause  and  results  of  these,  an 
abundance  of  unrenewed  men  and  women,  were  the  causes  of  their  seeming  disasters 
in  that  sad  epoch."  But  we  would  add,  that  the  serious  and  alarming  decline  of  religion 
which  culminated  in  the  Unitarian  movement  in  New  England  had  its  origin  in  infant 
baptism.  This  introduced  into  the  church  a  multitude  of  unregenerate  persons  and 
permitted  them  to  determine  i£s  doctrinal  position. 

Fifthly, —  in  putting  into  the  place  of  Christ's  command  a  commandment 
of  men,  and  so  admitting  the  essential  principle  of  all  heresy,  schism,  and 
false  religion. 

There  is  therefore  no  logical  halting-place  between  the  Baptist  and  the  Romanist 
positions.  The  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  Hughes  of  New  York,  said  well  to  a  Pres- 
byterian minister :  "  We  have  no  controversy  with  you.  Our  controversy  is  with  the 
Baptists."  The  greatest  work  favoring  the  doctrine  which  we  here  condemn  is  Wall's 
History  of  Infant  Baptism.  For  the  Baptist  side  of  the  controversy  see  Arnold,  in 
Madison  Avenue  Lectures,  160-182;  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  274,  275; 
Dagg,  Church  Order,  144-202. 

II.     THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

t 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  that  outward  rite  in  which  the  assembled  church 
eats  bread  broken  and  drinks  wine  poured  forth  by  its  appointed  represen- 
tative, in  token  of  its  constant  dependence  on  the  once  crucified,  now  risen 


THE  LOKD'S  SUPPER.  539 

Savior,  as  source  of  its  spiritual  life ;  or,  in  other  words,  in  token  of  that 
abiding  communion  of  Christ's  death  and  resurrection  through  which  the 
life  begun  in  regeneration  is  sustained  and  perfected. 

On  the  Lord's  Supper  in  general,  see  Western,  in  Madison  Avenue  Lectures,  183-195 ; 
Dagg,  Church  Order,  303-214. 

1.  The  Lord's  Supper  an  Ordinance  instituted  by  Christ. 

(a)  Christ  appointed  an  outward  rite  to  be  observed  by  his  disciples  in 
remembrance  of  his  death.  It  was  to  be  observed  after  his  death  ;  only 
after  his  death  could  it  completely  fulfil  its  purpose  as  a  feast  of  commem- 
oration. 

Luke  22  : 19  — "  And  he  took  bread,  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  gave  to  them,  saying,  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  And  the  cup  in  like  manner  after  supper,  saying,  This  cup 
is  the  new  covenant  in  my  blood,  even  that  which  is  poured  out  for  you"  ;  1  Cor.  11 :  23-25 — "For  I  received  of  the 
Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  how  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  took  bread ;  and 
when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it,  and  said,  This  is  my  body,  which  is  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  In 
like  manner  the  cup,  after  supper,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  new  covenant  in  my  blood :  this  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in 
remembrance  of  me."  Observe  that  this  communion  was  Christian  communion  before  Christ's 
death,  just  as  John's  baptism  was  Christian  baptism  before  Christ's  death. 

(6)  From  the  apostolic  injunction  with  regard  to  its  celebration  in  the 
church  until  Christ's  second  coming,  we  infer  that  it  was  the  original  inten- 
tion of  our  Lord  to  institute  a  rite  of  perpetual  and  universal  obligation. 

1  Cor.  11  :  26 — "For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  the  cup,  ye  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come"  ; 
c/.  Mat.  26  :  29— "But  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I 
drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom  "  ;  Mark  14  :  25  — "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  I  will  no  more  drink  of  the 
fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  in  the  kingdom  of  God." 

(c)  The  uniform  practice  of  the  N.  T.  churches,  and  the  celebration  of 
such  a  rite  in  subsequent  ages  by  almost  all  churches  professing  to  be  Chris- 
tian, is  best  explained  upon  the  supposition  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  an 
ordinance  established  by  Christ  himself. 

Acts  2  :  42—"  And  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the  apostles'  teaching  and  fellowship,  in  the  breaking  of  bread  and  the 
prayers"  ;  46 — "And  day  by  day,  continuing  stedfastly  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  at  home, 
they  did  take  their  food  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart"— on  the  words  hei-e  translated  "at  home" 
{KO.T'  O!KOI/),  but  meaning:,  as  Jacob  maintains,  "  from  one  worship-room  to  another,"  see 
page  540,  ( e ).  Acts  20  :  7  — "  And  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread, 
Paul  discoursed  with  them"  ;  1  Cor.  10  : 16— "The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  tyess,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ?  seeing  that  we,  who  are  many,  are 
•one  bread,  one  body:  for  we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread." 

2.  The  Mode  of  Administering  the  Lord's  Supper. 

(a)     The  elements  are  bread  and  wine. 

Although  the  bread  which  Jesus  broke  at  the  institution  of  the  ordinance  was  doubt- 
less the  unleavened  bread  of  the  Passover,  there  is  nothing  in  the  symbolism  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  which  necessitates  the  Romanist  use  of  the  wafer.  Although  the  wine 
which  Jesus  poured  out  was  doubtless  the  ordinary  fermented  juice  of  the  grape,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  symbolism  of  the  ordinance  which  forbids  the  use  of  unfermented 
juice  of  the  grape.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  to  be  regarded  as  essential  to  the 
validity  of  the  ordinance.  Cider,  milk,  or  even  water,  may  be  substituted  for  wine,  when 
this  latter  is  not  to  be  obtained,  just  as  dried  fish  is  substituted  for  bread  in  Iceland. 

Adoniram  Judson,  however  (Life,  by  his  Son,  352),  writes  from  Burmah :  "  No  wine 
to  be  procured  in  this  place,  on  which  account  we  are  unable  to  meet  with  the  other 
churches  this  day  in  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper."  For  proof  that  Bible  wines,  like 
all  other  wines,  are  fermented,  see  Presb.  Rev.,  1881 :  80-114 ;  1882  :  78-108,  394-399,  586. 


540  ECCLESIOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Per  contra,  see  Samson,  Bible  Wines.    On  the  Scripture  Law  of  Temperance,  see  Presb, 
Rev.,  1882  : 287-324. 

(6)     The  communion  is  of  both  kinds, — that  is,  communicants  are  to 
partake  both  of  the  bread  and  of  the  wine. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  withholds  the  wine  from  the  laity,  although  it  considers 
the  whole  Christ  to  be  present  under  each  of  the  forms.  Christ,  however,  says :  "  Drink 
ye  all  of  it "  ( Mat.  26  :  27 ).  To  withhold  the  wine  from  any  believer  is  disobedience  to  Christ, 
and  is  too  easily  understood  as  teaching-  that  the  laity  have  only  a  portion  of  the  benefits 
of  Christ's  death.  Calvin :  "  As  to  the  bread,  he  simply  said  '  Take,  eat.'  Why  does  he 
expressly  bid  them  all  drink  ?  And  why  does  Mark  explicitly  say  that '  they  all  drank  of  it ' 
(Mark  14  :  23)  ?  "  Bengel :  Does  not  this  suggest  that,  if  communion  in  "  one  kind  alone 
were  sufficient,  it  is  the  cup  which  should  be  used?  The  Scripture  thus  speaks,  foresee- 
ing what  Rome  would  do." 

(c)  The  partaking  of  these  elements  is  of  a  festal  nature. 

The  Passover  was  festal  in  its  nature.  Gloom  and  sadness  are  foreign  to  the  spirit  of 
the  ordinance.  The  wine  is  the  symbol  of  the  death  of  Christ,  but  of  that  death  by 
which  we  live.  It  reminds  us  that  he  drank  the  cup  of  suffering  in  order  that  we  might 
drink  the  wine  of  joy.  As  the  bread  is  broken  to  sustain  our  physical  life,  so  Christ's 
body  was  broken  by  thorns  and  nails  and  spear  to  nourish  our  spiritual  life. 

1  Cor.  11 :  29— "For  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh,  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment  unto  himself,  if  he  discern  not  the 
body."  Here  the  authorized  version  wrongly  had  "  damnation  "  instead  of  "judgment."  Not 
eternal  condemnation,  but  penal  judgment  in  general,  is  meant.  He  who  partakes  "in 
an  unworthy  manner"  (verse  27),  i.  e.,  in  hypocrisy,  or  merely  to  satisfy  bodily  appetites,  and 
not  discerning  the  body  of  Christ  of  which  the  bread  is  the  symbol  (verse  29),  draws 
down  upon  him  God's  judicial  sentence.  Of  this  judgment,  the  frequent  sickness  and 
death  in  the  church  at  Corinth  was  a  token.  See  verses  30-34,  and  Meyer's  Com. 

(d)  The  commnnion  is  a  festival  of  commemoration, —  not  simply  bring- 
ing Christ  to  our  remembrance,  but  making  proclamation  of  his  death  to 
the  world. 

1  Cor.  11 :  24,  26  — "  This  do  in  remembrance  of  me  ...  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  pro- 
claim the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  As  the  Passover  commemorated  the  deliverance  of  Israel 
from  Egypt,  and  as  the  Fourth  of  July  commemorates  our  birth  as  a  nation,  so  the  Lord's 
Supper  commemorates  the  birth  of  the  church  in  Christ's  death  and  resurrection.  As  a 
mother  might  bid  her  children  meet  over  her  grave  and  commemorate  her,  so  Christ 
bids  his  people  meet  and  remember  him.  But  subjective  remembrance  is  not  its  only 
aim.  It  is  a  public  proclamation  also.  Whether  it  brings  perceptible  blessing  to  us  or 
not,  it  is  to  be  observed  as  a  means  of  confessing  Christ,  testifying  our  faith,  and  pub- 
lishing the  fact  of  his  death  to  others. 

(e)  It  is  to  be  celebrated  by  the  assembled  church.     It  is  not  a  solitary 
observance  on  the  part  of  individuals.     No  "showing  forth"  is  possible 
except  in  company. 

Acts  20  :  7— "gathered  together  to  break  bread"  ;  1  Cor.  11  :  18,  20,  22,  33,  34— "when  ye  come  together  in  the 

church assemble  yourselves  together have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  to  drink  in  ?  or  despise  ye  the  church 

of  God,  and  put  them  to  shame  that  have  not? when  ye  come  together  to  eat If  any  man  is  hungry,  let 

him  eat  at  home ;  that  your  coming  together  be  not  for  judgment." 

Jacob,  Eccl.  Polity  of  N.  T.,  191-194,  claims  that  in  Acts  2  :  46— "breaking  bread  at  home"- 
where  we  have  oZ/cos,  not  oi*ta,  ol«os  is  not  a  private  house,  but  a  '  worship-room,'  and  that 
the  phrase  should  be  translated  "  breaking  bread  from  one  worship-room  to  another," 
or  "in  various  worship-rooms."  This  meaning  seems  very  apt  in  Acts  5  :  42— "And  every 
day,  in  the  temple  and  at  home  [  rather,  '  in  various  worship-rooms '  ],  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  to  preach  Jesus 
as  the  Christ " ;  8:3—"  But  Saul  laid  waste  the  church,  entering  into  every  house  [  rather,  '  every  worship-room '  ], 
and  haling  men  and  women  committed  them  to  prison";  Rom.  16  :  5— "Salute  the  church  that  is  in  their  house 
[  rather,  '  in  their  worship-room '  ]  "  ;  Titus  1 : 11  — "  men  who  overthrow  whole  houses  [  rather,  '  whole  worship- 
rooms  '  ],  teaching  things  which  they  ought  not,  for  filthy  lucre's  sake," 

The  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  each  family  by  itself  is  not  recognized  in  the 
New  Testament.  Stanley,  in  Nineteenth  Century,  May,  1878,  tells  us  that  as  infant  com- 


541 

munion  is  forbidden  in  the  Western  Church,  and  evening-  communion  is  forbidden  by 
the  Roman  Church,  so  solitary  communion  is  forbidden  by  the  English  Church,  and 
death-bed  communion  by  the  Scottish  Church. 

(/)  The  responsibility  of  seeing  that  the  ordinance  is  properly  adminis- 
tered rests  with  the  church  as  a  body  ;  and  the  pastor  is,  in  this  matter,  the 
proper  representative  and  organ  of  the  church.  In  cases  of  extreme  exi- 
gency, however,  as  where  the  church  has  no  pastor  and  no  ordained  minister 
can  be  secured,  it  is  competent  for  the  church  to  appoint  one  from  its  own 
number  to  administer  the  ordinance. 

1  Cor.  11  :  2,  23 — "Now  I  praise  you  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  hold  fast  the  traditions,  even  as  I  deliv- 
ered them  to  you For  I  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you,  how  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  the 

night  in  which  he  was  betrayed,  took  bread."  Here  the  responsibility  of  administering-  the  Lord's 
Supper  is  laid  upon  the  body  of  believers. 

(g)  The  frequency  with  which  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  administered 
is  not  indicated  either  by  the  N.  T.  precept  or  by  uniform  N.  T.  example. 
We  have  instances  both  of  its  daily  and  of  its  weekly  observance.  With 
respect  to  this,  as  well  as  with  respect  to  the  accessories  of  the  ordinance, 
the  church  is  to  exercise  a  sound  discretion. 

Acts  2  :  46  — "  And  day  by  day,  continuing  stedfastly  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  at  home 
[  or  perhaps,  '  in  various  worship  rooms '  ]  "  ;  20  :  7  — "  And  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered 
together  to  break  bread."  In  1878,  thirty-nine  churches  of  the  Establishment  in  London  held 
daily  communion ;  in  two  churches  it  was  held  twice  each  day.  A  few  churches  of  the 
Baptist  faith  in  England  and  America  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  on  each  Lord's  day. 
Carlstadt  would  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  only  in  companies  of  twelve,  and  held  also 
that  every  bishop  must  marry.  Reclining-  on  couches,  and  meeting-  in  the  evening,  are 
not  commanded;  and  both,  by  their  inconvenience,  might  in  modern  times  counteract 
the  design  of  the  ordinance. 

3.     The  Symbolism  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  Lord's  Supper  sets  forth,  in  general,  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  sus- 
taining power  of  the  believer's  life. 

A.     Expansion  of  this  statement. 

(a)     It  symbolizes  the  death  of  Christ  for  our  sins. 

1  Cor.  11 :  26  — "  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  the  cup,  ye  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come  "  ; 
c/.  Mark  14  :  24— "This  is  my  blood  of  the  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many"— the  blood  upon  which  the 
covenant  between  God  and  Christ,  and  so  between  God  and  us  who  are  one  with  Christ, 
from  eternity  past  was  based.  The  Lord's  Supper  reminds  us  of  the  covenant  which 
ensures  our  salvation,  and  of  the  atonement  upon  which  that  covenant  was  based ; 
c/.  Heb.  13  :  20  — "blood  of  an  eternal  covenant." 

(6)     It  symbolizes  our  personal  appropriation  of  the  benefits  of  that  death. 

1  Cor.  11 :  24  — "  This  is  my  body,  which  is  for  you." 

(c)  It  symbolizes  the  method  of  this  appropriation,  through  union  with 
Christ  himself. 

1  Cor.  10  : 16  — "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  [  marg. — '  participation  in '  ]  the 
blood  of  Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  communion  of  [  marg. — '  participation  in '  ]  the  body  of 
Christ?"  Here  "is  it  not  a  participation "  =  ' does  it  not  symbolize  the  participation?'  So  Mat. 
26  :  26  — "  This  is  my  body  "  =  '  this  symbolizes  my  body.' 

(d)  It  symbolizes  the  continuous  dependence  of  the  believer  for  all 
spiritual  life  upon  the  once  crucified,  now  living,  Savior,  to  whom  he  is  thus 
united. 


542  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Cf.  John  6  :  53—"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye 
have  not  life  in  yourselves "  —  here  is  a  statement,  not  with  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  but 
with  regard  to  spiritual  union  with  Christ,  which  the  Lord's  Supper  only  symbolizes ; 
see  page  543,  (a). 

(e)  It  symbolizes  the  sanctification  of  the  Christian  through  a  spiritual 
reproduction  in  him  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  Lord. 

Rom.  8  : 10  — "  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteous- 
ness" ;  Phil.  3  : 10— "That  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection,  and  the  fellowship  of  his  sufferings, 
becoming  conformed  unto  his  death ;  if  by  any  means  I  may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  The  bread 
of  life  nourishes ;  but  it  transforms  me,  not  I  it. 

(/)  It  symbolizes  the  consequent  union  of  Christians  in  Christ,  their 
head. 

1  Cor.  10  : 17  — "  seeing  that  we,  who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body :  for  we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread."  The 
Roman  Catholic  says  that  bread  is  the  unity  of  many  kernels,  the  wine  the  unity  of 
many  berries,  and  all  are  changed  into  the  body  of  Christ.  We  can  adopt  the  former 
part  of  the  statement,  without  taking  the  latter.  By  being  united  to  Christ,  we  become 
united  to  one  another ;  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  it  symbolizes  our  common  partaking 
of  Christ,  symbolizes  also  the  consequent  oneness  of  all  in  whom  Christ  dwells. 

(g]     It  symbolizes  the  coming  joy  and  perfection  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Luke  22  : 18 — "For  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall  not  drink  from  henceforth  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  the  kingdom  of 
God  shall  come  "  ;  Mark  14  :  25  — "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall  no  more  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day 
when  I  drink  it  new  in  the  kingdom  of  God  " ;  Mat.  26  :  29  — "  But  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall  not  drink  henceforth  of  this 
fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom." 

Like  baptism,  which  points  forward  to  the  resurrection,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  anticipa- 
tory also.  It  brings  before  us,  not  simply  death,  but  life ;  not  simply  past  sacrifice,  but 
future  glory.  It  points  forward  to  the  great  festival,  "the  marriage-supper  of  the  Lamb" 
(Rev.  19  :  9).  Dorner :  "Then  Christ  will  keep  the  Supper  anew  with  us,  and  the  hours 
of  highest  solemnity  in  this  life  are  but  a  weak  foretaste  of  the  powers  of  the  world  to 
come."  See  Madison  Avenue  Lectures,  176-216;  The  Lord's  Supper,  a  Clerical  Sympo- 
sium, by  Pressense,  Luthardt,  and  English  Divines. 

B.     Inferences  from  this  statement. 

(a)  The  connection  between  the  Lord's  Supper  and  Baptism  consists  in 
this,  that  they  both  and  equally  are  symbols  of  the  death  of  Christ.  ITU 
baptism,  we  show  forth  the  death  of  Christ  as  the  procuring  cause  of  our 
new  birth  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  show  forth 
the  death  of  Christ  as  the  sustaining  power  of  our  spiritual  life  after  it  has 
once  begun.  In  the  one,  we  honor  the  sanctifying  power  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  as  in  the  other  we  honor  its  regenerating  power.  Thus  both  are 
parts  of  one  whole  —  setting  before  us  Christ's  death  for  men  in  its  two  great 
purposes  and  results. 

If  baptism  symbolized  purification  only,  there  would  be  no  point  of  connection  be- 
tween the  two  ordinances.  Their  common  reference  to  the  death  of  Christ  binds  the 
two  together. 

(6)  The  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  often  repeated, — as  symbolizing  Christ's 
constant  nourishment  of  the  soul,  whose  new  birth  was  signified  in  Baptism. 

Yet  too  frequent  repetition  may  induce  supei'stitious  confidence  in  the  value  of  com- 
munion as  a  mere  outward  form. 

(c)  The  Lord's  Supper,  like  Baptism,  is  the  symbol  of  a  previous  state 
of  grace.  It  has  in  itself  no  regenerating  and  no  sanctifying  power,  but  is 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  543 

the  symbol  by  which  the  relation  of  the  believer  to  Christ,  his  sanctifier,  is 
vividly  expressed  and  strongly  confirmed. 

We  derive  more  help  from  the  Lord's  Supper  than  from  private  prayer,  simply  be- 
cause it  is  an  external  rite,  impressing1  the  sense  as  well  as  the  intellect,  celebrated  in 
company  with  other  believers  whose  faith  and  devotion  help  our  own,  and  bringing 
before  us  the  profoundest  truths  of  Christianity  —  the  death  of  Christ,  and  our  union 
with  Christ  in  that  death. 

(d)  The  blessing  received  from  participation   is  therefore   dependent 
upon,  and  proportioned  to,  the  faith  of  the  communicant. 

In  observing  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  need  to  discern  the  body  of  the  Lord  ( 1  Cor.  11 :  29 ) 
— that  is,  to  recognize  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  ordinance,  and  the  presence  of  Christ,, 
who  through  his  deputed  representatives  gives  to  us  the  emblems,  and  who  nourishes 
and  quickens  our  souls  as  these  material  things  nourish  and  quicken  the  body.  The 
faith  which  thus  discerns  Christ  is  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(e)  The  Lord's  Supper  expresses  primarily  the  fellowship  of  the  believer, 
not  with  his  brethren,  but  with  Christ,  his  Lord. 

The  Lord's  Supper,  like  baptism,  symbolizes  fellowship  with  the  brethren  only  as 
consequent  upon,  and  incidental  to,  fellowship  with  Christ.  Just  as  we  are  all  baptized 
"  into  one  body  "  ( 1  Cor.  12  : 13 ),  only  by  being  "  baptized  into  Christ "  ( Rom.  6  :  3 ),  so  we  commune  with 
other  believers  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  only  as  we  commune  with  Christ.  Christ's  words : 
"this  do  in  remembrance  of  me"  (1  Cor.  11 :  24),  bid  us  think,  not  of  our  brethren,  but  of  the  Lord. 

The  offence  of  a  Christian  brother,  therefore,  even  if  committed  against  myself,  should 
not  prevent  me  from  remembering  Christ  and  communing  with  the  Savior.  I  could  not 
commune  at  all,  if  I  had  to  vouch  for  the  Christian  character  of  all  who  sat  with  me~ 
This  does  not  excuse  the  church  from  effort  to  purge  its  membership  from  unworthy 
participants ;  it  simply  declares  that  the  church's  failure  to  do  this  does  not  absolve  any 
single  member  of  it  from  his  obligation  to  observe  the  Lord's  Supper.  See  Jacob,  EccL 
Polity  of  N.  T.,  285. 

4.     Erroneous  Views  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

A.  The  Eomanist  view, — that  the  bread  and  wine  are  changed  by  priestly 
consecration  into  the  very  body  and  blood  of  Christ ;  that  this  consecration 
is  a  new  offering  of  Christ's  sacrifice  ;  and  that,  by  a  physical  partaking  of 
the  elements,  the  communicant  receives  saving  grace  from  God.  To  this 
doctrine  of  "  transubstantiation, "  we  reply  : 

(a)  It  rests  upon  a  false  interpretation  of  Scripture.  In  Mat.  26  :  26, 
"this  is  my  body"  means  :  "this  is  a  symbol  of  my  body."  Since  Christ 
was  with  the  disciples  in  visible  form  at  the  institution  of  the  supper,  he 
could  not  have  intended  them  to  recognize  the  bread  as  being  his  literal 
body.  "  The  body  of  Christ  is  present  in  the  bread,  just  as  it  had  been  in 
the  passover  lamb,  of  which  the  bread  took  the  place  "  ( John  6  :  53  contains 
no  reference  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  although  it  describes  that  spiritual  union 
with  Christ  which  the  supper  symbolizes  ;  cf.  63.  In  1  Cor.  10  :  16,  17,. 
Koivuvia  TOV  acifj-aroq  TOV  Xpiorov  is  a  figurative  expression  for  the  spiritual 
partaking  of  Christ.  In  Mark  8  :  33,  we  are  not  to  infer  that  Peter  was 
actually  "  Satan,"  nor  does  1  Cor.  12  :  12  prove  that  we  are  all  Christs.  Cf. 
Gen.  41  :  26  ;  1  Cor.  10  :  4). 

Mat. 26  :  28— "This  is  my  blood which  is  shed"  cannot  be  meant  to  be  taken  literally,  since 

Christ's  blood  was  not  yet  shed.  Hence  the  Douay  version  ( Roman  Catholic),  without 
warrant,  changes  the  tense  and  reads  "  which  shall  be  shed."  At  the  institution  of  the 
Supper,  it  is  not  conceivable  that  Christ  should  hold  his  body  in  his  own  hands,  and  then 
break  it  to  the  disciples.  Zwingle :  "  The  words  of  institution  are  not  the  mandatory 


544 


ECCLESIOLOGY,    OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    CHURCH. 


'  become ' :  they  are  only  an  explanation  of  the  sign."  When  I  point  to  a  picture  and 
say :  "  This  is  George  Washington,"  I  do  not  mean  that  the  veritable  body  and  blood  of 
George  Washington  are  before  me.  So  when  a  teacher  points  to  a  map,  and  says : 
"This  is  New  York,"  or  when  Jesus  refers  to  John  the  Baptist,  and  says :  "This  is  Elijah 
which  is  to  come"  (Mat.  11:14).  Jacob,  The  Lord's  Supper,  Historically  Considered  — " It 
originally  marked,  not  a  real  presence,  but  a  real  absence,  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God 
made  man  "—that  is,  a  real  absence  of  his  body.  Therefore  the  Supper,  reminding  us  of 
his  body,  is  to  be  observed  in  the  church  "till  he  come"  (1  Cor.  11 :  26). 

John  6  :  53  — "  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves  "  must 
be  interpreted  by  verse  63  — "  It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the  words  that  I  have 
spoken  unto  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life."  1  Cor.  10  : 16, 17  — "The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  a  com- 
munion of  [marg.— 'participation  in']  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  a  communion  of 
[marg.— ' participation  in']  the  body  of  Christ?"  Mark  8  :  33— "But  he  turning  about,  and  seeing  his  disciples,  re- 
buked Peter,  and  saith,  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  "  ;  1  Cor.  12  : 12  — "  For  as  the  body  is  one  and  hath  many  members, 
and  all  the  members  of  the  body,  being  many,  are  one  body ;  so  also  is  Christ."  cf.  Gen.  41  :  26— "The  seven  good 
kine  are  seven  years ;  and  the  seven  good  ears  are  seven  years :  the  dream  is  one  "  ;  1  Cor.  10  :  4  — "  they  drank  of  a 
spiritual  rock  that  followed  them:  and  the  rock  was  Christ." 

(6)  It  contradicts  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  as  well  as  of  all  scientific 
tests  that  can  be  applied.  If  we  cannot  trust  our  senses  as  to  the  unchanged 
material  qualities  of  bread  and  wine,  we  cannot  trust  them  when  they  re- 
port to  us  the  words  of  Christ. 

Gibbon  was  rejoiced  at  the  discovery  that,  while  the  real  presence  is  attested  by  only 
a  single  sense  —  our  sight  [as  employed  in  reading  the  words  of  Christ]  —  the  real  pres- 
ence is  disproved  by  three  of  our  senses,  sight,  touch,  and  taste.  It  is  not  well  to  pur- 
chase faith  in  this  dogma  at  the  price  of  absolute  scepticism.  Stanley,  on  Baptism,  in 
his  Christian  Institutions,  tells  us  that,  in  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  the  belief  that 
the  water  of  baptism  was  changed  into  the  blood  of  Christ  was  nearly  as  firmly  and 
widely  fixed  as  the  belief  that  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  communion  were  changed  into 
his  flesh  and  blood. 

(c)  It  involves  the  denial  of  the  completeness  of  Christ's  past  sacrifice, 
and  the  assumption  that  a  human  priest  can  repeat  or  add  to  the  atonement 
made  by  Christ  once  for  all  ( Heb.  9  :  28  —  a?ra£  Trpocreve-^tfe/f ).     The  Lord's 
Supper  is  never  called  a  sacrifice,  nor  are  altars,  priests,  or  consecrations 
ever  spoken  of,  in  the  New  Testament.     The  priests  of  the  old  dispensation 
are  expressly  contrasted  with  the  ministers  of  the  new.     The  former  "  min- 
istered about  sacred  things,"  i.  e.,  performed  sacred  rites  and  waited  at  the 
altar  ;  but  the  latter  "preach  the  gospel"  (1  Cor.  9  :  13,  14). 

Heb.  9  :  28  — "  so  Christ  also,  having  been  once  offered  "—  here  aira£  means  '  once  for  all,'  as  in  Jude  3  — 
"  the  faith  which  was  once  for  all  delivered  unto  the  saints"  ;  1  Cor.  9  : 13, 14 — "  Know  ye  not  that  they  which  min- 
ister about  sacred  things  eat  of  the  things  of  the  temple,  and  they  which  wait  upon  the  altar  have  their  portion  with  the 
altar?  Even  so  did  the  Lord  ordain  that  they  which  proclaim  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel."  Romanism 
introduces  a  mediator -between  the  soul  and  Christ,  namely,  bread  and  wine  — and  the 
priest  besides. 

Dorner,  Glaubenslehre,  2  :  680-687  ( Syst.  Doct.,  4  : 146-153)—"  Christ  is  thought  of  as  at 
a  distance,  and  as  represented  only  by  the  priest  who  offers  anew  his  sacrifice.  But 
Protestant  doctrine  holds  to  a  perfect  Christ,  applying  the  benefits  of  the  work  which 
he  long  ago  and  once  for  all  completed  upon  the  cross."  Chillingworth :  "  Romanists 
hold  that  the  validity  of  every  sacrament  but  baptism  depends  upon  its  administration 
by  a  priest ;  and  without  priestly  absolution  there  is  no  assurance  of  forgiveness.  But 
the  intention  of  the  priest  is  essential  in  pronouncing  absolution,  and  the  intention  of 
the  bishop  is  essential  in  consecrating  the  priest.  How  can  any  human  being  know  that 
these  conditions  are  fulfilled?"  In  the  New  Testament,  on  the  other  hand,  Christ  ap- 
pears as  the  only  priest,  and  each  human  soul  has  direct  access  to  him. 

(d]  It  destroys  Christianity  by  externalizing  it.     Romanists  make  all 
other  service  a  mere  appendage  to  the  communion.     Physical  and  magical 
salvation  is  not  Christianity,  but  is  essential  paganism. 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  545 

Council  of  Trent,  Session  vn,  On  Sacraments  in  General,  Canon  iv :  "  If  any  one 
saith  that  the  sacraments  of  the  New  Testament  are  not  necessary  to  salvation,  but  are 
superfluous,  and  that  without  them,  and  without  the  desire  thereof,  men  attain  of  God, 
through  faith  alone,  the  grace  of  justification  ;  though  all  [the  sacraments]  are  not  in- 
deed necessary  for  every  individual:  let  him  be  anathema."  On  Baptism,  Canon  iv: 
"  If  any  one  saith  that  the  baptism  which  is  even  given  by  heretics  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  with  the  intention  of  doing  what  the  church  doth,  is  not 
true  baptism,  let  him  be  anathema."  v :  "If  any  man  saith  that  baptism  is  free,  i.  e., 
not  necessary  to  salvation :  let  him  be  anathema."  Baptism,  in  the  Romanist  system,  is 
necessary  to  salvation  :  and  baptism,  even  though  administered  by  heretics,  is  an  admis- 
sion to  the  church.  All  baptized  persons  who,  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  but  from 
lack  of  knowledge  or  opportunity,  are  not  connected  outwardly  with  the  true  church, 
though  they  are  apparently  attached  to  some  sect,  yet  in  reality  belong  to  the  soul  of  the 
true  church.  Many  belong  merely  to  the  body  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  are  counted 
as  its  members,  but  do  not  belong  to  its  soul.  So  says  Archbishop  Lynch,  of  Toronto, 
and  Pius  IX  extended  the  doctrine  of  invincible  ignorance,  so  as  to  cover  the  case  of 
every  dissentient  from  the  church  whose  life  shows  faith  working  by  love. 

Adoration  of  the  host  ( Latin  hostia,  victim )  is  a  regular  part  of  the  service  of  the 
mass.  If  the  Romanist  view  were  correct  that  the  bread  and  wine  were  actually 
changed  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  we  could  not  call  this  worship  idolatry. 
Christ's  body  in  the  sepulchre  could  not  have  been  a  proper  object  of  worship,  but 
it  was  so  after  his  resurrection,  when  it  became  animated  with  a  new  and  divine 
life.  The  Romanist  error  is  that  of  holding  that  the  priest  has  power  to  transform  the 
elements ;  the  worship  of  them  follows  as  a  natural  consequence,  and  is  none  the  less 
idolatrous  for  being  based  upon  the  false  assumption  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  really 
Christ's  body  and  blood.  For  the  Romanist  view,  see  Council  of  Trent,  Session  xin, 
Canon  in ;  per  contra,  see  Calvin,  Institutes,  2  :  585-603. 

B.  The  Lutheran  and  High  Church  view, —  that  the  communicant,  in 
partaking  of  the  consecrated  elements,  eats  the  veritable  body  and  drinks 
the  veritable  blood  of  Christ  in  and  with  the  bread  and  wine,  although  the 
elements  themselves  do  not  cease  to  be  material.  To  this  doctrine  of  "con- 
substantiation  "  we  object : 

(a)  That  the  view  is  not  required  by  Scripture. — All  the  passages  cited 
in  its  support  may  be  better  interpreted  as  referring  to  a  partaking  of  the 
elements  as  symbols.  If  Christ's  body  be  ubiquitous,  as  this  theory  holds, 
we  partake  of  it  at  every  meal,  as  really  as  at  the  Lord's  Supper. 

(6)  That  the  view  is  inseparable  from  the  general  sacramental  system  of 
which  it  forms  a  part. — In  imposing  physical  and  material  conditions  of 
receiving  Christ,  it  contradicts  the  doctrine  of  justification  only  by  faith ; 
changes  the  ordinance  from  a  sign,  into  a  means,  of  salvation  ;  involves  the 
necessity  of  a  sacerdotal  order  for  the  sake  of  properly  consecrating  the  ele- 
ments ;  and  logically  tends  to  the  Romanist  conclusions  of  ritualism  and 
idolatry. 

(c)  That  it  holds  each  communicant  to  be  a  partaker  of  Christ's  veritable 
body  and  blood,  whether  he  be  a  believer  or  not, —  the  result,  in  the  absence 
of  faith,  being  condemnation  instead  of  salvation.  Thus  the  whole  char- 
acter of  the  ordinance  is  changed  from  a  festival  occasion  to  one  of  mystery 
and  fear,  and  the  whole  gospel  method  of  salvation  is  obscured. 

For  the  view  here  combated,  see  Gerhard,  x  :  352 — "  The  bread,  apart  from  the  sacra- 
ment instituted  by  Christ,  is  not  the  body  of  Christ,  and  therefore  it  is  aproAarpia  ( bread- 
worship)  to  adore  the  bread  in  those  solemn  processions  "  (of  the  Roman  Catholic  church) . 
397  — "  Faith  does  not  belong  to  the  substance  of  the  eucharist ;  hence  it  is  not  the  faith 
of  him  who  partakes  that  makes  the  bread  a  communication  of  the  body  of  Christ : 
nor  on  account  of  unbelief  in  him  who  partakes  does  the  bread  cease  to  be  a  communi- 
35 


546  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

cation  of  the  body  of  Christ."    See  also  Sadler,  Church  Doctrine,  124-199;   Pusey,  Tract 
No.  90,  of  the  Tractarian  Series ;  Wilberforce,  New  Birth  ;  Nevins,  Mystical  Presence. 

Per  contra,  see  Calvin,  Institutes,  2  :  525-584;  G.  P.  Fisher,  in  Independent,  May  1, 1884 
— "  Calvin  differed  from  Luther,  in  holding1  that  Christ  is  received  only  by  the  believer. 
He  differed  from  Zwingle,  in  holding  that  Christ  is  truly,  though  spiritually,  received." 
See  also  E.  G.  Robinson,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  1869  :  85-109 ;  Rogers,  Priests  and  Sacra- 
ments. Consubstantiation  accounts  for  the  doctrine  of  apostolic  succession  and  for 
the  universal  ritualism  of  the  Lutheran  church.  Bowing  at  the  name  of  Jesus,  how- 
ever, is  not,  as  has  been  sometimes  maintained,  a  relic  of  the  Papal  worship  of  the  Real 
Presence,  but  is  rather  a  reminiscence  of  the  fourth  century,  when  controversies  about 
the  person  of  Christ  rendered  orthodox  Christians  peculiarly  anxious  to  recognize 
Christ's  deity. 


5.     Prerequisites  to  Participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

A.  There  are  prerequisites.     This  we  argue  from  the  fact : 

(a)  That  Christ  enjoined  the  celebration  of  the  Supper,  not  upon  the 
world  at  large,  but  only  upon  his  disciples  ;  (6)  that  the  apostolic  injunc- 
tions to  Christians,  to  separate  themselves  from  certain  of  their  number, 
imply  a  limitation  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  a  narrower  body,  even  among 
professed  believers  ;  (c)  that  the  analogy  of  baptism,  as  belonging  only 
to  a  specified  class  of  persons,  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  same  is  true  of 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

B.  The  prerequisites  are  those  only  which  are  expressly  or  implicitly 
laid  down  by  Christ  and  his  apostles. 

(a)  The  church,  as  possessing  executive  but  not  legislative  power,  is 
charged  with  the  duty,  not  of  framing  rules  for  the  administering  and 
guarding  of  the  ordinance,  but  of  discovering  and  applying  the  rules  given 
it  in  the  New  Testament.  No  church  has  a  right  to  establish  any  terms  of 
communion  ;  it  is  responsible  only  for  making  known  the  terms  established 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  (6)  These  terms,  however,  are  to  be  ascer- 
tained not  only  from  the  injunctions,  but  also  from  the  precedents,  of  the 
New  Testament.  Since  the  apostles  were  inspired,  New  Testament  prece- 
dent is  the  "  common  law  "  of  the  church. 

English  law  consists  mainly  of  precedent,  that  is,  past  decisions  of  the  courts.  Im- 
memorial customs  may  be  as  binding  as  are  the  formal  enactments  of  a  legislature. 

C.  On  examining  the  New  Testament,  we  find  that  the  prerequisites  to 
participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper  are  four,  namely  : 

First, —  Regeneration. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  outward  expression  of  a  life  in  the  believer, 
nourished  and  sustained  by  the  life  of  Christ.  It  cannot  therefore  be  par- 
taken of  by  one  who  is  "dead  through  .  .  .  trespasses  and  sins."  We  give 
no  food  to  a  corpse.  The  Lord's  Supper  was  never  offered  by  the  apostle* 
to  unbelievers.  On  the  contrary,  the  injunction  that  each  communicant 
"examine  himself"  implies  that  faith  which  will  enable  the  communicant 
to  "discern  the  Lord's  body  "  is  a  prerequisite  to  participation. 

1  Cor.  11  :  27-29— "Wherefore  whosoever  shall  eat  the  bread  or  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord  in  an  unworthy  manner, 
shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  the  Lord,  But  let  a  man  prove  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat  of  the  bread,  and 
drink  of  the  cup.  For  he  that  eateth  and  drinketh,  eateth  and  drinketh  judgment  unto  himself,  if  he  discern  not  thft 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  547 

Lord's  body.'YSchaff,  in  his  Church  History,  2  :  517,  tells  us  that  in  the  Greek  church,  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  the  bread  was  dipped  in  the  wine,  and  both  elements  were 
delivered  in  a  spoon.  See  Edwards,  on  Qualifications  for  Full  Communion,  in  Works, 
1:81. 

Secondly, —  Baptism. 

In  proof  that  baptism  is  a  prerequisite  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  we  urge  the 
following  considerations : 

(a)  The  ordinance  of  baptism  was  instituted  and  administered  long 
before  the  supper. 

Mat,  21  :  25— "The  baptism  of  John,  whence  was  it?  from  heaven  or  from  men?"—  Christ  here  intimates 
that  John's  baptism  had  been  instituted  by  God  before  his  own. 

(6)  The  apostles  who  first  celebrated  it  had,  in  all  probability,  been 
baptized. 

Acts  1 :  21,  22 — "  Of  the  men  therefore  which  have  companied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out 

among  us,  beginning  from  the  baptism  of  John of  these  must  one  become  a  witness  with  us  of  his  resurrection  "  ; 

19  :  4— "John  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto  the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on  him  which 
should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus." 

Several  of  the  apostles  were  certainly  disciples  of  John.  If  Christ  was  baptized, 
much  more  his  discipleS.  Jesus  recognized  John's  baptism  as  obligatory,  and  it  is  not 
probable  that  he  would  take  his  apostles  from  among  those  who  had  not  submitted  to  it. 
John  the  Baptist  himself,  the  first  administrator  of  baptism,  must  have  been  himself 
unbaptized.  But  the  twelve  could  fitly  administer  it,  because  they  had  themselves 
received  it  at  John's  hands.  See  Arnold,  Terms  of  Communion,  17. 

(c)  The  command  of  Christ  fixes  the  place  of  baptism  as  first  in  order 
after  discipleship. 

Mat.  28  : 19,  20 — "Go  ye  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you"— here 
the  first  duty  is  to  make  disciples,  the  second  to  baptize,  the  third  to  instruct  in  right 
Christian  living.  Is  it  said  that  there  is  no  formal  command  to  admit  only  baptized  per- 
sons to  the  Lord's  Supper?  We  reply  that  there  is  no  formal  command  to  admit  only 
regenerate  persons  to  baptism.  In  both  cases,  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  the  gen- 
eral connections  of  Christian  doctrine  are  sufficient  to  determine  our  duty. 

(d)  All  the  recorded  cases  show  this  to  have  been  the  order  observed  by 
the  first  Christians  and  sanctioned  by  the  apostles. 

Acts  2  :  41,  46— "Then  they  that  received  his  word  were  baptized And  day  by  day,  continuing  steadfastly  with 

one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  at  home  [rather,  'in  various  worship-rooms']  they  did  take  their  food 
with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart "  ;  8  : 12—"  And  when  they  believed  Philip  ....  they  were  baptized  "  ;  10  :  47, 
48— "Can  any  man  forbid  the  water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as 
we  ?  And  he  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ "  ;  22  : 16  — "  And  now  why  tarriest  thou  ? 
Arise,  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  his  name." 

(e)  The  symbolism  of  the  ordinances  requires  that  baptism  should  pre- 
cede the  Lord's  Supper.     The  order  of  the  facts  signified  must  be  expressed 
in  the  order  of  the  ordinances  which  signify  them  ;  else  the  world  is  taught 
that  sanctification  may  take  place  without  regeneration.     Birth  must  come 
before  sustenance — 'nascimur,  pascimur.'      To  enjoy  ceremonial  privi- 
leges, there  must  be  ceremonial  qualifications.     As  none  but  the  circum- 
cised could  eat  the  passover,  so  before  eating  with  the  Christian  family 
must  come  adoption  into  the  Christian  family. 

As  one  must  be  "born  of  the  Spirit"  before  he  can  experience  the  sustaining  influence  of 
Christ,  so  he  must  be  "born  of  water"  before  he  can  properly  be  nourished  by  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Neither  the  unborn  nor  the  dead  can  eat  bread  or  drink  wine.  Only  when 
Christ  had  raised  the  daughter  of  the  Jewish  ruler  to  life,  did  he  say :  "  Give  her  to  eat."  The 


548  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE    CHURCH. 

ordinance  which  symbolizes  regeneration,  or  the  impartation  of  new  life,  must  precede 
the  ordinance  which  symbolizes  the  strengthening  and  perfecting  of  the  life  already 
begun. 

(/)  The  standards  of  all  evangelical  denominations,  with  unimportant 
exceptions,  confirm  the  view  that  this  is  the  natural  interpretation  of  the 
Scripture  requirements  respecting  the  order  of  the  ordinances. 

"  The  only  protest  of  note  has  been  made  by  a  portion  of  the  English  Baptists."  To 
these  should  be  added  the  comparatively  small  body  of  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in  Amer- 
ica. Pedobaptist  churches  in  general  refuse  full  membership,  office-holding,  and  the 
ministry,  to  unbaptized  persons.  The  Presbyterian  church  does  not  admit  to  the  Com- 
munion members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Not  one  of  the  great  evangelical  denom- 
inations accepts  Robert  Hall's  maxim  that  the  only  terms  of  communion  are  terms  of 
salvation.  If  individual  ministers  announce  this  principle  and  conform  their  practice 
to  it,  it  is  only  because  they  transgress  the  standards  of  the  churches  to  which  they 
belong. 

See  Tyerman's  Oxford  Methodists,  preface,  page  vi  — "Even  in  Georgia,  Wesley 
excluded  dissenters  from  the  Holy  Communion,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  not  been 
properly  baptized ;  and  he  would  himself  baptize  only  by  immersion,  unless  the  child 
or  person  was  in  a  weak  state  of  health."  Baptist  Noel  gave  it  as  his  reason  for  sub- 
mitting to  baptism,  that  to  approach  the  Lord's  Supper  conscious  of  not  being  baptized 
would  be  to  act  contrary  to  all  the  precedents  of  Scripture.  ^See  Curtis,  Progress  of 
Baptist  Principles,  304. 

(g]  The  practical  results  of  the  opposite  view  are  convincing  proof  that 
the  order  here  insisted  on  is  the  order  of  nature  as  well  as  of  Scripture. 
The  admission  of  unbaptized  persons  to  the  communion  tends  always  to, 
and  has  frequently  resulted  in,  the  disuse  of  baptism  itself,  the  obscuring 
of  the  truth  which  it  symbolizes,  the  transformation  of  scripturally  consti- 
tuted churches  into  bodies  organized  after  methods  of  human  invention, 
and  the  complete  destruction  of  both  church  and  ordinances  as  Christ 
originally  constituted  them. 

John  Bunyan's  church,  once  Baptist,  is  now  a  Congregational  body.  Some  of  the 
deacons  of  Regent's  Park  church  in  London  have  never  been  baptized  in  any  form. 
Arnold,  Terms  of  Communion,  76:  The  steps  of  departure  from  Scriptural  precedent 
have  not  unfrequently  been  the  following:  (1)  administration  of  baptism  on  a  week- 
day evening,  to  avoid  giving  offence;  (2)  reception,  without  baptism,  of  persons  re- 
nouncing belief  in  the  baptism  of  their  infancy ;  (3)  giving  up  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as 
non-essential  —  to  be  observed  or  not  observed  by  each  individual,  according  as  he  finds 
it  useful ;  ( 4 )  choice  of  a  pastor  who  will  not  advocate  Baptist  views ;  ( 5 )  adoption  of 
Congregational  articles  of  faith;  (6)  discipline  and  exclusion  of  members  for  propa- 
gating Baptist  doctrine.  See  also  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  296-298. 

Thirdly, —  Church  membership. 

(a)  The  Lord's  Supper  is  a  church  ordinance,  observed  by  churches  of 
Christ  as  such.  For  this  reason,  membership  in  the  church  naturally  pre- 
cedes communion.  Since  communion  is  a  family  rite,  the  participant 
should  first  be  member  of  the  family. 

Acts  2  :  46,  47— "breaking  bread  at  home  [rather,  'in  various  worship-rooms'  ]  "  (see  Com.  of  Meyer) ; 
20  :  7— "upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread"  ;  1  Cor.  11  : 18,  22— "when 

ye  come  together  in  the  church have  ye  not  houses  to  eat  and  to  drink  in?  or  despise  ye  the  church  of  God,  and 

put  them  to  shame  that  have  not?  " 

(6)  The  Lord's  Supper  is  a  symbol  of  church  fellowship.  Excommuni- 
cation implies  nothing,  if  it  does  not  imply  exclusion  from  the  communion. 
If  the  Supper  is  simply  communion  of  the  individual  with  Christ,  then  the 
church  has  no  right  to  exclude  any  from  it. 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  549 

1  Cor.  10  : 17— "we,  who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body:  for  we  all  partake  of  the  one  bread."  Though 
the  Lord's  Supper  primarily  symbolizes  fellowship  with  Christ,  it  symbolizes  seconda- 
rily fellowship  with  the  church  of  Christ.  Not  all  believers  in  Christ  were  present  at  the 
first  celebration  of  the  Supper,  but  only  those  organized  into  a  body —  the  apostles.  I 
can  invite  proper  persons  to  my  tea-table,  but  that  does  not  give  them  the  right  to  come 
uninvited.  Each  church,  therefore,  should  invite  visiting  members  of  sister-churches  to 
partake  with  it.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  an  ordinance  by  itself,  and  should  not  be  cele- 
brated at  conventions  and  associations,  simply  to  lend  dignity  to  something  else. 

The  Panpresbyterian  Council  at  Philadelphia,  in  1880,  refused  to  observe  the  Lord's 
Supper  together,  upon  the  ground  that  the  Supper  is  a  church  ordinance,  to  be  observed 
only  by  those  who  are  amenable  to  the  discipline  of  the  body,  and  therefore  not  to  be 
observed  by  separate  church  organizations  acting  together.  Substantially  upon  thi& 
ground,  the  Old  School  General  Assembly  long  before,  being  invited  to  unite  at  the 
Lord's  table  with  the  New  School  body  with  whom  they  had  dissolved  ecclesiastical 
relations,  declined  to  do  so.  See  Curtis,  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  304 ;  Arnold, 
Terms  of  Communion,  36. 

Fourthly,  —  An  orderly  walk. 

1  Cor.  5  :  9, 11  — "  I  wrote  unto  you  in  my  epistle  to  have  no  company  with  fornicators  ....  but  now  I  write  unto 
you,  not  to  keep  company,  if  any  man  that  is  named  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  reviler, 
or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner;  with  such  a  one  no,  not  to  eat"  ;  2  Thess.  3  :  6— "Now  we  command  you,  brethren, 

that  ye  withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradition  which  they 

received  of  us." 

Disorderly  walking  we  may,  with  Arnold,  class  under  four  heads  : 

(a)     Immoral  conduct. 

1  Cor.  5  : 1-13  — Paul  commands  the  Corinthian  church  to  exclude  the  incestuous  person : 

"Put  away  the  wicked  man  from  among  yourselves." 

(6)  Disobedience  to  the  commands  of  Christ. —  Since  baptism  is  a  com- 
mand of  Christ,  we  cannot  properly  commune  with  the  unbaptized.  To 
admit  such  to  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to  withhold  protest  against  a  plain  dis- 
obedience to  Christ's  commands,  and  to  that  extent  to  countenance  such 
disobedience. 

1  Cor.  14  :  37— "If  any  man  thinketh  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual,  let  him  take  knowledge  of  the  things 
which  I  write  unto  you,  that  they  are  the  commandment  of  the  Lord";  2  Thess.  1 : 1— "Paul,  and  Silvanus,  and 
Timothy,  unto  the  church  of  the  Thessalonians  in  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  ;  3  : 11, 14 — "For  we  hear 

of  some  that  walk  among  you  disorderly,  that  work  not  at  all,  but  are  busybodies And  if  any  man  obey  not  our 

word  by  this  epistle,  note  that  man,  that  ye  have  no  company  with  him,  to  the  end  that  he  may  be  ashamed." 

(c)  Heresy. — Since  pedobaptists  hold  and  propagate  false  doctrine  with 
regard  to  the  church  and  its  ordinances  —  doctrine  which  endangers  the 
spirituality  of  the  church,  the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  lordship 
of  Christ — we  cannot  properly  admit  them  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  admit 
them,  or  to  partake  with  them,  would  be  to  treat  falsehood  as  if  it  were 
truth. 

Titus  3  : 10— "i  man  that  is  heretical  [Am.  Revisers :  'a  factious  man'  ]  after  a  first  and  second  admonition 
refuse  "  ;  c/.  Acts  20  :  30— "from  among  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away 
the  disciples  after  them."  The  Panpresbyterian  Council,  mentioned  above,  refused  to  admit 
to  their  body  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  because,  though  they  adhere  to  the  Pres- 
byterian form  of  church  government,  they  are  Arminian  in  their  views  of  <he  doctrines 
of  grace. 

Arnold,  Terms  of  Communion,  73—"  Pedobaptists  are  guilty  of  teaching  that  the  bap- 
tized are  not  members  of  the  church,  or  that  membership  in  the  church  is  not  voluntary ; 
that  there  are  two  sorts  of  baptism,  one  of  which  is  a  profession  of  faith  of  the  person 
baptized,  and  the  other  is  profession  of  faith  of  another  person ;  that  regeneration  is 
given  in  and  by  baptism,  or  that  the  church  is  by  the  law  of  its  constitution  necessarily 
composed  in  great  part  of  persons  who  do  not  give,  and  were  never  supposed  to  give, 


550  ECCLESIOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   THE   CHURCH. 

any  evidence  of  regeneration ;  that  the  church  has  a  right  to  change  essentially  one  of 
Christ's  institutions,  or  that  it  is  unessential  whether  it  be  observed  as  he  ordained  it  or 
in  some  other  manner ;  that  baptism  may  be  rightfully  administered  in  a  way  which 
makes  much  of  the  language  in  which  it  is  described  in  the  Scriptures  wholly  unsuit- 
able and  inapplicable,  and  which  does  not  at  all  represent  the  facts  and  doctrines  which 
baptism  is  declared  in  the  Scriptures  to  represent ;  that  the  Scriptures  are  not  in  all 
religious  matters  the  sufficient  and  only  binding  rule  of  faith  and  practice." 

(d)  Schism. —  Since  pedobaptists,  by  their  teaching  and  practice,  draw 
many  away  from  scrip turally  constituted  churches, — thus  dividing  true  be- 
lievers from  each  other  and  weakening  the  bodies  organized  after  the  model 
of  the  New  Testament, —  it  is  imperative  upon  us  to  separate  ourselves 
from  them,  so  far  as  regards  that  communion  at  the  Lord's  table  which  is 
the  sign  of  church  fellowship. 

Rom.  16  : 17  — "  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  mark  them  which  are  causing  the  divisions  and  occasions  of  stumbling, 
contrary  to  the  doctrine  which  ye  learned:  and  turn  away  from  thsm."  Mr.  Spurgeon  admits  Pedobap- 
tists to  commune  with  his  church  "for  two  or  three  months."  Then  they  are  kindly 
asked  whether  they  are  pleased  with  the  church,  its  preaching,  doctrine,  form  of  gov- 
ernment, etc.  If  they  say  they  are  pleased,  they  are  asked  if  they  are  not  disposed  to 
be  baptized  and  become  members  ?  If  so  inclined,  all  is  well ;  but  if  not,  they  are  kindly 
told  that  it  is  not  desirable  for  them  to  commune  longer.  Thus  baptism  is  held  to  pre- 
cede church  membership  and  permanent  communion,  although  temporary  communion 
is  permitted  without  it. 

D.  The  local  church  is  the  judge  whether  these  prerequisites  are  ful- 
filled in  the  case  of  persons  desiring  to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper. — This 
is  evident  from  the  following  considerations  : 

(a)  The  command  to  observe  the  ordinance  was  given,  not  to  individ- 
uals, but  to  a  company. 

(6)  Obedience  to  this  command  is  not  an  individual  act,  but  is  the  joint 
act  of  many. 

(c)  The  regular  observance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  cannot  be  secured,  nor 
the  qualifications  of  persons  desiring  to  participate  in  it  be  scrutinized, 
unless  some  distinct  organized  body  is  charged  with  this  responsibility. 

"  What  is  everybody's  business  is  nobody's  business."  If  there  be  any  power  of  effec- 
tive scrutiny,  it  must  be  lodged  in  the  local  church. 

(d)  The  only  organized  body  known  to  the  New  Testament  is  the  local 
church,  and  this  is  the  only  body,  of  any  sort,  competent  to  have  charge  of 
the  ordinances.     The  invisible  church  has  no  officers. 

(e)  The  New  Testament  accounts  indicate  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
observed  only  at  regular  appointed  meetings  of  local  churches,  and  was 
observed  by  these  churches  as  regularly  organized  bodies. 

Acts  20  :  7— "And  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were  gathered  together  to  break  bread"  ;  1  Cor.  11 : 18, 
20,  22,  33  — "  When  ye  come  together  in  the  church  ....  When  therefore  ye  assemble  yourselves  together  ....  Despise 
ye  the  church  of  God  ?  ...  When  ye  come  together  to  eat." 

(/)  Sin/;e  the  duty  of  examining  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
baptism  and  for  membership  is  vested  in  the  local  church  and  is  essential 
to  its  distinct  existence,  the  analogy  of  the  ordinances  would  lead  us  to 
believe  that  the  scrutiny  of  qualifications  for  participation  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  rests  with  the  same  body. 

The  minister  is  not  to  administer  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at  his  own  option, 
any  more  than  the  ordinance  of  Baptism.  He  is  simply  the  organ  of  the  church.  He  is 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  551 

-to  follow  the  rules  of  the  church  as  to  invitations  and  as  to  the  mode  of  celebrating-  the 
ordinance,  of  course  instructing1  the  church  as  to  the  order  of  the  New  Testament.  In 
case  of  sick  members  who  desire  to  communicate,  brethren  may  be  deputed  by  the 
church  to  hold  a  special  meeting  of  the  church  at  the  private  house  or  sick-room,  and 
then  only  may  the  pastor  officiate.  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Madison  Avenue  Lec- 
tures, 217-243,  243-260. 

E.     Special  objections  to  open  communion. 

The  advocates  of  this  view  claim  that  baptism,  as  not  being  an  indispen- 
sable term  of  salvation,  cannot  properly  be  made  an  indispensable  term  of 
communion. 

Robert  Hall,  Works,  1  : 285,  held  that  there  can  be  no  proper  terms  of  communion 
which  are  not  also  terms  of  salvation.  He  claims  that  "  we  are  expressly  commanded 
to  tolerate  in  the  church  all  those  diversities  of  opinion  which  are  not  inconsistent  with 
.salvation."  For  the  open  communion  view,  see  also  John  M.  Mason,  Works,  1 :  3-369 ; 
Princeton  Review,  Oct.,  3850;  Bib.  Sac.,  21 :  449;  24  :  482;  25  :  401;  Spirit  of  the  Pilgrims, 
6  :  103,  142.  But,  as  Curtis  remarks,  in  his  Progress  of  Baptist  Principles,  292,  this  prin- 
ciple would  utterly  frustrate  the  very  objects  for  which  visible  churches  were  founded 
—  to  be  "the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth"  (1  Tim.  3  : 15") ;  for  truth  is  set  forth  as  forcibly  in 
ordinances  as  in  doctrine. 

In  addition  to  what  has  already  been  said,  we  reply  : 
(a)     This  view  is  contrary  to  the  belief  and  practice  of  all  but  an  insig- 
nificant fragment  of  organized  Christendom. 

The  English  Baptists,  and  the  Free  Will  Baptists  in  America,  are  the  only  bodies  which 
in  their  standards  of  faith  accept  and  maintain  the  principle  of  open  communion. 

(6)  It  assumes  an  unscriptural  inequality  between  the  two  ordinances. 
'The  Lord's  Supper  holds  no  higher  rank  in  Scripture  than  does  baptism. 
The  obligation  to  commune  is  no  more  binding  than  the  obligation  to  pro- 
fess faith  by  being  baptized.  Open  communion,  however,  treats  baptism 
as  if  it  were  optional,  while  it  insists  upon  communion  as  indispensable. 

Robert  Hall  should  rather  have  said :  "  No  church  has  a  right  to  establish  terms  of 
baptism  which  are  not  also  terms  of  salvation,"  for  baptism  is  most  frequently  in  Scrip- 
ture connected  with  the  things  that  accompany  salvation.  We  believe  faith  to  be  one 
prerequisite,  but  not  the  only  one.  We  may  hold  a  person  to  be  a  Christian  without 
thinking  him  entitled  to  commune  unless  he  has  been  also  baptized. 

(c)  It  tends  to  do  away  with  baptism  altogether.     If  the  highest  privi- 
lege of  church  membership  may  be  enjoyed  without  baptism,  baptism  loses 
its  place  and  importance  as  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  the  church. 

Robert  Hall  would  admit  to  the  Lord's  Supper  those  who  deny  baptism  to  be  perpetu- 
ally binding  on  the  church.  A  foreigner  may  love  this  country,  but  he  cannot  vote  at 
our  elections  unless  he  has  been  naturalized.  Ceremonial  rites  imply  ceremonial  quali- 
fications. 

(d)  It  tends  to  do  away  with  all  discipline.    When  Christians  offend,  the 
church  must  withdraw  its  fellowship  from  them.    But  upon  the  principle  of 
open  communion,  such  withdrawal  is  impossible,  since  the  Lord's  Supper, 
the  highest  expression  of  church  fellowship,  is  open  to  every  person  who 
regards  himself  as  a  Christian. 

H.  F.  Colby :  "  Ought  we  to  acknowledge  that  Evangelical  Pedobaptists  are  qualified 
to  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  We  are  ready  to  admit  them  on  precisely  the  same 
terms  on  which  we  admit  ourselves.  Our  communion  bars  come  to  be  a  protest,  but 
from  no  plan  of  ours.  They  become  a  protest  merely  as  every  act  of  loyalty  to  truth 
-becomes  a  protest  against  error." 


552  ECCLESIOLOGY,   OK   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE   CHUECH. 

(e)  It  tends  to  do  away  with  the  visible  church  altogether.  For  no  visi- 
ble church  is  possible,  unless  some  sign  of  membership  be  required,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  signs  of  membership  in  the  invisible  church.  Open  communion 
logically  leads  to  open  church  membership,  and  a  church  membership  open 
to  all,  without  reference  to  the  qualifications  required  in  Scripture,  or  with- 
out examination  on  the  part  of  the  church  as  to  the  existence  of  these  qualifi- 
cations in  those  who  unite  with  it,  is  virtually  an  identification  of  the  church 
with  the  world,  and,  without  protest  from  scripturally  constituted  bodies, 
would  finally  result  in  its  actual  extinction. 

At  the  Free  Will  Baptist  Convention  at  Providence,  Oct.,  1874,  the  question  came  up 
of  admitting  pedobaptists  to  membership.  This  was  disposed  of  by  resolving  that 
"  Christian  baptism  is  a  personal  act  of  public  consecration  to  Christ,  and  that  believers' 
baptism  and  immersion  alone,  as  baptism,  are  fundamental  principles  of  the  denomina- 
tion." In  other  words,  unimmersed  believers  would  not  be  admitted  to  membership. 
But  is  it  not  the  Lord's  church  ?  Have  we  a  right  to  exclude  ?  Is  this  not  bigotry  ?  The 
Free  Will  Baptist  answers :  "  No,  it  is  only  loyalty  to  truth." 

We  claim  that,  upon  the  same  principle,  he  should  go  further,  and  refuse  to  admit  to 
the  communion  those  whom  he  refuses  to  admit  to  church  membership.  The  reasons 
assigned  for  acting  upon  the  opposite  principle  are  sentimental  rather  than  rational. 
See  John  Stuart  Mill's  definition  of  sentimentality,  quoted  in  Martineau's  Essays,  1 :  94 
— "  Sentimentality  consists  in  setting  the  sympathetic  aspect  of  things,  or  their  loveable- 
ness,  above  their  aesthetic  aspect,  their  beauty;  or  above  the  moral  aspect  of  them, 
their  right  or  wrong." 

OBJECTIONS  TO  STRICT  COMMUNION,  AND  ANSWERS  TO  THEM  (condensed  from 
Arnold,  Terms  of  Communion,  82): 

"  1st.  Primitive  rules  are  not  applicable  now.  Reply :  ( 1 )  The  laws  of  Christ  are  un- 
changeable. (2)  The  primitive  order  ought  to  be  restored. 

"  2nd.  Baptism,  as  an  external  rite,  is  of  less  importance  than  love.  Reply :  ( 1 )  It  is 
not  inconsistent  with  love,  but  the  mark  of  love,  to  keep  Christ's  commandments. 
(2)  Love  for  our  brethren  requires  protest  against  their  errors. 

"3rd.  Pedobaptists  think  themselves  baptized.  Reply:  (1)  This  is  a  reason  why  they 
should  act  as  if  they  believed  it,  not  a  reason  why  we  should  act  as  if  it  were  so. 

(2)  We  cannot  submit  our  consciences  to  their  views  of  truth  without  harming  our- 
selves and  them. 

"  4th.  Strict  Communion  is  a  hindrance  to  union  among  Christians.  Reply :  ( 1 )  Christ 
desires  only  union  in  the  truth.  (2)  Baptists  are  not  responsible  for  the  separation. 

(3)  Mixed  communion  is  not  a  cure  but  a  cause  of  disunion. 

"  5th.  The  rule  excludes  from  the  communion  baptized  members  of  pedobaptist  churches. 
Reply:  (1)  These  persons  are  walking  disorderly,  in  promoting  error.  (2)  The  Lord's 
Supper  is  a  symbol  of  church  fellowship,  not  of  fellowship  for  individuals,  apart  from 
their  church  relations.. 

u  6th.  A  plea  for  dispensing  with  the  rule  exists  in  extreme  cases  where  persons  must  com- 
mune with  us  or  not  at  all.  Reply :  ( 1 )  It  is  hard  to  fix  limits  to  these  exceptions :  they 
would  be  likely  to  encroach  more  and  more,  till  the  rule  became  merely  nominal.  ( 2 )  It 
is  a  greater  privilege  and  means  of  grace,  in  such  circumstances,  to  abstain  from  com- 
muning, than  contrary  to  principle  to  participate.  (3)  It  is  not  right  to  participate 
with  others,  where  we  cannot  invite  them  reciprocally. 

"  7th.  Alleged  inconsistency  of  our  practice,  ( a )  Since  we  expect  to  commune  in 
heaven.  Reply:  This  confounds  Christian  fellowship  with  church  fellowship.  We  do 
commune  with  pedobaptists  spiritually,  here  as  hereafter.  We  do  not  expect  to  partake 
of  the  Lord's  Supper  with  them,  or  with  others,  in  heaven,  (b)  Since  we  reject  the 
better  and  receive  the  worse.  Reply :  We  are  not  at  liberty  to  refuse  to  apply  Christ's 
outward  rule,  because  we  cannot  equally  apply  his  inward  spiritual  rule  of  character. 
Pedobaptists  withhold  communion  from  those  they  regard  as  unbaptized,  though  they 
may  be  more  spiritual  than  some  in  the  church.  ( c )  Since  we  recognize  pedobaptists  as 
brethren  in  union  meetings,  exchange  of  pulpits,  etc.  Reply :  None  of  these  acts  of 
fraternal  fellowship  imply  the  church  communion  which  admission  to  the  Lord's  table 
would  imply.  This  last  would  recognize  them  as  baptized :  the  former  do  not. 

"8th.  Alleged  impolicy  of  our  practice.  Reply:  ( 1 )  This  consideration  would  be  per- 
tinent, only  if  we  were  at  liberty  to  change  our  practice  when  it  was  expedient,  or  was- 


THE  LORD'S  SUPPER.  553 

thought  to  be  so.  (2)  Any  particular  truth  will  inspire  respect  in  others  in  proportion 
as  its  advocates  show  that  they  respect  it.  In  England  our  numbers  have  diminished, 
compared  with  the  population,  in  the  ratio  of  33  per  cent. ;  here  we  have  increased  5ft 
per  cent.,  in  proportion  to  the  ratio  of  population. 

Summary.  Open  communion  must  be  justified,  if  at  all,  on  one  of  four  grounds : 
First,  that  baptism  is  not  prerequisite  to  communion.  But  this  is  opposed  to  the  belief 
and  practice  of  all  churches.  Secondly,  that  immersion  on  profession  of  faith  is  not 
essential  to  baptism.  But  this  is  renouncing  Baptist  principles  altogether.  Thirdly,  that 
the  individual,  and  not  the  church,  is  to  be  the  judge  of  his  qualifications  for  admission 
to  the  communion.  But  this  is  contrary  to  sound  reason,  and  fatal  to  the  ends  for  which 
the  church  is  instituted.  For,  if  the  conscience  of  the  individual  is  to  be  the  rule  of  the 
action  of  the  church  in  regard  to  his  admission  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  why  not  also  with 
regard  to  his  regeneration,  his  doctrinal  belief,  and  his  obedience  to  Christ's  commands 
generally  ?  Fourthly,  that  the  church  has  no  responsibility  in  regard  to  the  qualifica- 
tions of  those  who  come  to  her  communion.  But  this  is  abandoning  the  principle  of  the 
independence  of  the  churches,  and  their  accountableness  to  Christ,  and  it  overthrows  all 
church  discipline." 

See  also  Hovey,  in  Bib.  Sao.,  1862  : 133 ;  Pepper,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  1867  :  216 ;  Curtis  on 
Communion,  292;  Howell,  Terms  of  Communion;  Williams,  The  Lord's  Supper;  Theo- 
dosia  Earnest,  pub.  by  Am.  Bap.  Pub.  Soc. ;  Wilkinson,  The  Baptist  Principle.  In  con- 
cluding our  treatment  of  Ecclesiology,  we  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  Jacob, 
the  English  Churchman,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  N.  T.,  and  Cunningham,  the 
Scotch  Presbyterian,  in  his  Croall  Lectures  for  1886,  have  furnished  Baptists  with  much 
valuable  material  for  the  defense  of  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  the  Church  and  its 
Ordinances.  In  fact,  a  complete  statement  of  the  Baptist  positions  might  easily  be  con- 
structed from  the  concessions  of  their  various  opponents. 


PAET  VIII. 

ESCHATOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE   OF  FINAL  THINGS. 

Neither  the  individual  Christian  character,  nor  the  Christian  church  as  a 
whole,  attains  its  destined  perfection  in  this  life  ( Rom.  8  :  24 ).  This  per- 
fection is  reached  in  the  world  to  come  ( 1  Cor.  13  :  10 ).  As  preparing  the 
way  for  the  kingdom  of  God  in  its  completeness,  certain  events  are  to  take 
place,  such  as  death,  Christ's  second  coming,  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
the  general  judgment.  As  stages  in  the  future  condition  of  men,  there  is 
to  be  an  intermediate  and  an  ultimate  state,  both  for  the  righteous  and 
for  the  wicked.  We  discuss  these  events  and  states  in  what  appears  from 
Scripture  to  be  the  order  of  their  occurrence. 

Rom.  8  :  24  — "  in  hope  were  we  saved :  bat  hope  that  is  seen  is  not  hope :  for  who  hopeth  for  that  which  he  seeth  ?  " 
1  Cor.  13  : 10 — "when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away."  Original  sin  is 
not  wholly  eradicated  from  the  Christian,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  yet  sole  ruler.  So, 
too,  the  church  is  still  in  a  state  of  conflict,  and  victory  is  hereafter.  But  as  the  Christian 
life  attains  its  completeness  only  in  the  future,  so  with  the  life  of  sin.  Death  begins 
here,  but  culminates  hereafter.  James  1 : 15 — "the  sin,  when  it  is  full  grown,  bringeth  forth  death." 
The  wicked  man  here  has  only  a  foretaste  of  "  the  wrath  to  come "  ( Mat.  3:7).  We  may  "  lay  up 
....  treasures  in  heaven  "  ( Mat.  6  :  20 ),  but  we  may  also  "  treasure  up  for  ourselves  wrath  "  ( Rom.  2  :  5 ),  i.  e., 
lay  up  treasure  in  hell. 

Dorner :  "  To  the  actuality  of  the  consummation  of  the  church  belongs  a  cessation  of 
reproduction  through  which  there  is  constantly  renewed  a  world  which  the  church 

must  subdue The  mutually  external  existence  of  spirit  and  nature  must  give 

way  to  a  perfect  internal  existence.  Their  externality  to  each  other  is  the  ground  of 
the  mortality  of  the  natural  side,  and  of  its  being  a  means  of  temptation  to  the  spirit- 
ual side.  For  in  this  externality  the  natural  side  has  still  too  great  independence  and 

exerts  a  determining  power  over  the  personality Art,  the  beautiful,  receives  in 

the  future  state  its  special  place ;  for  it  is  the  way  of  art  to  delight  in  visible  presenta- 
tion, to  achieve  the  classical  and  perfect  with  unfettered  play  of  its  powers.  Every  one 
morally  perfect  will  thus  wed  the  good  to  the  beautiful.  In  the  rest,  there  will  be  no 
inactivity ;  and  in  the  activity  also,  no  unrest." 

Schleiermacher :  " Eschatology  is  essentially  prophetic;  and  is  therefore  vague  and 
indefinite,  like  all  unfulfilled  prophecy."  Schiller's  Thekla  :  "  Every  thought  of  beauti- 
ful, trustful  seeming  Stands  fulfilled  in  heaven's  eternal  day :  Shrink  not  then  from 
erring  and  from  dreaming,—  Lofty  sense  lies  oft  in  childish  play."  Frances  Power  Cobbe 
Peak  of  Darien,  265— "Human  nature  is  a  ship  with  the  tide  out;  when  the  tide  of 
eternity  comes  in,  we  shall  see  the  purpose  of  the  ship."  See,  on  the  whole  subject  of 
Eschatology,  Luthardt,  Lehre  von  den  letzten  Dingen,  and  Saving  Truths  of  Christian- 
ity ;  Hodge,  Systematic  Theology,  3  :  713-880. 

/ 

I.     Physical  Death. 

Physical  death  is  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body.  We  distin- 
guish it  from  spiritual  death,  or  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  God  ;  and 

554 


PHYSICAL   DEATH.  555 

from  the  second  death,  or  the  banishment  from  God  and  final  misery  of  the 
reunited  soul  and  body  of  the  wicked. 

Spiritual  death  :  Is.  59  :  2—"  But  your  iniquities  have  separated  between  you  and  your  God,  and  your  sins  have 
hid  his  face  from  you,  that  he  will  not  hear  "  ;  Rom.  7  :  24  — "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of 
the  body  of  this  death  ?  "  Eph.  2:1—"  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins."  The  second  death  :  Rev.  2  : 
11  — "  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death  "  ;  20  :  14  — "  And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second  death,  even  the  lake  of  fire  ";  21 :  8  — "  But  for  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  abom- 
inable, and  murderers,  and  fornicators,  and  sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  their  part  shall  be  in  the  lake  that 
b'irneth  with  fire  and  brimstone ;  which  is  the  second  death." 

Julius  Mliller,  Doctrine  of  Sin,  2  :  303—"  Spiritual  death,  the  inner  discord  and  enslave- 
ment of  the  soul,  and  the  misery  resulting  therefrom,  to  which  belongs  that  other  death, 
the  second  death,  an  outward  condition  corresponding-  to  that  inner  slavery."  Trench, 
Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches,  151  — "  This  phrase  ['  second  death ']  is  itself  a  solemn  pro- 
test against  the  Sadduceeism  and  Epicureanism  which  would  make  natural  death  the 
be-all  and  end-all  of  existence.  As  there  is  a  life  beyond  the  present  life  for  the  faith- 
ful, so  there  is  a  death  beyond  that  which  falls  under  our  eyes  for  the  wicked." 

Although  physical  death  falls  upon  the  unbeliever  as  the  original  penalty 
of  sin,  to  all  who  are  united  to  Christ  it  loses  its  aspect  of  penalty,  and 
becomes  a  means  of  discipline  and  of  entrance  into  eternal  life. 

To  the  Christian  physical  death  is  not  a  penalty :  see  Ps.  116  : 15— "Precious  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints  "  ;  Rom.  8  : 10  — "  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead  because  of  sin ;  but  the  spirit 
is  life  because  of  righteousness"  ;  14  :  8— "For  whether  we  live,  we  live  unto  the  Lord;  or  whether  we  die,  we  die 
unto  the  Lord:  whether  we  live  therefore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's  "  ;  1  Cor.  3  :  22— "whether  Paul,  or  Apollos,  or 
Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come,  all  are  yours  "  ;  15  :  55  — "  0  death,  where 
is  thy  victory  ?  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  "  1  Pet.  4  :  6  — "  For  unto  this  end  was  the  gospel  preached  even  to  the 
dead,  that  they  might  be  judged  according  to  men  in  the  flesh,  but  live  according  to  God  in  the  spirit"  ;  cf.  Rom.  1 : 
18—"  For  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hinder  the 
truth  in  unrighteousness "  ;  8:1,  2—" There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus.  For 
the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  of  death  "  ;  Heb.  12  :  6  — "  For  whom 
the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth." 

Dr.  Hovey  says  that  "the  present  suffering's  of  believers  are  in  the  nature  of  disci- 
pline, with  an  aspect  of  retribution ;  while  the  present  sufferings  of  unbelievers  are 
retributive,  with  a  glance  toward  reformation."  We  prefer  to  say  that  all  penalty  has 
been  borne  by  Christ,  and  that,  for  him  who  is  justified  in  Christ,  suffering  of  whatever 
kind  is  of  the  nature  of  fatherly  chastening,  never  of  judicial  retribution;  see  our  dis- 
cussion of  the  Penalty  of  Sin,  page  354. 

To  neither  saint  nor  sinner  is  death  a  cessation  of  being.  This  we  main- 
tain, against  the  advocates  of  annihilation  : 

1.      Upon  rational  grounds. 

(a)  The  metaphysical  argument. — The  soul  is  simple,  not  compounded. 
Death,  in  matter,  is  the  separation  of  parts.  But  in  the  soul  there  are  no 
parts  to  be  separated.  The  dissolution  of  the  body,  therefore,  does  not 
necessarily  work  a  dissolution  of  the  soul.  But,  since  there  is  an  immaterial 
principle  in  the  brute,  and  this  argument  taken  by  itself  might  seem  to 
prove  the  immortality  of  the  animal  creation  equally  with  that  of  man,  we 
pass  to  consider  the  next  argument. 

The  immateriality  of  the  brute  mind  was  probably  the  consideration  which  led  Bishop 
Butler,  John  Wesley,  and  Louis  Agassiz  to  encourage  the  belief  in  animal  immortality. 
"  If  death  dissipates  the  sagacity  of  the  elephant,  why  not  that  of  his  captor?  "  It  is 
better,  therefore,  to  regard  this  argument  as  simply  showing  the  inconclusiveness  of 
materialism,  and  as  leaving  the  matter  open  for  positive  proof  from  revelation.  See 
Bp.  Butler,  Analogy,  part  i,  chap,  i  (Bohn's  ed.,  81-91). 

Mansel,  Metaphysics,  371,  maintains  that  all  this  argument  proves  is  that  the  objector 
cannot  show  the  soul  to  be  compound,  and  so  cannot  show  that  it  is  destructible.  Calder- 


556          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

wood,  Moral  Philosophy,  259— "The  facts  which  point  toward  the  termination  of  our 
present  state  of  existence  are  connected  with  our  physical  nature,  not  with  our  men- 
tal." John  Fiske,  Destiny  of  the  Creature,  110— "With  his  illegitimate  hypothesis  of 
annihilation,  the  materialist  transgresses  the  bounds  of  experience  quite  as  widely  as 
the  poet  who  sings  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  with  its  river  of  life  and  its  streets  of  gold. 
Scientifically  speaking,  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  for  either  view." 

It  may  be  further  objected  to  our  argument,  that  death  is  not,  as  we  define  it,  a  sepa- 
ration of  parts,  but  rather  a  cessation  of  consciousness ;  and  that  therefore,  while  the 
substance  of  human  nature  may  endure,  mankind  may  ever  develope  into  new  forms* 
without  individual  immortality.  To  this  we  reply,  that  man's  self -consciousness  and 
self-determination  are  different  in  kind  from  the  consciousness  and  determination  of 
the  brute.  As  man  can  direct  his  self -consciousness  and  self-determination  to  immortal 
ends,  we  have  the  right  to  believe  this  self-consciousness  and  self-determination  to  be 
immortal.  This  leads  us  to  the  next  argument. 

(6)  The  teleological  argument. — Man,  as  an  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  being,  does  not  attain  the  end  of  his  existence  on  earth.  His  de- 
velopment is  imperfect  here.  Divine  wisdom  will  not  leave  its  work  incom- 
plete. There  must  be  a  hereafter  for  the  full  growth  of  man's  powers,  and 
for  the  satisfaction  of  his  aspirations.  Created,  unlike  the  brute,  with  infi- 
nite capacities  for  moral  progress,  there  must  be  an  immortal  existence  in 
which  those  capacities  shall  be  brought  into  exercise.  Though  the  wicked 
forfeit  all  claim  to  this  future,  we  have  here  an  argument  from  God's  love 
and  wisdom  to  the  immortality  of  the  righteous. 

In  reply  to  this  argument,  it  has  been  said  that  many  right  wishes  are  vain.  Mill, 
Essays  on  Religion,  294—"  Desire  for  food  implies  enough  to  eat,  now  and  forever?  hence 
an  eternal  supply  of  cabbage  ?  "  But  our  argument  proceeds  upon  three  presuppositions : 
(1)  that  a  holy  and  benevolent  God  exists;  (2)  that  he  has  made  man  in  his  image; 
(3)  that  man's  true  end  is  holiness  and  likeness  to  God.  Therefore,  what  will  answer 
the  true  end  of  man  will  be  furnished ;  but  that  is  not  cabbage  — it  is  holiness  and  love, 
L  e.,  God  himself. 

The  argument,  however,  is  valuable  only  in  its  application  to  the  righteous.  God  will 
not  treat  the  righteous  as  the  tyrant  of  Florence  treated  Michael  Angelo,  when  he  bade 
him  carve  out  of  ice  a  statue  which  would  melt  under  the  first  rays  of  the  sun.  In  the 
case  of  the  wicked,  the  other  law  of  retribution  comes  in  —  the  taking  away  of  "  even  that 
which  he  hath  "  ( Mat.  25  :  29 ).  Since  we  are  all  wicked,  the  argument  is  not  satisfactory,  unless 
we  take  into  account  the  further  facts  of  atonement  and  justification  — facts  of  which 
we  learn  from  revelation  alone. 

But  while,  taken  by  itself,  this  rational  argument  might  be  called  defective,  and  could 
never  prove  that  man  may  not  attain  his  end  in  the  continued  existence  of  the  race, 
rather  than  in  that  of  the  individual,  the  argument  appears  more  valuable  as  a  rational 
supplement  to  the  facts  already  mentioned,  and  seems  to  render  certain  at  least  the  im- 
mortality of  those  upon  whom  God  has  set  his  love,  and  in  whom  he  has  wrought  the 
beginnings  of  righteousness. 

(c)  The  ethical  argument. — Man  is  not,  in  this  world,  adequately  pun- 
ished for  his  evil  deeds.  Our  sense  of  justice  leads  us  to  believe  that  God's 
moral  administration  will  be  vindicated  in  a  life  to  come.  Mere  extinction 
of  being  would  not  be  a  sufficient  penalty,  nor  would  it  permit  degrees  of 
punishment  corresponding  to  degrees  of  guilt.  This  is  therefore  an  argu- 
ment from  God's  justice  to  the  immortality  of  the  wicked.  The  guilty  con- 
science demands  a  state  after  death  for  punishment. 

This  is  an  argument  from  God's  justice  to  the  immortality  of  the  wicked,  as  the  pre- 
ceding was  an  argument  from  God's  love  to  the  immortality  of  the  righteous.  "  History 
defies  our  moral  sense  by  giving  a  peaceful  end  to  Sulla."  Louis  XV  and  Madame  Pom- 
padour died  in  their  beds,  after  a  life  of  extreme  luxury.  Louis  XVI  and  his  queen, 
though  far  more  just  and  pure,  perished  by  an  appalling  tragedy.  The  fates  of  these 
four  cannot  be  explained  by  the  wickedness  of  the  latter  pair  and  the  virtue  of  the 


PHYSICAL    DEATH.  557 

former.  Since  there  is  not  always  an  execution  of  justice  here,  we  feel  that  there  must 
be  a  "judgment  to  come,"  such  as  that  which  terrified  Felix  (Acts  24  :  25). 

This  argument  has  probably  more  power  over  the  minds  of  men  than  any  other.  Men 
believe  in  Minos  and  Rhadamanthus,  if  not  in  the  Elysian  Fields.  But  even  here  it  may 
be  replied  that  the  judgment  which  conscience  threatens,  may  be,  not  immortality,  but 
extinction  of  being.  We  shall  see,  however,  in  our  discussion  of  the  endlessness  of  fu- 
ture punishment,  that  mere  annihilation  cannot  satisfy  the  moral  instinct  which  lies  at 
the  basis  of  this  argument.  That  demands  a  punishment  proportioned  in  each  case  to 
the  guilt  incurred  by  transgression.  Extinction  of  being  would  be  the  same  to  all.  As 
it  would  not  admit  of  degrees,  so  it  would  not,  in  any  case,  sufficiently  vindicate  God's 
righ  teou  sness. 

But  while  this  argument  proves  life  and  punishment  for  the  wicked  after  death,  it 
leaves  us  dependent  on  revelation  for  our  knowledge  how  long  that  life  and  punishment 
will  be.  Kant's  argument  is  that  man  strives  equally  for  morality  and  for  well-being  ; 
but  morality  often  requires  the  sacrifice  of  well-being ;  hence  there  must  be  a  future 
reconciliation  of  the  two  in  the  well-being  or  reward  of  virtue.  To  all  of  which  it  might 
be  answered,  first,  that  there  is  no  virtue  so  perfect  as  to  merit  reward ;  and  secondly, 
that  virtue  is  its  own  reward,  and  so  is  well-being. 

(d)  The  historical  argument. — The  popular  belief  of  all  nations  and  ages 
shows  that  the  idea  of  immortality  is  natural  to  the  human  mind.  It  is  not 
sufficient  to  say  that  this  indicates  only  such  desire  for  continued  earthly 
existence  as  is  necessary  to  self-preservation ;  for  multitudes  expect  a  life  be- 
yond death  without  desiring  it,  and  multitudes  desire  a  heavenly  life  without 
caring  for  the  earthly.  This  testimony  of  man's  nature  to  immortality  may 
be  regarded  as  the  testimony  of  the  God  who  made  the  nature. 

Testimonies  to  this  popular  belief  are  given  in  Bartlett,  Life  and  Death  Eternal,  pref- 
ace :  The  arrow-heads  and  earthen  vessels  laid  by  the  side  of  the  dead  Indian ;  the  silver 
obolus  put  in  the  mouth  of  the  dead  Greek  to  pay  Charon's  passage  money ;  the  furnish- 
ing of  the  Egyptian  corpse  with  the  Book  of  the  Dead,  the  papyrus-roll  containing  the 
prayer  he  is  to  offer  and  the  chart  of  his  journey  through  the  unseen  world. 

But  it  may  be  replied,  that  many  universal  popular  impressions  have  proved  false, 
such  as  belief  in  ghosts,  and  in  the  moving  of  the  sun  round  the  earth.  While  the  mass 
of  men  have  believed  in  immortality,  some  of  the  wisest  have  been  doubters.  Cyrus 
said :  "  I  cannot  imagine  that  the  soul  lives  only  while  it  remains  in  this  mortal  body." 
But  the  dying  words  of  Socrates  were :  "  We  part ;  I  am  going  to  die,  and  you  to  live  ; 
which  of  us  goes  the  better  way  is  known  to  God  alone."  Cicero  declared  :  "  Upon  this 
subject  I  entertain  no  more  than  conjectures;"  and  said  that,  when  he  was  reading  Plato's 
argument  for  immortality,  he  seemed  to  himself  convinced,  but  when  he  laid  down  the 
book  he  found  that  all  his  doubts  returned. 

Aristotle,  Nic.  Ethics,  3  :  9,  calls  death  "  the  most  to  be  feared  of  all  things for  it 

appears  to  be  the  end  of  everything ;  and  for  the  deceased  there  appears  to  be  no  longer 
either  any  good  or  any  evil."  ^Eschylus :  "  Of  one  once  dead  there  is  no  resurrection." 
Catullus:  "When  once  our  brief  day  has  set,  we  must  sleep  one  everlasting  night." 
Tacitus :  "  If  there  is  a  place  for  the  spirits  of  the  pious ;  if,  as  the  wise  suppose,  great 
souls  do  not  become  extinct  with  their  bodies."  "In  that  if,"  says  Uhlhorn,  "lies  the 
whole  torturing  uncertainty  of  heathenism." 

The  most  that  can  be  claimed  for  this  fourth  argument  from  popular  .belief  is  that  it 
indicates  a  general  appetency  for  continued  existence  after  death,  and  that  the  idea  is 
congruous  with  our  nature.  W.  E.  Forster  said  to  Harriet  Martineau  that  he  would 
rather  be  damned  than  be  annihilated ;  see  F.  P.  Cobbe,  Peak  of  Darien,  44.  But  it  may 
be  replied  that  there  is  reason  enough  for  this  desire  for  life  in  the  fact  that  it  ensures 
the  earthly  existence  of  the  race,  which  might  commit  universal  suicide  without  it. 
There  is  reason  enough  in  the  present  life  for  its  existence,  and  Ave  are  not  necessitated 
to  infer  a  future  life  therefrom.  This  objection  cannot  be  fully  answered  from  reason 
alone.  But  if  we  take  our  argument  in  connection  with  the  Scriptural  revelation  con- 
cerning God's  making  of  man  in  his  image,  we  may  regard  the  testimony  of  man's 
nature  as  the  testimony  of  the  God  who  made  it. 

We  conclude  our  statement  of  these  rational  proofs  with  the  acknowledg- 
ment that  they  rest  upon  the  presupposition  that  there  exists  a  God  of  truth, 


558         ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    FINAL   THINGS. 

wisdom,  justice,  and  love,  who  has  made  man  in  his  image,  and  who  desires 
to  commune  with  his  creatures.  We  acknowledge,  moreover,  that  these 
proofs  give  us,  not  an  absolute  demonstration,  but  only  a  balance  of  proba- 
bility, in  favor  of  man's  immortality.  We  turn  therefore  to  Scripture  for 
the  clear  revelation  of  a  fact  of  which  reason  furnishes  us  little  more  than  a 
presumption. 

Dorner:  "There  is  no  rational  evidence  which  compels  belief  in  immortality.  Im- 
mortality has  its  pledge  in  God's  making-  man  in  his  image,  and  in  God's  will  of  love  for 
communion  with  men."  Luthardt,  Compendium,  289— "The  truth  in  these  proofs  from 
reason  is  the  idea  of  human  personality  and  its  relation  to  God.  Belief  in  God  is  the  uni- 
versal presupposition  and  foundation  of  the  universal  belief  in  immortality."  Straus* 
declared  that  this  belief  in  immortality  is  the  last  enemy  which  is  to  be  destroyed.  He 
forgot  that  belief  in  God  is  more  ineradicable  still. 

Hadley,  Essays,  Philological  and  Critical,  373-379— "The  claim  of  immortality  may  be 
based  on  one  or  the  other  of  two  assumptions :  ( 1 )  The  same  organism  will  be  repro- 
duced hereafter,  and  the  same  functions,  or  part  of  them,  again  manifested  in  connec- 
tion with  it,  and  accompanied  with  consciousness  of  continued  identity ;  or,  (2)  The 
same  functions  may  be  exercised  and  accompanied  with  consciousness  of  identity, 
though  not  connected  with  the  same  organism  as  before ;  may  in  fact  go  on  without 
interruption,  without  being  even  suspended  by  death,  though  no  longer  manifested  to 
us."  The  conclusion  is :  "  The  light  of  nature,  when  all  directed  to  this  question,  does 
furnish  a  presumption  in  favor  of  immortality,  but  not  so  strong  a  presumption  as  to 
exclude  great  and  reasonable  doubts  upon  the  subject." 

For  an  excellent  synopsis  of  arguments  and  objections,  see  Hase,  Hutterus  Redivivus, 
276.  See  also  Bowen,  Metaph.  and  Ethics,  417-441;  A.  M.  Fairbairn,  on  Idea  of  Immor- 
tality, in  Studies  in  Philos.  of  Religion  and  of  History ;  Wordsworth,  Intimations  of 
Immortality;  Tennyson,  Two  Voices;  Alger,  Critical  History  of  Doctrine  of  Future 
Life,  with  Appendix  by  Ezra  Abbot,  containing  a  Catalogue  of  Works  relating  to  the 
Nature,  Origin,  and  Destiny  of  the  Soul. 

2.      Upon  Scriptural  grounds. 

(a)  The  account  of  man's  creation,  and  the  subsequent  allusions  to  it  in 
Scripture,  show  that,  while  the  body  was 'made  corruptible  and  subject  to 
death,  the  soul  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  incorruptible  and  immortal. 

Gen.  1 :  26,  27—"  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image  "  ;  2:7—"  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul " —  here,  as  was  shown  in  our 
treatment  of  man's  Original  State,  it  is  not  the  divine  image,  but  the  body,  that  is  formed 
of  dust;  and  into  this  body  the  soul  that  possesses  the  divine  image  is  breathed.  In  the 
Hebrew  records,  the  animating  soul  is  everywhere  distinguished  from  the  earthly  body. 
Gen.  3  :  22,  23 — "Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us,  to  know  good  and  evil;  and  now,  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand, 
and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and  live  for  ever ;  therefore  the  Lord  God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of 
Eden"— man  had  immortality  of  soul,  and  now,  lest  to  this  he  add  immortality  of  body, 
he  is  expelled  from  the  tree  of  life.  Eccl.  12  :  7  — "  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit 
return  unto  God  who  gave  it"  ;  Zech.  12  : 1— "The  Lord,  which  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens,  and  layeth  the  foundation 
of  the  earth,  and  formeth  the  spirit  of  man  within  him." 

Mat.  10  :  28  — "  And  be  not  afraid  of  them  which  kill  the  body,  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul :  but  rather  fear  him 
which  is  able  to  destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell " ;  Acts  7  :  59— "And  they  stoned  Stephen,  calling  upon  the  Lord, 
and  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit"  ;  2  Cor.  12  :  2— "I  know  a  man  in  Christ,  fourteen  years  ago  (whether  in 
the  body,  I  know  not ;  or  whether  out  of  the  body,  I  know  not ;  God  knoweth ),  such  a  one  caught  up  even  to  the  third 
heaven" ;  1  Cor.  15  :  45,  46— "The  first  man  Adam  became  a  living  soul.  The  last  Adam  became  a  life-giving  spirit. 
Howbeit  that  is  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which  is  natural;  then  that  which  is  spiritual"  =  the  first 
Adam  was  made  a  being-  whose  body  was  psychical  and  mortal  —  a  body  of  flesh  and 
blood,  that  could  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  So  Paul  says  the  spiritual  is  not  flrstt 
but  the  psychical ;  but  there  is  no  intimation  that  the  soul  also  was  created  mortal,  and 
needed  external  appliances,  like  the  tree  of  life,  before  it  could  enter  upon  immortality. 

But  it  may  be  asked:  Is  not  all  this,  in  1  Cor.  15,  spoken  of  the  regenerate  —  those  to 
whom  a  new  principle  of  life  has  been  communicated  ?  We  answer,  yes ;  but  that  does 
not  prevent  us  from  learning  from  the  passage  the  natural  immortality  of  the  soul ;  for 


PHYSICAL    DEATH.  559 

in  regeneration  the  essence  is  not  changed,  no  new  substance  is  imparted,  no  new  fac- 
ulty or  constitutive  element  is  added,  and  no  new  principle  of  holiness  is  infused.  The 
truth  is  simply  that  the  spirit  is  morally  readjusted.  For  substance  of  the  above 
remarks,  see  Hovey,  State  of  Impenitent  Dead,  1-27. 

(6)  The  account  of  the  curse  in  Genesis,  and  the  subsequent  allusions 
to  it  in  Scripture,  show  that,  while  the  death  then  incurred  includes  the 
dissolution  of  the  body,  it  does  not  include  cessation  of  being  on  the  part 
of  the  soul,  but  only  designates  that  state  of  the  soul  which  is  the  opposite 
of  true  life,  viz.,  a  state  of  banishment  from  God,  of  unholiness,  and  of 
misery. 

Gen.  2  : 17— "in  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die" ;  c/.  3  :  8— "the  man  and  his  wife  hid 
themselves  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  God"  ;  16-19— the  curse  of  pain  and  toil;  22-24  —  banishment 
from  the  garden  of  Eden  and  from  the  tree  of  life.  Mat.  8  :  22— "Follow  me;  and  leave  the  dead 
to  bury  their  own  dead  "  ;  25  :  41,  46 — "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal  fire  ....  These  shall  go  away  into 
eternal  punishment" ;  Luke  15  :  32 — "this  thy  .brother  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again;  and  was  lost,  and  is  found  "  ; 
John  5  :  24  — "  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not  into  judg- 
ment, but  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life  "  :  6  :  47,  53,  63—"  He  that  believeth  hath  eternal  life Except  ye  eat 

the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  not  life  in  yourselves the  words  that  I  have  spoken  unto 

you  are  spirit,  and  are  life  "  ;  8  :  51— "If  a  man  keep  my  word,  he  shall  never  see  death." 

Rom.  5  :  21 — "that  as  sin  reigned  in  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life"  ; 
8  : 13— "if  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  ye  must  die ;  but  if  by  the  Spirit  ye  put  to  death  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall 
live  "  ;  Eph.  2:1—"  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins  "  ;  5  : 14  — "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the 
dead,  and  Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee  "  ;  1  Tim.  5  :  6 — "  she  that  giveth  herself  to  pleasure  is  dead  while  she  liveth  "  ; 
James  5  :  20— "he  which  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save  a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  cover  a 
multitude  of  sins"  ;  1  John  3  :  4— "  Ve  know  that  we  have  passed  out  of  death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the  breth- 
ren "  ;  Rev.  3  : 1  — "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and  art  dead." 

We  are  to  interpret  O.  T.  terms  by  the  N.  T.  meaning  put  into  them.  We  are  to  inter- 
pret the  Hebrew  by  the  Greek,  not  the  Greek  by  the  Hebrew.  It  never  would  do  to 
interpret  our  missionaries'  use  of  the  Chinese  words  for  "  God,"  "  spirit,"  "  holiness,"  by 
the  use  of  those  words  among  th£  Chinese  before  the  missionaries  came.  By  the  later 
usage  of  the  N.  T.,  the  Holy  Spirit  shows  us  what  he  meant  by  the  usage  of  the  O.  T. 

(c)  The  Scriptural  expressions,  held  by  annihilationists  to  imply  cessa- 
tion of  being  on  the  part  of  the  wicked,  are  used  not  only  in  connections 
where  they  cannot  bear  this  meaning  (Esther  4  :  16),  but  in  connections 
where  they  imply  the  opposite. 

Esther  4  : 16— "if  I  perish,  I  perish"  ;  Gen.  6  : 11— "the  earth  also  was  corrupt  before  God"— here,  in  the 
KXX,  the  word  tyddpiq,  translated  "was  corrupt,"  is  the  same  word  which  in  other  places  is 
interpreted  by  annihilationists  as  meaning  extinction  of  being.  In  Ps.  119  : 176,  "I  have  gone 
astray  like  a  lost  sheep  "  cannot  mean  "  I  have  gone  astray  like  an  annihilated  sheep."  Is.  49  : 17 
—"thy  destroyers  [annihilators?]  and  they  that  made  thee  waste  shall  go  forth  of  thee" ;  57  : 1,  2— "The 
righteous  perisheth  [is  annihilated?]  and  no  man  layeth  it  to  heart:  and  merciful  men  are  taken  away,  none 
considering  that  the  righteous  is  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come.  He  entereth  into  peace :  they  rest  in  their  beds,  each 
one  that  walketh  in  his  uprightness  "  ;  Dan.  9  :  26— "And  after  three  score  and  two  weeks  shall  the  anointed  one  be  cut 
off  [annihilated?]". 

Mat.  10  :  6,  39,  42— "the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel ....  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it .... 
he  shall  in  no  wise  lose  his  reward  "—  in  these  verses  we  cannot  substitute  "  annihilate  "  for  "  lose  " ; 
Acts  13  :  41  — "Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish";  c/.  Mat.  6  : 16 — "for  they  disfigure  their  faces  — 
where  the  same  word  a<f>avi£ta  is  used.  1  Cor.  3  : 17— "If  any  man  destroyeth  [annihilates?]  the 
temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy  "  ;  2  Cor.  7  :  2  — "  we  corrupted  no  man  " —  where  the  same  word  <£#eipu> 
is  used.  2  Thess.  1  :  9— "who  shall  suffer  punishment,  even  eternal  destruction  from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from 
the  glory  of  his  might"  =  the  wicked  shall  be  driven  out  from  the  presence  of  Christ.  De- 
struction is  not  annihilation.  "  Destruction  from  "  =  separation.  "  A  ship  engulfed  in  quick- 
sands is  destroyed ;  a  temple  broken  down  and  deserted  is  destroyed  "  ;  see  Lillie,  Com. 
in  loco.  2  Pet.  3  :  7— "day  of  judgment  and  destruction  of  ungodly  men"— here  the  word  "destruction" 
( aTTwAei'as )  is  the  same  with  that  used  of  the  end  of  the  present  order  of  things,  and 
translated  "  perished  "  ( amiAe™ )  in  verse  6.  "  We  cannot  accordingly  infer  from  it  that  the 
ungodly  will  cease  to  exist,  but  only  that  there  will  be  a  great  and  penal  change  in  their 
condition "  ( Plumptre,  Com.  in  loco). 


560          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

(d)  The  passages  held  to  prove  the  annihilation  of  the  wicked  at  death 
cannot  have  this  meaning,  since  the  Scriptures  foretell  a  resurrection  of  the 
unjust  as  well  as  of  the  just ;  and  a  second  death,  or  a  misery  of  the  reunited 
soul  and  body,  in  the  case  of  the  wicked. 

Acts  24  : 15— "there  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  unjust" ;  Rev.  2  : 11— "He  that  overcometh  shall 
not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death  "  ;  20  : 14, 15  — "  And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second 
death,  even  the  lake  of  fire.  And  if  any  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life,  he  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  "  ; 
21 :  8— "their  part  shall  be  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone;  which  is  the  second  death."  The 
"second  death"  is  the  first  death  intensified.  Having  one's  "part  in  the  lake  of  fire"  is  not  anni- 
hilation. 

(e)  The  words  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  the  place  of  departed  spirits, 
as  well  as  the  allusions  to  their  condition,  show  that  death,  to  the  writers  of 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  although  it  was  the  termination  of  man's 
earthly  existence,  was  not  an  extinction  of  his  being  or  his  consciousness. 
(  ^iNlP  is  either  from  *l&ft  to  press,  and  =  '  the  shut-up  or  constrained  place ' ; 
or  from  ^Ktf,  to  be  at  rest  or  quiet,  and  =  '  the  resting  place. '    " A«ty?  =  not 
1  hell, '  but  the  '  unseen  world, '  conceived  by  the  Greeks  as  a  shadowy,  but 
not  as  an  unconscious,  state  of  being  ). 

Gen.  25  :  8,  9  —  Abraham  "  was  gathered  to  his  people.  And  Isaac  and  Ishmael  his  sons  buried  him  in  the  cave  of 
Machpelah  " ;  so  of  Isaac  in  Gen.  35  :  29,  and  of  Jacob  in  49  :  29,  33  —  all  of  whom  were  gathered 
to  their  fathers  before  they  were  buried.  Num.  20  :  24— "Aaron  shall  be  gathered  unto  his  people"— 
since  Aaron  was  not  buried  at  all,  being- "  gathered  to  their  fathers  "  was  something  different  from 
burial.  Job  3  : 13, 18  — "  For  now  should  I  have  lien  down  and  been  quiet ;  I  should  have  slept :  then  had  I  been  at 
rest ....  There  the  prisoners  are  at  ease  together ;  They  hear  not  the  voice  of  the  taskmaster  " ;  7:9  — "  As  the  cloud  is 
consumed  and  vanisheth  away,  So  he  that  goeth  down  to  the  grave  shall  come  up  no  more" ;  14  :  22— "But  his  flesh 
upon  him  hath  pain,  And  his  soul  within  him  mourneth." 

Ez.  32  :  21  — "  The  strong  among  the  mighty  shall  speak  to  him  out  of  the  midst  of  hell "  ;  Luke  16  :  23  — "  And  in 
Hades  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom  " ;  23  :  43  — 
"To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise"  ;  c/.  1  Sam.  28  : 19  — Samuel  said  to  Saul  in  the  cave  of 
Endor :  "  To-morrow  shalt  thou  and  thy  sons  be  with  me  "—  evidently  not  in  an  unconscious  state. 
Many  of  these  passages  intimate  a  continuity  of  consciousness  after  death.  Though 
Sheol  is  unknown  to  man,  it  is  naked  and  open  to  God  (Job  26  :  6) ;  he  can  find  men  there 
and  redeem  them  from  thence  (Ps.  49  : 15)  — proof  that  death  is  not  annihilation.  See 
Girdlestone,  O.  T.  Synonyms,  447. 

(/)  The  terms  and  phrases  which  have  been  held  to  declare  absolute 
cessation  of  existence  at  death  are  frequently  metaphorical,  and  an  examin- 
ation of  them  in  connection  with  the  context  and  with  other  Scriptures  is 
sufficient  to  show  the  untenableness  of  the  literal  interpretation  put  upon 
them  by  the  annihilationists,  and  to  prove  that  the  language  is  merely  the 
language  of  appearance. 

Death  is  often  designated  as  a  "sleeping"  or  a  "falling  asleep" ;  see  John  11 : 11, 14— "Our  friend 

Lazarus  is  fallen  asleep ;  but  I  go,  that  I  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep Then  Jesus  therefore  said  unto  them  plainly, 

Lazarus  is  dead."  Here  the  language  of  appearance  is  used ;  yet  this  language  could  not  have 
been  used,  if  the  soul  had  not  been  conceived  of  as  alive,  though  sundered  from  the  body ; 
see  Meyer  on  1  Cor.  1 : 18.  So  the  language  of  appearance  is  used  in  Eccl.  9  : 10  — "  there  is  no 
work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest" — and  in  Ps.  146  :  4  — "His  breath 
goeth  forth ;  in  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish." 

See  Mozley,  Essays,  2  : 171  — "  These  passages  often  describe  the  phenomena  of  death 
as  it  presents  itself  to  our  eyes,  and  so  do  not  enter  into  the  reality  which  takes  place 
beneath  it."  Bartlett,  Life  and  Death  Eternal,  189-358  — "  Because  the  same  Hebrew 
word  is  used  is  used  for  '  spirit '  and  '  breath,'  shall  we  say  that  the  spirit  is  only  breath  ? 
'  Heart '  in  English  might  in  like  manner  be  made  to  mean  only  the  material  organ ;  and 
David's  heart,  panting,  thirsting,  melting  within  him,  would  have  to  be  interpreted  lit- 
erally. So  a  man  may  be  'eaten  up  with  avarice,'  while  yet  his  being  is  not  only  not 
extinct,  but  is  in  a  state  of  frightful  activity." 


PHYSICAL    DEATH.  561 

(g}  The  Jewish  belief  in  a  conscious  existence  after  death  is  proof  that 
the  theory  of  annihilation  rests  upon  a  misinterpretation  of  Scripture. 
That  such  a  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  existed  among  the  Jews  is 
abundantly  evident :  from  the  knowledge  of  a  future  state  possessed  by  the 
Egyptians  (  Acts  7  :  22 ) ;  from  the  accounts  of  the  translation  of  Enoch 
and  of  Elijah  ( Gen.  5  :  24 ;  of.  Heb.  11  :  5.  2  K.  2  :  11)  ;  from  the  invo- 
cation of  the  dead  which  was  practised,  although  forbidden  by  the  law 
(  1  Sam.  28  :  7-14 ;  cf.  Lev.  20  :  27 ;  Deut.  18  :  10,  11 )  ;  from  allusions  in 
the  O.  T.  to  resurrection,  future  retribution,  and  life  beyond  the  grave  (  Job 
19  :  25,  27  ;  Ps.  16  :  9-11 ;  Is.  26  :  19  ;  Ez.  37  :  1-14  ;  Dan.  12  :  2,  3,  13)  ; 
and  from  distinct  declarations  of  such  faith  by  Philo  and  Josephus,  as  well 
as  by  the  writers  of  the  N.  T.  ( Mat.  22  :  31,  32  ;  Acts  23  :  6 ;  26  :  6-8  ; 
Heb.  11  :  13-16). 

The  Egyptian  coffin  was  called  "  the  chest  of  the  living."  See  the  Book  of  the  Dead, 
translated  by  Birch,  in  Bunsen's  Egypt's  Place,  123-333 :  The  principal  ideas  of  the  first 
part  of  the  Book  of  the  Dead  are  "  living-  ag-ain  after  death,  and  being-  born  again  as  the 
sun,"  which  typified  the  Egyptian  resurrection  ( 138).  "  The  deceased  lived  again  after 
death  "  (134).  "  The  Osiris  lives  after  he  dies,  like  the  sun  daily  ;  for  as  the  sun  died  and 
was  born  yesterday,  so  the  Osiris  is  born  "  (104).  Yet  the  immortal  part,  in  its  continued 
existence,  was  dependent  for  its  blessedness  upon  the  preservation  of  the  body ;  and  for 
this  reason  the  body  was  embalmed.  Immortality  of  the  body  is  as  important  as 
the  passage  of  the  soul.  Growth  or  natural  reparation  of  the  body  is  invoked  as 
earnestly  as  the  passage  of  the  soul  to  the  upper  regions."  "  There  is  not  a  limb  of  him 
without  a  god  ;  Thoth  is  vivifying  his  limbs  "  ( 197 ).  See  Uarda,  by  Ebers ;  Dr.  Howard 
Osgood  on  Resurrection  among  the  Egyptians,  in  Hebrew  Student,  Feb.,  1885.  The 
Egyptians,  however,  recognized  no  transmigration  of  souls;  see  Renouf,  Hibbert 
Lectures,  181-184. 

It  is  morally  impossible  that  Moses  should  not  have  known  the  Egyptian  doctrine  of 
immortality  :  Acts  7  :  22  — "  And  Moses  was  instructed  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians."  That  Moses  did 
not  make  the  doctrine  more  prominent  in  his  teachings,  may  be  for  the  reason  that  it 
was  so  connected  with  Egyptian  superstitions  with  regard  to  Osiris.  Yet  the  Jews 
believed  in  immortality :  Gen.  5  :  24  — "  And  Enoch  walked  with  God :  and  he  was  not ;  for  God  took  him  "  ; 
cf.  Heb.  11  :  5  —"By  faith  Enoch  was  translated  that  he  should  not  see  death  " ;  2  Kings  2  : 11  — " Elijah  went  up  by 
a  whirlwind  into  heaven  " ;  1  Sam.  28  : 1-14  —  the  invocation  of  Samuel  by  the  woman  of  Endor ; 
cf.  Lev.  20  :  27  — "  A  man  also,  or  woman,  that  hath  a  familiar  spirit,  or  that  is  a  wizard,  shall  surely  be  put  to  death ; " 
Deut.  20  : 10, 11  — -"  There  shall  not  be  found  among  you a  consulter  with  familiar  spirits,  or  a  wizard,  or  a  necro- 
mancer." 

Job  19  :  25-27— "For  I  know  that  my  redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  up  at  the  last  upon  the  earth:  and 
after  my  skin  hath  been  thus  destroyed,  yet  from  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes 
shall  behold,  and  not  another.  My  reins  are  consumed  within  me  "  ;  Ps.  16  :  9-11  — "  Therefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and 
my  glory  rejoiceth :  My  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  safety.  For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol ;  Neither  wilt  thou 
suffer  thine  holy  one  to  see  corruption.  Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life :  In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy ;  In  thy 
right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore  "  ;  Is.  26  : 19  — "Thy  dead  shall  live ;  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise.  Awake 
and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust :  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  forth  the  dead  "  ;  Ez. 
37  : 1-14  — the  valley  of  dry  bones— "I  will  open  your  graves,  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your  graves, 
0  my  people"— a  prophecy  of  restoration  based  upon  the  idea  of  immortality  and  resur- 
rection ;  Dan.  12  :  2,  3, 13  — "  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting 
life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament, 

and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever But  go  thou  thy  way  till  the  end  be  : 

for  thou  shalt  rest,  and  shalt  stand  in  thy  lot,  at  the  end  of  the  days." 

Josephus,  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Pharisees,  in  Antiquities,  xvni :  1 :  3,  and  Wars  of  the 
Jews,  ii :  8  :  10-14  — "  Souls  have  an  immortal  vigor.  Under  the  earth  are  rewards  and 
punishments.  The  wicked  are  detained  in  an  everlasting  prison.  The  righteous  shall 
have  power  to  revive  and  live  again.  Bodies  are  indeed  corruptible,  but  souls  remain 
exempt  from  death  forever.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees  is  that  souls  die  with 
their  bodies."  Mat.  22  :  31,  32— "But  as  touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  have  ye  not  read  that  which  was 
spoken  unto  you  by  God,  saying,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  ?  God  is  not  the 
God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living." 

Christ's  argument,  in  the  passage  last  quoted,  rests  upon  the  two  implied  assumptions ; 
36 


562    ESCHATOLOGY,  OR  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FINAL  THINGS. 

first,  that  love  will  never  suffer  the  object  of  its  affection  to  die ;  beings  who  have  ever 
been  the  objects  of  God's  love  will  be  so  forever  —for  "  Life  is  ever  Lord  of  death,  And 
love  can  never  lose  its  own  "  (Tennyson,  In  Memoriam) ;  secondly,  that  body  and  soul 
belong1  normally  together ;  if  body  and  soul  are  temporarily  separated,  they  shall  be 
united;  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  living,  and  therefore  they  shall  rise  again.  It 
was  only  an  application  of  the  same  principle,  when  Robert  Hall  gave  up  his  early  mate- 
rialism as  he  looked  down  into  his  father's  grave :  he  felt  that  this  could  not  be  the  end ; 
cf.  Ps.  22  :  26— "Your  heart  shall  live  forever."  Acts  23  :  6— "I  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of  Pharisees:  touching  the 
hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question  "  ;  26  :  7,  8  — "  And  concerning  this  hope  I  am  accused  by  the 
Jews,  0  king!  Why  is  it  judged  incredible  with  you,  if  God  doth  raise  the  dead?"  Heb.  11  : 13-16  —  the  present 
life  was  reckoned  as  a  pilgrimage ;  the  patriarchs  sought  "  a  better  country,  that  is,  a  heavenly  " ; 
cf.  Gen.  47  :  9. 

Mozley,  Lectures,  26-59,  and  Essays,  2  : 169— "True  religion  among  the  Jews  had  an 
evidence  of  immortality  in  its  possession  of  God.  Paganism  was  hopeless  in  its  loss  of 
friends,  because  affection  never  advanced  beyond  its  earthly  object,  and  therefore,  in 
losing  it,  lost  all.  But  religious  love,  which  loves  the  creature  in  the  Creator,  has  that 
on  which  to  fall  back,  when  its  earthly  object  is  removed." 

(h)  The  most  impressive  and  conclusive  of  all  proofs  of  immortality, 
however,  is  afforded  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ, — a  work  accom- 
plished by  his  own  power,  and  demonstrating  that  the  spirit  lived  after  its 
separation  from  the  body  (John  2  :  19,  21 ;  10  :  17,  18).  By  coming  back 
from  the  tomb,  he  proves  that  death  is  not  annihilation  ( 2  Tim.  1 :  10  ). 

John  2  : 19,  21  —"Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up  .... 
But  he  spake  of  the  temple  of  his  body  "  ;  10  : 17, 18  — "  Therefore  doth  the  Father  love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my  life, 

that  I  may  take  it  again I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again  "  ;  2  Tim.  1  : 10  — 

"  our  Savior  Christ  Jesus,  who  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel  " —  that 
is,  immortality  had  been  a  truth  dimly  recognized,  suspected,  longed  for,  before  Christ 
came  :  but  it  was  he  who  first  brought  it  out  from  obscurity  and  uncertainty  into  clear 
daylight  and  convincing  power. 

Christ  taught  immortality:  (1)  By  exhibiting  himself  the  perfect  conception  of  a 
human  life.  Who  could  believe  that  Christ  could  become  forever  extinct?  (2)  By 
actually  coming  back  from  beyond  the  grave.  There  were  many  speculations  about  a 
trans-Atlantic  continent  before  1492,  but  these  were  of  little  worth  compared  with  the 
actual  word  which  Columbus  brought  of  a  new  world  beyond  the  sea.  (3)  By  provid- 
ing a  way  through  which  his  own  spiritual  life  and  victory  may  be  ours ;  so  that,  though 
we  pass  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  we  may  fear  no  evil.  (4)  By  thus 
gaining  authority  to  teach  us  of  the  resurrection  of  the  righteous  and  of  the  wicked,  as 
he  actually  does.  Christ's  resurrection  is  not  only  the  best  proof  of  immortality,  but 
we  have  no  certain  evidence  of  immortality  without  it. 

For  the  annihilation  theory,  see  Hudson,  Debt  and  Grace,  and  Christ,  Our  Life;  also 
Dobney,  Future  Punishment.  Per  contra,  see  Hovey,  State  of  the  Impenitent  Dead, 
1-27,  and  Manual  of  Theology  and  Ethics, .  153-168 ;  Luthardt,  Compendium,  289-292; 
Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psych.,  397-407;  Herzog,  Encyclop.,  art.:  Tod;  Splittgerber,  Schlaf  und 
Tod ;  Estes,  Christian  Doctrine  of  the  Soul ;  Baptist  Review,  1879  :  411-439 ;  Presb.  Rev., 
Jan.,  1882  : 203. 

II.     THE  INTERMEDIATE  STATE. 

The  Scriptures  affirm  the  conscious  existence  of  both  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked,  after  death,  and  prior  to  the  resurrection.  In  the  intermediate 
state  the  soul  is  without  a  body,  yet  this  state  is  for  the  righteous  a  state  of 
conscious  joy,  and  for  the  wicked  a  state  of  conscious  suffering. 

That  the  righteous  do  not  receive  the  spiritual  body  at  death,  is  plain 
from  1  Thess.  4  :  16,  17  and  1  Cor.  15  :  52,  where  an  interval  is  intimated 
between  Paul's  time  and  the  rising  of  those  who  slept.  This  rising  was  to 
occur  in  the  future,  "  at  the  last  trump."  So  the  resurrection  of  the  wicked 
had  not  yet  occurred  in  any  single  case,  but  was  yet  future  ( John  5  :  28-30  — 


THE    INTERMEDIATE   STATE.  563 


fopa,  not  Kai  vvv  kariv,  as  in  verse  25  ;    Acts  24  :  15  —  avdaraaiv 

).     Christ  was  the  firstfruits  (  1  Cor.  15  :  20,  23  ).     If  the  saints  had 

received  the  spiritual  body  at  death,  the  patriarchs  would  have  been  raised 

before  Christ. 

1.     Of  the  righteous,  it  is  declared  : 

(a)     That  the  soul  of  the  believer,  at  its  separation  from  the  body,  enters 
the  presence  of  Christ. 

2  Cor.  5  :  1-8—"  If  the  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  from  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal,  in  the  heavens.  For  verily  in  this  we  groan,  longing  to  be  clothed  upon  with  our  habitation  which 
is  from  heaven  :  if  so  be  that  being  clothed  we  shall  not  be  found  naked.  For  indeed  we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do 
groan,  being  burdened  ;  not  for  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would  be  clothed  upon,  that  what  is  mortal  may 
be  swallowed  up  of  life  ....  willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord"  —  Paul 
hopes  to  escape  the  violent  separation  of  soul  and  body  —  the  being  "unclothed  "—  by  living 
till  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  and  then  putting  on  the  heavenly  body,  as  it  were,  over  the 
present  one  (  enevSv(ra<rdai  )  ;  yet  whether  he  lived  till  Christ's  coming  or  not,  he  knew 
that  the  soul,  when  it  left  the  body,  would  be  at  home  with  the  Lord. 

Luke  23  :  43—  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise  "  ;  John  14  :  3—  "And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 
you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also"  ;  2  Tim.  4  :  18  —  "  The 
Lord  will  deliver  me  from  every  evil  work,  and  will  save  me  unto  [or,  'into']  his  heavenly  kingdom"  =  will  save 
me  and  put  me  into  his  heavenly  kingdom  (  Ellicott  ),  the  characteristic  of  which  is  the 
visible  presence  of  the  King  with  his  subjects. 

(6)     That  the  spirits  of  departed  believers  are  with  God. 

Heb.  12  :  23—  Ye  are  come  "to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  firstborn  who  are  enrolled  in  heaven, 
and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all"  ;  cf.  Eccl.  12  :  7  —  "the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was;  and  the  spirit  return  unto 
God  who  gave  it."  John  20  :  17  —  "  Touch  me  not  ;  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  unto  the  Father  "—  probably  means  : 
"  my  body  has  not  yet  ascended."  The  soul  had  gone  to  God  during  the  interval  be- 
tween death  and  the  resurrection,  as  is  evident  from  Luke  23  :  43,  46—  "with  me  in  Paradise  .... 
Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

(c)  That  believers  at  death  enter  paradise. 

Luke  23  :  42,  43—  "And  he  said,  Jesus,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  in  thy  kingdom.  And  he  said  unto  him, 
Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise  "  ;  cf.  2  Cor.  12  :  4  —  "  caught  up  into  Paradise,  and 
heard  unspeakable  words,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter"  ;  Rev.  2  :  7—  "To  him  that  overcometh,  to  him 
will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  God"  ;  Gen.  2  :  8—  "And  the  Lord  planted  a  garden 
eastward,  in  Eden  ;  and  there  he  put  the  man  whom  he  had  formed."  Paradise  is  none  other  than  the 
abode  of  God  and  the  blessed,  of  which  the  primeval  Eden  was  the  type. 

(d)  That  their  state,  immediately  after  death,  is  greatly  to  be  preferred 
to  that  of  faithful  and  successful  laborers  for  Christ  here. 

Phil.  1  :  22,  23  —  "  I  am  in  a  strait  betwixt  the  two,  having  the  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  ;  for  it  is  very  far 
better"—  here  Hackett  says:  "  ava\v<rat.  =  departing-,  cutting  loose,  as  if  to  put  to  sea,  fol- 
lowed by  o-iir  Xpiaro)  eli/ai,  as  if  Paul  regarded  one  event  as  immediately  subsequent  to 
the  other."  Paul,  with  his  burning  desire  to  preach  Christ,  would  certainly  have  pre- 
ferred to  live  and  labor,  even  amid  great  suffering,  rather  than  to  die,  if  death  to  him 
had  been  a  state  of  unconsciousness  and  inaction.  See  Edwards  the  younger,  Works, 
2  :  530,  531;  Hovey,  Impenitent  Dead,  61. 

(e)  That  departed  saints  are  truly  alive  and  conscious. 

Mat.  22  :  32  —  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  "  ;  Luke  16  :  22  —  "  carried  away  by  the  angels  into 
Abraham's  bosom  "  ;  23  :  43  —  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise  "  —  "  with  me  "  =  in  the  same  state  — 
unless  Christ  slept  in  unconsciousness,  we  cannot  think  that  the  penitent  thief  did  ; 
John  11  :  26  —  "  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die";  1  Thess.  5  :  10—  "who  died  for  us,  that, 
whether  we  wake  or  sleep,  we  should  live  together  with  him  "  ;  Rom.  8  :  10  —  "  And  if  Christ  is  in  you,  the  body  is  dead 
because  of  sin  ;  but  the  spirit  is  life  because  of  righteousness."  Life  and  consciousness  clearly  belong  to 
the  "souls  under  the  altar"  mentioned  under  the  next  head. 


564         ESCHATOLOGY,   OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL  THINGS. 
(/)     That  they  are  at  rest  and  blessed. 

Rev.  6  :  9-11  —  "  I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony 
which  they  held  :  and  they  cried  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  How  long,  0  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge 
and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth.  And  there  was  given  them  to  each  one  a  white  robe  ;  and  it  was 
said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  a  little  time,  until  their  fellow-servants  also  and  their  brethren,  which  should 
be  killed  even  as  they  were,  should  be  fulfilled  in  number"  ;  14  :  13  —"Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from 
henceforth  :  yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors  ;  for  their  works  follow  with  them  "  ;  20  :  14  — 
"And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire"—  see  Evans,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  1883  :  303—  "The 
shadow  of  death  lying  upon  Hades  is  the  penumbra  of  Hell.  Hence  Hades  is  associated 
with  death  in  the  final  doom." 

2.     Of  the  wicked,  it  is  declared  : 

(a)  That  they  are  in  prison,  —  that  is,  under  constraint  and  guard  (  1  Pet. 
3  :  19  —  <t>v7MK^  ). 

1  Pet.  3  :  19  —  "  In  which  [  spirit  ]  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison  "—  there  is  no  need 
of  putting  unconscious  spirits  under  guard.  Hovey:  "Restraint  implies  power  of 
action,  and  suffering  implies  consciousness." 

(6)  That  they  are  in  torment,  or  conscious  suffering  (  Luke  16  :  23  — 
EV  ftandvois  ). 

Luke  16  :  23  —  "  And  in  Hades  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his 
bosom.  And  he  cried  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his 
finger  in  water,  and  cool  my  tongue  ;  for  I  am  in  anguish  in  this  flame." 

Here  many  unanswerable  questions  may  be  asked  :  Had  the  rich  man  a  body  before 
the  resurrection,  or  is  this  representation  of  a  body  only  figurative  ?  Did  the  soul  still 
feel  the  body  from  which  it  was  temporarily  separated,  or  have  souls  in  the  interme- 
diate state  temporary  bodies  ?  However  we  may  answer  these  questions,  it  is  certain 
that  the  rich  man  suffers,  while  probation  still  lasts  for  his  brethren  on  earth.  Fire  is 
here  the  source  of  suffering,  but  not  of  annihilation.  Even  though  this  be  a  parable,  it 
proves  conscious  existence  after  death  to  have  been  the  common  view  of  the  Jews,  and 
to  have  been  a  view  sanctioned  by  Christ. 


(c)     That  they  are  under  punishment  (2  Pet.  2  :  9  — 

2  Pet.  2  :  9  —  "  The  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of  temptation,  and  to  keep  the  unrighteous  under  pun- 
ishment unto  the  day  of  judgment  "—  here  "the  unrighteous  "  =  not  only  evil  angels,  but  ungodly 
men;  c/.  verse  4—  "For  if  God  spared  not  angels  when  they  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  committed 
them  to  pits  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment." 

The  passages  cited  enable  us  properly  to  estimate  two  opposite  errors. 

A.  They  refute,  on  the  one  hand,  the  view  that  the  souls  of  both  right- 
eous and  wicked  sleep  between  death  and  the  resurrection. 

This  view  is  based  upon  the  assumption  the  possession  of  a  physical 
organism  is  indispensable  to  activity  and  consciousness  —  an  assumption 
which  the  existence  of  a  God  who  is  pure  spirit  (John  4  :  24),  and  the  ex- 
istence of  angels  who  are  probably  pure  spirits  (Heb.  1  :  14),  show  to  be 
erroneous.  Although  the  departed  are  characterized  as  '  spirits  (  Eccl.  12  : 
7  ;  Acts  7  :  59  ;  Heb.  12  :  23  ;  1  Pet.  3  :  19  ),  there  is  nothing  in  this  'absence 
from  the  body  '  (  2  Cor.  5:8)  inconsistent  with  the  activity  and  consciousness 
ascribed  to  them  in  the  Scriptures  above  referred  to.  When  the  dead  are 
spoken  of  as  '  sleeping  '  (  Dan.  12  :  2  ;  Mat.  9  :  24  ;  John  11  :  11  ;  1  Cor.  11  : 
30  ;  15  :  51  ;  1  Thess.  4  :  14  ;  5  :  10  ),  we  are  to  regard  this  as  simply  the 
language  of  appearance,  and  as  literally  applicable  only  to  the  body. 

John  4  :  24  —  "  God  is  a  Spirit  [or  rather,  as  margin,  '  God  is  spirit  '  ]  "  ;  Heb.  1  :  14  —  "  Are  they  [angels] 


THE   INTERMEDIATE   STATE. 


565 


not  all  ministering  spirits?  "  Eccl.  12  :  7 — "  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was ;  and  the  spirit  return  unto  God 
who  gave  it" ;  Acts  7  :  59— "And  they  stoned  Stephen,  calling  upon  the  Lord,  and  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit"  ;  Heb.  12  :  23  — "  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect"  ;  1  Pet.  3  : 19— "in 
which  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison  "  ;  2  Cor.  5:8—"  We  are  of  good  courage,  I  say,  and  are 
willing  rather  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  and  to  be  at  home  with  the  Lord  "  ;  Dan.  12  :  2  — "  many  of  them  that  sleep 
in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake  "  ;  Mat.  9  :  24  —  "  the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth  "  ;  John  11 : 11  — "  Our  friend 
Lazarus  is  fallen  asleep ;  but  I  go,  that  I  may  awake  him  out  of  sleep  "  ;  1  Cor.  11 :  30  — "  For  this  cause  many  among 
you  are  weak  and  sickly,  and  not  a  few  sleep  "  ;  1  Thess.  4  : 14  — "  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again, 
even  so  them  also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him  " ;  5  : 10— "who  died  for  us,  that,  whether 
we  wake  or  sleep,  we  should  live  together  with  him." 

B.  The  passages  first  cited  refute,  on  the  other  hand,  the  view  that  the 
suffering  of  the  intermediate  state  is  purgatorial. 

According  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  "all  who  die 
at  peace  with  the  church,  but  are  not  perfect,  pass  into  purgatory."  Here 
they  make  satisfaction  for  the  sins  committed  after  baptism  by  suffering  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  according  to  the  degree  of  their  guilt.  The  church 
on  earth,  however,  has  power,  by  prayers  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  to 
shorten  these  sufferings  or  to  remit  them  altogether.  But  we  urge,  in  reply, 
that  the  passages  referring  to  suffering  in  the  intermediate  state  give  no 
indication  that  any  true  believer  is  subject  to  this  suffering,  or  that  the 
church  has  any  power  to  relieve  from  the  consequences  of  sin,  either  in  this 
world  or  in  the  world  to  come.  Only  God  can  forgive,  and  the  church  is 
simply  empowered  to  declare  that,  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  appointed 
conditions  of  repentance  and  faith,  he  does  actually  forgive.  This  theory, 
moreover,  is  inconsistent  with  any  proper  view  of  the  completeness  of 
Christ's  satisfaction  ( Gal.  2  :  21  ;  Heb.  9  :  28 ) ;  of  justification  through 
faith  alone  ( Eom.  3  :  28 ) ;  and  of  the  condition  after  death,  of  both  righteous 
and  wicked,  as  determined  in  this  life  ( Eccl.  11  :  3 ;  Mat.  25  :  10  ;  Luke 
16  :  26 ;  Heb.  9  :  27 ;  Eev.  22  :  11 ). 

Against  this  doctrine  we  quote  the  following  texts :  Gal.  2  :  21  — "  I  do  not  make  void  the  grace 
of  God:  for  if  righteousness  is  through  the  law,  then  Christ  died  for  nought";  Heb.  9:28 — "so  Christ  also,  having 
been  once  [or,  '  once  for  all ']  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many,  shall  appear  a  second  time,  apart  from  sin,  to  them  that 
wait  for  him,  unto  salvation"  ;  Rom.  3  :  28 — "We  reckon  therefore  that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith,  apart  from  the 
works  of  the  law  " ;  Eccl.  11  :  3  — "  If  the  tree  fall  toward  the  south  or  toward  the  north,  in  the  place  where  the  tree 
falleth,  there  it  shall  be"  ;  Mat.  25  : 10— "And  while  they  went  away  to  buy,  the  bridegroom «ame ;  and  they  that 
were  ready  went  in  with  him  to  the  marriage  feast:  and  the  door  was  shut "  ;  Luke  16  :  26—"  And  beside  all  this,  be- 
tween us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,  that  they  which  would  pass  from  hence  to  you  may  not  be  able,  and  that 
none  may  cross  over  from  thence  to  us"  ;  Heb.  9  :  27  — "  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this  cometh 
judgment"  ;  Rev.  22  : 11— "He  that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do  unrighteousness  still:  and  he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be 
made  filthy  still ;  and  he  that  is  righteous,  let  him  do  righteousness  still :  and  he  that  is  holy,  let  him  be  made  holy 
still." 

For  the  Romanist  doctrine,  see  Perrone,  Prselectiones  Theologicse,  2 : 391-420.  Per 
contra,  see  Hodge,  Systematic  Theology,  3  :  743-770 ;  Barrows,  Purgatory.  Augustine, 
Encheiridion,  69,  suggests  the  possibility  of  purgatorial  fire  in  the  future  for  some  be- 
lievers. Whiton,  Is  Eternal  Punishment  Endless  ?  page  69,  says  that  Tertullian  held  to 
a  delay  of  resurrection  in  the  case  of  faulty  Christians ;  Cyprian  first  stated  the  notion 
of  a  middle  state  of  purification ;  Augustine  thought  it  "  not  incredible  "  ;  Gregory  the 
Great  called  it  "worthy  of  belief  " ;  it  is  now  one  of  the  most  potent  doctrines  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church ;  that  church  has  been,  from  the  third  century,  for  all  souls  who 
accept  her  last  consolations,  practically  restorationist. 

Elliott,  Horse  Apocalypticae,  1 :  410,  adopts  Hume's  simile,  and  says  that  purgatory 
gave  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  what  Archimedes  wanted,  another  world  on  which  to 
fix  its  lever,  that  so  fixed,  the  church  might  with  it  move  this  world.  We  must  remem- 
ber, however,  that  the  Roman  church  teaches  no  radical  change  of  character  in  purga- 
tory—purgatory is  only  a  purifying  process  for  believers. 


506         ESOHATOLOGY,   OR  THE   DOCTRltfE   OF   FlKAL  THINGS. 

We  close  our  discussion  of  ^this  subject  with  a  single,  but  an  important, 
remark, —  this,  namely,  that  while  the  Scriptures  represent  the  intermediate 
state  to  be  one  of  conscious  joy  to  the  righteous,  and  of  conscious  pain  to 
the  wicked,  they  also  represent  this  state  to  be  one  of  incompleteness.  The 
perfect  joy  of  the  saints,  and  the  utter  misery  of  the  wicked,  begin  only 
with  the  resurrection  and  general  judgment. 

That  the  intermediate  state  is  one  of  incompleteness,  appears  from  the  following 
passages :  Mat.  8  :  29  — "  What  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Son  of  God  ?  art  thou  come  hither  to  torment  us  before 
the  time  ?  "  2  Cor.  5  :  3,  4  — "  if  so  be  that  being  clothed  we  shall  not  be  found  naked.  For  indeed  we  that  are  in  this 
tabernacle  do  groan,  being  burdened ;  not  for  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would  be  clothed  upon,  that 
what  is  mortal  may  be  swallowed  up  of  life  "  ;  cf.  Rom.  8  :  23  — "And  not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also,  which  have  the 
firstfruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of 
our  body  "  ;  Phil.  3  : 11  — "  if  by  any  means  I  may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  "  ;  2  Pet.  2  :  9  — "  the 
Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of  temptation,  and  to  keep  the  unrighteous  under  punishment  unto  the  day 
of  judgment"  ;  Rev.  6  : 10 — "and  they  [the  souls  underneath  the  altar]  cried  with  a  great  voice,  saying, 
How  long,  0  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  " 

In  opposition  to  Locke,  Human  Understanding-,  2  : 1 : 10,  who  said  that "  the  soul  thinks 
not  always"  ;  and  to  Turner,  Wish  and  Will,  48,  who  declares  that  "the  soul  need  not 
always  think,  any  more  than  the  body  always  move ;  the  essence  of  the  soul  is  poten- 
tiality for  activity  " ;  Descartes,  Kant,  Jouffroy,  Sir  Wm,  Hamilton,  all  maintain  that  it 
belongs  to  mental  existence  continuously  to  think.  Upon  this  view,  the  intermediate 
state  would  be  necessarily  a  state  of  thought.  As  to  the  nature  of  that  thought,  Dorner 
remarks  in  his  Eschatology  that  "  in  this  relatively  bodiless  state,  a  still  life  begins,  a 
sinking  of  the  soul  into  itself  and  into  the  ground  of  its  being—  what  Steffens  calls  'in- 
volution,' and  Martensen  '  self -brooding."  In  this  state,  spiritual  things  are  the  only 
realities.  In  the  unbelieving,  their  impurity,  discord,  alienation  from  God,  are  laid 
bare.  If  they  still  prefer  sin,  its  form  becomes  more  spiritual,  more  demoniacal,  and  so 
ripens  for  the  judgment." 

Even  here,  Dorner  deals  in  speculation  rather  than  in  Scripture.  But  he  goes  further, 
and  regards  the  intermediate  state  as  one,  not  only  of  moral  progress,  but  of  elimination 
of  evil ;  and  holds  the  end  of  probation  to  be,  not  at  death,  but  at  the  judgment,  at  least 
in  the  case  of  all  non-believers  who  are  not  incorrigible.  We  must  regard  this  as  a  prac- 
tical revival  of  the  Romanist  theory  of  purgatory,  and  as  contradicted  not  only  by  all 
the  considerations  already  urged,  but  also  by  the  general  tenor  of  Scriptural  representa- 
tion that  the  decisions  of  this  life  are  final,  and  that  character  is  fixed  here  for  eternity. 
This  is  the  solemnity  of  preaching,  that  the  gospel  is  "a  savor  from  life  unto  life,"  or  "a  savor  from 
death  unto  death  "  ( 2  Cor.  2  : 16 ). 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Hovey,  State  of  Man  after  Death ;  Savage,  Souls  of  the 
Righteous ;  Julius  MUller,  Doct.  Sin,  2  :  304-306 ;  Neander,  Planting  and  Training,  482-484 ; 
Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psychologic,  407-448 ;  Bib.  Sac.,  13 : 153 ;  Methodist  Rev.,  34  :  340 ;  Christian 
Rev.,  20  : 381 ;  Herzog,  Encyclop.,  art. :  Hades ;  Stuart,  Essays  on  Future  Punishment ; 
Whately,  Euture  State. 

HE.     THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST. 

While  the  Scriptures  represent  great  events  in  the  history  of  the  indi- 
vidual Christian,  like  death,  and  great  events  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
like  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  and  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem, as  comings  of  Christ  for  deliverance  or  judgment,  they  also  declare 
that  these  partial  and  typical  comings  shall  be  concluded  by  a  final,  tri- 
umphant return  of  Christ,  to  punish  the  wicked  and  to  complete  the  salva- 
tion of  his  people. 
Temporal  comings  of  Christ  are  indicated  in:  Mat.  24  :  23,  27,  34— "Then  if  any  man  shall  say 

unto  you,  Lo,  here  is  the  Christ,  or,  Here ;   believe  it  not For  as  the  lightning  cometh  forth  from  the  east,  and  is 

seen  even  unto  the  west ;  so  shall  be  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  This  generation  shall 

not  pass  away,  till  all  these  things  be  accomplished" ;  16  :  28— "Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  There  be  some  of  them  that 
stand  here,  which  shall  in  no  wise  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom  "  ;  John  14  :  3, 18 
— "  ind  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself ;  that  where  I  am,  there 


THE   SECOND   COMING   OF   CHRIST.  567 

may  be  also I  will  not  leave  you  desolate :  I  come  unto  you  "  ;   Rev.  3  :  20  — "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door  and 

knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
So  the  Protestant  Reformation,  the  modern  missionary  enterprise,  the  battle  against 
papacy  in  Europe  and  against  slavery  in  this  country,  the  great  revivals  under  White- 
field  in  England  and  under  Edwards  in  America,  were  all  preliminary  and  typical  com- 
ings of  Christ. 

The  final  coming  of  Christ  is  referred  to  in :  Mat.  24  :  30  — "  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming 
on  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory.  And  he  shall  send  forth  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  a  trumpet, 
and  they  shall  gather  together  his  elect  from  the  four  winds  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other  "  ;  25  :  31  — "  But  when 
the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory  "  ;  Acts 
1 . 11  _«  ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  looking  into  heaven  ?  this  Jesus,  which  was  received  up  from  you  into  heaven, 
shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  beheld  him  going  into  heaven  " ;  1  Thess.  4  : 16  —  "  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend 
from  heaven,  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God  "  ;  2  Thess.  1 :  7,  10— "the  reve- 
lation of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the  angels  of  his  power when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints, 

and  to  be  marvelled  at  in  all  them  that  believed  " ;  Heb.  9  :  28— "so  Christ  also,  having  been  once  offered  to  bear  the 
sins  of  many,  shall  appear  a  second  time,  apart  from  sin,  to  them  that  wait  for  him,  unto  salvation"  ;  Rev.  1:7  — 
"  Behold,  he  cometh  with  the  clouds ;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him,  and  they  which  pierced  him ;  and  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  shall  mourn  over  him. 

1.     The  nature  of  this  Coming. 

Although  without  doubt  accompanied,  in  the  case  of  the  regenerate,  by 
inward  and  invisible  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  second  advent  is  to 
be  outward  and  visible.  This  we  argue  : 

(a)  From  the  objects  to  be  secured  by  Christ's  return.  These  are  partly 
external  (Horn.  8  :  21,  23).  Nature  and  the  body  are  both  to  be  glorified. 
These  external  changes  may  well  be  accompanied  by  a  visible  manifestation 
of  him  who  '  makes  all  things  new '  ( Bev.  21  :  5 ). 

Rom.  8  :  21,  23 — "in  hope  that  the  creation  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of 

the  glory  of  the  children  of  God waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body  " ;   Rev.  21 :  5  — 

"  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 

(6)  From  the  Scriptural  comparison  of  the  manner  of  Christ's  return 
with  the  manner  of  his  departure  ( Acts  1:11)  —  see  Com.  of  Hackett,  in 
loco: — " bv  rpdirov  =  visibly,  and  in  the  air.  The  expression  is  never  em- 
ployed to  affirm  merely  the  certainty  of  one  event  as  compared  with  another. 
The  assertion  that  the  meaning  is  simply  that,  as  Christ  had  departed,  so 
also  he  would  return,  is  contradicted  by  every  passage  in  which  the  phrase 
occurs." 

Acts  1 : 11  — "  this  Jesus,  which  was  received  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  beheld  him 
going  into  heaven"  ;  cf.  Acts  7  :  28  — "  Wouldest  thou  kill  me,  as  [or  rp6nov~\  thou  killedst  the  Egyptian  yester- 
day ?  "  Mat.  23  :  37 — "  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  [  bv  rpo-rrov  ]  a  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  wings  "  ;  2  Tim.  3:8—"  like  as  [  bv  rpoirov  ]  Jannes  and  Jambres  withstood  Moses,  so  do  these 
also  withstand  the  truth." 

(c)  From  the  analogy  of  Christ's  first  coming.  If  this  was  a  literal  and 
visible  coming,  we  may  expect  the  second  coming  to  be  literal  and  visible 
also.  , 

1  Thess.  4  : 16  — "  For  the  Lord  himself  [  =  in  his  own  person  ]  shall  descend  from  heaven,  with  a  shout 
[something  heard],  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God"— see  Com.  of  Prof. 
W.  A.  Stevens :  "  So  different  from  Luke  17 : 20,  where  '  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation.1 
The  'shout'  is  not  necessarily  the  voice  of  Christ  himself  (lit.  'in  a  shout,'  or  'in  shouting'). 
'Voice  of  the  archangel'  and  'trump  of  God'  are  appositional,  not  additional."  Rev.  1 :  7— "every  eye 
shall  see  him"  ;  as  every  ear  shall  hear  him :  John  5  :  28,  29 — "all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his 

voice  "  ;    2  Thess.  2  :  2  — "  to  the  end  that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken  from  your  mind,  nor  yet  be  troubled as  that 

the  day  of  the  Lord  is  now  present " — they  may  have  "thought  that  the  first  gathering  of  the 
saints  to  Christ  was  a  quiet,  invisible  one  — a  stealthy  advent,  like  a  thief  in  the  night " 


568          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

(  Lillie ).  2  John  7  — "  For  many  deceivers  are  gone  forth  into  the  world,  even  they  that  confess  not  that  Jesus  Christ 
cometh  in  the  flesh"— here  denial  of  a  future  second  coming  of  Christ  is  declared  to  be  the 
mark  of  a  deceiver. 

Alford  and  Alexander,  in  their  Commentaries  on  Acts  1 : 11,  agree  with  the  view  of 
Hackett  quoted  above.  Warren,  Parousia,  61-65, 106-114,  controverts  this  view,  and  says 
that  "an  omnipresent  divine  being  can  come,  only  in  the  sense  of  manifestation."  He 
regards  the  parousia,  or  coming  of  Christ,  as  nothing  but  Christ's  spiritual  presence.  A 
writer  in  the  Presb.  Review,  1883  :  221,  replies  that  Warren's  view  is  contradicted  "  by  the 
fact  that  the  apostles  often  spoke  of  the  parousia  as  an  event  yet  future,  long  after  the 
promise  of  the  Redeemer's  spiritual  presence  with  his  church  had  begun  to  be  fulfilled, 
and  by  the  fact  that  Paul  expressly  cautions  the  Thessalonians  against  the  belief  that 
the  parousia  was  just  at  hand."  We  do  not  know  how  all  men  at  one  time  can  see  a 
bodily  Christ ;  but  we  also  do  not  know  the  nature  of  Christ's  body.  If  all  men  may  see 
the  same  rainbow,  all  men  may  see  the  same  Christ  coming  in  the  clouds. 

2.     The  time  of  Christ's  coming. 

(a)  Although  Christ's  prophecy  of  this  event,  in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter 
of  Matthew,  so  connects  it  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  that  the  apos- 
tles and  the  early  Christians  seem  to  have  hoped  for  its  occurrence  during 
their  life-time,  yet  neither  Christ  nor  the  apostles  definitely  taught  when 
the  end  should  be,  but  rather  declared  the  knowledge  of  it  to  be  reserved  in 
the  counsels  of  God,  that  men  might  ever  recognize  it  as  possibly  at  hand, 
and  so  might  live  in  the  attitude  of  constant  expectation. 

1  Cor.  15  :  51— "We  all  shall  not  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed"  ;  1  Thess.  4  : 17— "then  we  that  are  alive, 
that  are  left,  shall  together  with  them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be 
with  the  Lord"  ;  2  Tim.  4  :  8  —  " henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day :  and  not  only  to  me,  but  also  to  all  them  that  have  loved  his  appearing  "  ; 
James  5:7—" Be  patient  therefore,  brethren,  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord " ;  1  Pet.  4  :  7— "But  the  end  of  all  things 
is  at  hand:  be  ye  therefore  of  sound  mind,  and  be  sober  unto  prayer"  ;  1  John  2  : 18 — "Little  children,  it  is  the  last 
hour :  and  as  ye  heard  that  antichrist  cometh,  even  now  have  there  risen  many  antichrists ;  whereby  we  know  that  it  is 
the  last  hour." 

Phil.  4  :  5— "The  Lord  is  at  hand  (e-y-yv's).  In  nothing  be  aniious"— may  mean  "the  Lord  is  near" 
(in  space),  without  any  reference  to  the  second  coming.  The  passages  quoted  above, 
expressing  as  they  do  the  surmises  of  the  apostles  that  Christ's  coming  was  near,  while 
yet  abstaining  from  all  definite  fixing  of  the  time,  are  at  least  sufficient  proof  that  Christ's 
advent  may  not  be  near  to  our  time.  We  should  be  no  more  warranted  than  they  were, 
in  inferring  from  these  passages  alone  the  immediate  coming  of  the  Lord. 

(6)  Hence  we  find,  in  immediate  connection  with  many  of  these  predic- 
tions of  the  end,  a  reference  to  intervening  events  and  to  the  eternity  of 
God  which  shows  that  the  prophecies  themselves  are  expressed  in  a  large 
way  which  befits  the  greatness  of  the  divine  plans. 

Mat.  24  :  36— "But  of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  of  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  the 
Father  "  ;  Mark  13  :  32  — "  But  of  that  day  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels  in  heaven,  neither  the  Son, 
but  the  Father.  Take  ye  heed,  watch  and  pray:  for  ye  know  not  when  the  time  is"  ;  Acts  1  :  7 — "And  he  said  unto 
them,  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  times  or  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  set  within  his  own  authority  "  ;  1  Cor.  10  : 11 
—"Now  those  things  happened  unto  them  by  way  of  example;  and  they  were  written  for  our  admonition,  upon  whom 
the  ends  of  the  ages  are  come"  ;  16  :  22— "Maran  atha  [marg.— that  is,  'Our  Lord  cometh1  ]  "  ;  2  Thess.  2  : 1-3 
— "Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  touching  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  our  gathering  together  unto  him  ; 
to  the  end  that  ye  be  not  quickly  shaken  from  your  mind,  nor  yet  be  troubled  ....  as  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  now 
present  [  Am.  Rev. :  '  is  just  at  hand '] ;  let  no  man  beguile  you  in  any  wise :  for  it  will  not  be,  except  the  falling 
away  come  first,  and  the  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition." 

James  5  :  8,  9— "Be  ye  also  patient;  stablish  your  hearts:  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand.  Murmur  not, 
brethren,  one  against  another,  that  ye  be  not  judged:  behold  the  judge  standeth  before  the  doors" ;  2  Pet.  3  :  3-12  — 
"in  the  last  days  mockers  shall  come  ....  saying,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  for  from  the  day  that  the 
fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.  For  this  they  wilfully  forget, 

that  there  were  heavens  from  of  old But  forget  not  this  one  thing,  beloved,  that  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a 

thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day.  The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise But  the  day  of 


THE   SECOND   COMING   OF   CHRIST.  569 

the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief what  manner  of  persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  living  and  godliness,  looking  for 

and  earnestly  desiring  [ marg.— ' hastening ']  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God"— awaiting  it,  and  hastening 
its  coming1  by  your  prayer  and  labor. 

Rev.  1  :  3 — "Blessed  is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  the  prophecy,  and  keep  the  things  which  are 
written  therein :  for  the  time  is  at  hand  "  ;  22  : 12,  20  — "  Behold,  I  come  quickly ;  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  render 

to  each  man  according  as  his  work  is He  which  testifieth  these  things  saith,  Yea :  I  come  quickly.    Amen :  come, 

Lord  Jesus."  From  these  passages  it  is  evident  that  the  apostles  did  not  know  the  time  of 
the  end,  and  that  it  was  hidden  from  Christ  himself  while  here  in  the  flesh.  He,  there- 
fore, who  assumes  to  know,  assumes  to  know  more  than  Christ  or  his  apostles  —  assumes 
to  know  the  very  thing  which  Christ  declared  it  was  not  for  us  to  know. 

(c)  In  this  we  discern  a  striking  parallel  between  the  predictions  of 
Christ's  first,  and  the  predictions  of  his  second,  advent.  In  both  cases  the 
event  was  more  distant  and  more  grand  than  those  imagined  to  whom  the 
prophecies  first  came.  Under  both  dispensations,  patient  waiting  for  Christ 
was  intended  to  discipline  the  faith,  and  to  enlarge  the  conceptions,  of  God's 
true  servants.  The  fact  that  every  age  since  Christ  ascended  has  had  its 
Chiliasts  and  Second  Adventists  should  turn  our  thoughts  away  from 
curious  and  fruitless  prying  into  the  time  of  Christ's  coming,  and  set  us  at 
immediate  and  constant  endeavor  to  be  ready,  at  whatsoever  hour  he  may 
appear. 

Gen.  4  : 1  — "  ind  the  man  knew  Eve  his  wife ;  and  she  conceived,  and  bare  Cain,  and  said,  I  have  gotten  a  man 
with  the  help  of  the  Lord  [  lit. :  '  I  have  gotten  a  man,  even  Jehovah '  ]  "—  an  intimation  that  Eve  fancied 
her  first-born  to  be  already  the  promised  seed,  the  coming  deliverer ;  see  MacWhorter, 
Jahveh  Christ.  Deut.  18  : 15  — "  The  Lord  thy  God  will  raise  up  unto  thee  a  prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy 
brethren,  like  unto  me;  unto  him  shall  ye  hearken  — here  is  a  prophecy  which  Moses  may  have  ex- 
pected to  be  fulfilled  in  Joshua,  but  which  God  designed  to  be  fulfilled  only  in  Christ. 
Is.  7  : 14, 16  — "  Therefore  the  Lord  himself  shall  give  you  a  sign ;  behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son,  and 

shall  call  his  name  Immanuel For  before  the  child  shall  know  to  refuse  the  evil,  and  choose  the  good,  the  land 

whose  two  kings  thou  abhorrest  shall  be  forsaken  "—  a  prophecy  which  the  prophet  may  have  expected 
to  be  fulfilled  in  his  own  time,  and  which  was  partially  so  fulfilled,  but  which  God  in- 
tended to  be  fulfilled  ages  thereafter. 

Luke  2  :  25— "Simeon;  and  this  man  was  righteous  and  devout,  looking  for  the  consolation  of  Israel "— Simeon 
was  the  type  of  holy  men,  in  every  age  of  Jewish  history,  who  were  waiting  for  the  ful- 
filment of  God's  promise,  and  for  the  coming  of  the  deliverer.  So  under  the  Christian 
dispensation.  Luther,  near  the  time  of  his  death,  said :  "  God  forbid  that  the  world 
should  last  fifty  years  longer.  Let  him  cut  matters  short  with  his  last  judgment." 
Melancthon  put  the  end  less  than  two  hundred  years  from  his  time.  Calvin's  motto 
was :  "  Domtne,  quousque  ? "  "  O  Lord,  how  long  ?  "  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Hovey,  in 
Baptist  Quarterly,  Oct.,  1877  :  416-432,  and  notes  upon  our  next  section. 


3.     The  precursors  of  Christ's  coming. 

(a)  Through  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  all  the  world,  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  is  steadily  to  enlarge  its  boundaries,  until  Jews  and  Gentiles  alike 
become  possessed  of  its  blessings,  and  a  millennial  period  is  introduced  in 
which  Christianity  generally  prevails  throughout  the  earth. 

Dan.  2  :  44,  45  — "  And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall  the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom  which  shall  never  be 
destroyed,  nor  shall  the  sovereignty  thereof  be  left  to  another  people ;  but  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these 
kingdoms,  and  it  shall  stand  forever.  Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  a  stone  was  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without 
hands,  and  that  it  brake  in  pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  silver,  the  gold ;  the  great  God  hath  made  known  to 
the  king  what  shall  come  to  pass  hereafter:  and  the  dream  is  certain,  and  the  interpretation  thereof  sure." 

Mat.  13  :  31,  32  — "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  ....  which  indeed  is  less  than  all 

seeds ;  but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs,  and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  heaven  come  and 

lodge  in  the  branches  thereof  "—the  parable  of  the  leaven,  which  follows,  apparently  illustrates 

the  intensive,  as  that  of  the  mustard-seed  illustrates  the  extensive,  development  of  the 

37 


570         ESCHATOLOGY,    OE   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL  THINGS. 

kingdom  of  God  ;  and  it  is  as  impossible  to  confine  the  reference  of  the  leaven  to  the 
spread  of  evil  as  it  is  impossible  to  confine  the  reference  of  the  mustard-seed  to  the 
spread  of  evil. 

Mat.  24  : 14— "And  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole  world  for  a  testimony  unto  all  the 
nations;  and  then  shall  the  end  come"  ;  Rom.  11 :  25,  26— "a  hardening  in  part  hath  befallen  Israel,  until  the  fulness 
of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in ;  and  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved  "  ;  Rev.  20  :  4-6  — "  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon 
them,  and  judgment  was  given  unto  them :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  beheaded  for  the  testimony  of 
Jesus,  and  for  the  word  of  God,  and  such  as  worshipped  not  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  and  received  not  the  mark  upon 
their  forehead  and  upon  their  hand ;  and  they  lived,  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years." 

(6)  There  will  be  a  corresponding  development  of  evil,  either  extensive 
or  intensive,  whose  true  character  shall  be  manifest  not  only  in  deceiving 
many  professed  followers  of  Christ  and  in  persecuting  true  believers,  but  in 
constituting  a  personal  antichrist  as  its  representative  and  object  of  worship. 
This  rapid  growth  shall  continue  until  the,  millennium,  during  which  evil, 
in  the  person  of  its  chief,  shall  be  temporarily  restrained. 

Mat.  13  :  30,  38  — "  Let  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest :  and  in  the  time  of  the  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers. 

Gather  up  first  the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn  them :  but  gather  the  wheat  into  my  barn The  field 

is  the  world ;  and  the  good  seed,  these  are  the  sons  of  the  kingdom ;  and  the  tares  are  the  sons  of  the  evil  one  "  ;  24  :  5, 

11,  12,  24  — "For  many  shall  come  in  my  name,  saying,  I  am  the  Christ ;  and  shall  lead  many  astray And  many 

false  prophets  shall  arise  and  shall  lead  many  astray.  And  because  iniquity  shall  be  multiplied,  the  love  of  the  many 

shall  wai  cold For  there  shall  arise  false  Christs,  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  shew  great  signs  and  wonders :  so 

as  to  lead  astray,  if  possible,  even  the  elect." 

Luke  21  : 12  — "  But  before  all  these  things,  they  shall  lay  their  hands  on  you,  and  shall  persecute  you,  delivering  you 
up  to  the  synagogues  and  prisons,  bringing  you  before  kings  and  governors  for  my  name's  sake  "  ;  2  Thess.  2  :  3,  4,  7, 
8— "it  will  not  be,  except  the  falling  away  come  first,  and  the  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of  perdition,  he  that  op- 
poseth  and  exalteth  himself  against  all  that  is  called  God  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that  he  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God, 

setting  himself  forth  as  God For  the  mystery  of  lawlessness  doth  already  work :  only  there  is  one  that  restraineth 

now,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way.  And  then  shall  be  revealed  the  lawless  one,  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  slay 
with  the  breath  of  his  mouth,  and  bring  to  nought  by  the  manifestation  of  his  coming." 

Elliott,  Horse  Apocalypticae,  1 :  65,  holds  that  "  Antichrist  means  another  Christ,  a 
pro-Christ,  a  vice-Christ,  a  pretender  to  the  name  of  Christ,  and  in  that  character,  an 
usurper  and  adversary.  The  principle  of  Antichrist  was  already  sown  in  the  time  of 
Paul.  But  a  certain  hindrance,  L  e.,  the  Roman  Empire  as  then  constituted,  needed 
first  to  be  removed  out  of  the  way,  before  room  could  be  made  for  Antichrist's  devel- 
opment." Antichrist,  according1  to  this  view,  is  the  hierarchical  spirit,  which  found  its 
final  and  most  complete  expression  in  the  Papacy. 

(c)  At  the  close  of  this  millennial  period,  evil  shall  again  be  permitted 
to  exert  its  utmost  power  in  a  final  conflict  with  righteousness.  This  spir- 
itual struggle,  moreover,  shall  be  accompanied  and  symbolized  by  political 
convulsions,  and  by  fearful  indications  of  desolation  in  the  natural  world. 

Mat.  24  :  29,  30  —"But  immediately,  after  the  tribulation  of  those  days,  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon 
shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken ;  and  then 
shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven  "  ;  Luke  21 :  8-28  —  False  prophets ;  wars  and  tumults  ; 
earthquakes ;  pestilences ;  persecutions ;  signs  in  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars ;  "  and  then  shall 
they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  a  cloud  with  power  and  great  glory.  But  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass, 
look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads ;  because  your  redemption  draweth  nigh." 

Interpretations  of  the  book  of  Revelation  are  divided  into  three  classes:  (1)  the 
Proeterist  ( held  by  Grotius,  Moses  Stuart,  and  Warren ),  which  regards  the  prophecy  as 
mainly  fulfilled  in  the  age  immediately  succeeding  the  time  of  the  apostles  (666  =  Neron 
Kaisar) ;  (2)  the  Continuous  (held  by  Isaac  Newton,  Vitringa,  Bengel,  Elliott,  Kelly, 
and  Gumming),  which  regards  the  whole  as  a  continuous  prophetical  history,  extending 
from  the  first  age  until  the  end  of  all  things  ( 666  =  Lateinos) ;  Hengstenberg  and  Alford 
hold  substantially  this  view,  though  they  regard  the  seven  seals,  trumpets,  and  vials  as 
synchronological,  each  succeeding  set  going  over  the  same  ground  and  exhibiting  it  in 
some  special  aspect ;  ( 3 )  the  Futurist  ( held  by  Maitland  and  Todd ),  which  considers  the 
book  as  describing  events  yet  to  occur,  during  the  times  immediately  preceding  and 
following  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 


THE    SECOND   COMING   OF   CHRIST. 


571 


Of  all  these  interpretations,  the  most  learned  and  exhaustive  is  that  of  Elliott,  in  his 
four  volumes  entitled  Horee  Apocalypticae.  The  basis  of  his  interpretation  is  the  "time 
and  times  and  half  a  time "  of  Dan.  7  :  25,  which  according  to  the  year-day  theory  means  3360  years 
—  the  year,  according  to  ancient  reckoning,  containing  360  days,  and  the  "time"  being 
therefore  360  years  [  360  +  ( 2  X  360 )  +  180  =  1260 ].  This  phrase  we  find  recurring  with  re- 
gard to  the  woman  nourished  in  the  wilderness  (Rev.  12:14).  The  blasphemy  of  the 
beast  for  forty  and  two  months  (Rev.  13  :  5)  seems  to  refer  to  the  same  period  [42  X30  = 
1260,  as  before  ].  The  two  witnesses  prophesy  1260  days  ( Rev.  11 :  3 ) ;  and  the  woman's  time 
in  the  wilderness  is  stated  ( Rev.  12  :  6)  as  1260  days.  This  period  of  1260  years  is  regarded 
by  Elliott  as  the  time  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy. 

There  is  a  twofold  terminus  a  quo,  and  correspondingly  a  twofold  terminus  ad  quern. 
The  first  commencement  is  A.  D.  531,  when  in  the  edict  of  Justinian  the  dragon  of  the 
Roman  Empire  gives  its  power  to  the  beast  of  the  Papacy,  and  resigns  its  throne  to  the 
rising  Antichrist,  giving  opportunity  for  the  rise  of  the  ten  horns  as  European  kings 
( Rom.  13  : 1-3 ).  The  second  commencement,  adding  the  seventy-five  supplementary  years 
of  Daniel  12  : 12  [  1335  — 1260  =  75],  is  A.  D.  606,  when  the  Emperor  Phocas  acknowledges  the 
Primacy  of  Rome,  and  the  ten  horns,  or  kings,  now  diademed,  submit  to  the  Papacy 
(Rev.  17  : 12, 13).  The  first  ending-point  is  A.  D.  1791,  when  the  French  Revolution  struck 
the  first  blow  at  the  independence  of  the  Pope  [531  +  1260  =  1791].  The  second  ending- 
point  is  A.  D.  1866,  when  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  was  abolished  at  the  unifica- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  [606  + 1260  =  1866  ].  Elliott  regards  the  two-horned  beast 
(Rev.  13  : 11 )  as  representing  the  Papal  clergy,  and  the  image  of  the  beast  (Rev.  13  : 14, 15)  as 
representing  the  Papal  Councils. 

Unlike  Hengstenberg  and  Alford,  who  consider  the  seals,  trumpets,  and  vials  as  syn- 
chronological,  Elliott  makes  the  seven  trumpets  to  be  an  unfolding  of  the  seventh  seal, 
and  the  seven  vials  to  be  an  unfolding  of  the  seventh  trumpet.  Like  other  advocates  of 
the  premillennial  advent  of  Christ,  Elliott  regards  the  four  chief  signs  of  Christ's  near 
approach  as  being :  (1)  the  decay  of  the  Turkish  Empire  (the  drying  up  of  the  river 
Euphrates  — Rev.  16:12);  (2)  the  Pope's  loss  of  temporal  power— (the  destruction  of 
Babylon  — Rev.  17-19);  (3)  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  and  their  return  to  their  own 
land  ( Ez.  37 ;  Rom.  11 : 12-15,  25-27 — but  on  this  last,  see  Meyer ) ;  ( 4 )  the  pouring  out  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  (the  way  of  the  kings  of  the  East— Rev. 
16  : 12;  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles— Rom.  11 :  25). 

Elliott's  whole  scheme,  however,  is  vitiated  by  the  fact  that  he  wrongly  assumes  the 
book  of  Revelation  to  have  been  written  under  Domitian  (94  or  96),  instead  of  under 
Nero  (67  or  68).  His  terminus  a  quo  is  therefore  incorrect,  and  his  interpretation  of 
chapters  5-9  is  rendered  very  precarious.  The  year  1866,  moreover,  should  have  been  the 
time  of  the  end,  and  so  the  terminus  ad  quern  seems  to  be  clearly  misunderstood  —  unless 
indeed  the  seventy-five  supplementary  years  of  Daniel  are  to  be  added  to  1866.  We  re- 
gard the  failure  of  this  most  ingenious  scheme  of  Apocalyptic  interpretation  as  a  prac- 
tical demonstration  that  a  clear  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  prophecy  is,  before  the 
event,  impossible,  and  we  are  confirmed  in  this  view  by  the  utterly  untenable  nature  of 
the  theory  of  the  millennium  which  is  commonly  held  by  so-called  Second  Adventists,  a 
theory  which  we  now  proceed  to  examine. 


4.     Relation  of  Christ's  second  coming  to  the  millennium. 

The  Scripture  foretells  a  period,  called  in  the  language  of  prophecy  "a 
thousand  years,"  when  Satan  shall  be  restrained  and  the  saints  shall  reign 
with  Christ  on  the  earth.  A  comparison  of  the  passages  bearing  on  this 
subject  leads  us  to  the  conclusion  that  this  millennial  blessedness  and  do- 
minion is  prior  to  the  second  advent.  One  passage  only  seems  at  first  sight 
to  teach  the  contrary,  viz. :  Rev.  20  :  4^10.  But  this  supports  the  theory  of 
a  premillennial  advent  only  when  the  passage  is  interpreted  with  the  barest 
literalness.  A  better  view  of  its  meaning  will  be  gained  by  considering  : 

(a)  That  it  constitutes  a  part,  and  confessedly  an  obscure  part,  of  one 
of  the  most  figurative  books  of  Scripture,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  inter- 
preted by  the  plainer  statements  of  the  other  Scriptures. 


572          ESCHATOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

We  quote  here  the  passage  alluded  to :  Rev.  20  :  4-10  — "  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them, 
and  judgment  was  given  unto  them :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  beheaded  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  such  as  worshipped  not  the  beast,  neither  his  image,  and  received  not  the  mark  upon  their  fore- 
head and  upon  their  hand ;  and  they  lived,  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not 
until  the  thousand  years  should  be  finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the 
first  resurrection :  over  these  the  second  death  hath  no  power ;  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall 
reign  with  him  a  thousand  years." 

(6)  That  the  other  Scriptures  contain  nothing  with  regard  to  a  resurrec- 
tion of  the  righteous  which  is  widely  separated  in  time  from  that  of  the 
wicked,  but  rather  declare  distinctly  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ  is  im- 
mediately connected  both  with  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  the  unjust 
and  with  the  general  judgment. 

Mat.  18  :  27— "For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  his  angels;  and  then  shall  he  render 
unto  every  man  according  to  his  deeds"  ;  25  :  31-33 — "But  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the 
angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  the  nations :  and  he 
shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  the  shepherd  separateth  the  sheep  from  the  goats"  ;  John  5  :  28,  29— "Marvel 
not  at  this :  for  the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth ;  they  that 
have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment "  ;  2  Cor 
5  : 10— "For  we  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ;  that  each  one  may  receive  the  things 
done  in  the  body,  according  to  what  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  "  ;  2  Thess.  1  :  6-10  — "  if  so  be  that  it  is 
a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  recompense  affliction  to  them  which  afflict  you,  and  to  you  that  are  afflicted  rest  with  us,  at 
the  revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the  angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  fire,  rendering  vengeance  to  them 
that  know  not  God,  and  to  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  suffer  punishment,  even 
eternal  destruction  from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  might,  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his 
saints,  and  to  be  marvelled  at  in  all  them  that  believed." 

2  Pet.  3  :  7,  10— "the  day  of  judgment  and  destruction  of  ungodly  men  ....  But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 
thief;  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  be  dissolved  with  fervent  heat , 
and  the  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up  "  ;  Rev.  20  : 11-15  — "  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne, 
and  him  that  sat  upon  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away :  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them. 
And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  before  the  throne ;  and  books  were  opened :  and  another  book  was 
opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life :  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  that  were  written  in  the  books,  according 
to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  death  and  Hades  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in 
them :  and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their  works.  And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire. 
This  is  the  second  death,  even  the  lake  of  fire.  And  if  any  was  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life,  he  was  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire." 

Here  is  abundant  evidence  that  there  is  no  interval  of  a  thousand  years  between  the 
second  coming  of  Christ  and  the  resurrection,  general  judgment,  and  end  of  all  things. 
All  these  events  come  together.  The  only  answer  of  the  premillennialists  to  this  objec- 
tion to  their  theory  is,  that  the  day  of  judgment  and  the  millennium  may  be  contempo- 
raneous,—  in  other  words,  the  day  of  judgment  may  be  a  thousand  years  long.  Elliott 
holds  to  a  conflagration,  partial  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  complete  at  its  close  — 
Peter's  prophecy  treating  the  two  conflagrations  as  one,  while  the  book  of  Revelation 
separates  them ;  so  a  nearer  view  resolves  binary  stars  into  two.  But  we  reply  that,  if 
the  judgment  occupies  the  whole  period  of  a  thousand  years,  then  the  coming  of  Christ, 
the  resurrection,  and  the  final  conflagration  should  all  be  a  thousand  years  long  also. 
It  is  indeed  possible  that,  in  this  case,  as  Peter  says  in  connection  with  his  prophecy  of 
judgment,  "  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day  "  (2  Pet.  3:8).  But 
if  we  make  the  word  "day"  so  indefinite  in  connection  with  the  judgment,  why  should 
we  regard  it  as  so  definite,  when  we  come  to  interpret  the  1260  days? 

(c)  That  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  passage  —  holding,  as  it  does,  to 
a  resurrection  of  bodies  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  to  a  reign  of  the  risen  saints 
in  the  flesh,  and  in  the  world  as  at  present  constituted  —  is  inconsistent  with 
other  Scriptural  declarations  with  regard  to  the  spiritual  nature  of  the  resur- 
rection-body and  of  the  coming  reign  of  Christ. 

1  Cor.  15  :  44,  50  —"it  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that 

flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption."    These  passages 
are  inconsistent  with  the  view  that  the  resurrection  is  a  physical  resurrection  at  the  be- 


THE   SECOND   COMING   OF   CHRIST. 


573 


ginning  of  the  thousand  years  — a  resurrection  to  be  followed  by  a  second  life  of  the 
saints  in  bodies  of  flesh  and  blood.  They  are  not,  however,  inconsistent  with  the  true 
view,  soon  to  be  mentioned,  that  "the  first  resurrection"  is  simply  the  raising  of  the  church 
to  a  new  life  and  zeal. 

(d)  That  the  literal  interpretation  is  generally  and  naturally  connected 
with  the  expectation  of  a  gradual  and  necessary  decline  of  Christ's  kingdom 
upon  earth,  until  Christ  comes  to  bind  Satan  and  to  introduce  the  millen- 
nium. This  view  not  only  contradicts  such  passages  as  Dan.  2  :  34,  35,  and 
Mat.  13 :  31,  32,  but  it  begets  a  passive  and  hopeless  endurance  of  evil, 
whereas  the  Scriptures  enjoin  a  constant  and  aggressive  warfare  against  it, 
upon  the  very  ground  that  God's  power  shall  assure  to  the  church  a  gradual 
but  constant  progress  in  the  face  of  it,  even  to  the  time  of  the  end. 

Dan.  2 :  34,  35—"  Thou  sawest  till  that  a  stone  was  cut  out  without  hands,  which  smote  the  image  upon  his  feet  that 
were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  in  pieces.  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the  gold, 
broken  in  pieces  together,  and  became  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  threshing-floors ;  and  the  wind  carried  them  away, 
*hat  no  place  was  found  for  them :  and  the  stone  that  smote  the  image  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole 
earth  "  ;  Mat.  13  :  31,  32 — "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  which  a  man  took,  and  sowed 
in  his  field :  which  indeed  is  less  than  all  seeds ;  but  when  it  is  grown,  it  is  greater  than  the  herbs,  and  becometh  a 
tree,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  heaven  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches  thereof."  In  both  these  figures  there  is 
no  sign  of  cessation  or  of  backward  movement,  but  rather  every  indication  of  con- 
tinuous advance  to  complete  victory  and  dominion.  The  premillennial  theory  supposes 
that  for  the  principle  of  development  under  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  God 
will  substitute  a  reign  of  mere  power  and  violence.  J.  B.  Thomas :  "  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  not  like  a  can  of  nitre-glycerine." 

The  theory  also  divests  Christ  of  all  kingly  power  until  the  millennium,  or,  rather, 
maintains  that  the  kingdom  has  not  yet  been  given  to  him ;  see  Elliott,  Horse  Apoca- 
lypticse,  1 :  94  —  where  Luke  19  : 12 — "A  certain  nobleman  went  into  a  far  country,  to  receive  for  himself  a 
kingdom,  and  to  return"—  is  interpreted  as  follows:  "Subordinate  kings  went  to  Rome  to 
receive  the  investiture  to  their  kingdoms  from  the  Roman  Emperor,  and  then  returned 
to  occupy  them  and  reign.  So  Christ  received  from  his  Father,  after  his  ascension,  the 
investiture  to  his  kingdom ;  but  with  the  intention  not  to  occupy  it,  till  his  return  at  his 
second  coming.  In  token  of  this  investiture  he  takes  his  seat  as  the  Lamb  on  the  divine 
throne  "  ( Rev.  5  :  6-8 ).  But  this  interpretation  contradicts  Mat.  28  : 18,  20  — "  All  authority  hath  been 

given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  See  Presb. 

Rev.,  1883  : 238.  On  the  effects  of  the  premillennial  view  in  weakening  Christian  en- 
deavor, see  J.  H.  Seelye,  Christian  Missions,  94-127 ;  per  contra,  see  A.  J.  Gordon,  in 
Independent,  Feb.,  1886. 

(e)  We  may  therefore  best  interpret  Eev.  20  :  4-10  as  teaching  in  highly 
figurative  language,  not  a  preliminary  resurrection  of  the  body,  in  the  case 
of  departed  saints,  but  a  period  in  the  later  days  of  the  church  militant 
when,  under  special  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  spirit  of  the  martyrs 
shall  appear  again,  true  religion  be  greatly  quickened  and  revived,  and  the 
members  of  Christ's  churches  become  so  conscious  of  their  strength  in 
Christ  that  they  shall,  to  an  extent  unknown  before,  triumph  over  the 
powers  of  evil  both  within  and  without.  So  the  spirit  of  Elijah  appeared 
again  in  John  the  Baptist  (  Mai.  4:5;  cf.  Mat.  11  :  13,  14 ).  The  fact  that 
only  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  and  faith  is  to  be  revived  is  figuratively  indicated 
in  the  phrase  :  "  The  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand 
years  should  be  finished. "  Since  resurrection,  like  the  coming  of  Christ  and 
the  judgment,  is  twofold,  first,  spiritual  ( the  raising  of  the  soul  to  spiritual 
life),  and  secondly,  physical  (the  raising  of  the  body  from  the  grave),  the 
words  in  Eev.  20  :  5 — "this  is  the  first  resurrection" — seem  intended  dis- 
tinctly to  preclude  the  literal  interpretation  we  are  combatting.  In  short, 
we  hold  that  Eev.  20  :  4-10  does  not  describe  the  events  commonly  called 


574          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    FINAL   THINGS. 

the  second  advent  and  resurrection,  but  rather  describes  great  spiritual 
changes  in  the  later  history  of  the  church,  which  are  typical  of,  and  pre- 
liminary to,  the  second  advent  and  the  resurrection,  and  therefore,  after  the 
prophetic  method,  are  foretold  in  language  literally  applicable  only  to  those 
final  events  themselves  ( of.  Ez.  37  :  1-14;  Luke  15  :  32 ). 

Mai.  4:5—"  Behold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come  " ;  cf.  Mat. 
11 : 13, 14  — "  For  all  the  prophets  and  the  law  prophesied  until  John.  And  if  ye  are  willing  to  receive  it,  this  is  Elijah, 
which  is  to  come "  ;  Ez.  37  : 1-14— the  vision  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones  =  either  the  political  or 
the  religious  resuscitation  of  the  Jews ;  Luke  15  :  32  — "  this  thy  brother  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again  "— 
of  the  prodigal  son.  It  will  help  us  in  our  interpretation  of  Rev.  20  :  4-10  to  notice  that 
death,  judgment,  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  the  resurrection,  are  all  of  two  kinds,  the 
first  spiritual,  and  the  second  literal : 

( 1 )  First,  a  spiritual  death  ( Eph.  2:1—"  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins  " ) ;  and  secondly,  a 
physical  and  literal  death,  whose  culmination  is  found  in  the  second  death  ( Rev.  20  : 14  — 
"  And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.    This  is  tha  second  death,  even  the  lake  of  fire  "  ). 

(2)  First,  a  spiritual  judgment  (Is.  26  :  9— "when  thy  judgments  are  in  the  earth" ;    John  12  :  31  — 
"  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world :  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out ";    3  : 18  — "  he  that  belie veth  not 
hath  been  judged  already"  ) ;  and  secondly,  an  outward  and  literal  judgment  (Acts  17  :  31— "hath 
appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  the  man  whom  he  hath  ordained"  ). 

(3)  First,  a  spiritual  and  invisible  coming  of  Christ  (Mat.  16 :  28 — "shall  in  no  wise  taste  of 
death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom"— at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  ;  John  14  : 

16,  18  — "  another  Comforter I  come  unto  you  "—  at  Pentecost ;  14  :  3  — "  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for 

you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself" — at  death ) ;  and  secondly,  a  visible  literal  com- 
ing ( Mat.  25  :  31  — "  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels  with  him  " ). 

(4)  First,  a  spiritual  resurrection  (John  5  :  25— "The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live"  ) ;  and  secondly,  a  physical  and  literal 
resurrection  (John  5  :  28,  29 — "the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall 
come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  ill,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
judgment"). 

This  twofoldness  of  each  of  the  four  terms,  death,  judgment,  corning  of  Christ,  resur- 
rection, is  so  obvious  a  teaching  of  Scripture,  that  the  apostle's  remark  in  Rev.  20 :  5  — 
"  This  is  the  first  resurrection  "—  seems  distinctly  intended  to  warn  the  reader  against  drawing 
the  premillenarian  inference,  and  to  make  clear  the  fact  that  the  resurrection  spoken 
of  is  the  first  or  spiritual  resurrection,— an  interpretation  which  is  made  indubitable  by 
his  proceeding,  further  on,  to  describe  the  outward  and  literal  resurrection  in  verse  13  — 
"  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  death  and  Hades  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them." 

This  interpretation  suggests  a  possible  way  of  reconciling  the  premillenarian  and  post- 
millenarian  theories,  without  sacrificing  any  of  the  truth  in  either  of  them.  Christ  may 
come  again,  at  the  beginning  of  the  millennium,  in  a  spiritual  way,  and  his  saints  may 
reign  with  him  spiritually,  in  the  wonderful  advances  of  his  kingdom ;  while  the  visible* 
literal  coming  may  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  thousand  years.  Dorner's  view  is  post- 
millennial,  in  this  sense,  that  the  visible  coming  of  Christ  will  be  after  the  thousand  years- 
Hengstenberg  curiously  regards  the  millennium  as  having  begun  in  the  middle  ages 
( soo  — 1800  A.  D. ).  This  strange  view  of  an  able  interpreter,  as  well  as  the  extraordinary 
diversity  of  explanations  given  by  others,  convince  us  that  no  exegete  has  yet  found 
the  key  to  the  mysteries  of  the  Apocalypse.  Until  we  know  whether  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  in  the  whole  world  ( Mat.  24  : 14 )  is  to  be  a  preaching  to  nations  as  a  whole,  or 
to  each  individual  in  each  nation,  we  cannot  determine  whether  the  millennium  has 
already  begun,  or  whether  it  is  yet  far  in  the  future. 

Our  own  interpretation  of  Rev.  20  : 1-10,  was  first  given,  for  substance,  by  Whitby.  He 
was  followed  by  Vitringa  and  Faber.  For  a  fuller  elaboration  of  it,  see  Brown,  Second 
Advent,  206-259;  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  447-453.  For  the  postmillennial  view 
generally,  see  Kendrick,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  Jan.,  1870 ;  New  Englander,  1874  :  356 ;  1879  :  47-49, 
114-147 ;  Pepper,  in  Bap.  Rev.,  1880  : 15 ;  Princeton  Review,  March,  1879  :  415-434 ;  Presb. 
Rev.,  1883  :  221-252;  Bib.  Sac.,  15  :  381,  625;  17  :  111;  Harris,  Kingdom  of  Christ,  220-237  ; 
Waldegrave,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1854,  on  the  Millennium;  Neander,  Planting  and 
Training,  526,  527 ;  Cowles,  Dissertation  on  Premillennial  Advent,  in  Com.  on  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel ;  Weiss,  Premillennial  Advent ;  Crosby,  Second  Advent ;  Fairbairn  on  Proph- 
ecy, 432-480;  Woods,  Works,  3:267;  Abp.  Whately,  Essays  on  Future  State.  For  the 
Premillennial  view,  see  Elliott,  Horae  Apocalypticae,  4  : 140-196;  William  Kelly,  Advent 
of  Christ  Premillennial ;  Taylor,  Voice  of  the  Church  on  the  Coming  and  Kingdom  of  the 
Redeemer ;  Litch,  Christ  Yet  to  Come. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  575 

IV.     THE  RESURRECTION. 

While  the  Scriptures  describe  the  impartation  of  new  life  to  the  soul  in 
regeneration  as  a  spiritual  resurrection,  they  also  declare  that,  at  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  a  reunion 
of  the  body  to  the  soul  from  which,  during  the  intermediate  state,  it  has 
been  separated.  Both  the  just  and  the  unjust  shall  have  part  in  the  resur- 
rection. To  the  just,  it  shall  be  a  resurrection  unto  life  ;  and  the  body  shall 
be  a  body  like  Christ's  —  a  body  fitted  for  the  uses  of  the  sanctified  spirit. 
To  the  unjust,  it  shall  be  a  resurrection  unto  condemnation ;  and  analogy 
would  seem  to  indicate  that,  here  also,  the  outward  form  will  fitly  represent 
the  inward  state  of  the  soul  —  being  corrupt  and  deformed  as  is  the  soul 
which  inhabits  it.  Those  who  are  living  at  Christ's  coming  shall  receive 
spiritual  bodies  without  passing  through  death.  As  the  body  after  cor- 
ruption and  dissolution,  so  the  outward  world  after  destruction  by  fire, 
shall  be  rehabilitated  and  fitted  for  the  abode  of  the  saints. 

Passages  describing  a  spiritual  resurrection  are :  John  5  :  24-27,  especially  25  — "  The  hour 
cometh  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live  "  ;  Rom.  6  :  4, 
5 — "as  Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  through  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  we  also  might  walk  in  newness  of  life.  For 
if  we  have  become  united  with  him  by  the  likeness  of  his  death,  we  shall  be  also  by  the  likeness  of  his  resurrection  " ; 

Eph.  2  :  1,  5,  6  — "  And  you  did  he  quicken,  when  ye  were  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  sins even  when  we 

were  dead  through  our  trespasses,  quickened  us  together  with  Christ and  raised  us  up  with  him,  and  made  us  to 

sit  with  him  in  the  heavenly  places,  in  Christ  Jesus "  ;  5  : 14  —  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dead,  and 
Christ  shall  shine  upon  thee."  Phil.  3  :  10— "that  I  may  know  him,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrection"  ;  Col.  2  : 12, 
13  — "  having  been  buried  with  him  in  baptism,  wherein  ye  were  also  raised  with  him  through  faith  in  the  working  of 
God,  who  raised  him  from  the  dead.  And  you,  being  dead  through  your  trespasses  and  the  uncircumcision  of  your  flesh, 
you,  I  say,  did  he  quicken  together  with  him"  ;  c/.  Is.  26  : 19 — "Thy  dead  shall  live;  my  dead  bodies  shall  arise. 
Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  the  dust :  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  forth  the  dead  "  ; 
Ez.  37  : 1-14  — the  valley  of  dry  bones:  "I  will  open  your  graves,  and  cause  you  to  come  up  out  of  your 
graves,  0  my  people ;  and  I  will  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Israel." 

Passages  describing  a  literal  and  physical  resurrection  are:  Job  14:12-15 — "So  man  lieth 
down  and  riseth  not :  Till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake,  Nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep.  Oh  that  thou 
wouldest  hide  me  in  Sheol,  That  thou  wouldest  keep  me  secret,  until  thy  wrath  be  past,  That  thou  wouldest  appoint  me  a 
set  time,  and  remember  me !  If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?  All  the  days  of  my  warfare  would  I  wait,  till  my 
release  should  come.  Thou  shouldest  call,  and  I  would  answer  thee :  thou  wouldest  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thine 
hands"  ;  John  5  :  28,  29— "the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  ill,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
judgment." 

Acts  24  :  15  — "  having  hope  toward  God that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  unjust "  ;  1  Cor. 

15  :  13,  17,  22,  43,  51,  52  — "  if  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  neither  hath  Christ  been  raised and  if  Christ 

hath  not  been  raised,  your  faith  is  vain ;  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  shall  all 

be  made  alive  ....  it  is  sown  in  corruption :  it  is  raised  in  incorruption We  all  shall  not  sleep,  but  we  shall  all 

be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump :  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall 
be  raised  incorruptible" ;  Phil.  3  :  21 — "who  shall  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation,  that  it  may  be  con- 
formed to  the  body  of  his  glory,  according  to  the  working  whereby  he  is  able  even  to  subject  all  things  unto  himself"  ; 
1  Thess.  4  : 14-16  — "  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  that  are  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus 
will  God  bring  with  him.  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  we  that  are  alive,  that  are  left  unto 
the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  in  no  wise  precede  them  that  are  fallen  asleep.  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from 
heaven,  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise 
first." 

2  Pet.  3  :  7, 10, 13  — "  the  heavens  that  now  are,  and  the  earth,  by  the  same  word  have  been  stored  up  for  fire,  being 

reserved  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  destruction  of  ungodly  men But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 

thief;  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  be  dissolved  with  fervent 

heat,  and  the  earth  and  the  works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burned  up But,  according  to  his  promise,  we  look  for 

new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  "  ;  Rev.  20  : 13  — "  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  it ;  and  death  and  Hades  gave  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them  "  ;  21  : 1,  5  — "  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a 

new  earth :  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away ;  and  the  sea  is  no  more And  he  that  sitteth 

on  the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new." 


576         ESCHATOLOGY,    OB   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL    THINGS. 

The  smooth  face  of  death  with  the  lost  youth  restored,  and  the  pure  white  glow  of  the 
marble  statue  with  all  passion  gone  and  the  lofty  and  heroic  only  visible,  are  indications 
of  what  is  to  be.  Art,  in  its  representations  alike  of  the  human  form,  and  of  an  ideal 
earth  and  society  in  landscape  and  poem,  is  prophetic  of  the  future  — it  suggests  the 
glorious  possibilities  of  the  resurrection-morning.  Nicoll,  Life  of  Christ :  "  The  river 
runs  through  the  lake  and  pursues  its  way  beyond.  So  the  life  of  faith  passes  through 
death  and  is  only  purified  thereby.  As  to  the  body,  all  that  is  worth  saving  will  be 
saved.  Other  resurrections  [such  as  that  of  Lazarus]  were  resurrections  to  the  old 
conditions  of  earthly  life;  the  resurrection  of  Christ  was  the  revelation  of  a  new  life." 
A.  J.  Gordon :  "  Here  then  is  where  the  lines  of  Christ's  ministry  terminate  —  in  sancti- 
fication,  the  perfection  of  the  spirit's  holiness ;  and  in  resurrection,  the  perfection  of 
the  body's  health." 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  resurrection,  our  positive  information  is  derived 
wholly  from  the  word  of  God.  Further  discussion  of  it  may  be  most  naturally 
arranged  in  a  series  of  answers  to  objections.  The  objections  commonly 
urged  against  the  doctrine,  as  above  propounded,  may  be  reduced  to  two  : 

1.  The  exegetical  objection, —  that  it  rests  upon  a  literalizing  of  meta- 
phorical language,  and  has  no  sufficient  support  in  Scripture.  To  this  we 
answer  : 

(a)  That,  though  the  phrase  "resurrection  of  the  body  "  does  not  occur 
in  the  New  Testament,  the  passages  which  describe  the  event  indicate  a 
physical,  as  distinguished  from  a  spiritual,  change  ( John  5  :  28 ;  Phil.  3:21; 
1  Thess.  4  :  13-17).  The  phrase  "spiritual  body"  (1  Cor.  15  :  44)  is  a 
contradiction  in  terms,  if  it  be  understood  as  signifying  '  a  body  which  is 
simple  spirit. '  It  can  only  be  interpreted  as  meaning  a  material  organism, 
perfectly  adapted  to  be  the  outward  expression  and  vehicle  of  the  purified 
soul.  The  purely  spiritual  interpretation  is,  moreover,  expressly  excluded 
by  the  apostolic  denial  that  "the  resurrection  is  past  already"  (2  Tim.  2  : 
18 ),  and  by  the  fact  that  there  is  a  resurrection  of  the  unjust,  as  well  as  of 
the  just  (  Acts  24  :  15  ). 

John  5  :  28—  "all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth" ;  Phil.  3  : 21— "who  shall 
fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation  "  ;  1  Thess.  4  : 16, 17—"  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with 
a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first ";  1  Cor. 
15  :  44  — "  it  is  sown  a  natural  body ;  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body  "  ;  2  Tim.  2  : 17,  18  — "  Hymenseus  and  Philetus ; 
men  who  concerning  the  truth  have  erred,  saying  that  the  resurrection  is  past  already,  and  overthrow  the  faith  of  some  "  ; 
Acts  24  : 15— "Having  hope  toward  God that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the  just  and  of  the  unjust." 

(6)  That  the  redemption  of  Christ  is  declared  to  include  the  body  as 
weU  as  the  soul  ( Eom.  8  :  23 ;  1  Cor.  6  :  13-20 ).  The  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  has  put  such  honor  upon  the  frail  mortal  tenement  which  he 
has  made  his  temple,  that  God  will  not  permit  even  this  wholly  to  perish 
(Rom.  8  :  11 — dia  TO  ZVOIKOVV  avrov  Trv£v/j.a  kv  V/LUV,  i.  e.,  because  of  his  in- 
dwelling Spirit,  God  will  raise  up  the  mortal  body  ).  It  is  this  belief  which 
forms  the  basis  of  Christian  care  for  the  dead  (  Phil.  3  :  21 ;  c/.  Mat.  22  :  32 ). 

Rom.  8  :  23  — "  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body  "  ;  1  Cor.  6  : 13-20  — "  Meats  for  the  belly 
and  the  belly  for  meats :  but  God  shall  bring  to  naught  both  it  and  them.  But  the  body  is  not  for  fornication,  but  for 

the  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  for  the  body :  and  God  both  raised  the  Lord,  and  will  raise  up  us  through  his  power But 

he  that  is  joined  to  the  Lord  is  one  spirit Or  know  ye  not  that  your  body  is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  is 

in  you,  which  ye  have  from  God glorify  God  therefore  in  your  body"  ;    Rom.  8  : 11— "But  if  the  Spirit  of  him 

that  raised  up  Jesus  from  the  dead  dwelleth  in  you,  he  that  raised  up  Christ  Jesus  from  the  dead  shall  also  quicken  your 
mortal  bodies  through  his  Spirit  that  dwelleth  in  you  "—here  the  Revised  Version  follows  Tisch.,  8th 
•ed.,  and  Westcott  and  Hort's  reading  of  fiia  TOV  evoiKoOvTos  avroO  nvfv^aro<:.  Tregelles^ 


THE    RESURRECTION". 


577 


Tisch.,  7th  ed.,  and  Meyer,  have  Sia  rb  evomovv  avrov  nvev/jia,  and  this  reading  we  regard 
as,  on  the  whole,  the  best  supported.  Phil.  3  :  21  — "  will  fashion  anew  the  body  of  our  humiliation." 

Dr.  R.  D.  Hitchcock,  in  South  Church  Lectures,  338,  says  that  "there  is  no  Scripture 
decJaration  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  nor  even  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body." 
While  this  is  literally  true,  it  conveys  a  false  idea.  The  passages  just  cited  foretell  a 
quickening  of  our  mortal  bodies,  a  raising  of  them  up,  a  changing  of  them  into  the  like- 
ness of  Christ's  body.  Corner,  Eschatology :  "  The  New  Testament  is  not  contented  with 
a  bodiless  immortality.  It  is  opposed  to  a  naked  spiritualism,  and  accords  completely 
with  a  deeper  philosophy  which  discerns  in  the  body,  not  merely  the  sheath  or  garment 
of  the  soul,  but  a  side  of  the  person  belonging  to  his  full  idea,  his  mirror  and  organ,  of 
the  greatest  importance  for  his  activity  and  history." 

Christ's  proof  of  the  resurrection  in  Mat.  22  :  32—"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  "— 
has  for  its  basis  this  very  assumption  that  soul  and  body  belong  normally  together,  and 
that  since  they  are  temporally  separated  in  the  case  of  the  saints  who  live  with  God, 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  shall  rise  again.  The  idealistic  philosophy  of  thirty  years 
ago  led  to  a  contempt  of  the  body ;  the  recent  materialism  has  done  at  least  this  service, 
that  it  has  reasserted  the  claims  of  the  body  to  be  a  proper  part  of  man. 

(c)  That  the  nature  of  Christ's  resurrection,  as  literal  and  physical,  de- 
termines the  nature  of  the  resurrection  in  the  case  of  believers  (  Luke  24  i 
39  ;  John  20  :  27  ).     As,  in  the  case  of  Christ,  the  same  body  that  was  laid 
in  the  tomb  was  raised  again,  although  possessed  of  new  and  surprising 
powers,  so  the  Scriptures  intimate,  not  simply  that  the  saints  shall  have 
bodies,  but  that  these  bodies  shall  be  in  some  proper  sense  an  outgrowth  or 
transformation  of  the  very  bodies  that  slept  in  the  dust  ( Dan.  12  :  2  ;  1  Cor. 
15  :  53,  54).     The  denial  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  in  the  case  of  be- 
lievers, leads  naturally  to  a  denial  of  the  reality  of  Christ's  resurrection    1 
Cor.  15:13). 

Luke  24  :  39— "See  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself:  handle  me,  and  see ;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and 
bones,  as  ye  see  me  having"  ;  John  20  :  27 — "Then  saith  he  to  Thomas,  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  see  my  hands; 
and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  put  it  into  my  side :  and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing  "  ;  Dan.  12  :  2 — "And  many  of 
them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt" ;  1  Cor.  15  :  53,  54 — "For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 
But  when  this  corruption  shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  come 
to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory  "  ;  13  — "  But  if  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
neither  hath  Christ  been  raised." 

Sadducean  materialism  and  Gnostic  dualism,  which  last  held  matter  to  be  evil,  both 
denied  the  resurrection.  Paul  shows  that  to  deny  it  is  to  deny  that  Christ  rose ;  since,  if 
it  were  impossible  in  the  case  of  his  followers,  it  must  have  been  impossible  in  his  own 
case.  As  believers,  we  are  vitally  connected  with  him ;  and  his  resurrection  could  not 
have  taken  place  without  drawing  in  its  train  the  resurrection  of  all  of  us.  Having  de- 
nied that  Christ  rose,  where  is  the  proof  that  he  is  not  still  under  the  bond  and  curse  of 
death  ?  Surely  then  our  preaching  is  vain.  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  was  written 
before  the  gospels ;  and  is  therefore,  as  Hanna  says,  the  earliest  written  account  of  the 
resurrection. 

(d)  That  the  accompanying  events,  as  the  second  coming  and  the  judg- 
ment, since  they  are  themselves  literal,  imply  that  the  resurrection  is  also- 
literal. 

Rom.  8  : 19-23  — "  For  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  creation  waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God the 

whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves, 

waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body  " —  here  man's  body  is  regarded  as  a  part  of 
nature,  or  the  "creation,"  and  as  partaking  in  Christ  of  its  deliverance  from  the  curse; 
Rev.  21  :  4,  5  — "he  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes;  and  death  shall  be  no  more  ....  and  he  that  sitteth  on 
the  throne  said,  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new"— a  declaration  applicable  to  the  body,  the  seat  of 
pain  and  the  avenue  of  temptation,  as  well  as  to  outward  nature.  See  Hanna,  The 
Resurrection,  28 ;  Fuller,  Works,  3  :  291 ;  Boston,  Fourfold  State,  in  Works,  8  :  271-289. 
On  Olshausen's  view  of  immortality  as  inseparable  from  body,  see  Aids  to  the  Study  of 
German  Theology,  63.  On  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  see  Jahrbuch  f .  d.  Theol.,  1 :  289-317, 


578         ESCHATOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 
2.     The  scientific  objection.— This  is  threefold  : 

(a)  That  a  resurrection  of  the  particles  which  compose  the  body  at  death 
is  impossible,  since  they  enter  into  new  combinations,  and  not  unfrequently 
become  parts  of  other  bodies  which  the  doctrine  holds  to  be  raised  at  the 
same  time. 

We  reply  that  the  Scripture  not  only  does  not  compel  us  to  hold,  but  it 
distinctly  denies,  that  all  the  particles  which  exist  in  the  body  at  death  are 
present  in  the  resurrection-body  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  37  —  ov  TO  oup.a  TO  -yev^ndfiEvov; 
•50).  The  Scripture  seems  only  to  indicate  a  certain  physical  connection 
between  the  new  and  the  old,  although  the  nature  of  this  connection  is  not 
revealed.  So  long  as  this  physical  connection  is  maintained,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  suppose  that  even  a  germ  or  particle  that  belonged  to  the  old  body 
exists  in  the  new. 

1  Cor.  15  :  37—"  that  which  thou  so  west,  thou  sowest  not  the  body  that  shall  be,  but  a  bare  grain,  it  may  chance  of 
wheat,  or  of  some  other  kind;  but  God  giveth  it  a  body  even  as  it  pleased  him,  and  to  each  seed  a  body  of  its  own." 
The  view  of  the  resurrection  held  a  century  ago  was  exposed  to  the  objection  men- 
tioned above.  Pollock's  Course  of  Time  represented  the  day  of  resurrection  as  a  day 
on  which  the  limbs  that  had  been  torn  asunder  on  earth  hurtled  through  the  air  to 
join  one  another  once  more.  The  amputated  arm  that  had  been  buried  in  China  must 
traverse  thousands  of  miles  to  meet  the  body  of  its  former  owner,  as  it  rose  from  the 
place  of  its  burial  in  England. 

There  are  serious  difficulties  attending  this  view.  The  bodies  of  the  dead  fertilized  the 
field  of  Waterloo.  The  wheat  grown  there  has  been  ground  and  made  into  bread,  and 
eaten  by  thousands  of  living  men.  Particles  of  one  human  body  have  become  incor- 
porated with  the  bodies  of  many  others.  "The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs,  The  Severn 
to  the  sea,  And  Wycliffe's  dust  is  scattered  wide,  Far  as  its  waters  be."  Through  the 
clouds  and  the  rain,  particles  of  Wycliffe's  body  may  have  entered  into  the  water  which 
other  men  have  drunk  from  their  wells  and  fountains.  There  is  a  propagation  of  dis- 
ease by  contagion,  or  the  transmission  of  infinitesimal  germs  from  one  body  to  another, 
sometimes  by  infection  of  the  living  from  contact  with  the  body  of  a  friend  just  dead. 
In  these  various  ways,  the  same  particle  might,  in  the  course  of  history,  enter  into  the 
constitution  of  a  hundred  living  men.  How  can  this  one  particle,  at  the  resurrection, 
be  in  a  hundred  places  at  the  same  time  ?  "  Like  the  woman  who  had  seven  husbands,  the 
same  matter  may  belong  in  succession  to  many  bodies,  for  'they  all  had  it'  "  (Smyth). 
The  cannibal  and  his  victim  cannot  both  possess  the  same  body  at  the  resurrection. 

These  considerations  have  led  some,  like  Origen,  to  call  the  doctrine  of  a  literal  resur- 
rection of  the  flesh  "the  foolishness  of  beggarly  minds,"  and  to  say  that  resurrection 
may  be  only  "  the  gathering  round  the  spirit  of  new  materials,  and  the  vitalizing  them 
into  a  new  body  by  the  spirit's  God-given  power  " ;  see  Newman  Smyth,  Old  Faiths  in  a 
New  Light,  349-391 ;  Porter,  Human  Intellect,  39.  But  this  view  seems  as  great  an  ex- 
treme as  that  from  which  it  was  a  reaction.  It  gives  up  all  idea  of  unity  between  the 
new  and  the  old.  If  my  body  were  this  instant  annihilated,  and  if  then,  an  hour  hence, 
God  should  create  a  second  body,  precisely  like  the  present,  I  could  not  call  it  the  same 
with  the  present  body,  even  though  it  were  animated  by  the  same  informing  soul,  and 
that  soul  had  maintained  an  uninterrupted  existence  between  the  time  of  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  first  body  and  the  creation  of  the  second.  So,  if  the  body  laid  in  the  tomb 
were  wholly  dissipated  among  the  elements,  and  God  created  at  the  end  of  the  world  a 
wholly  new  body,  it  would  be  impossible  for  Paul  to  say :  "  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorrup- 
tion  "  ( 1  Cor.  15  :  53 ),  or :  "  it  is  sown  in  dishonor ;  it  is  raised  in  glory  "  ( verse  43 ).  In  short,  there  is  a 
physical  connection  between  the  old  and  the  new,  which  is  intimated  by  Scripture,  but 
which  this  theory  denies. 

Paul  himself  gives  us  an  illustration  which  shows  that  his  view  was  midway  between 
the  two  extremes:  "that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  the  body  that  shall  be"  (1  Cor.  15  :  37).  On 
the  one  hand,  the  wheat  that  springs  up  does  not  contain  the  precise  particles,  perhaps 
does  not  contain  any  particles,  that  were  in  the  seed.  On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been 
a  continuous  physical  connection  between  the  seed  sown  and  the  ripened  grain  at  the 
harvest.  If  the  seed  had  been  annihilated,  and  then  ripe  grain  created,  we  could  not 
speak  of  identity  between  the  one  and  the  other.  But,  because  there  has  been  a  constant 


THE   KESURRECTION.  579 

flux,  the  old  particles  pressed  out  by  new,  and  these  new  in  their  turn  succeeded  by 
others  that  take  their  places,  we  can  say  :  "  the  wheat  has  come  up." 

Or,  to  use  another  illustration  nearer  to  the  thing  we  desire  to  illustrate :  My  body  is 
the  same  that  it  was  ten  years  ago,  although  physiologists  declare  that  every  particle  of 
the  body  is  changed,  not  simply  once  in  seven  years,  but  once  in  a  single  year.  Life  is 
preserved  only  by  the  constant  throwing  off  of  dead  matter  and  the  introduction  of  new. 
There  is  indeed  a  unity  of  consciousness  and  personality,  without  which  I  should  not  be 
able  to  say  at  intervals  of  years:  "this  body  is  the  same;  this  body  is  mine."  But  a 
physical  connection  between  the  old  and  the  new  is  necessary  in  addition. 

The  North  River  is  the  same  to-day  that  it  was  when  Hendrick  Hudson  first  discov- 
ered it ;  yet  not  a  particle  of  its  current,  nor  a  particle  of  the  banks  which  that  current 
touches  now,  is  the  same  that  it  was  then.  Two  things  make  the  present  river  identical 
with  the  river  of  the  past.  The  first  is,  that  the  same  formative  principle  is  at  work,— 
the  trend  of  the  banks  is  the  same,  and  there  is  the  same  general  effect  in  the  flow  and 
direction  of  the  waters  drained  from  a  large  area  of  country.  The  second  is,  the  fact 
that,  ever  since  Hendrick  Hudson's  time,  there  has  been  a  physical  connection,  old  par- 
ticles in  continuous  succession  having  been  replaced  by  new. 

So  there  are  two  things  requisite  to  make  our  future  bodies  one  with  the  bodies  we 
now  inhabit :  first,  that  the  same  formative  principle  be  at  work  in  them ;  and  secondly, 
that  there  be  some  sort  of  physical  connection  between  the  body  that  now  is  and  the 
body  that  shall  be.  What  that  physical  connection  is,  it  is  vain  to  speculate.  We  only 
teach  that,  though  there  may  not  be  a  single  material  particle  in  the  new  that  was  present 
in  the  old,  there  yet  will  be  such  a  physical  connection  that  it  can  be  said :  "  the  new  has 
grown  out  of  the  old " ;  "  that  which  was  in  the  grave  has  come  forth  " ;  "this  mortal 
has  put  on  immortality." 

(6)  That  a  resurrection-body,  having  such  a  remote  physical  connection 
•with  the  present  body,  cannot  be  recognized  by  the  inhabiting  soul  or  by 
other  witnessing  spirits  as  the  same  with  that  which  was  laid  in  the  grave. 

To  this  we  reply  that  bodily  identity  does  not  consist  in  absolute  sameness 
of  particles  during  the  whole  history  of  the  body,  but  in  the  organizing 
force,  which,  even  in  the  flux  and  displacement  of  physical  particles,  makes 
the  old  the  basis  of  the  new,  and  binds  both  together  in  the  unity  of  a  single 
consciousness.  In  our  recognition  of  friends,  moreover,  we  are  not  wholly 
dependent,  even  in  this  world,  upon  our  perception  of  bodily  form  ;  and  we 
have  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  future  state  there  may  be  methods  of 
communication  far  more  direct  and  intuitive  than  those  with  which  we  are 
familiar  here. 

Cf.  Mat.  17  :  3,  4  — "  And  behold,  there  appeared  unto  them  Moses  and  Elijah  talking  with  him.  And  Peter  answered, 
and  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here :  if  thou  wilt,  I  will  make  here  three  tabernacles ;  one  for  thee, 
and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah  " — here  there  is  no  mention  of  information  given  to  Peter  as 
to  the  names  of  the  celestial  visitants  ?  it  would  seem  that,  in  his  state  of  exalted  sensi- 
bility, he  at  once  knew  them.  The  recent  proceedings  of  the  English  Society  for  Psychi- 
cal Research  seem  to  prove  the  possibility  of  communication  between  two  minds  with- 
out physical  intermediaries. 

With  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  term  'identity,'  as  applied  to  material  things,  see 
Porter,  Human  Intellect,  631—"  Here  the  substance  is  called  the  same,  by  a  loose  analogy 
taken  from  living  agents  and  their  gradual  accretion  and  growth."  The  Euphrates  is 
the  same  stream  that  flowed,  "  When  high  in  Paradise  By  the  four  rivers  the  first  roses 
blew,"  even  though  after  that  time  the  flood,  or  deluge,  stopped  its  flow  and  obliterated 
all  the  natural  features  of  the  landscape.  So  this  flowing  organism  which  we  call  the 
body  may  be  the  same,  after  the  deluge  of  death  has  passed  away. 

A  different  and  less  satisfactory  view  is  presented  in  Dorner's  Eschatology  :  "  Identity 
involves :  1.  Plastic  form,  which  for  the  earthly  body  had  its  moulding  principle  in 
the  soul.  That  principle  could  effect  nothing  permanent  in  the  intermediate  state ;  but 
with  the  spiritual  consummation  of  the  soul,  it  attains  the  full  power  which  can  appro- 
priate to  itself  the  heavenly  body,  accompanied  by  a  cosmical  process,  made  like  Christ. 
2.  Appropriation,  from  the  world  of  elements,  of  what  it  needs.  The  elements  into 
which  everything  bodily  of  earth  is  dissolved,  are  an  essentially  uniform  mass,  like  an 


580          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF    FINAL   THINGS. 

ocean ;  and  it  is  indifferent  what  parts  of  this  are  assigned  to  each  individual  man.  The 
whole  world  of  substance,  which  makes  the  constant  change  of  substance  possible,  is 
made  over  to  humanity  as  a  common  possession  ( Acts  4  :  32  — '  not  one  of  them  said  that  aught  of 
the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own ;  but  they  had  all  things  common.' )." 

(c)  That  a  material  organism  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  hindrance  to  the 
free  activity  of  the  spirit,  and  that  the  assumption  of  such  an  organism  by 
the  soul,  which,  during  the  intermediate  state,  had  been  separated  from  the 
body,  would  indicate  a  decline  in  dignity  and  power  rather  than  a  progress. 

"We  reply  that  we  cannot  estimate  the  powers  and  capacities  of  matter, 
when  brought  by  God  into  complete  subjection  to  the  spirit.  The  bodies 
of  the  saints  may  be  more  etherial  than  the  air,  and  capable  of  swifter  mo- 
tion than  the  light,  and  yet  be  material  in  their  substance.  That  the  soul, 
clothed  with  its  spiritual  body,  will  have  more  exalted  powers  and  enjoy  a 
more  complete  felicity  than  would  be  possible  while  it  maintained  a  purely 
spiritual  existence,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Paul  represents  the  culmi- 
nation of  the  soul's  blessedness  as  occurring,  not  at  death,  but  at  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body. 

Rom.  8  :  23 — "waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body  " ;  2  Cor.  5  :  4 — "not  for  that  we  would 
be  unclothed,  but  that  we  would  be  clothed  upon,  that  what  is  mortal  may  be  swallowed  up  of  life  "  ;  Phil.  3  : 11  — "  if 
by  any  means  I  may  attain  unto  the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  Even  Ps.  86  : 11— "Unite  my  heart  to  fear  thy 
name"— may  mean  the  collecting  of  all  the  powers  of  body  as  well  as  soul.  In  this 
respect  for  the  body,  as  a  normal  part  of  man's  being,  Scripture  is  based  upon  the  truest 
philosophy.  Plotinus  gave  thanks  that  he  was  not  tied  to  an  immortal  body,  and  refused 
to  have  his  portrait  taken  because  the  body  was  too  contemptible  a  thing  to  have  its 
image  perpetuated.  But  this  is  not  natural,  nor  is  it  probably  anything  more  than  a 
whim  or  affectation.  Eph.  5  :  29 — "no  man  ever  hated  his  own  flesh;  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  it." 
What  we  desire  is  not  the  annihilation  of  the  body,  but  its  perfection. 

Benouf,  Hibbert  Lectures,  188— "In  the  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead,  the  soul  reunites 
itself  to  the  body,  with  the  assurance  that  they  shall  never  again  be  separated."  McCosh, 
Intuitions,  213 — "The  essential  thing  about  the  resurrection  is  the  development,  out 
of  the  dead  body,  of  an  organ  for  the  communion  and  activity  of  the  spiritual  life." 
Ebrard,  Dogmatik,  2  : 226-234,  has  interesting  remarks  upon  the  relation  of  the  resur- 
rection-body to  the  present  body.  The  essential  difference  he  considers  to  be  this,  that 
whereas,  in  the  present  body,  matter  is  master  of  the  spirit^in  the  resurrection-body 
spirit  will  be  master  of  matter,  needing  no  reparation  by  food,  and  having  control  of 
material  laws.  Ebrard  adds  striking  speculations  with  regard  to  the  glorified  body  of 
Christ. 

On  the  spiritual  body  as  possibly  evolved  by  will,  see  Harris,  Philos.  Basis  of  Theism, 
386.  On  the  nature  of  the  resurrection-body,  see  Burnet,  State  of  the  Departed,  chaps.  7 
and  8 ;  Cudworth,  Intell.  System,  3  :  310  sq. ;  Splittgerber,  Tod,  Fortleben  und  Auf  er- 
stehung.  On  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  jimong  the  Egyptians,  see  Dr.  Howard 
Osgood,  in  Hebrew  Student,  Feb.,  1885 ;  among  the  Jews,  see  Grobler,  in  Studien  und 
Kritiken,  1879  :  Heft  4;  DeWtinsche,  in  Jahrbuch  f.  prot.  Theol.,  1880  :  Heft  2  and  4; 
Revue  Theologique,  1881 : 1-17.  For  the  view  that  the  resurrection  is  wholly  spiritual 
and  takes  place  at  death,  see  Willmarth,  in  Bap.  Quar.,  Oct.,  1868,  and  April,  1870;  Ladd, 
in  New  Englander,  April,  1874 ;  Crosby,  Second  Advent. 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Hase,  Hutterus  Redivivus,  280 ;  Herzog,  Encyclop.,  art. : 
Auf erstehung ;  Goulburn,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1850,  on  the  Resurrection;  Cox,  The 
Resurrection;  Neander,  Planting  and  Training,  479-487,  524-526;  Naville,  La  Vie  Eter- 
nelle,  253,  254 ;  Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psychologic,  453-463 ;  Moorhouse,  Nature  and  Revelation, 
87-112;  Unseen  Universe,  33;  Hovey,  in  Baptist  Quarterly,  Oct.,  1867 ;  Westcott,  Reve- 
lation of  the  Risen  Lord,  and  in  Contemporary  Review,  vol.  30 ;  R.  W.  Macan,  Resurrec- 
tion of  Christ ;  Cremer,  Beyond  the  Grave. 

/ 

V.     THE  LAST  JUDGMENT. 

While  the  Scriptures  represent  all  punishment  of  individual  transgressors 
and  all  manifestations  of  God's  vindicatory  justice  in  the  history  of  nations 


THE   LAST   JUDGMENT.  581 

as  acts  or  processes  of  judgment,  they  also  intimate  that  these  temporal 
judgments  are  only  partial  and  imperfect,  and  that  they  are  therefore  to  be 
concluded  with  a  final  and  complete  vindication  of  God's  righteousness. 
This  will  be  accomplished  by  making  known  to  the  universe  the  characters 
of  all  men,  and  by  awarding  to  them  corresponding  destinies. 

Passages  describing-  temporal  or  spiritual  judgment  are:  Ps.  9  :  7— "He  hath  prepared  his 
throne  for  judgment";  Is.  26 :  9 — "when  thy  judgments  are  in  the  earth,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  will  learn 
righteousness"  ;  Mat.  16  :  27,  28 — "For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  his  angels ;  and 
then  shall  he  render  unto  every  man  according  to  his  deeds.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  be  some  of  them  that  stand 
here,  which  shall  in  no  wise  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom  "  ;  John  3  : 18, 19  —  "  He 
that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God- 
And  this  is  the  judgment,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the  light ;  for  their 
works  were  evil "  ;  9  :  39— "For  judgment  came  I  into  this  world,  that  they  which  see  not  may  see :  and  that  they 
which  see  may  become  blind"  ;  12  :  31— "Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world :  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be 
cast  out." 

Passages  describing-  the  final  judgment  are :  Mat.  25  :  31-46  —"But  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come 
in  his  glory,  and  all  the  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory :  and  before  Mm  shall  be  gathered 
all  the  nations :  and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another,  as  the  shepherd  separateth  the  sheep  from  the  goats  .... 
Acts  17  :  31— "he  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  the  man  whom 
he  hath  ordained ;  whereof  he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead  "  ;  Rom. 
2  : 16 — "  in  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men,  according  to  my  gospel,  by  Jesus  Christ"  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 10 
— "  For  we  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ ;  that  each  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in 
the  body,  according  to  what  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  " ;  Heb.  9  :  27,  28  — "  And  inasmuch  as  it  is 
appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this  cometh  judgment ;  so  Christ  also,  having  been  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins 
of  many,  shall  appear  a  second  time,  apart  from  sin,  to  them  that  wait  for  him,  unto  salvation"  ;  20  : 12 — "And  I  saw 
the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  before  the  throne ;  and  books  were  opened :  and  another  book  was  opened, 
which  is  the  book  of  life :  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  which  were  written  in  the  books,  according  to 
their  works." 

1.     The  nature  of  the  final  judgment. 

The  final  judgment  is  not  a  spiritual,  invisible,  endless  process,  identical 
with  God's  providence  in  history,  but  is  an  outward  and  visible  event, 
occurring  at  a  definite  period  in  the  future.  This  we  argue  from  the  follow- 
ing considerations : 

(a)  The  judgment  is  something  for  which  the  evil  are  "reserved"  (2 
Peter  2  :  4,  9 ) ;  something  to  be  expected  in  the  future  ( Acts  24  :  25  ;  Heb. 
10  :  27 ) ;  something  after  death  (  Heb.  9  :  27  ) ;  something  for  which  the  res- 
urrection is  a  preparation  (  John  5  :  29 ). 

2  Pet.  2  :  4,  9— "God  spared  not  angels  when  they  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell reserved  unto  judgment 

,  ....  the  Lord  knoweth  how  ....  to  keep  the  unrighteous  unto  punishment  unto  the  day  of  judgment"  ;  Acts  24  :  25 
— "  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and  the  judgment  to  come,  Felix  was  terrified ' ' ;  Heb.  10  :  27  — 
"  a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judgment "  ;  9  :  27  — "  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this  cometh  judg- 
ment "  ;  John  5  :  29  — "  the  resurrection  of  judgment." 

(6)  The  accompaniments  of  the  judgment,  such  as  the  second  coming  of 
Ohrist,  the  resurrection,  and  the  outward  changes  of  the  earth,  are  events 
which  have  an  outward  and  visible,  as  well  as  an  inward  and  spiritual,  aspect. 
We  are  compelled  to  interpret  the  predictions  of  the  last  judgment  upon 
the  same  principle. 

John  5  :  28,  29— "Marvel  not  at  this:  for  the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  have  done  ill,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  judgment"  ;  2  Pet.  3  :  7,  10—"  the  day  of  judgment ...  the  day  of  the  Lord  ....  in  the  which  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall  be  dissolved  with  fervent  heat"  ;  2  Thess.  1 :  7,  8— "the 
revelation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven  with  the  angels  of  his  power  in  flaming  fire,  rendering  vengeance  to  them  that 
know  not  God when  he  shall  come in  that  day." 


582          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

(c)  God's  justice,  in  the  historical  and  imperfect  work  of  judgment, 
needs  a  final  outward  judgment  as  its  vindication.  "  A  perfect  justice  must 
judge,  not  only  moral  units,  but  moral  aggregates  ;  not  only  the  particulars 
of  life,  but  the  life  as  a  whole. "  The  crime  that  is  hidden  and  triumphant 
here,  and  the  goodness  that  is  here  maligned  and  oppressed,  must  be 
brought  to  light  and  fitly  recompensed.  "  Otherwise  man  is  a  Tantalus  — 
longing  but  never  satisfied  "  ;  and  God's  justice,  of  which  his  outward  ad- 
ministration is  the  expression,  can  only  be  regarded  as  approximate. 

Renouf ,  Hibbert  Lectures,  194  — "  The  Egyptian  Book  of  the  Dead  represents  the  de- 
ceased person  as  standing  in  the  presence  of  the  goddess  Maat,  who  is  distinguished  by 
the  ostrich-feather  on  her  head  ;  she  holds  the  sceptre  in  one  hand  and  the  symbol  of 
life  in  the  other.  The  man's  heart,  which  represents  his  entire  moral  nature,  is  being 
weighed  in  the  balance  in  presence  of  Osiris,  seated  upon  his  throne  as  judge  of  the 
dead."  Rationalism  believes  in  only  present  and  temporal  judgment ;  and  this  it  regards 
as  but  the  reaction  of  natural  law:  "Die  Weltgeschichte  ist  das  Weltgericht  —  the 
world's  history  is  the  world's  judgment."  But  there  is  an  inner  connection  between 
present,  temporal,  spiritual  judgments,  and  the  final,  outward,  complete  judgment  of 
God. 

Dorner :  "  With  Christ's  appearance,  faith  sees  that  the  beginning  of  the  judgment 
and  of  the  end  has  come.  Christians  are  a  prophetic  race.  Without  judgment,  Chris- 
tianity would  involve  a  sort  of  dualism :  evil  and  good  would  be  of  equal  might  and 
worth.  Christianity  cannot  always  remain  a  historic  principle  alongside  of  the  contrary 
principle  of  evil.  It  is  the  only  reality."  God  will  show  or  make  known  his  righteous- 
ness with  regard  to :  ( 1 )  the  disparity  of  lots  among  men ;  ( 2 )  the  prosperity  of  the 
wicked;  (3)  the  permission  of  moral  evil  in  general;  (4)  the  consistency  of  atone- 
ment with  justice.  "  The  o-wreAeia  TOW  aitovo?  ( '  end  of  the  world,'  Mat.  13  :  39  )  =  stripping 
hostile  powers  of  their  usurped  might,  revelation  of  their  falsity  and  impotence,  con- 
signing them  to  the  past.  Evil  shall  be  utterly  cut  off,  given  over  to  its  own  nothing- 
ness, or  made  a  subordinate  element." 

2.     The  object  of  the  final  judgment. 

The  object  of  the  final  judgment  is  not  the  ascertainment,  but  the  mani- 
festation, of  character,  and  the  assignment  of  outward  condition  corres- 
ponding to  it. 

(a)  To  the  omniscient  Judge,  the  condition  of  all  moral  creatures  is 
already  and  fully  known.  The  last  day  will  be  only  "  the  revelation  of  the 
righteous  judgment  of  God." 

They  are  inwardly  judged  when  they  die,  and  before  they  die;  they  are  outwardly 
judged  at  the  last  day :  Rom.  2  :  5,  6  — "treasurest  up  for  thyself  wrath  in  the  day  of  wrath  and  revelation  of 
the  righteous  judgment  of  God ;  who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works  " —  see  Meyer  on  this  pas- 
sage: not  "against  the  day  of  wrath,"  but  "in  the  day  of  wrath"  =  wrath  existing  before- 
hand, but  breaking  out  on  that  day.  1  Tim.  5  :  24,  25— "Some  men's  sins  are  evident,  going  before  unto 
judgment;  and  some  men  also  they  follow  after.  In  like  manner  also,  there  are  good  works  that  are  evident:  and  such 
as  are  otherwise  cannot  be  hid" ;  Rev.  14  : 13— "for  their  works  follow  with  them"— as  close  companions, 
into  God's  presence  and  judgment  (Ann.  Par.  Bible). 

(6)  In  the  nature  of  man,  there  are  evidences  and  preparations  for  this 
final  disclosure.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  law  of  memory,  by 
which  the  soul  preserves  the  record  of  its  acts,  both  good  and  evil  ( Luke 
16  :  25 )  ;  the  law  of  conscience,  by  which  men  involuntarily  anticipate  pun- 
ishment for  their  own  sins  (  Bom.  2  :  15,  16  ;  Heb.  10  :  27 )  ;  the  law  of 
character,  by  which  every  thought  and  deed  makes  indelible  impress  upon 
the  moral  nature  ( Heb.  3  :  8,  15). 

Luke  16:25— "Son,  remember!"  See  MacLaren's  Sermons  ( 1 : 109-122 )  — Memory  (1)  will 
embrace  all  the  events  of  the  past  life ;  ( 2 )  will  embrace  them  all  at  the  same  moment ; 


THE    LAST   JUDGMENT.  583 

<3)  will  embrace  them  continuously  and  continually.  Rom.  2:15,  16— "they  shew  the  work  of 
tl«  law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  witness  therewith,  and  their  thoughts  one  with  another  accusing 
or  else  excusing  them;  in  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men,  according  to  my  gospel,  by  Jesus  Christ"  ; 
Heb.  10  :  27 — "a  certain  fearful  expectation  of  judgment,  and  a  fierceness  of  fire  which  shall  devour  the  adversaries." 
Heb.  3  :  8,  15— "Harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation,  Like  as  in  the  day  of  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness 

To-day,  if  ye  shall  hear  his  voice,  Harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the  provocation." 

A  man  who  afterwards  became  a  Methodist  preacher  was  converted  in  Whitefleld's 
time  by  a  vision  of  the  judgment,  in  which  he  saw  all  men  gathered  before  the  throne, 
and  each  one  coming  up  to  the  book  of  God's  law,  tearing  open  his  heart  before  it  "  as 
one  would  tear  open  the  bosom  of  his  shirt,"  comparing  his  heart  with  the  things 
written  in  the  book,  and  according  as  they  agreed  or  disagreed  with  that  standard, 
either  passing  triumphant  to  the  company  of  the  blest,  or  going  with  howling  to  the 
company  of  the  damned.  No  word  was  spoken;  the  Judge  sat  silent;  the  judgment 
was  one  of  self -revelation  and  self-condemnation.  See  Autobiography  of  John  Nel- 
son ( quoted  in  the  Diary  of  Mrs.  Kitty  Trevylyan,  207 ,  by  Mrs.  E.  Charles,  the  author 
of  The  Schonberg-Cotta  Family). 

(c)  Single  acts  and  words,  therefore,  are  to  be  brought  into  the  judgment 
only  as  indications  of  the  moral  condition  of  the  soul.  This  manifestation 
of  all  hearts  will  vindicate  not  only  God's  past  dealings,  but  his  determin- 
ation of  future  destinies. 

Mat.  12  :  36— "And  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the 
day  of  judgment"  ;  Luke  12  :  2,  8,  9— "there  is  nothing  covered  up,  that  shall  not  be  revealed  ;  and  hid,  that  shall 

not  be  known Every  one  who  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  also  confess  before  the 

angels  of  God :  but  he  that  denieth  me  in  the  presence  of  men  shall  be  denied  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  "  ; 
John  3  : 18—"  He  that  believeth  on  him  is  not  judged :  he  that  believeth  not  hath  been  judged  already,  because  he  hath 
not  believed  on  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of  God  "  ;  2  Cor.  5  : 10  — "  For  we  must  all  be  made  manifest  [  not : 
4  must  all  appear,'  as  in  A.  Vers.]  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ." 

Even  the  human  judge,  in  passing  sentence,  commonly  endeavors  so  to  set  forth  the 
guilt  of  the  criminal  that  he  shall  see  his  doom  to  be  just.  So  God  will  awaken  the  con- 
sciences of  the  lost,  and  lead  them  to  pass  judgment  on  themselves.  Each  lost  soul  can 
say  as  Byron's  Manfred  said  to  the  fiend  that  tortured  his  closing  hour :  "  I  have  not  been 
thy  dupe,  nor  am  thy  prey,  But  was  my  own  destroyer."  Thus  God's  final  judgment 
will  be  only  the  culmination  of  a  process  of  natural  selection,  by  which  the  unfit  are 
eliminated,  and  the  fit  are  caused  to  survive. 

3.     The  Judge  in  the  final  judgment. 

God,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  to  be  the  judge.  Though  God  is 
the  judge  of  all  ( Heb.  12  :  23 ),  yet  this  judicial  activity  is  exercised  through 
Christ,  at  the  last  day,  as  well  as  in  the  present  state  (John  5  :  22,  27). 

Heb.  12  :  23  — " to  God  the  Judge  of  all"  ;  John  5  :  22,  27  — " For  neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any  man,  but  he  hath 
given  all  judgment  unto  the  Son and  he  gave  him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of  man." 

This,  for  three  reasons  : 

(a)  Christ's  human  nature  enables  men  to  understand  both  the  law  and 
the  love  of  God,  and  so  makes  intelligible  the  grounds  on  which  judgment 


Whoever  says  that  God  is  too  distant  and  great  to  be  understood  may  be  pointed  to 
Christ,  in  whose  human  life  the  divine  "law  appears,  drawn  out  in  living  characters," 
and  the  divine  love  is  manifest,  as  suffering  upon  the  cross  to  save  men  from  their  sins. 

(6)  The  perfect  human  nature  of  Christ,  united  as  it  is  to  the  divine, 
ensures  all  that  is  needful  in  true  judgment,  viz. :  that  it  be  both  merciful 
and  just. 

As  F.  W.  Robertson  has  shown  in  his  sermon  on  "The  Sympathy  of  Christ"  (vol.  1  : 
sermon  vii),  it  is  not  sin  that  most  sympathizes  with  sin.  Sin  blinds  and  hardens.  Only 
the  pure  can  appreciate  the  needs  of  the  impure,  and  feel  for  them. 


584          ESCHATOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

(c)  Human  nature,  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  judgment,  will  afford  con- 
vincing proof  that  Christ  has  received  the  reward  of  his  sufferings,  aifd 
that  humanity  has  been  perfectly  redeemed.  The  saints  shall  "judge  the 
world  "  only  as  they  are  one  with  Christ. 

The  lowly  Son  of  man  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  judgment.  And  with  himself  he 
will  join  all  believers.  Mat.  19  :  28— "ye  which  have  followed  me,  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son  of  man 
shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also  shall  sit  upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel "  ;  Luke 
22  :  28-30  — "  But  ye  are  they  which  have  continued  with  me  in  my  temptations ;  and  I  appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom, 
even  as  my  Father  appointed  unto  me,  that  ye  may  eat  and  drink  at  my  table  in  my  kingdom ;  and  ye  shall  sit  on 
thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel "  ;  1  Cor.  6  :  2,  3  — "  know  ye  not  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the  world  ? 
....  Know  ye  not  that  we  shall  judge  angels?"  Rev.  3  :  21 — "He  that  overcometh,  I  will  give  to  him  to  sit  down 
with  me  in  my  throne,  as  I  also  overcame,  and  sat  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne." 

4.  The  subjects  of  the  final  judgment. 

The  persons  upon  whose  characters  and  conduct  this  judgment  shall  be 
passed  are  of  two  great  classes  : 

(a)  All  men  —  each  possessed  of  body  as  well  as  soul, —  the  dead  having 
been  raised,  and  the  living  having  been  changed. 

1  Cor.  15  :  51,  52— "We  all  shall  not  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed,  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at 
the  last  trump:  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  .shall  be  changed"  ; 
1  Thess.  4  : 16, 17  — "  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven,  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and 
with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first :  then  we  that  are  alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together  with 
them  be  caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air :  and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord." 

(6)  All  evil  angels  —  good  angels  appearing  only  as  attendants  and  min- 
isters of  the  Judge. 

Evil  angels :  2  Pet.  2:4—" For  if  God  spared  not  angels  that  sinned,  but  cast  them  down  to  hell,  and  committed 
them  to  pits  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto  judgment " ;  Jude  6  —  "  And  angels  which  kept  not  their  own  principality, 
but  left  their  proper  habitation,  he  hath  kept  in  everlasting  bonds  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day  "  ; 
Good  angels :  Mat.  13  :  41,  42— "The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his 
kingdom  all  things  that  shall  cause  stumbling,  and  them  that  do  iniquity,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire : 
there  shall  be  the  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth  "  ;  25  :  31  — "  But  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and 
all  the  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory :  and  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  the  nations." 

5.  The  grounds  of  the  final  judgment. 

These  will  be  two  in  number  : 

(a)     The  law  of  God, —  as  made  known  in  conscience  and  in  Scripture. 

John  12  :  48  — "  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my  sayings,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him :  the  word  that  I  spake, 
the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day  "  ;  Rom.  2  : 12— "For  as  many  as  have  sinned  without  law  shall  also  perish 
without  law :  and  as  many  as  have  sinned  under  law  shall  be  judged  by  law." 

(6)  The  grace  of  Christ  (Rev.  20  :  12), —  those  whose  names  are  found 
41  written  in  the  book  of  life"  being  approved,  simply  because  of  their  union 
with  Christ  and  participation  in  his  righteousness.  Their  good  works  shall 
be  brought  into  judgment  only  as  proofs  of  this  relation  to  the  Eedeemer. 
Those  not  found  "  written  in  the  book  of  life  "  will  be  judged  by  the  law  of 
God,  as  God  has  made  it  known  to  each  individual. 

Rev.  20  : 12  — "  And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  before  the  throne ;  and  books  were  opened :  and 
another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life :  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  which  were  written  in 
the  books,  according  to  their  works." 

On  the  whole  subject,  see  Hodge,  Outlines  of  Theology,  456,  457 ;  Martensen,  Christian 
Dogmatics,  465,  466;  Neander,  Planting  and  Training,  524-526;  Edwards,  Works,  2  :  499, 
500;  4:202-225. 


FINAL   STATES   OF  THE   RIGHTEOUS   AND   OF  THE   WICKED.    585 
VI.     THE  FINAL  STATES  OF  THE  RIGHTEOUS  AND  OF  THE  WICKED. 
1.     Of  the  righteous. 

The  final  state  of  the  righteous  is  described  as  eternal  life  ( Mat.  25  :  46), 
glory  (2  Cor.  4 :  17),  rest  (Heb.  4:9),  knowledge  (1  Cor.  13  :  8-10),  holi- 
ness (Eev.  21:27),  service  ( Eev.  22:3),  worship  ( Eev.  19:1),  society 
(  Heb.  12  :  23 ),  communion  with  God  ( Eev.  21 :  3 ). 

Mat.  25  :  46  — "  And  these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment :  but  the  righteous  into  eternal  life  "  ;  2  Cor.  4  : 17 
—"For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  for  the  moment,  worketh  for  us  more  and  more  exceedingly  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory  "  ;  Heb.  4  :  9  — "  There  remaineth  therefore  a  sabbath  rest  for  the  people  of  God  "  ;  1  Cor.  13  :  8-10  — "  Love  never 
faileth :  but  whether  there  be  prophecies,  they  shall  be  done  away ;  whether  there  be  tongues,  they  shall  cease ;  whether 
there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  be  done  away.  For  we  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in  part :  but  when  that  which  is 
perfect  is  come,  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away" ;  Rev.  21 :  27— "and  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it 
anything  unclean,  or  he  that  maketh  an  abomination  and  a  lie :  but  only  they  that  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of 
life  " ;  22 : 3  — "  and  his  servants  shall  do  him  service  "  ;  19  : 1  — "  After  these  things  I  heard  as  it  were  a  great  voice  of  a 
great  multitude  in  heaven,  saying,  Hallelujah ;  Salvation,  and  glory,  and  power,  belong  to  our  God ;  for  true  and  righteous 
are  his  judgments  " ;  Heb.  12  :  23  — "  to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  firstborn  who  are  enrolled  in  heaven  "  ; 
Rev.  21  :  3  — "  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  saying,  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he 
shall  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  peoples,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God." 

Summing  up  all  these,  we  may  say  that  it  is  the  fulness  and  perfection  of 
holy  life,  in  communion  with  God  and  with  sanctified  spirits.  Although 
there  will  be  degrees  of  blessedness  and  honor,  proportioned  to  the  capacity 
and  fidelity  of  each  soul  (Luke  19  :  17,  19 ;  1  Cor.  3  :  14,  15),  each  shall 
receive  as  great  a  measure  of  reward  as  it  can  contain  (1  Cor.  2:9),  and 
this  final  state,  once  entered  upon,  shall  be  unchanging  in  kind  and  endless 
in  duration  ( Eev.  3  :  12  ;  22  : 15 ). 

Luke  19  : 17, 19  — "  Well  done,  thou  good  servant :  because  thou  wast  found  faithful  in  a  very  little,  have  thou  authority 

over  ten  cities Be  thou  also  over  five  cities"  ;  1  Cor.  3  : 14, 15 — "If  any  man's  work  shall  abide  which  he  built 

thereon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any  man's  work  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss :  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved  ; 
yet  so  as  through  fire  "  ;  2:9—"  Things  which  eye  saw  not,  and  ear  heard  not,  And  which  entered  not  into  the  heart  of 
man,  Whatsoever  things  God  prepared  for  them  that  love  him"  ;  Rev.  3  : 12— "He  that  overcometh,  I  will  make  him  a 
pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall  go  out  thence  no  more  "  ;  22  : 15  — "  Without  are  the  dogs,  and  the  sorcerers, 
and  the  fornicators,  and  the  murderers,  and  the  idolaters,  and  every  one  that  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie." 

In  the  parable  of  the  laborers  (Mat.  20  : 1-16),  each  receives  a  penny.  Rewards  in  heaven 
will  be  equal,  in  the  sense  that  each  saved  soul  will  be  filled  with  good.  But  rewards 
will  vary,  in  the  sense  that  the  capacity  of  one  will  be  greater  than  that  of  another ; 
and  this  capacity  will  be  in  part  the  result  of  our  improvement  of  God's  gifts  in  the 
present  life.  The  relative  value  of  the  penny  may  in  this  way  vary  from  a  single  unit 
to  a  number  indefinitely  great,  according  to  the  work  and  spirit  of  the  recipient.  Heaven 
will  involve  rest  from  defective  physical  organization  and  surroundings,  as  well  as  from 
the  remains  of  evil  in  our  hearts.  It  will  be  a  rest  consistent  with  service,  an  activity 
without  weariness,  a  service  which  is  perfect  freedom. 

Plato's  Republic  and  More's  Utopia  are  only  earthly  adumbrations  of  St.  John's  City 
of  God.  The  representation  of  heaven  as  a  city  seems  intended  to  suggest  intensity  of 
life,  variety  of  occupation,  and  closeness  of  relation  to  others.  Brotherly  love  in  the 
next  world  implies  knowing  those  we  love,  and  loving  those  we  know.  "We  certainly 
shall  not  know  less  there  than  here,  if  we  know  our  friends  here,  we  shall  know  them 
there.  And  as  love  to  Christ  here  draws  us  nearer  to  each  other,  so  there  we  shall  love 
friends,  not  less  but  more,  because  of  our  greater  nearness  to  Christ. 

With  regard  to  heaven,  two  questions  present  themselves,  namely  : 

(a)    Is  heaven  a  place,  as  well  as  a  state  ? 

We  answer  that  this  is  probable,  for  the  reason  that  the  presence  of 
Christ's  human  body  is  essential  to  heaven,  and  that  this  body  must  be 
confined  to  place.  Since  deity  and  humanity  are  indissolubly  united  in 
38 


586          ESCHATOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

Christ's  single  person,  we  cannot  regard  Christ's  human  soul  as  limited  to 
place  without  vacating  his  person  of  its  divinity.  But  we  cannot  conceive 
of  his  human  body  as  thus  omnipresent.  As  the  new  bodies  of  the  saints 
are  confined  to  place,  so,  it  would  seem,  must  be  the  body  of  their  Lord. 
But,  though  heaven  be  the  place  where  Christ  manifests  his  glory  through 
the  human  body  which  he  assumed  in  the  incarnation,  our  ruling  concep- 
tion of  heaven  must  be  something  higher  even  than  this,  namely,  that  of  a 
state  of  holy  communion  with  God. 

John  14  :  2,  3  — "  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions ;  if  it  were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you ;  for  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  come  again,  and  will  receive  you  unto  myself;  that 
where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also  "  ;  Heb.  12  : 14  — "  Follow  after  peace  with  all  men,  and  the  sanctification  without 
which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 

Although  heaven  is  probably  a  place,  we  are  by  no  means  to  allow  this  conception  to 
become  the  preponderant  one  in  our  minds.  Milton :  "  The  mind  is  its  own  place,  and 
in  itself  Can  make  a  heaven  of  hell,  a  hell  of  heaven."  As  he  goes  through  the  gates  of 
death,  every  Christian  can  say,  as  Caesar  said  when  he  crossed  the  Rubicon :  "  Omnia 
mea  mecum  porto."  The  hymn  "  O  sing  to  me  of  heaven,  When  I  am  called  to  die  "  i& 
not  true  to  Christian  experience.  In  that  hour  the  soul  sings,  not  of  heaven,  but  of 
Jesus  and  his  cross.  As  houses  on  river-flats,  accessible  in  time  of  flood  by  boats,  keep 
safe  only  goods  in  the  upper  story,  so  only  the  treasure  laid  up  above  escapes  the  de- 
stroying floods  of  the  last  day.  Dorner :  "  The  soul  will  possess  true  freedom,  in  that  it 
can  no  more  become  unfree ;  and  that  through  the  indestructible  love-energy  springing 
from  union  with  God." 

(6)     Is  this  earth  to  be  the  heaven  of  the  saints  ?     We  answer  : 

First, —  that  the  earth  is  to  be  purified  by  fire,  and  perhaps  prepared  to 
be  the  abode  of  the  saints  —  although  this  last  is  not  rendered  certain  bv 
the  Scriptures. 

Rom.  8  : 19-23—"  For  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  creation  waiteth  for  the  revealing  of  the  sons  of  God.  For  the 
creation  was  subjected  to  vanity,  not  of  its  own  will,  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected  it,  in  hope  that  the  creation 
itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God.  For  we 
know  that  the  whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now.  And  not  only  so,  but  ourselves  also, 
which  have  the  firstfruits  of  the  Spirit,  even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  our  adoption,  to  wit,  the 
redemption  of  our  body" ;  2  Pet.  3  : 12,  13— "looking  for  and  earnestly  desiring  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  by 
reason  of  which  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat.  But  accord- 
ing to  his  promise,  we  look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness" ;  Rev.  21 : 1 — "And  I 
saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth :  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away ;  and  the  sea  is  no  more." 
Dorner :  "  Without  loss  of  substantiality,  matter  will  have  exchanged  its  darkness, 
hardness,  heaviness,  inertia,  and  impenetrableness  for  clearness,  radiance,  elasticity, 
and  transparency.  A  new  stadium  will  begin  —  God's  advance  to  new  creations,  with 
the  cooperation  of  perfected  mankind." 

Secondly, —  that  this  fitting-up  of  the  earth  for  man's  abode,  even  if  it 
were  declared  in  Scripture,  would  not  render  it  certain  that  the  saints  are 
to  be  confined  to  these  narrow  limits  ( John  14  :  2 ).  It  seems  rather  to  be 
intimated  that  the  effect  of  Christ's  work  will  be  to  bring  the  redeemed  into 
union  and  intercourse  with  other  orders  of  intelligence,  from  communion 
with  whom  they  are  now  shut  out  by  sin  ( Eph.  1  :  10  ;  Col.  1  :  20 ). 

John  14  :  2— "In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions"  ;  Eph.  1  : 10— "unto  a  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  the 
times,  to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ,  the  things  in  the  heavens,  and  the  things  upon  the  earth  "  ;  Col.  1 :  20  — "  through 
him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself,  having  made  peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross ;  through  him,  I  say,  whether 
things  upon  the  earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens." 

See  Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick,  in  Bap.  Quarterly,  Jan.,  1870.  Dr.  Kendrick  thinks  we  need 
local  associations.  Earth  may  be  our  home,  yet  from  this  home  we  may  set  out  on 
excursions  through  the  universe,  after  a  time  returning  again  to  our  earthly  abodes. 
So  Chalmers,  interpreting  literally  2  Pet.  3.  We  certainly  are  in  a  prison  here,  and  look 
out  through  the  bars  as  the  Prisoner  of  Chillon  looked  over  the  lake  to  the  green  isle 


FISTAL   STATES   OF   THE    KIGHTEOUS    AND    OF   THE   WICKED.     587 

and  the  singing  birds.  Why  are  we  shut  out  from  intercourse  with  other  worlds  and 
other  orders  of  intelligence  ?  Apparently  it  is  the  effect  of  sin.  We  are  in  an  abnormal 
state  of  durance  and  probation.  Earth  is  out  of  harmony  with  God.  The  great  harp  of 
the  universe  has  one  of  its  strings  out  of  tune,  and  that  one  discordant  string  makes  a 
jar  through  the  whole.  All  things  in  heaven  and  earth  shall  be  reconciled  when  this 
one  jarring  string  is  keyed  aright  and  set  in  tune  by  the  hand  of  love  and  mercy.  See 
Leitch,  God's  Glory  in  the  Heavens,  327-330. 

2.     Of  the  wicked. 

The  final  state  of  the  wicked  is  described  under  the  figures  of  eternal  fire 
( Mat.  25  :  41 ) ;  the  pit  of  the  abyss  ( Rev.  9:2,  11 );  outer  darkness  ( Mat. 

8  :  12)  ;    torment  (Eev.  14  :  10-12)  ;    eternal  punishment  (Mat.  25  :  46)  ; 
wrath  of  God  ( Rom.  2:5);   second  death  ( Rev.  21:8);   eternal  destruc- 
tion from  the  face  of  the  Lord  ( 2  Thess.  1:9);   eternal  sin  ( Mark  3  :  29  ). 

Mat.  25  :  41  — "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  the  eternal  fire  which  is  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels " ;  Rev. 

9  :  2, 11  — "  And  he  opened  the  pit  of  the  abyss ;  and  there  went  up  a  smoke  out  of  the  pit,  as  the  smoke  of  a  great 
furnace  ....  They  have  over  them  as  king  the  angel  of  the  abyss :  his  name  in  Hebrew  is  Abaddon,  and  in  the  Greek 
tongue  he  hath  the  name  Apollyon  "  ;  Mat.  8  : 12  — "  but  the  sons  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  cast  forth  into  the  outer  dark- 
ness: there  shall  be  the  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth" ;   Rev.  14  : 10-12— "he  also  shall  drink  of  the  wine  of  the 
wrath  of  God,  which  is  prepared  unmiied  in  the  cup  of  his  anger ;  and  he  shall  be  tormented  with  fire  and  brimstone  in 
the  presence  of  the  holy  angels,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb :  and  the  smoke  of  their  torment  goeth  up  for  ever  and 
ever  "  ;   Mat.  25  :  46  — "  And  these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment." 

Rom.  2:5—"  after  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart  treasurest  up  for  thyself  wrath  in  the  day  of  wrath  and  reve- 
lation of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  "  ;  Rev.  21 :  8— "But  for  the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and  abominable,  and 
murderers,  and  fornicators,  and  sorcerers,  and  idolaters,  and  all  liars,  their  part  shall  be  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with 
fire  and  brimstone ;  which  is  the  second  death  "  ;  2  Thess.  1:9—"  who  shall  suffer  punishment,  even  eternal  destruction 
from  the  face  of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  his  might"— here  ano,  f rom,  =  not  separation,  but 
"proceeding  from,"  and  indicates  that  the  everlasting  presence  of  Christ,  once  realized, 
ensures  everlasting  destruction ;  Mark  3  :  29  — "  whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Spirit  hath 
never  forgiveness,  but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal  sin"— a  text  which  implies  that  (1)  some  will  never 
cease  to  sin;  (2)  this  eternal  sinning  will  involve  eternal  misery;  (3)  this  eternal 
misery,  as  the  appointed  vindication  of  law,  will  be  eternal  punishment.  As  Uzziah, 
when  smitten  with  leprosy,  did  not  need  to  be  thrust  out  of  the  temple,  but  "  himself  hasted 

to  go  out"  (2  Chron.  26  :  20),  so  Judas  is  said  to  go  "to  his  own  place"  (Acts  1 :  25;    c/.  4  : 23  — 

where  Peter  and  John,  "  being  let  go,  they  came  to  their  own  company  "  ). 

Summing  up  all,  we  may  say  that  it  is  the  loss  of  all  good,  whether 
physical  or  spiritual,  and  the  misery  of  an  evil  conscience  banished  from 
God  and  from  the  society  of  the  holy  and  dwelling  under  God's  positive 
curse  forever.  Here  we  are  to  remember,  as  in  the  case  of  the  final  state  of 
the  righteous,  that  the  decisive  and  controlling  element  is  not  the  outward, 
but  the  inward.  If  hell  be  a  place,  it  is  only  that  the  outward  may  cor- 
respond to  the  inward.  If  there  be  outward  torments,  it  is  only  because 
these  will  be  fit,  though  subordinate,  accompaniments  of  the  inward  state  of 
the  soul. 

Every  living  creature  will  have  an  environment  suited  to  its  character — "its  own 
place."  "  I  know  of  the  future  judgment,  How  dreadful  so  e'er  it  be,  That  to  sit  alone 
with  my  conscience  Will  be  judgment  enough  for  me."  Calvin :  "  The  wicked  have  the 
seeds  of  hell  in  their  own  hearts."  Chrysostom,  commenting  on  the  words  "  Depart,  ye 
cursed,"  says :  "  Their  own  works  brought  the  punishment  on  them;  the  fire  was  not 
prepared  for  them,  but  for  Satan ;  yet,  since  they  cast  themselves  into  it,  'Impute  it  to 
yourselves,'  he  says, '  that  you  are  there.'  "  Byron  :  "  There  is  no  power  in  holy  men, 
Nor  charm  in  prayer,  nor  purifying  form  Of  penitence,  nor  outward  look,  nor  fast,  Nor 
agony,  nor,  greater  than  all  these,  The  innate  torture  of  that  deep  despair  Would  make 
a  hell  of  heaven,  can  exorcise  From  out  the  unbounded  spirit  the  quick  sense  Of  its 
own  sins." 

Phelps,  English  Style,  228,  speaks  of  "  a  law  of  the  divine  government,  by  which  the 


588          ESCHATOLOGY,   OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

body  symbolizes,  in  its  experience,  the  moral  condition  of  its  spiritual  inhabitant.  The 
drift  of  sin  is  to  physical  suffering1.  Moral  depravity  tends  always  to  a  corrupt  and  tor- 
tured body.  Certain  diseases  are  the  product  of  certain  crimes.  The  whole  catalogue 
of  human  pains,  from  a  toothache  to  the  angina  pectoris,  is  but  a  witness  to  a  state  of 
sin  expressed  by  an  experience  of  suffering-.  Carry  this  law  into  the  experience  of 
eternal  sin.  The  bodies  of  the  wicked  live  again,  as  well  as  those  of  the  righteous.  You 
have  therefore  a  spiritual  body,  inhabited  and  used,  and  therefore  tortured,  by  a  guilty 
soul  — a  body,  perfected  in  its  sensibilities,  inclosing  and  expressing  a  soul  matured  in 
its  depravity." 

The  figurative  language  of  Scripture  is  a  miniature  representation  of  what  cannot  be 
fully  described  in  words.  The  symbol  is  a  symbol ;  yet  it  is  less,  not  greater,  than  the 
thing  symbolized.  It  is  sometimes  fancied  that  Jonathan  Edwards,  when,  in  his  sermon 
on  "  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry  God,"  he  represented  the  sinner  as  a  worm 
shrivelling  in  the  eternal  fire,  supposed  that  hell  consisted  mainly  of  such  physical  tor- 
ments. But  this  is  a  misinterpretation  of  Edwards.  As  he  did  not  fancy  heaven  essen- 
tially to  consist  in  streets  of  gold  or  pearly  gates,  but  rather  in  holiness  and  communion 
with  Christ,  of  which  these  are  the  symbols,  so  he  did  not  regard  hell  as  consisting  in  fire 
and  brimstone,  but  rather  in  the  unholiness  and  separation  from  God  of  a  guilty  and 
accusing  conscience,  of  which  the  fire  and  brimstone  were  symbols.  He  used  the  ma- 
terial imagery,  because  he  thought  that  this  best  answered  to  the  methods  of  Scripture. 
He  probably  went  beyond  the  simplicity  of  the  Scripture  statements,  and  did  not  suf- 
ficiently explain  the  spiritual  meaning  of  the  symbols  he  used ;  but  we  are  persuaded 
that  he  neither  understood  them  literally  himself,  nor  meant  them  to  be  so  understood 
by  others. 

In  order,  however,  to  meet  opposing  views,  and  to  forestall  the  common 
objections,  we  proceed  to  state  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment  in  greater 
detail : 

A.  The  future  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  not  annihilation. — In  our 
discussion  of  Physical  Death,  we  have  shown  that,  by  virtue  of  its  original 
creation  in  the  image  of  God,  the  human  soul  is  naturally  immortal ;  that 
neither  for  the  righteous  nor  the  wicked  is  death  a  cessation  of  being ;  that, 
on  the  contrary,  the  wicked  enter  at  death  upon  a  state  of  conscious  suffer- 
ing which  the  resurrection  and  the  judgment  only  augment  and  render 
permanent.  It  is  plain,  moreover,  that  if  annihilation  took  place  at  death, 
there  could  be  no  degrees  in  future  punishment, —  a  conclusion  itself  at 
variance  with  express  statements  of  Scripture. 

The  old  annihilationism  is  represented  by  Hudson,  Debt  and  Grace,  and  Christ  our 
Life;  also  by  Dobney,  Future  Punishment.  It  maintains  that  *6Aao-ts,  "punishment"  (in 
Mat.  25  :  46 — "eternal  punishment"),  means  etymologically  an  everlasting  " cutting-off ."  But 
we  reply  that  the  word  had  to  a  great  degree  lost  its  etymological  significance,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  only  other  passage  where  it  occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  namely,  1  John 
4  : 18 — "fear  hath  punishment"  (A.  V. :  "fear  hath  torment").  For  full  answer  to  the  old 
statements  of  the  annihilation-theory,  see  under  Physical  Death,  pages  558-562. 

That  there  are  degrees  of  punishment  in  God's  administration  is  evident  from  Luke  12  : 
47,  48— "And  that  servant,  which  knew  his  Lord's  will,  and  made  not  ready,  nor  did  according  to  his  will,  shall  be 
beaten  with  many  stripes;  but  he  that  knew  not,  and  did  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes"  ; 
Rom.  2  :  5,  6 — "after  thy  hardness  and  impenitent  heart  treasurest  up  for  thyself  wrath  in  the  day  of  wrath  and  reve- 
lation of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God ;  who  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works " ;  2  Cor.  5  : 10  — "  For 
we  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ ;  that  each  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body, 
according  to  what  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  " ;  11 : 15  — "  whose  end  shall  be  according  to  their  works "  ; 
2  Tim.  4  : 14 — "Alexander  the  coppersmith  did  me  much  evil;  the  Lord  will  render  to  him  according  to  his  works"; 
Rev.  2  :  23— "I  will  give  unto  each  one  of  you  according  to  your  works"  ;  18  :  5,  6— "her  sins  have  reached  even 
unto  heaven,  and  God  hath  remembered  her  iniquities.  Render  unto  her  even  as  she  rendered,  and  double  unto  her  the 
double  according  to  her  works :  in  the  cup  which  she  mingled,  mingle  unto  her  double." 

There  are  two  forms  of  the  annihilation  theory  which  are  more  plausible, 
and  which  in  recent  times  find  a  larger  number  of  advocates,  namely  : 


FINAL   STATES    OF   THE    EIGHTEOUS    AND    OF   THE    WICKED.     589 

(a)  That  the  powers  of  the  wicked  are  gradually  weakened,  as  the  natu- 
ral result  of  sin,  so  that  they  finally  cease  to  be.  We  reply,  first,  that 
moral  evil  does  not,  in  this  present  life,  seem  to  be  incompatible  with  a 
constant  growth  of  the  intellectual  powers,  at  least  in  certain  directions,  and 
we  have  no  reason  to  believe  the  fact  to  be  different  in  the  world  to  come  ; 
secondly,  that,  if  this  theory  were  true,  the  greater  the  sin,  the  speedier 
would  be  the  relief  from  punishment. 

This  form  of  the  annihilation-theory  is  suggested  by  Bushnell,  in  his  Forgiveness  and 
Law,  146, 147.  Dorner  also,  in  his  Eschatology,  seems  to  favor  it  as  one  of  the  possible 
methods  of  future  punishment.  He  says:  "To  the  ethical  also  pertains  ontological 
significance.  The  '  second  death '  may  be  the  dissolving  of  the  soul  itself  into  nothing. 
Estrangement  from  God,  the  source  of  life,  ends  in  extinction  of  life.  The  orthodox 
talk  about  demented  beings,  raging  in  impotent  fury,  amounts  to  the  same  — annihila- 
tion of  their  human  character.  Evil  is  never  the  substance  of  the  soul  — this  remains 
metaphysically  good."  It  is  argued  that  even  for  saved  sinners  there  is  a  loss.  The 
prodigal  regained  his  father's  favor,  but  he  could  not  regain  his  lost  patrimony.  We 
cannot  get  back  the  lost  time,  nor  the  lost  growth.  Much  more,  then,  in  the  case  of  the 
wicked  will  there  be  perpetual  loss.  Draper :  "  At  every  return  to  the  sun,  comets  lose 
a  portion  of  their  size  and  brightness,  stretching  out  until  the  nucleus  loses  control,  the 
mass  breaks  up,  and  the  greater  portion  navigates  the  sky,  in  the  shape  of  disconnected 
meteorites." 

But  a  sufficient  answer  to  this  view  is  that  certain  minds  grow  in  their  powers,  at  least 
in  certain  directions,  in  spite  of  the  fact  of  sin.  Napoleon's  military  genius  grew  with 
experience;  and  Satan's  cunning  and  daring  seem  to  be  on  the  increase  from  the  first 
mention  of  him  in  Scripture  to  its  end.  See  Princeton  Review,  1872  :  673-694.  This  view, 
moreover,  would  seem  to  be  not' simply  defective  in  its  award  of  retribution,  but  to  be 
glaringly  unjust,  in  making  the  greatest  sinner  the  least  sufferer ;  since  to  him  relief,  in 
the  way  of  annihilation,  comes  the  soonest. 

(6)  That  there  is  for  the  wicked,  certainly  after  death,  and  possibly  be- 
tween death  and  the  judgment,  a  positive  punishment  proportioned  to  their 
deeds,  but  that  this  punishment  issues  in,  or  is  followed  by,  annihilation. 
We  reply,  first,  that  upon  this  view,  as  upon  any  theory  of  annihilation, 
future  punishment  is  a  matter  of  grace  as  well  as  of  justice  —  a  notion  for 
which  Scripture  affords  no  warrant ;  secondly,  that  Scripture  not  only  gives 
no  hint  of  the  cessation  of  this  punishment,  but  declares  in  the  strongest 
terms  its  endlessness. 

The  second  form  of  the  annihilation-theory  seems  to  have  been  held  by  Justin  Martyr 
(Trypho,  Edinb.  transl.,  93-95)—"  Some,  who  have  appeared  worthy  of  God,  never  die  ; 
but  others  are  punished  so  long  as  God  wills  them  to  exist  and  be  punished."  The  soul 
exists  because  God  wills,  and  no  longer  than  he  wills.  "  Whenever  it  is  necessary  that 
the  soul  should  cease  to  exist,  the  spirit  of  life  is  removed  from  it,  and  there  is  no  more 
soul,  but  it  goes  back  to  the  place  from  which  it  was  taken." 

A  modern  advocate  of  this  view  is  White,  in  his  Life  in  Christ.  He  favors  a  conditional 
immortality,  belonging  only  to  those  who  are  joined  to  Christ  by  faith ;  but  he  makes  a 
retributive  punishment  and  pain  fall  upon  the  godless,  before  their  annihilation.  The 
roots  of  this  view  lie  in  a  false  conception  of  holiness  as  a  form  or  manifestation  of 
benevolence,  and  of  punishment  as  deterrent  and  preventive  instead  of  vindicative  of 
righteousness.  To  the  minds  of  its  advocates,  extinction  of  being  is  a  comparative  bless- 
ing ;  and  they,  for  this  reason,  prefer  it  to  the  common  view.  See  Whiton,  Is  Eternal 
Punishment  Endless  ? 

More  rational  and  Scriptural  is  the  saying  of  Tower :  "  Sin  is  God's  foe.  He  does  not 
annihilate  it,  but  he  makes  it  the  means  of  displaying  his  holiness ;  as  the  Romans  did  not 
slay  their  captured  enemies,  but  made  them  their  servants."  The  terms  aiuv  and  aiwvio?, 
which  we  have  still  to  consider,  afford  additional  Scripture  testimony  against  annihila- 
tion. See  also  the  argument  from  the  divine  justice,  below;  article  on  the  Doctrine 
of  Extinction,  in  N.  Englander,  March,  1879  :  201-234;  Hovey,  Manual  of  Theology  and 
Ethics,  153-168. 


590         ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

B.  Punishment  after  death  excludes  new  probation  and  ultimate  restora- 
tion of  the  wicked. —  Some  have  maintained  the  ultimate  restoration  of  all 
human  beings,  by  appeal  to  such  passages  as  the  following  : 

Mat.  19  :  28  — "  in  the  regeneration  when  the  Son  of  man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory  " ;  Acts  3  :  21 Jesus : 

"whom  the  heaven  must  receive  until  the  times  of  restoration  of  all  things"  ;  1  Cor.  15  :  26 — "The  last  enemy  that 
shall  be  abolished  is  death  " ;  Eph.  1 :  9, 10  — "  according  to  his  good  pleasure  which  he  purposed  in  him  unto  a  dispen- 
sation of  the  fulness  of  the  times,  to  sum  up  all  things  in  Christ,  the  things  in  the  heavens  and  the  things  upon  the 
earth  "  ;  Phil.  2  : 10  : 11  —  "that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth 
and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the 

Father"  ;  2  Pet.  3  :  9, 13— "not  wishing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  repentance But, 

according  to  his  promise,  we  look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 

For  advocacy  of  a  second  probation  for  those  who  have  not  consciously  rejected  Christ 
in  this  life,  see  Newman  Smyth's  edition  of  Dorner's  Eschatology.  For  the  theory  of 
restoration,  see  Farrar,  Eternal  Hope ;  Birks,  Victory  of  Divine  Goodness ;  Jukes,  Res- 
titution of  All  Things ;  Delitzsch,  Bib.  Psychologic,  469-476. 

(a)  These  passages,  as  obscure,  are  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  those 
plainer  ones  which  we  have  already  cited.  Thus  interpreted,  they  foretell 
only  the  absolute  triumph  of  the  divine  kingdom,  and  the  subjection  of  all 
evil  to  God. 

The  true  interpretation  of  the  passages  above  mentioned  is  indicated  in  Meyer's  note 
on  Eph.  1 :  9, 10  — this  namely,  that  "the  allusion  is  not  to  the  restoration  of  fallen  indi- 
viduals, but  to  the  restoration  of  universal  harmony,  implying  that  the  wicked  are  to  be 
excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God."  That  there  is  no  allusion  to  a  probation  after  this 
life,  is  clear  from  Luke  16  : 19-31 —the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus.  Here  penalty 
is  inflicted  for  the  sins  done  "in  thy  lifetime"  ( v.  25) ;  this  penalty  is  unchangeable  — " there  is 
a  great  gulf  fixed"  (v.  26) ;  the  rich  man  asks  favors  for  his  brethren  who  still  live  on  the 
earth,  but  none  for  himself  (v.  27,  28).  John  5  :  25-29— "The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  they  that  hear  shall  live.  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  even  so 
gave  he  to  the  Son  also  to  have  life  in  himself :  and  he  gave  him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of 
man.  Marvel  not  at  this :  for  the  hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs  shall  hear  his  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrection  of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  ill,  unto  the  resurrection  of 
judgment "  —  here  it  is  declared  that,  while  for  those  who  have  done  good  there  is  a  resur- 
rection of  life,  there  is  for  those  who  have  done  ill  only  a  resurrection  of  judgment. 

John  8  :  21,  24  — "  shall  die  in  your  sin :  whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come except  ye  believe  that  I  am  he,  ye  shall 

die  in  your  sins"— sayings  which  indicate  finality  in  the  decisions  of  this  life. 

Rom.  1 : 18-28  — there  is  probation  under  the  light  of  nature  as  well  as  under  the  gospel, 
and  under  the  law  of  nature  as  well  as  under  the  gospel  men  may  be  given  up  "  unto  a 
reprobate  mind";  2  :  6-16  —  Gentiles  shall  be  judged,  not  by  the  gospel,  but  by  the  law  of 
nature,  and  shall  "perish  without  law  ....  in  the  day  when  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men."  2  Cor. 
5  :  10 — "For  we  must  all  be  made  manifest  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ;  [not  that  each  may  have  a 
new  opportunity  to  secure  salvation,  but]  that  each  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body, 
according  to  what  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or  bad  "  ;  Heb.  6  :  8  — "  whose  end  is  to  be  burned  " —  not  to  be 
quickened  again ;  9  :  27  — "  And  inasmuch  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this  cometh  [  not 
a  second  probation,  but]  judgment." 

For  an  able  review  of  the  Scripture  testimony  against  a  second  probation,  see  G.  F. 
Wright,  Relation  of  Death  to  Probation,  iv.  Emerson,  the  most  recent  advocate  of 
restorationism,  in  his  Doctrine  of  Probation  Examined,  42,  is  able  to  evade  these  latter 
passages  only  by  assuming  that  they  are  to  be  spiritually  interpreted,  and  that  there  is 
to  be  no  literal  outward  day  of  judgment  —  an  error  which  we  have  previously  discussed 
and  refuted  —  see  pages  581,  582. 

(6)  The  advocates  of  universal  restoration  are  commonly  the  most  stren- 
uous defenders  of  the  inalienable  freedom  of  the  human  will  to  make 
choices  contrary  to  its  past  character  and  to  all  the  motives  which  are  or 
can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  find  in  this  world 
that  men  choose  sin  in  spite  of  infinite  motives  to  the  contrary.  Upon  the 
theory  of  human  freedom  just  metioned,  no  motives  which  God  can  use 


FINAL   STATES   OF   THE   RIGHTEOUS   AND   OF   THE   WICKED.     591 

will  certainly  accomplish  the  salvation  of  all  moral  creatures.     The  soul 
which  resists  Christ  here  may  resist  him  forever. 

Emerson,  in  the  book  just  referred  to,  says:  "The  truth  that  sin  is  in  its  permanent 
essence  a  free  choice,  however  for  a  time  it  may  be  held  in  mechanical  combination 
with  the  notion  of  moral  opportunity  arbitrarily  closed,  can  never  mingle  with  it,  and 
must  in  the  logical  outcome  permanently  cast  it  off.  Scripture  presumes  and  teaches 
the  constant  capability  of  souls  to  obey  as  well  as  to  be  disobedient."  Emerson  is  cor- 
rect. If  the  doctrine  of  the  unlimited  ability  of  the  human  will  be  a  true  one,  then 
restoration  in  the  future  world  is  possible.  Clement  and  Origen  founded  on  this  theory 
of  will  their  denial  of  future  punishment.  If  will  be  essentially  the  power  of  contrary 
choice,  and  if  will  may  act  independently  of  all  character  and  motive,  there  can  be  no 
objective  certainty  that  the  lost  will  remain  sinful.  In  short,  there  can  be  no  finality, 
even  to  God's  allotments,  nor  is  any  last  judgment  possible.  Upon  this  view,  regenera- 
tion and  conversion  are  as  possible  at  any  time  in  the  future  as  they  are  to-day. 

But  those  who  hold  to  this  defective  philosophy  of  the  will  should  remember  that  un- 
limited freedom  is  unlimited  freedom  to  sin,  as  well  as  unlimited  freedom  to  turn  to 
God.  If  restoration  is  possible,  endless  persistence  in  evil  is  possible  also ;  and  this  last 
the  Scripture  predicts.  Whittier :  "  The  sweet  persuasion  of  His  voice  Respects  the 
the  sanctity  of  will ;  He  giveth  day :  thou  hast  thy  choice  To  walk  in  darkness  still. 
What  if  thine  eye  refuse  to  see,  Thine  ear  of  heaven's  free  welcome  fail ;  And  thou  a 
willing  captive  be,  Thyself  thine  own  dark  jail?  "  Swedenborg  says  that  the  man  who 
obstinately  refuses  the  inheritance  of  the  sons  of  God  is  allowed  the  pleasures  of  the 
beast,  and  enjoys  in  his  own  low  way  the  hell  to  which  he  has  confined  himself.  Every 
occupant  of  hell  prefers  it  to  heaven.  The  lost  are  Heautontimoroumenoi,  or  self -tor- 
mentors, to  adopt  the  title  of  Terence's  play.  See  Whedon,  in  Meth.  Quar.  Rev.,  Jan., 
1884 ;  Robbins,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  1881 :  460-507. 

(c)  Upon  the  more  correct  view  of  the  will  which  we  have  advocated,  the 
€ase  is  more  hopeless  still.  Upon  this  view,  the  sinful  soul,  in  its  very 
sinning,  gives  to  itself  a  sinful  bent  of  intellect,  affection,  and  will ;  in 
other  words,  makes  for  itself  a  character,  which,  though  it  does  not  render 
necessary,  yet  does  render  certain,  apart  from  divine  grace,  the  continuance 
of  sinful  action.  In  itself  it  finds  a  self -formed  motive  to  evil  strong  enough 
to  prevail  over  all  inducements  to  holiness  which  God  sees  it  wise  to  bring 
to  bear.  It  is  in  the  next  world,  indeed,  subjected  to  suffering.  But  suf- 
fering has  in  itself  no  reforming  power.  Unless  accompanied  by  special 
renewing  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  only  hardens  and  embitters  the 
soul.  We  have  no  Scripture  evidence  that  such  influences  of  the  Spirit  are 
exerted,  after  death,  upon  the  still  impenitent ;  but  abundant  evidence,  on 
the  contrary,  that  the  moral  condition  in  which  death  finds  men  is  their 
condition  forever. 

See  Bushnell's  "One  Trial  Better  than  Many,"  in  Sermons  on  Living  Subjects;  also 
see  his  Forgiveness  and  Law,  146, 147.  Bushnell  argues  that  God  would  give  us  fifty 
trials,  if  that  would  do  us  good.  But  there  is  no  possibility  of  such  result.  The  first 
decision  adverse  to  God  renders  it  more  difficult  to  make  a  right  decision  upon  the  next 
opportunity.  Character  tends  to  fixity,  and  each  new  opportunity  may  only  harden  the 
heart  and  increase  its  guilt  and  condemnation.  We  should  have  no  better  chance  of 
salvation  if  our  lives  were  lengthened  to  the  term  of  the  sinners  before  the  flood.  Mere 
suffering  does  not  convert  the  soul.  A  life  of  pain  did  not  make  Blanco  White  a  be- 
liever ;  see  Mozley's  account  of  him,  in  Hist,  and  Theol.  Essays,  vol.  2,  essay  1. 

Edward  A.  Lawrence,  Does  Everlasting  Punishment  Last  Forever?— "If  the  deeds  of 
the  law  do  not  justify  here,  how  can  the  penalties  of  the  law  hereafter?  The  pain  from 
a  broken  limb  does  nothing  to  mend  the  break,  and  the  suffering  from  disease  does 
nothing  to  cure  it.  Penalty  pays  no  debts  —  it  only  shows  the  outstanding  and  unsettled 
accounts."  If  the  will  does  not  act  without  motive,  then  it  is  certain  that  without 
motives  men  will  never  repent.  To  an  impenitent  and  rebellious  sinner  the  motive 
must  come,  not  from  within,  but  from  without.  Such  motives  God  presents  by  his 
Spirit  in  this  life ;  but  when  this  life  ends  and  God's  spirit  is  withdrawn,  no  motives  to 


592          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

repentance  will  be  presented.  The  soul's  dislike  for  God  will  issue  only  in  complaint 
and  resistance.  " Try  what  repentance  can  ?  what  can  it  not?  Yet  what  can  it,  when 
one  cannot  repent?  " 

(d)  The  declaration  as  to  Judas,  in  Mat.  26  :  24,  could  not  be  true  upon 
the  hypothesis  of  a  final  restoration.  If  at  any  time,  even  after  the  lapse  of 
ages,  Judas  be  redeemed,  his  subsequent  infinite  duration  of  blessedness 
must  outweigh  all  the  finite  suffering  through  which  he  has  passed.  The 
Scripture  statement  that  "good  were  it  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been 
born  "  must  be  regarded  as  a  refutation  of  the  theory  of  universal  restora- 
tion. 

Mat.  26  :  24  — "  The  Son  of  man  goeth,  even  as  it  is  written  of  him :  but  woe  unto  that  man  through  whom  the  Son  of 
man  is  betrayed  !  good  were  it  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born."  G.  F.  Wright,  Relation  of  Death 
to  Probation :  "  As  Christ  of  old  healed  only  those  who  came  or  were  brought  to  him, 
so  now  he  waits  for  the  cooperation  of  human  agency.  God  has  limited  himself  to  an 
orderly  method  in  human  salvation.  The  consuming  missionary  zeal  of  the  apostles 
and  the  early  church  shows  that  they  believed  the  decisions  of  this  life  to  be  final  decis- 
ions. The  early  church  not  only  thought  the  heathen  world  would  perish  without  the 
gospel,  but  they  found  a  conscience  in  the  heathen  answering  to  this  belief.  The  solici- 
tude drawn  out  by  this  responsibility  for  our  fellows  may  be  one  means  of  securing  the 
moral  stability  of  the  future.  What  is  bound  on  earth  is  bound  in  heaven ;  else  why  not 
pray  for  the  wicked  dead?  "  It  is  certainly  a  remarkable  fact,  if  this  theory  be  true, 
that  we  have  in  Scripture  not  a  single  instance  of  prayer  for  the  dead. 

The  theory  of  a  second  probation,  as  recently  advocated,  is  not  only  a  logical  result  of 
the  defective  view  of  the  will  already  mentioned,  but  it  is  also  in  part  a  consequence  of 
denying  the  old  orthodox  and  Pauline  doctrine  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  race  in 
Adam's  first  transgression.  New  School  Theology  has  been  inclined  to  deride  the  notion 
of  a  fair  probation  of  humanity  in  our  first  father,  and  of  a  common  sin  and  guilt  of 
mankind  in  him.  It  cannot  find  what  it  regards  as  a  fair  probation  for  each  individual 
since  that  first  sin ;  and  the  conclusion  is  easy  that  there  must  be  such  a  fair  probation  for 
each  individual  in  the  world  to  come.  But  we  may  advise  those  who  take  this  view  to 
return  to  the  old  theology.  Grant  a  fair  probation  for  the  whole  race  already  passed, 
and  the  condition  of  mankind  is  no  longer  that  of  mere  unfortunates  unjustly  circum- 
stanced, but  rather  that  of  beings  guilty  and  condemned,  to  whom  present  opportunity, 
and  even  present  existence,  is  matter  of  pure  grace, —  much  more  the  general  provision 
of  a  salvation,  and  the  offer  of  it  to  any  human  soul.  This  world  is  already  a  place  of 
second  probation ;  and  since  this  second  probation  is  due  wholly  to  God's  mercy,  no  pro- 
bation after  death  is  needed  to  vindicate  either  the  justice  or  the  goodness  of  God. 
See  Kellogg,  in  Presb.  Rev.,  April,  1885  :  326-256 ;  Cremer,  Beyond  the  Grave,  preface  by 
A.  A.  Hodge,  xxxvi  sq. 

C.  Scripture  declares  this  future  punishment  of  the  wicked  to  be  ever- 
lasting. It  does  this  by  its  use  of  the  terms  alto,  altoiof. —  Some,  however, 
maintain  that  these  terms  do  not  necessarily  imply  eternal  duration.  We 
reply : 

(a)  It  must  be  conceded  that  these  words  do  not  etymologically  neces- 
sitate the  idea  of  eternity  ;  and  that,  as  expressing  the  idea  of  "age-long," 
they  are  sometimes  used  in  a  limited  or  rhetorical  sense. 

2  Tim.  1  :  9 — "his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  times  eternal" — but  the 
past  duration  of  the  world  is  limited ;  Heb.  9  :  26  -"now  once  at  the  end  of  the  ages  hath  he  been  mani- 
fested"—here  the  aitoi/es  have  an  end. 

(6)  They  do,  however,  express  the  longest  possible  duration  of  which 
the  subject  to  which  they  are  attributed  is  capable ;  so  that,  if  the  soul  is 
immortal,  its  punishment  must  be  without  end. 

Gen.  49  :  26— "the  everlasting  hills" ;    17  :  8,  13— "I  will  give  unto  thee all  the  land  of  Canaan,  for  an 

everlasting  possession my  covenant  [  of  circumcision  ]  shall  be  in  your  flesh  for  an  everlasting  covenant "  ; 


FINAL   STATES    OF   THE    KIGHTEOUS    AND    OF   THE    WICKED.    593 

Ei.  21  :  6  — "  he  [  the  slave  ]  shall  serve  him  [  his  master  ]  for  ever  " ;  2  Chron.  6  :  2  — "  But  I  have  built  thee 
an  house  of  habitation,  and  a  place  for  thee  to  dwell  in  for  ever  " —  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem ;  Jude  6,  7 — 
"angels ....  he  hath  kept  in  everlasting  bonds  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day.  Even  as  Sodom 

and  Gomorrah are  set  forth  as  an  example,  suffering  the  punishment  of  eternal  fire  "—here  in  Jude  6  bonds 

which  endure  only  to  the  judgment  day  are  called  euSt'oi?  (the  same  word  which  is  used 
in  Rom.  1:20— "Ms  everlasting  power  and  divinity "),  and  fire  which  lasts  only  till  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  are  consumed  is  called  aiwi/iov. 

In  all  the  passages  cited  above,  the  condition  denoted  by  aiwvio?  lasts  as  long-  as  the 
object  endures  of  which  it  is  predicated.  But  we  have  seen  that  physical  death  is  not 
the  end  of  man's  existence,  but  that  the  soul,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  is  immortal. 
A  punishment,  therefore,  that  lasts  as  long  as  the  soul,  must  be  an  everlasting  punish- 
ment. Another  interpretation  of  the  passages  in  Jude  is,  however,  entirely  possible. 
It  is  maintained  by  many  that  the  "everlasting  bonds"  of  the  fallen  angels  do  not  cease 
at  the  judgment,  and  that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  suffer  "the  punishment  of  eternal  fire"  in  the 
sense  that  their  sentence  at  the  judgment  will  be  a  continuation  of  that  begun  in  the 
time  of  Lot  (see  Mat.  10  : 15— "It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of 
judgment,  than  for  that  city  " ). 

(c)  If,  when  used  to  describe  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked,  they 
do  not  declare  the  endlessness  of  that  punishment,  there  are  no  words  in 
the  Greek  language  which  could  express  that  meaning. 

G.  F.  Wright,  Relation  of  Death  to  Probation :  "  The  Bible  writers  speak  of  eternity  in 
terms  of  time,  and  make  the  impression  more  vivid  by  reduplicating  the  longest  time- 
words  they  had  \_e.  0.,  eis  TOW?  auovas  TWV  aiwt/wv  = ' unto  the  ages  of  the  ages'].  Plato 
contrasts  XP°"°S  and  aitav,  as  we  do  time  and  eternity,  and  Aristotle  says  that  eternity 
[euwv]  belongs  to  God The  Scriptures  have  taught  the  doctrine  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment as  clearly  as  their  general  style  allows." 

(d)  In  the  great  majority  of  Scripture  passages  where  they  occur,  they 
have  unmistakably  the  signification  "everlasting."     They  are  used  to  ex- 
press the  eternal  duration  of  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  ( Eom. 
16  :  26 ;   1  Tim.  1:17;   Heb.  9  :  14 ;   Eev.  1  :  18 ) ;  the  abiding  presence  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  with  all  true  believers  (John  14  :  17)  ;   and  the  endless- 
ness of  the  future  happiness  of  the  saints  ( Mat.  19  :  29  ;   John  6  :  54,  58  ; 
2  Cor.  9:9). 

Rom.  16  :  26 — "the  commandment  of  the  eternal  God"  ;  1  Tim.  1 : 17 — "Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  incorruptible 
invisible,  the  only  God,  be  honor  and  glory  for  ever  and  ever"  ;  Heb.  9  : 14— "the  eternal  Spirit"  ;  Rev.  1 : 18— "I 
am  the  first  and  the  last,  and  the  Living  one ;  and  I  was  dead,  and  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore  "  ;  John  14  : 16, 17  — 
"  And  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  he  may  be  with  you  for  ever,  even  the  Spirit 

of  truth" ;  Mat.  19  :  29 — "every  one  that  hath  left  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters for  my  name's  sake,  shall 

receive  a  hundredfold,  and  shall  inherit  eternal  life"  ;  John  6  :  54,  58— "He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my 

blood  hath  eternal  life he  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever  "  ;  2  Cor.  9  :  9— "His  righteousness  abideth 

for  ever" ;  c/.  Dan.  7  : 18— "But  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  shall  receive  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom  for 
ever,  even  for  ever  and  ever." 

Everlasting  punishment  is  sometimes  said  to  be  the  punishment  which  takes  place  in, 
and  belongs  to,  an  aioiv,  with  no  reference  to  duration.  But  President  Woolsey  declares, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  "  aiwvio?  cannot  denote  '  pertaining  to  an  aiuiv,  or  world-period.'  " 
The  punishment  of  the  wicked  cannot  cease,  any  more  than  Christ  can  cease  to  live,  or 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  abide  with  believers ;  for  all  these  are  described  in  the  same  terms. 
"  aicovio?  is  used  in  the  N.  T.  66  times,— 51  times  of  the  happiness  of  the  righteous,  2  times 
of  the  duration  of  God  and  his  glory,  6  times  where  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  its  meaning 
'eternal,'  7  times  of  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  ;  aitav  is  used  95  times,— 55  times  of 
unlimited  duration,  31  times  of  duration  that  has  limits,  9  times  to  denote  the  duration 
of  future  punishment." 

(e)  The  fact  that  the  same  word  is  used  in  Mat.  25  :  46  to  describe  both 
the  sufferings  of  the  wicked  and  the  happiness  of  the  righteous  shows  that 
the  misery  of  the  lost  is  eternal,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  life  of  God  or  the 
blessedness  of  the  saved. 


594    ESCHATOLOGY,  OE  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FINAL  THINGS. 

Mat.  25  :  46— "And  these  shall  go  away  into  eternal  punishment:  but  the  righteous  into  eternal  life."  On  this 
passage  see  Meyer:  "The  absolute  idea  of  eternity,  in  respect  to  the  punishments  of 
hell,  is  not  to  be  set  aside,  either  by  an  appeal  to  the  popular  use  of  aio^io?,  or  by  an 
appeal  to  the  figurative  term  '  fire ' ;  to  the  incompatibility  of  the  idea  of  the  eternal 
with  that  of  moral  evil  and  its  punishment,  or  to  the  warning  design  of  the  repre- 
sentation ;  but  it  stands  fast  exegetically,  by  means  of  the  contrasted  £wr>i/  aiwiov,  which 
signifies  the  endless  Messianic  life." 

(/)  Other  descriptions  of  the  condemnation  and  suffering  of  the  lost, 
excluding,  as  they  do,  all  hope  of  repentance  or  forgiveness,  render  it  cer- 
tain that  aluv  and  al&viog,  in  the  passages  referred  to,  describe  a  punishment 
that  is  without  end. 

Mat.  12  :  31,  32— "Every  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men;  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Spirit  shall 

not  be  forgiven it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come"  ;  25  : 10 

"And  the  door  was  shut" ;  Mark  3  :  29  — " whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  never  forgiveness, 

but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal  sin  "  ;  9  :  43,  48  — "  to  go  into  hell,  into  the  unquenchable  fire where  their  worm  dieth 

not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched"  ;  Luke  3  : 17 — "the  chaff  he  will  burn  up  with  unquenchable  fire"  ;  16  :  26 

"between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed,  that  they  which  would  pass  from  hence  to  you  may  not  be  able,  and 
that  none  may  cross  over  from  thence  to  us"  ;  John  3  :  36— "he  that  obeyeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life,  but  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

Review  of  Farrar's  Eternal  Hope,  in  Bib.  Sac.,  Oct.,  1878  :  782— "The  original  meaning 
of  the  English  word  '  hell '  and  '  damn '  was  precisely  that  of  the  Greek  words  for  which 
they  stand.  Their  present  meaning  is  widely  different,  but  from  what  did  it  arise?  It 
arose  from  the  connotation  imposed  on  those  words  by  the  impression  the  Scriptures 
made  on  the  popular  mind.  The  present  meaning  of  these  words  is  involved  in  the 
Scripture,  and  cannot  be  removed  by  any  mechanical  process.  Change  the  words,  and 
in  a  few  years  '  judge '  will  have  in  the  Bible  the  same  force  that '  damn '  has  at  present. 
In  fact,  the  words  were  not  mistranslated,  but  the  connotation  of  which  Dr.  Farrar 
complains  has  come  upon  them  since,  and  that  through  the  Scriptures.  This  proves 
what  the  general  impression  of  Scripture  upon  the  mind  is,  and  shows  how  far  Dr. 
Farrar  has  gone  astray." 

For  the  view  that  o.itoi'ios  and  ai<av  are  used  in  a  limited  sense,  see  DeQuincey,  Theo- 
logical Essays,  1  : 126-146 ;  Maurice,  Essays,  436 ;  Farrar,  Eternal  Hope,  200 ;  Smyth, 
Orthodox  Theology  of  To-day,  118-123;  Whiton,  Is  Eternal  Punishment  Endless?  For 
the  common  orthodox  view,  see  Fisher  and  Tyler,  in  New  Englander,  March,  1878 ;  Gould, 
in  Bib.  Sac.,  1880  :  221-248;  Princeton  Review,  1873  :  620;  Shedd,  Doctrine  of  Endless  Pun- 
ishment, 12-117. 

D.  This  everlasting  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  not  inconsistent  with 
God's  justice,  but  is  rather  a  revelation  of  that  justice. 

(a)  We  have  seen  in  our  discussion  of  Penalty  that  its  object  is  neither 
reformatory  nor  deterrent,  but  simply  vindicatory ;  in  other  words,  that  it 
primarily  aims,  not  at  the  good  of  the  offender,  nor  at  the  welfare  of  society, 
but  at  the  vindication  of  law.  We  have  also  seen  that  justice  is  not  a  form 
of  benevolence,  but  is  the  expression  and  manifestation  of  God's  holiness. 
Punishment,  therefore,  as  the  inevitable  and  constant  reaction  of  that  holi- 
ness against  its  moral  opposite,  cannot  come  to  an  end  until  guilt  and  sin 
come  to  an  end. 

The  fundamental  error  of  Universalism  is  its  denial  that  penalty  is  vindicatory,  and 
that  justice  is  distinct  from  benevolence.  See  article  on  Universalism,  in  Johnson's 
Cyclopaedia :  "  The  punishment  of  the  wicked,  however  severe  or  terrible  it  may  be, 
is  but  a  means  to  a  beneficent  end;  not  revengeful,  but  remedial;  not  for  its  own 
sake,  but  for  the  good  of  those  who  suffer  its  infliction."  With  this  agrees  Rev.  H.  W. 
Beecher :  "  I  believe  that  punishment  exists,  both  here  and  hereafter ;  but  it  will  not 
continue  after  it  ceases  to  do  good.  With  a  God  who  could  give  pain  for  pain's  sake, 
this  world  would  go  out  like  a  candle."  But  we  reply  that  the  doctrine  of  eternal  pun- 
ishment is  not  a  doctrine  of  "pain  for  pain's  sake,"  but  of  pain  for  holiness'  sake. 
Punishment  could  have  no  beneficial  effect  upon  the  universe,  or  even  upon  the 


FINAL   STATES   OF   THE   KIGHTEOUS   AND   OF  THE   WICKED.    595 

offender,  unless  it  were  just  and  right  in  itself.  And  if  just  and  right  in  itself,  then  the 
reason  for  its  continuance  lies,  not  in  any  benefit  to  the  universe,  or  to  the  sufferer,  to 
accrue  therefrom. 

F.  L.  Patton,  in  Brit,  and  For.  Ev.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1878  :  126-139,  on  the  Philosophy  of  Pun- 
ishment—" If  the  Universalist's  position  were  true,  we  should  expect  to  find  some  mani- 
festations of  love  and  pity  and  sympathy  in  the  infliction  of  the  dreadful  punishments 
of  the  future.  We  look  in  vain  for  this,  however.  We  read  of  God's  anger,  of  his  judg- 
ments, of  his  fury,  of  his  taking  vengeance  ;  but  we  get  no  hint,  in  any  passage  which 
describes  the  sufferings  of  the  next  world,  that  they  are  designed  to  work  the  redemp- 
tion and  recovery  of  the  soul.  If  the  punishments  of  the  wicked  were  chastisements, 
we  should  expect  to  see  some  bright  outlook  in  the  Bible-picture  of  the  place  of  doom. 
A  gleam  of  light,  one  might  suppose,  might  make  its  way  from  the  celestial  city  to  this 
dark  abode.  The  sufferers  would  catch  some  sweet  refrain  of  heavenly  music  which 
would  be  a  promise  and  prophecy  of  a  far-off  but  coming  glory.  But  there  is  a  finality 
about  the  Scripture  statements  as  to  the  condition  of  the  lost,  which  is  simply  terrible." 

The  reason  for  punishment  lies  not  in  the  benevolence,  but  in  the  holiness,  of  God. 
That  holiness  reveals  itself  in  the  moral  constitution  of  the  universe.  It  makes  itself 
felt  in  conscience  —  imperfectly  here,  fully  hereafter.  The  wrong  merits  punishment. 
The  right  binds,  not  because  it  is  the  expedient,  but  because  it  is  the  very  nature  of 
God.  "But  the  great  ethical  significance  of  this  word  right  will  not  be  known,"  (we 
quote  again  from  Dr.  Patton)  "its  imperative  claims,  its  sovereign  behests,  its  holy 
and  imperious  sway  over  the  moral  creation  will  not  be  understood,  until  we  witness, 
during  the  lapse  of  the  judgment-hours,  the  terrible  retribution  which  measures  the 
ill-desert  of  wrong." 

(b)  But  guilt,  or  ill-desert,  is  endless.     However  long  the  sinner  may  be 
punished,  he  never  ceases  to  be  ill-deserving.     Justice,  therefore,  which 
gives  to  all  according  to  their  deserts,  cannot  cease  to  punish.     Since  the 
reason  for  punishment  is  endless,  the  punishment  itself  must  be  endless. 
Even  past  sins  involve  an  endless  guilt,  to  which  endless  punishment  is 
simply  the  inevitable  correlate. 

For  full  statement  of  this  argument  that  guilt,  as  never  coming  to  an  end,  demands 
endless  punishment,  see  Shedd,  Doctrine  of  Endless  Punishment,  118-163  — "  Suffering 
that  is  penal  can  never  come  to  an  end,  because  guilt  is  the  reason  for  its  infliction,  and 

guilt,  once  incurred,  never  ceases  to  be One  sin  makes  guilt,  and  guilt  makes  bell." 

Man  does  not  punish  endlessly,  because  he  does  not  take  account  of  God.  "  Human 
punishment  is  only  approximate  and  imperfect,  not  absolute  and  perfect  like  the  di- 
vine. It  is  not  adjusted  exactly  and  precisely  to  the  whole  guilt  of  the  offense,  but  is 
more  or  le? s  modified,  first,  by  not  considering  its  relation  to  God's  honor  and  majesty ; 
secondly,  by  human  ignorance  of  inward  motives ;  and  thirdly,  by  social  expediency." 

But  "  hell  is  not  a  penitentiary The  Lamb  of  God  is  also  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah. 

....  The  human  penalty  that  approaches  nearest  to  the  divine  is  capital  punishment. 
This  punishment  has  a  kind  of  endlessness.  Death  is  a  finality.  It  forever  separates 
the  murderer  from  earthly  society,  even  as  future  punishment  separates  forever  from 
the  society  of  God  and  heaven." 

(c)  Not  only  eternal  guilt,  but  eternal  sin,  demands  eternal  punishment. 
So  long  as  moral  creatures  are  opposed  to  God,  they  deserve  punishment. 
Since  we  cannot  measure  the  power  of  the  depraved  will  to  resist  God,  we 
cannot  deny  the  possibility  of  endless  sinning.     Sin  tends  evermore  to  re- 
produce itself.     The  Scriptures  speak  of  "an  eternal  sin"  (Mark  3  :  29). 
But  it  is  just  in  God  to  visit  endless  sinning  with  endless  punishment.     Sin, 
moreover,  is  not  only  an  act,  but  also  a  condition  or  state,  of  the  soul ;  this 
state,  as  impure  and  abnormal,  involves  misery ;  this  misery,  as  appointed 
by  God  to  vindicate  law  and  holiness,  is  punishment ;  this  punishment  is 
the  necessary  manifestation  of  God's  justice.     Not  the  punishing,  but  the 
not-punishing,  would  impugn  his  justice ;  for  if  it  is  just  to  punish  sin  at 
all,  it  is  just  to  punish  it  as  long  as  it  exists. 


596          ESCHATOLOGY,    OE   THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FINAL   THINGS. 

Mark  3  :  29— "  Whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal 
sin  "  ;  Rev.  22 : 11  — "  He  that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do  unrighteousness  still :  and  he  that  is  filthy  let  him  be  made  filthy 
still."  Calvin  :  "  God  has  the  best  reason  for  punishing  everlasting-  sin  everlastingly." 
President  Dwight :  "  Every  sinner  is  condemned  for  his  first  sin,  and  for  every  sin  that 
follows,  though  they  continue  forever." 

But  we  must  remember  that  men  are  finally  condemned,  not  merely  for  sins,  but  for 
sin ;  they  are  punished,  not  simply  for  acts  of  disobedience,  but  for  evil  character.  The 
judgment  is  essentially  a  remanding  of  men  to  their  "  own  place  "  ( Acts  1  : 25 ).  The  soul  that 
is  permanently  unlike  God  cannot  dwell  with  God.  The  consciences  of  the  wicked  will 
justify  their  doom,  and  they  will  themselves  prefer  hell  to  heaven.  He  who  does  not 
love  God  is  at  war  with  himself,  as  well  as  with  God,  and  cannot  be  at  peace.  Even 
though  there  were  no  positive  inflictions  from  God's  hand,  the  impure  soul  that  has 
banished  itself  from  the  presence  of  God  and  from  the  society  of  the  holy  has  in  its 
own  evil  conscience  a  source  of  torment. 

And  conscience  gives  us  a  pledge  of  the  eternity  of  this  suffering.  Remorse  has  no 
tendency  to  exhaust  itself.  The  memory  of  an  evil  deed  grows  not  less  but  more  keen 
with  time,  and  self-reproach  grows  not  less  but  more  bitter.  Ever  renewed  affirmation 
of  its  evil  decision  presents  to  the  soul  forever  new  occasion  for  conviction  and  shame. 
F.  W.  Robertson  speaks  of  "the  infinite  maddening  of  remorse."  And  Dr.  Shedd,  in  the 
book  above  quoted,  remarks :  "  Though  the  will  to  resist  sin  may  die  out  of  a  man,  the 
conscience  to  condemn  it  never  can.  This  remains  eternally.  And  when  the  process  is 
complete ;  when  the  responsible  creature,  in  the  abuse  of  free  agency,  has  perfected  his 
ruin ;  when  his  will  to  do  good  is  all  gone ;  there  remain  these  two  in  his  immortal  spirit 
—  sin  and  conscience,  'brimstone  and  fire'  (Rev.  21 :  8)." 

(d)  The  actual  facts  of  human  life  and  the  tendencies  of  modern  sci- 
ence show  that  this  principle  of  retributive  justice  is  inwrought  into  the 
elements  and  forces  of  the  physical  and  moral  universe.     On  the  one  hand, 
habit  begets  fixity  of  character,  and  in  the  spiritual  world  sinful  acts,  often 
repeated,  produce  a  permanent  state  of  sin,  which  the  soul,  unaided,  cannot 
change.     On  the  other  hand,  organism  and  environment  are  correlated  to 
each  other ;  and  in  the  spiritual  world,  the  selfish  and  impure  find  surround- 
ings corresponding  to  their  nature,  while  the  surroundings  react  upon  them 
and  confirm  their  evil  character.     These  principles,  if  they  act  in  the  next 
life  as  they  do  in  this,  will  ensure  increasing  and  unending  punishment. 

Gal.  6  :  7,  8  — "  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not  mocked :  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  For  he 
that  soweth  unto  his  own  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption" ;  Rev.  22  : 11 — "He  that  is  unrighteous,  let  him  do 
unrighteousness  still :  and  he  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  made  filthy  still."  Dr.  Heman  Lincoln,  in  an  article 
on  Future  Retribution  (Examiner,  April  2, 1885)  — speaks  of  two  great  laws  of  nature 
which  confirm  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  retribution.  The  first  is  that  "the  tendency  of 
habit  is  towards  a  permanent  state.  The  occasional  drinker  becomes  a  confirmed  drunk- 
ard. One  who  indulges  in  oaths  passes  into  a  reckless  blasphemer.  The  gambler  who 
has  wasted  a  fortune,  and  ruined  his  family,  is  a  slave  to  the  card-table.  The  Scripture 
doctrine  of  retribution  is  only  an  extension  of  this  well-known  law  to  the  future  life." 

The  second  of  these  laws  is  that  "organism  and  environment  must  be  in  harmony. 
Through  the  vast  domain  of  nature,  every  plant  and  tree  and  reptile  and  bird  and  mam- 
mal has  organs  and  functions  fitted  to  the  climate  and  atmosphere  of  its  habitat.  If  a 
sudden  change  occur  in  climate,  from  torrid  to  temperate,  or  from  temperate  to  arctic ; 
if  the  atmosphere  change  from  dry  to  humid,  or  from  carbonic  vapors  to  a  pure  oxygen, 
sudden  death  is  certain  to  overtake  the  entire  fauna  and  flora  of  the  region  affected, 
unless  plastic  nature  changes  the  organism  to  conform  to  the  new  environment.  The 
interpreters  of  the  Bible  find  the  same  law  ordained  for  the  world  to  come.  Surround- 
ings must  correspond  to  character.  A  soul  in  love  with  sin  can  find  no  place  in  a  holy 
heaven.  If  the  environment  be  holy,  the  character  of  the  beings  assigned  to  it  must  be 
holy  also.  Nature  and  Revelation  are  in  perfect  accord."  See  Drummond,  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,  chapters  Environment,  Persistence  of  Type,  and  Degradation. 

(e)  As  there  are  degrees  of  human  guilt,  so  future  punishment  may  admit 
of  degrees,  and  yet  in  all  those  degrees  be  infinite  in  duration.     The  doc- 


FINAL   STATES    OF   THE    RIGHTEOUS    AND   OF   THE   WICKED.     597 

trine  of  everlasting  punishment  does  not  imply  that,  at  each  instant  of  the 
future  existence  of  the  lost,  there  is  infinite  pain.  A  line  is  infinite  in 
length,  but  it  is  far  from  being  infinite  in  breadth  or  thickness.  "An  infi- 
nite series  may  make  only  a  finite  sum ;  and  infinite  series  may  differ  in- 
finitely in  their  total  amount. "  The  Scriptures  recognize  such  degrees  in 
future  punishment,  while  at  the  same  time  they  declare  it  to  be  endless 
( Luke  12  :  47,  48 ;  Eev.  20  :  12,  13 ). 

Luke  12  :  47,  48 — "  And  that  servant  which  knew  his  Lord's  will,  and  made  not  ready,  nor  did  according  to  his  will, 
shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes ;  but  he  that  knew  not,  and  did  things  worthy  of  stripes,  shall  be  beaten  with  few 
stripes ' ' ;  Rev.  20  : 12,  13  — "  And  I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  before  the  throne ;  and  books  were 
opened :  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life ;  and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  which 
were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works judged  every  man  according  to  their  works." 

(/)  We  know  the  enormity  of  sin  only  by  God's  own  declarations  with 
regard  to  it,  and  by  the  sacrifice  which  he  has  made  to  redeem  us  from  it. 
As  committed  against  an  infinite  God,  and  as  having  in  itself  infinite  possi- 
bilities of  evil,  it  may  itself  be  infinite,  and  may  deserve  infinite  punish- 
ment.  Hell,  as  well  as  the  cross,  indicates  God's  estimate  of  sin. 

Every  single  sin,  apart  from  the  action  of  divine  grace,  is  the  sign  of  pervading  and 
permanent  apostasy.  But  there  is  no  single  sin.  Sin  is  a  germ  of  infinite  expansion. 
The  single  sin,  left  to  itself,  would  never  cease  in  its  effects  of  evil  —  it  would  dethrone 
God.  "  The  idea  of  disproportion  between  sin  and  its  punishment  grows  out  of  a  belit- 
tling of  sin  and  its  guilt.  One  who  regards  murder  as  a  slight  offence  will  think  hanging 
an  outrageous  injustice.  Theodore  Parker  hated  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment, 
because  he  considered  sin  as  only  a  provocation  to  virtue,  a  step  toward  triumph,  a  fall 
upwards,  good  in  the  making."  But  it  is  only  when  we  regard  its  relation  to  God  that 
we  can  estimate  sin's  ill  desert.  Dr.  Shedd :  "  The  guilt  of  sin  is  infinite,  because  it 
is  measured,  not  by  the  powers  of  the  offender,  but  by  the  majesty  of  the  God  against 
whom  it  is  committed."  See  Edwards  the  Younger,  Works,  1 : 1-394. 

E.  This  everlasting  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  not  inconsistent  with 
God's  benevolence. — It  is  maintained,  however,  by  many  who  object  to 
eternal  retribution,  that  benevolence  requires  God  not  to  inflict  punishment 
upon  his  creatures  except  as  a  means  of  attaining  some  higher  good.  We 
reply  : 

(a)  God  is  not  only  benevolent  but  holy,  and  holiness  is  his  ruling 
attribute.  The  vindication  of  God's  holiness  is  the  primary  and  sufficient 
object  of  punishment.  This  constitutes  a  good  which  fully  justifies  the 
infliction. 

Even  love  has  dignity,  and  rejected  love  may  turn  blessing  into  cursing.  Love  for 
holiness  involves  hatred  of  unholiness.  The  love  of  God  is  not  a  love  without  character. 
Dorner :  "  Love  may  not  throw  itself  away  . . .  We  have  no  right  to  say  that  punish- 
ment is  just  only  when  it  is  the  means  of  amendment."  We  must  remember  that  holi- 
ness conditions  love. 

(6)  In  this  life,  God's  justice  does  involve  certain  of  his  creatures  in 
sufferings  which  are  of  no  advantage  to  the  individuals  who  suffer ;  as  in  the 
case  of  penalties  which  do  not  reform,  and  of  afflictions  which  only  harden 
and  embitter.  If  this  be  a  fact  here,  it  may  be  a  fact  hereafter. 

There  are  many  sufferers  on  earth,  in  prisons  and  on  sick-beds,  whose  suffering  re- 
sults in  hardness  of  heart  and  enmity  to  God.  The  question  is  not  a  question  of 
quantity,  but  of  quality.  It  is  a  question  whether  any  punishment  at  all  is  consistent 
with  God's  benevolence,— any  punishment,  that  is  to  say,  which  does  not  result  in  good 
to  the  punished.  This  we  maintain ;  and  claim  that  God  is  bound  to  punish  moral  im- 


598         ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FI^AL   THINGS. 

purity,  whether  any  good  comes  therefrom  to  the  impure  or  not.  Archbishop  Whately 
says  it  is  as  difficult  to  change  one  atom  of  lead  to  silver  as  it  is  to  change  a  whole 
mountain.  If  the  punishment  of  many  incorrigibly  impenitent  persons  is  inconsistent 
with  God's  benevolence,  so  is  the  punishment  of  one  incorrigibly  impenitent  person ;  if 
the  punishment  of  incorrigibly  impenitent  persons  for  eternity  is  inconsistent  with  God's 
benevolence,  so  is  the  punishment  of  such  persons  for  a  limited  time,  or  for  any  time 
at  all. 

(c)  The  benevolence  of  God,  as  concerned  for  the  general  good  of  the 
universe,  requires  the  execution  of  the  full  penalty  of  the  law  upon  all  who 
reject  Christ's  salvation.     The  Scriptures  intimate  that  God's  treatment  of 
human  sin  is  matter  of  instruction  to  all  moral  beings.     The  self-chosen 
ruin  of  the  few  may  be  the  salvation  of  the  many. 

Dr.  Joel  Parker,  Lectures  on  Universalism,  speaks  of  the  security  of  free  creatures  as 
attained  through  a  gratitude  for  deliverance  "  kept  alive  by  a  constant  example  of  some 
who  are  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire."  Our  own  race  may  be  the  only  race 
(of  course  the  angels  are  not  a  "race  ")  that  has  fallen  away  from  God.  As  through 
'  the  church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God  is  made  manifest  "  to  principalities  and  powers  in  the 
heavenly  places "  (Eph.  3  : 10) ;  so,  through  the  punishment  of  the  lost,  God's  holiness  may  be 
made  known  to  a  universe  that  without  it  might  have  no  proof  so  striking,  that  sin  is 
moral  suicide  and  ruin,  and  that  God's  holiness  is  its  irreconcilable  antagonist. 

With  regard  to  the  extent  and  scope  of  hell,  we  quote  the  words  of  Dr.  Shedd,  in  ttie 
book  already  mentioned :  "  Hell  is  only  a  spot  in  the  universe  of  God.  Compared  with 
heaven,  hell  is  narrow  and  limited.  The  kingdom  of  Satan  is  insignificant,  in  contrast 
with  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  In  the  immense  range  of  God's  dominion,  good  is  the  rule 
and  evil  is  the  exception.  Sin  is  a  speck  upon  the  infinite  azure  of  eternity ;  a  spot  on 
the  sun.  Hell  is  only  a  corner  of  the  universe.  The  Gothic  etymon  denotes  a  covered- 
up  hole.  In  Scripture,  hell  is  a  'pit,'  a  'lake';  not  an  ocean.  It  is  'bottomless,'  not  bound- 
less. The  Gnostic  and  Dualistic  theories  which  make  God  and  Satan,  or  the  Demiurge, 
nearly  equal  in  power  and  dominion,  find  no  support  in  Revelation.  The  Bible  teaches 
that  there  will  always  be  some  sin  and  death  in  the  universe.  Some  angels  and  men  will 
forever  be  the  enemies  of  God.  But  their  number,  compared  with  that  of  unfallen 
angels  and  redeemed  men,  is  small.  They  are  not  described  in  the  glowing  language  and 
metaphors  by  which  the  immensity  of  the  holy  and  blessed  is  delineated  ( Ps.  68  : 17 ;  DeuU 
32  :  2 ;  Ps.  103  :  21 ;  Mat.  6  : 13 ;  1  Cor.  15  :  25 ;  Rev.  14  : 1 ;  21  : 16,  24,  25.)  The  number  of  the  lost 
spirits  is  never  thus  emphasized  and  enlarged  upon.  The  brief,  stern  statement  is,  that 

'  the  fearful  and  unbelieving their  part  shall  be  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone '  ( Rev.  21 :  8 ). 

No  metaphors  and  amplifications  are  added  to  make  the  impression  of  an  immense 
'multitude  which  no  man  can  number.' "  Dr.  Hodge:  "We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  lost 
will  bear  to  the  saved  no  greater  proportion  than  the  inmates  of  a  prison  do  to  the  mass 
of  a  community." 

(d)  The  present  existence  of  sin  and  punishment  is  commonly  admitted 
to  be  in  some  way  consistent  with  God's  benevolence,  in  that  it  is  made  the 
means  of  revealing  God's  justice  and  mercy.     If  the  temporary  existence  of 
sin  and  punishment  lead  to  good,  it  is  entirely  possible  that  their  eternal 
existence  may  lead  to  yet  greater  good. 

A  priori,  we  should  have  thought  it  impossible  for  God  to  permit  moral  evil.  But  sin 
is  a  fact.  Who  can  say  how  long  it  will  be  a  fact  ?  Why  not  forever  ?  The  benevolence 
that  permits  it  now  may  permit  it  through  eternity.  And  yet,  if  permitted  through 
eternity,  it  can  be  made  harmless  only  by  visiting  it  with  eternal  punishment.  Lillie  on 
Thessalonians,  457  — "  If  the  temporary  existence  of  sin  and  punishment  lead  to  good,  how 
can  we  prove  that  their  eternal  existence  may  not  lead  to  greater  good  ?  "  We  need  not 
deny  that  it  causes  God  real  sorrow  to  banish  the  lost.  Christ's  weeping  over  Jerusa- 
lem expresses  the  feelings  of  God's  heart :  Mat.  23  :  37,  38  — "  0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  which  killeth  the 
prophets  and  stoneth  them  that  are  sent  unto  her !  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  "  ;  cf.  Hosea 
11  :  8— "How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim?  how  shall  I  deliver  thee,  Israel  ?  how  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah  ? 
how  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ?  mine  heart  is  turned  within  me,  my  compassions  are  kindled  together." 


FINAL   STATES   OF   THE   KIGHTEOUS   AND   OF   THE   WICKED.     599 

(e)  As  benevolence  in  God  seems  in  the  beginning  to  have  permitted 
moral  evil,  not  because  sin  was  desirable  in  itself,  but  only  because  it  was 
incident  to  a  system  which  provided  for  the  highest  possible  freedom  and 
holiness  in  the  creature  ;  so  benevolence  in  God  may  to  the  end  permit  the 
existence  of  sin  and  may  continue  to  punish  the  sinner,  undesirable  as  these 
things  are  in  themselves,  because  they  are  incidents  of  a  system  which  pro- 
vides for  the  highest  possible  freedom  and  holiness  in  the  creature  through 
eternity. 

But  the  condition  of  the  lost  is  only  made  more  hopeless  by  the  difficulty  with  which 
God  brings  himself  to  this,  his  "strange  work"  of  punishment  (Is.  28:21).  The  sentence 
which  the  judge  pronounces  with  tears  is  indicative  of  a  tender  and  suffering-  heart,  but 
it  also  indicates  that  there  can  be  no  recall.  By  the  very  exhibition  of  "eternal  judgment" 
(leb.  6:2),  not  only  may  a  greater  number  be  kept  true  to  God,  but  a  higher  degree  of 
holiness  among  that  number  be  forever  assured.  See  Goulburn,  Everlasting  Punish- 
ment ;  Haley,  The  Hereafter  of  Sin. 

F.  The  proper  preaching  of  the  doctrine  of  everlasting  punishment  is 
not  a  hindrance  to  the  success  of  the  gospel,  but  is  one  of  its  chief  and  in- 
dispensable auxiliaries. —  It  is  maintained  by  some,  however,  that,  because 
men  are  naturally  repelled  by  it,  it  cannot  be  a  part  of  the  preacher's  mes- 
sage. We  reply  : 

(a)  If  the  doctrine  be  true,  and  clearly  taught  in  Scripture,  no  fear  of 
consequences  to  ourselves  or  to  others  can  absolve  us  from  the  duty  of 
preaching  it.  The  minister  of  Christ  is  under  obligation  to  preach  the 
whole  truth  of  God  ;  if  he  does  this,  God  will  care  for  the  results. 

Ez.  2  :  7— "And  thou  shalt  speak  my  words  unto  them,  whether  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear"  ; 
3  : 10, 11, 18, 19— "Moreover  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man,  all  my  words  that  I  shall  speak  unto  thee  receive  in  thine 
heart,  and  hear  with  thine  ears.  And  go,  get  thee  to  them  of  the  captivity,  unto  the  children  of  thy  people,  and  speak 

unto  them,  and  tell  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  whether  they  will  hear,  or  whether  they  will  forbear When  I 

say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die ;  and  thou  givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the  wicked  from 
his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life ;  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die  in  his  iniquity ;  but  his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine 
hand.  Yet  if  thou  warn  the  wicked,  and  he  turn  not  from  his  wickedness,  nor  from  his  wicked  way,  he  shall  die  in  his 
iniquity :  but  thou  hast  delivered  thy  soul." 

(6)  All  preaching  which  ignores  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment 
just  so  far  lowers  the  holiness  of  God,  of  which  eternal  punishment  is  an 
expression,  and  degrades  the  work  of  Christ,  which  was  needful  to  save  us 
from  it.  The  success  of  such  preaching  can  be  but  temporary,  and  must 
be  followed  by  a  disastrous  reaction  toward  rationalism  and  immorality. 

Much  apostasy  from  the  faith  begins  with  refusal  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  eternal 
punishment.  Theodore  Parker,  while  he  acknowledged  that  the  doctrine  was  taught 
in  the  New  Testament,  rejected  it,  and  came  at  last  to  say  of  the  whole  theology  which 
includes  this  idea  of  endless  punishment,  that  it  "  sneers  at  common  sense,  spits  upon 
reason,  and  makes  God  a  devil." 

But,  if  there  be  no  eternal  punishment,  then  man's  danger  was  not  great  enough  to 
require  an  infinite  sacrifice ;  and  we  are  compelled  to  give  up  the  doctrine  of  atonement. 
If  there  was  no  atonement,  there  was  no  need  that  man's  Savior  should  himself  be  more 
than  man ;  and  we  are  compelled  to  give  up  the  doctrine  of  the  deity  of  Christ,  and  with 
this  that  of  the  Trinity.  If  punishment  is  not  eternal,  then  God's  holiness  is  but  another 
name  for  benevolence ;  all  proper  foundation  for  morality  is  gone,  and  God's  law  ceases 
to  inspire  reverence  and  awe.  If  punishment  is  not  eternal,  then  the  Scripture  writers 
who  believed  and  taught  this  were  fallible  men  who  were  not  above  the  prejudices  and 
errors  of  their  times ;  and  we  lose  all  evidence  of  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Bible. 
With  this  goes  the  doctrine  of  miracles ;  God  is  identified  with  nature,  and  becomes  the 
impersonal  God  of  pantheism. 


600          ESCHATOLOGY,    OR   THE    DOCTRINE    OF    FINAL   THINGS. 

Theodore  Parker  passed  through  this  process,  and  so  did  Francis  W.  Newman.  Logic- 
ally, every  one  who  denies  the  everlasting-  punishment  of  the  wicked  ought  to  reach  a 
like  result ;  and  we  need  only  a  superficial  observation  of  countries  like  India,  where 
pantheism  is  rife,  to  see  how  deplorable  is  the  result  in  the  decline  of  public  and  of 
private  virtue. 

(c)  The  fear  of  future  punishment,  though  not  the  highest  motive,  is  yet 
a  proper  motive,  for  the  renunciation  of  sin  and  the  turning  to  Christ.     It 
must  therefore  be  appealed  to,  in  the  hope  that  the  seeking  of  salvation 
which  begins  in  fear  of  God's  anger  may  end  in  the  service  of  faith  and 
love. 

Luke  12  :  4,  5 — "And  I  say  unto  you,  my  friends,  Be  not  afraid  of  them  which  kill  the  body,  and  after  that  have 
no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  I  will  warn  you  whom  ye  shall  fear :  Fear  him,  who  after  he  hath  killed  hath  power  to 
cast  into  hell;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  Fear  him"  ;  Jude  23— "and  some  save,  snatching  them  out  of  the  fire."  It  is 
noteworthy  that  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  sometimes  regarded,  though  incorrectly, 
as  a  teacher  of  fear,  has  no  such  revelations  of  hell  as  are  found  in  the  New.  Only  when 
God's  mercy  was  displayed  in  the  cross  were  there  opened  to  men's  view  the  depths  of 
the  abyss  from  which  the  cross  was  to  save  them.  And  it  is  not  Peter  or  Paul,  but  our 
Lord  himself,  who  gives  us  the  most  fearful  descriptions  of  the  suffering  of  the  lost,  and 
the  clearest  assertions  of  its  eternal  duration. 

(d)  In  preaching  this  doctrine,  while  we  grant  that  the  material  images 
used  in  Scripture  to  set  forth  the  sufferings  of  the  lost  are  to  be  spiritually 
and  not  literally  interpreted,  we  should  still  insist  that  the  misery  of  the 
soul  which  eternally  hates  God  is  greater  than  the  physical  pains  which  are 
used  to  symbolize  it.     Although  a  hard  and  mechanical  statement  of  the 
truth  may  only  awaken  opposition,  a  solemn  and  feeling  presentation  of  it 
upon  proper  occasions,  and  in  its  due  relation  to  the  work  of  Christ  and  the 
offers  of  the  gospel,  cannot  fail  to  accomplish  God's  purpose  in  preaching, 
and  to  be  the  means  of  saving  some  who  hear. 

Acts  20  :  31  — "  Wherefore  watch  ye,  remembering  that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  admonish  every 
one  night  and  day  with  tears"  ;  2  Cor.  2  : 14-17 — "But  thanks  be  unto  God,  who  always  leadeth  us  in  triumph  in 
Christ,  and  maketh  manifest  through  us  the  savor  of  his  knowledge  in  every  place.  For  we  are  a  sweet  savor  of  Christ 
unto  God,  in  them  that  are  saved,  and  in  them  that  perish ;  to  the  one  a  savor  from  death  unto  death ;  to  the  other  a 
savor  from  life  unto  life.  And  who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  For  we  are  not  as  the  many,  corrupting  the  word  of 
God :  but  as  of  sincerity,  but  as  of  God,  in  the  sight  of  God,  speak  we  in  Christ "  ;  5  : 11  — "  Knowing  therefore  the  fear 
of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men,  but  we  are  made  manifest  unto  God ;  and  I  hope  that  we  are  manifest  also  in  your 
consciences"  ;  1  Tim.  4  : 16 — "Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy  teaching.  Continue  in  these  things;  for  in  so  doing 
thou  shalt  save  both  thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee." 

So  Richard  Baxter  wrote :  "  1  preached  as  never  sure  to  preach  again,  And  as  a  dying 
man  to  dying  men."  It  was  Robert  McCheyne  who  said  that  the  preacher  ought  never 
to  speak  of  everlasting  punishment  without  tears.  McCheyne's  tearful  preaching  of  it 
jjrevailed  upon  many  to  break  from  their  sins  and  to  accept  the  pardon  and  renewal 
that  are  offered  in  Christ.  Such  preaching  of  judgment  and  punishment  were  never 
needed  more  than  now,  when  lax  and  unscriptural  views  with  regard  to  law  and  sin 
break  the  force  of  the  preacher's  appeals.  Let  there  be  such  preaching,  and  then  many 
a  hearer  will  utter  the  thought,  if  not  the  words,  of  the  Dies  Irae,  8-10—"  Rex  tremendae 
majestatis,  Qm  salvandos  salvas  gratis,  Salva  me,  fons  pietatis.  Recordare,  Jesu  pie, 
Quod  sum  causa  tuae  vias  :  Ne  me  perdas  ilia  die.  Quasrens  me  sedisti  lassus,  Redemisti 
crucem  passus :  Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus."  See  Edwards,  Works,  4  :  226-321 ;  Hodge, 
Outlines  of  Theology,  459-468 ;  Murphy,  Scientific  Bases  of  Faith,  310,  319,  464 ;  Dexter, 
Verdict  of  Reason ;  George,  Universalism  not  of  the  Bible ;  Angus,  Future  Punish- 
ment ;  Jackson,  Bampton  Lectures  for  1875,  on  the  Doctrine  of  Retribution ;  Shedd, 
Doctrine  of  Endless  Punishment,  preface. 


INDUES 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


Abelard's  use  of  the  term  'theology,'..      1 

his  relation  to  Scholasticism, 23 

his  view  of  the  atonement, 400 

Abel's  gifts,  God  testifies  of , 479 

Abiding  in  Christ,  its  nature  and  obli- 
gation,   447 

Ability,  gracious, 315,  342 

is  it  the  ground  of  a  sinner's  responsi- 
bility?   - 315 

list  of  authors,  for  and  against, 345 

Ability,  natural,  of  New  School  theo- 
logians,   342 

as  designating  the  sinner's  possession 
of  the  constituent  faculties  of  hu- 
man nature,  objected  to, 343 

the  phrase  is  misleading, 343 

it  does  not  consist  in  a  power  of  con- 
trary choice  in  single  volitions,  but 

in  a  bias  of  affections  and  will, 343 

it  is  not  a  matter  of  experience, 344 

preaching  of  it  is  attended  with  evil 

results, 344 

Ability,  to  fulfil  law  not  required  to 

constitute  non-fulfilment  sin, 289 

not  the  measure  of  obligation, 313 

Ability,  Pelagian, 342 

Abiogenesis  denied  by  Huxley, 191 

k'  Above  reason  "  not  "  against  reason,"    16 

Abraham,  date  of  call  of, . 107 

Absolute,  expresses  a  positive  idea,  —  6 
the,  is  it  a  negation  of  the  thinkable  ?  6 
explanation  of  term  as  applied  to  the 

attributes, 120 

related  to  finite  dynamically  or  ra- 
tionally,   123 

Absolute  and  Infinite,  complemental  of 
our  consciousness  of  relative  and 

finite,  32 

Absolute  Being,  intuition  of, 

Absolute  Reason,  intuition  of,  basis  of 

all  logical  thought, 

necessary  to  all  other  knowledge, 

Abydos,  triad  of , 170 

Abyss,  pit  of  the,  final  state  of  wicked 

in, 587 

Acceptilatio,  according  to  Grotius, 403 

Accommodation,  in   Scriptural   argu- 
ments,   109 


Accretion,  theory  of,  cannot  account 
for  internal  characteristics  of  Chris- 
tian documents, 81 

Achan,  his  sin  visited  upon  his  children,  338 

Acorns,  crop  of,  illustration  from, 10 

Acquittal  of  the  ungodly  who  believe 

in  Christ,  what? 474 

of  sinner,  its  ground, 474 

of  transgressors,  impossible  in  earthly 

tribunals, 474 

of  believe!',  a  judicial  proceeding, 475 

Action,  divine,  not  in  distans, 207 

human,  not  simply  expression  of  pre- 
viously dominant  affections, 178 

uniformity  of,  rests  on  character, 260 

Actions,  evil,  in  them  God  gives  natural 

powers,  men  evil  direction, 207 

Activity,  human,  largely  automatic  and 

continuous, 283 

Acts,  outward,  condemned  by  men  as 

symptomatic  of  disposition, 285 

Acts  6 : 1-4,  is  it  institution  of  Christian 

ministry? 512 

Actual  sin  more  guilty  than  original 

sin, 310 

Adam,  members  of  the  race  had  no  per- 
sonal existence  in  him, 249 

his  righteousness  not  immutable, 264 

possessed  power  of  contrary  choice,  264 

not  created  undecided, 264 

in  him  love  an  inborn  impulse  which 

he  could  affirm  or  deny, 264 

his  exercise  of  holy  will,  was  it  meri- 
torious?  265 

the  recipient  of  special  grace  in  his 
unf  alien  state,  according  to  Roman- 
ist theologians, 265 

the  recipient  of  no  supernatural  gift 
,  not  belonging  originally  to  his  na- 
ture, according  to  Scripture,  265 

his  physical   perfection  admitted  of 

progress, 267 

his  unf  alien  nature,  notions  of  Fath- 
ers and  Scholastics  regarding, 268 

a  philosopher,  according  to  South, ...  268 
inexperienced,according  to  Scripture,  268 
his  insight  into  nature  analogous  to 
that  of  susceptible  childhood, 268 


604 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Adam,  his  naming-  animals  implied  in- 
sight into  their  nature, 

his  native  insight  capable  of  develop- 
ments of  science  and  culture 

his  enjoyment  of  divine  presence  and 
teaching, 

his  surroundings  and  society, 

his  virtue,  provision  for  trying, 

his  innocence  only  to  be  perfected 
through  temptation, 

his  temptation  did  not  necessitate  a 
fall, - 

his  temptation  if  resisted  would  have 
strengthened  virtue, 

his  opportunity  of  securing  physical 
immortality, 

his  body  mortal, 

his  sin,  its  imputation  to  his  posterity, 

his  sin,  how  can  this  be  justly  charged 
to  his  posterity? 

his  descendants,  according  to  Pela- 
gius,  not  weaker  but  stronger  than 
he,.. 

probation  in,  most  accordant  with  our 
ideas  of  justice, 

his  natural  headship,  theory  of, 

his  natural  headship,  explained  in  de- 
tail,  

the  universal  man,  how, 

his  natural  headship  in  harmony  with 
doctrine  of  heredity, 

his  personality  once  contained  the 
whole  of  human  nature, 

his  sin,  in  what  sense  we  repent  o  f  it, 

his  first  sin,  why  men  are  responsible 
only  for, 

the  preaching  of  organic  unity  of  race 
with,  does  not  neutralize  appeal  to 
conscience, 

Augustinian  theory  of  connection 
with,  does  not  exclude  separate  pro- 
bation of  individuals,  

our  connection  with,  how  it  should  be 
preached, 

Scriptural  view  of  organic  connection 
with,  enhances  the  impression  of 
man's  absolute  ruin, 

that  his  sin  should  affect  the  nature 
of  his  descendants,  not  contrary  to 
divine  justice,  

our  connection  with,  in  the  first  sin, 
not  an  act  of  divine  sovereignty  but 
of  justice, 

probation  of  common  nature  in,  more 
consistent  with  justice  than  indi- 
vidual probation, 

fall  in,  perhaps  needful  to  a  common 
salvation, 

connection  with,  cannot  be  unjust, 
since  an  analogous  connection  with 
Christ  secures  salvation, 

inbeing  in,  not  unjust  if  inbeing  in 
Christ  is  just, 


808 


339 


336 


Adam  and  Christ,  parallel  between,  one 

of  analogy,  not  of  identity, 340 

men  as  connected  with,  compared  to 
leaves  on  a  tree,  each  of  which  may 
wither  by  itself,  but  all  of  which 

wither  by  disease  of  root, 340 

consequences  of  his  sin  to  his  poster- 
ity,  340 

as  a  result  of  his  transgression,  all  his 
posterity  born  into  the  same  state 

into  which  he  fell, 340 

his  sin,  its  threefold  consequence  to 

himself  and  his  posterity, 340,  412 

race  fell  in,  not  as  a  person  foreign  to 

us,  346 

the  "  natural,"  "  earthly,"  might,  had 
he  continued  in  innocence,  have  at- 
tained the  "spiritual"  and  "heav- 
enly "  without  dying, &54 

wasChristin?  413 

the  last,  its  implication, 366 

the  second,  a  source  of  spiritual  life,.  367 
created  by  Holy  Ghost,  Dorner  on,  ..  370 

Adaperturam  libri, 17 

Adaptation  =  the  special  order  of  or- 
ganic nature, 43 

Adoption,   475 

Adoration  of  the  host, 545 

Adultery,  story  of  woman  taken  in, 
though  not  Johannine,  yet  aposto- 
lic,   341 

Adventists,  Second, 569 

Advocacy  of  Christ  and  of  the  Holy 

Spirit, 164 

^Equale    temperamentum    of   unfallen 

state, 267 

JEschylus,  his  reference  to  substitu- 
tion,.   394 

on  death, 557 

^Esthetics,  conditioned  by  a  capacity 

and  love  for  the  beautiful, 3 

"Affection,  expulsive  power  of  a  new,"  446 
Affections,  occasions  but  not  causes  of 

volitions,  178 

man's,  according  to  Calvin,  runaway 

horses, 450 

holy,  proper  spring  of  holy  action, 

authors  on, 458 

Affliction,  Greek  proverb  on, 220 

After-influence  after  death,  and  after- 
activity,  424 

Agamemnon  blames,  not  himself,  but 

Jupiter, 292 

Agassiz,  Louis,  on  man  the  purpose  of 

animal  creation, 195 

on  the  number  of  human  races, 241 

his  theory  of  different  centres  of  crea- 
tion,    242 

a  believer  in  brute  immortality, 555 

Agency,  free,  defined, 176 

not  inconsistent  with  certainty, 176 

Agnosticism,  is  it  the  highest  achieve- 
ment of  science  ?  . . . 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


605 


Agricola,  the  Antinomian, 487 

Ahasuerus,  sleeplessness  of, 213 

Ahura  Mazda, 188 

Aim  of  theology  as  a  science, 1 

A'Kempis,  Thomas, 17 

Albertus  Magnus,  on  the  first  man, 268 

Alexander,  the  unifier  of  the  Greek  East,  360 
Alexander,  Archibald,  on  ground  of 

moral  obligation,. 143 

on  dispositions  as  voluntary, 288 

Alexander,  J.  W.,  on  union  with  Christ,  438 

his  view  of  saving  faith, 468 

Alexandrian  philosophy,  an  ineffectual 

attempt  to  combine  Judaism  and 

pantheism,  361 

Alford,  on  "My  Lord  and  my  God,"  ...  148 
on  "angels  of  the  seven  churches,"..  226 
his  method  of  interpreting  the  book 

of  Revelation, 570 

Allegorical  method  of  theology, 27 

Allwosis,  Luther's  opinion  of, 370 

Allusions  in  New  Testament  to  all  the 

books  of  Old  Testament  save  six,..  80 
Alphonso  of  Castile  and  the  Ptolemaic 

system,... 43 

"Altar-forms,"  Bushnell  on, 402 

Alternative  presented  to  New  School 

theorists, 322 

Altruism, 142 

Ambition,  what? 293 

Ambrose  on  giving  credit  to  God, 14 

America,  Indian  races  of,  from  Eastern 

Asia, 239 

American  theology, 26 

Ammon,  a  rationalistic  theologian, 24 

Amos  Lawrence,  as  an  illustration, 419 

Amount  of  testimony  necessary  to 

prove  a  miracle, 64 

Amsdorf,  the  Antinomian, 487 

on  good  works  being  hurtful  to  sal- 
vation,   487 

Amyraldus  of  Saumur, 24 

Anacoloutha  of  Paul, 101 

Analogies  of  Christ's  relation  to  race, 

their  weakness, 414 

Analytic  theology, 23 

Analytical  method  of  theology, 27 

Ancestry  of  race,  a  common,  in  Central 

Asia,  supported  by  history, 239 

Ancestor,  common,  of  man  and  apes, 

yet  to  be  found, 237 

Ancestors,  immediate,  imputation  of 

their  sins,  views  on, 336 

their  sins  not  propagated, 323 

Anchitherium,  the  three-toed  horse,...  237 

Anderson  on  regeneration, 456 

Andre,  Major, 213 

Andrews,  E.  Benj.,  on  "church"  as 

prius  of  "churches," 496 

Angelo,  Michael,  required  to  make  an 

ice-statue, 556 

"Angel  of  the  church  "  probably  pas- 
tor,  226,  510 


Angel  of  the  Lord,  passages  relating  to, 

quoted  and  classified, 153 

in  Old  Testament,  the  pre-incarnate 

Logos, 153 

in  N.  T.  does  not  permit,  in  O.  T.  re- 
quires, worship, 153 

list  of  authorities  on, 153 

Angelology  of   Scripture  not  derived 
from  Babylonian  or  Persian  sources,  224 

"Angels'  food,"  its  meaning, 222 

Angels,  general  statement  respecting,.  221 

good  and  evil, 221 

scholastic  subtleties  regarding, 221 

Dante  on  their  creation  and  fall, 221 

possibility  of  their  existence  inferable 

from  analogy, 221 

doctrine  of,  modifies  our  conceptions 

of  the  universe, 221 

list  of  authors  on  general  subject  of,  221 
Scriptural  statements  and  intimations 

regarding, 221 

their  nature  and  attributes, 221 

are  created  beings, 221 

are  incorporeal  beings, 222 

have  no  bodily  organism, 222 

without  distinction  of  sex, 222 

incapable  of  growth,  age,  or  death,..  222 

are  personal  agents, 222 

are  possessed  of  superhuman  yet  fi- 
nite power,  222 

are    distinct   from    and    older    than 

man, 222 

Fathers'  opinion  upon  their  creation,  222 
not  a  personification  of  good  and  evil 

principles, 222 

Christ's  testimony  to  their  existence,  223 
Paul's  testimony  to  their  existence,..  223 

their  number  and  organization, 223 

are  a  great  multitude, 223 

are  a  company  as  distinguished  from 

a  race,...-. 223 

possess  no  common  nature, 223 

fell  individually, 223 

are  of  various  ranks  and  endowments,  223 

have  an  organization, 224 

their  moral  character, 225 

were  all  created  holy, 225 

had  a  probation, 225 

some  preserved  their  integrity, 225 

some  fell, 225 

the  good  are  confirmed  in  good, 225 

the  evil  are  confirmed  in  evil, 225 

revelation  of  God  in  Christ  an  object 

of  interest  to, 225 

Angels,  good,  employments  of, 225 

they  worship  God, 225 

they  rejoice  in  God's  works, 225 

they  execute  God's  will  in  nature, ....  226 

they  guide  the  aifairs  of  nations, 226 

they  watch  over  interests  of  particu- 
lar churches, 226 

of  the  seven  churches,  meaning  of  the 
designation, 226 


606 


I^DEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Angels,  they  assist  and  protect  individ- 
ual believers, 326 

guardian, 226 

they  punish  God's  enemies, 226 

are  ministers  of  God's  special  provi- 
dence for  moral  ends, 226 

appearances  of,  mark  God's  entrance 
on   new   epochs  of   unfolding   his 

plans,  ...I 227 

invisible,  perhaps  to  prevent  idolatry,  227 
their  power  exercised  in  accordance 
with  laws  of  spiritual  and  natural 

world, 227 

may,  perhaps,  attract  men  to  holiness,  227 
their  invisible  presence  not  constant,  227 
their  appearances  dependent  on  the 

will  of  God, 227 

objections  to  doctrine  of 230 

free  from  laws  of  matter  and  space, . .  231 
alleged  to  be  opposed  to  scientific 
view  of  world  as  a  system  of  defi- 
nite forces  and  laws, 230 

alleged  to  be  opposed  to   the   doc- 
trine of  infinite  space  peopled  with 

worlds, 230 

practical  uses  of  the  doctrine  in  gen- 
eral,  232 

gives  an  enlarged  idea  of  the  divine 

resources, 232 

strengthens  our  faith  in  God's  provi- 
dence,  233 

teaches  us  humility, 233 

helps  us  in  our  struggles  against  sin,.  233 
enlarges  our  conceptions  of  the  dig- 
nity of  our  being, 233 

instances  of  appearances  of, 233 

Angels,  evil,  employments  of, 227 

they  oppose  God, 227 

hinder  man's  welfare,  - 228 

execute,  in  spite  of  themselves,  God's 

plans, 229 

power  of,  over  men,  not  independent 

of  the  human  will, 230 

power  of,  limited  by  permissive  will 

of  God, 230 

objections  to  doctrine  of,  .-. 231 

their  fall  self-contradictory  ? 231 

they  probably  had  a  period  of  proba- 
tion,   225 

no  salvation  for,  perhaps  on  account 
of  absence  of  common  nature  which 

Christ  could  take, 223 

uses  of  the  doctrine, 233 

illustrates  the  nature  of  sin, 233 

inspires  a  salutar3r  fear, 233 

shuts  us  up  to  Christ, 233 

teaches  us  salvation  is  wholly  of  grace,  233 

Anger,  a  duty  of  man,. 139 

Animal  characteristics  in  man, 224 

Annihilation,  of  wicked,  does  not  satis- 
fy our  moral  sense, - 557 

does  not  permit  of  degrees  of  punish- 
ment, .  557 


Annihilation,  at   death,  disproved  by 

Scripture, 558-562 

terms  which  seemingly   teach,  em- 
ployed in  connections  where  they 

cannot  bear  this  meaning, 559 

disproved  by  words  used  to  describe 

the  place  of  departed  spirits, 560 

terms  and  phrases  adduced  to  prove, 
metaphorical  and  merely  language 

of  appearance, 560 

advocates  of ,.- 562 

at  death,  inconsistent  with  degrees  in 

future  punishment, 588 

as  the  result  of  the  gradual  weaken- 
ing and  extinction  of  sinful  powers, 

doctrine  of,. 589 

objections  to  this  theory, 589 

Bushnell's  view  of , 589 

Dorner's  view  of, 589 

theory  that  it  follows  positive  punish- 
ment after  death, 589 

Justin  Martyr's  theory  of, 589 

Edward  White's  theory  of , 589 

Annihilation  of  infants,  Emmonson,..  320 

Annihilationism,  old,.. 588 

authors  who  maintain  the  old  view  of,  588 
Annihilationist  view  of  the  nvev^a  as 
lost  in   the  fall    and   restored   in 

Christ, 247 

Anselm  of  Canterbury, 23,  407 

his  form  of  the  anthropological  ar- 
gument,     48 

examined, 49 

objections  to, 49 

leads  only  to  an  ideal  conclusion, 49 

his  idea  concerning  lost  angels, 223 

a  dichotomist, 247 

on  human  nature  in  Adam, 323 

on  the  sin  of  Adam  as  a  person  and  as 

a  man, 336 

on  Christ's  growth  in  wisdom, 365 

on  Christ's  state  of  humiliation, 382 

his  "Cur  Deus  Homo"  characterized,  408 

his  theory  of  atonement, 407 

advocates  of, 408 

objections  to, 408 

its  origin  in  exaggerated  notions  of 

regal  dignity, 409 

it  limits  atonement  to  the  elect, 409 

on  justification, 471 

"Answer  [  interrogation]  of  a  good  con- 
science," phrase  examined,.. 455 

Answers  decreed  to  prayer, 179 

Ant,  according  to  Lubbock,  next  to  man 

in  intelligence, 236 

Anthropology, ---  234 

in  theology,  what? 45 

Anthropological  method  of  theology, . .    27 

Anthropological  argument, 45 

an  application  to  man  of  the  cosmo- 
logical  and  teleological  arguments,    45 

its  defects, : 

its  value, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Anthropological  argument,  most  im- 
portant among  arguments  for  exist- 
ence of  God,.. 47 

a  development  of  our  intuitive  idea 

of  God, 47 

Anthropomorphic    representations    of 

God, 124 

Anthropomorphism, 63, 120 

"Anthropomorphism,  inverse," 336 

Anthropomorphism  repressed  by  con- 
nected declarations, 120 

Anthropomorphites, 267 

Antichrist,  its  meaning, 570 

the  personal,   his  power  restrained 

during  millennium, 570 

' '  Anticipati ve  consequence, " 353 

4 '  Anticipati  ve  consequences, " 199 

Antigone,  her  expiation, 419 

Antinomianism, 487 

Antiquity  of  race,  relation  of  Bible  to,  106 
Anti-trinitarianism  leads  to  pantheism,  168 
Apocalypse,  no  exegete  has  yet  found 

key  to, 574 

Apocrypha, 60 

excluded  by  Melito, 74 

teaches  that  alms  make  atonement  for 

sin, 481 

Apocryphal  New  Testament, 60 

Apollinaris, 362 

Apollinarian  view  of  a  trichotomy  in 

the  person  of  Christ, 247 

Apollinarians,  their  views  on  the  person 

of  Christ, 362 

their  mistake  a  fondness  for  the  Pla- 
tonic trichotomy, 362 

the  Logos  with  them  an  eternal,  arch- 
etypal man, 362 

destroy  the  symmetry  of  Christ, 362 

Apollinarianism  denies  that  Christ  be- 
came man,. 362 

was  a  reaction  against  Arian  theory 
of  two  finite  souls  in  one  Christ, ...  362 

Justin  Martyr  inclined  to, 362 

Apollos  probable  author  of  Hebrews,..    75 

Apologies  of  Justin  Martyr, 73 

Apostasy,  man's  state  of, 273 

Apostasy  of  outwardly  reformed,  in- 
stances of, 493 

apparent,  of  regenerate,  cases  of  tem- 
porary sin, 493 

of  saint,  apostasy  forever, 493 

A.  posteriori  argument  cannot  demon- 
strate the  existence  of  the  Infinite,    36 
A   posteriori,   Descartes'  form  of  the 

ontological  argument, 48 

Apostle,  qualifications  of  an, 507 

Apostles  claim  to  speak  by  the  prom- 
ised Spirit  and  put  their  writings  on 
a  level  with  Old  Testament  Scrip- 
tures,.   96 

received  from  Jesus  promises  like 
those  made  to  Old  Testament 
prophets,. 96 


Apostles,  reasons  for  believing  that  they 
were  baptized,...  ....547 


Apostolic  Fathers  witness  tov^nuine- 

ness  of  New  Testament, 74 

Apotelesmaticum,  genus, 370 

Appetites, how  subdued  in  regeneration,  44(j 
Appleton  on  Providence  as  founded  on 

divine  benevolence, 2li" 

Application  of  ^Redemption, 426 

its  three  stages, 436 

in  its  preparation, 426 

in  its  actual  beginning, 436 

in  its  continuation, 483 

Appropriation  as  an  element  of  identi- 
ty,    580 

Approximation  of  Calvinistic  and  Ar- 

minian  views  of  will, 177 

A  priori  argument  for  divine  exist- 
ence,      48 

A  priori  argument  for  God's  existence 
conducts  to  an  abstract  proposition, 

not  to  a  real  being, 36 

A  priori  judgments  are   not   simply 

"regulative," 6 

A  priori  reasons  for  expecting  a  reve- 
lation from  God, 58,    59 

Aprons   of    fig-leaves,    man's,   before 

God's  coats  of  skin, 481 

Aptness  and  ableness  distinguished  by 

Hooker, 263 

Aquinas,  Thomas, 23 

on  the  essence  of  sin, 293 

his  explanation  of  imputation  of  sin 

to  third  and  fourth  generation, 336 

on  Christ's  preaching  to  the  dead,  ...  386 
his  query,  was  Christ  slain  by  himself 

or  by  another? 407 

on  union  of  believer  with  Christ, 409 

Arbitrium, 288 

Archangel,  only  one  in  Scripture, 223 

Argument  ad  hominem  in  Scripture,  . .  109 
Argument  does  not  furnish  us  all  we 

know  of  God, 36 

Argument  for    resurrection,    Christ's 

suppressed  premise  in, 109 

Argument  of  Descartes  distinguished 

from  that  of  Anselm, 48 

Arguments  for  God's  existence,  merely 
efforts  of  the  mind  to  give  a  formal 

account  of  a  prior  conviction, 39 

purpose  served  by, 50 

not  a  bridge,  but  guys  to  support  the 

suspension-bridge  of  intuition, 50 

Argyll,  Duke  of,  on  savagery  and  civi- 
lization as  both  results  of  evolution,  270 
Arianism,  statement  of,  and  list  of  au- 
thorities on,  159 

Arian  theory  opposed  to  Scripture, 159 

misinterprets  Scripture, 361,  362 

a  reaction  from  Sabellianism, 362 

Arians,  their  view  regarding  the  Logos,  361 
mistook  a  temporary  for  an  original 
and  permanent  inequality, 361 


608 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Arians  held  a  generation  in  time  and 

subordination  of  the  Son, .,  362 

Aristotle  quoted, 21 

his  relation  to  Scholasticism, 23 

his  view  of  morality, 88 

on  science  of  the  unique  impossible,.  116 

on  life, • 121 

on  one  God  under  many  names, 125 

a  creatianist, 250 

on  sin, 301 

his  definition  of  friends, 442 

on  man's  dependence  on  God, 450 

on  death, 557 

Ariusand  his  views, 159,361,  362 

Armada,  Spanish, 213 

Arminian  and  Calvinistic  views  of  will, 

close  approximation  of, 177 

Arminianism,  its  conception  of  free- 
dom,   177 

theory  of  imputation, 314 

Wesley's  modifications  of, 314 

objections  to, 315 

extra-Scriptural, 315 

contradicts  Scripture,. 316 

Dorner  on, 316,  442 

order  of  salvation 316 

rests  on  false  philosophical  principles,  317 
renders  uncertain  universality  of  sin,  317 
renders  uncertain  man'sresponsibility 

for  depravity, 317 

makes  man  a  mere  tangent  to  divine 

circle, 442 

Arminians  and  Calvinists  pray  and  sing 

alike, 181 

Arminians,  some,  deny  absolute  divine 

foreknowledge, 134 

Arminius, 25,  314 

his  view  of  Adamic  unity  of  race, 314 

expounders  of  his  system , 314 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  religion, 12 

on  the  God  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  122 

Arnold,  Dr.  Thomas,  of  Rugby, 68 

quoted  on  the  mythical  theory, 79 

his  teachings  contrasted  with  Matthew 

Arnold's,  his  son, 100 

his  opinion  on  the  book  of  Revelation,  112 

on  a  sense  of  moral  evil, 287 

on  expecting  to  succeed, » . .  490 

Arnold,  Albert  NM  on  the  steps  of  de- 
parture from  Scriptural  precedent,  548 

on  errors  of  Pedobaptists, 549 

on  objections  to  strict  communion,..  552 

Arnot,  on  death's  new  name, 354 

Arrangement  of  theological  facts  not 

optional, 2 

Arrangement  of  topics  in  a  theological 

system, 27 

Art  prophetic  of  the  future, 576 

Art,  rude,  often  debasement  of  a  higher,  271 
Art,  rudest,  may  coe'xist  with  the  high- 
est,   271 

Aryan  and  Semitic  languages,  relations 
between,  list  of  authorities  on, 240 


Ascension  of  Christ, 386 

relation  of  humanity  to  Logos  in, 386 

Asceticism  absurd, 290 

Aseity,  the  divine,  what? _. 123 

does  not  belong  only  to  Father, 166 

Asia,  cradle  of  European  nations, 239 

Aspirations  imply  a  sphere  for  their 

gratification, 556 

Assembly,  Old  School  General,  its  ac- 
tion in  relation  to  observance  of  the 

Lord's  Supper, 548 

Assensus,  an  element  in  faith, 465 

Association,  natural  tendency  to,  C.  H. 

M.  on, 499 

Assumption  in  Paul's  reasoning  in  Rom. 
5  : 12-19,  explicated  in  Augustinian 

theory  of  depravity, 331 

Assurance  of  faith, 466 

its  ground, 468 

doctrine  of,  to  be  guarded  from  mys- 
ticism,   469 

Assurance  of  salvation,  founded  on  con- 
sciousness of  union  with  Christ, 447 

our  duty, 447 

Assyrian  accounts  of  creation,  Sabbath 

in, 201 

"Asymptote  of  God,"  man  the, 291 

Athanasian  creed, 159 

Athanasius'  comparison  of  Trinity, 167 

view  of  Christ's  death  as  due  to  God,  408 
Atmosphere,  according  to  some,  abode 

of  angelic  spirits, 231 

Atom,  materialistic  view  of 54 

Atomism  is  egotistic, 339 

Atomistic  view  of  human  nature, 313 

Atoms,  as  "  manufactured  articles,"...  184 

Atonement  as  ab  intra, 141 

a  divine  self -oblation, 141 

according  to  "  pattern  on  high," 141 

Atonement,  doctrine  of, 390 

Scriptural  representations  of, 390 

described  in  Scripture  by  moral  anal- 
ogies,  390 

a  provision  originating  in  God's  love,  390 

an  example  of  disinterested  love, 391 

described  in  Scripture  by  commercial 

analogies, 391 

aransom, 391 

described  in  Scripture  by  legal  anal- 
ogies,   391 

an  act  of  obedience  to  law, 391 

a  penalty  borne, 391 

an  exhibition  of  God's  righteousness,  392 
described  in  Scripture  by  sacrificial 

analogies, 

a  work  of  priestly  mediation, 

a  sin-offering, 

a  propitiation, 

a  substitution, 

not  offering  of  a  feast  to  Deity, 

not  a  symbol  of  renewed  fellowship,. 

not  an  offering  of  life  and  being  of 

worshiper, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


609 


Atonement,  theories  of , 397 

Example  theory  of 397 

objections  to, 398 

Socinian  theory  of 397 

objections  to, 398 

founded  on  false  philosophical  prin- 
ciples,   398 

its  origin  and  tendency, 398 

contradictory  to  fundamental  Scrip- 
tural teachings, 398 

furnishes  no  explanation  of  the  suf- 
ferings and  death  of  Christ, 399 

imperfect  in  influence, 399 

Bushnellian  or  Moral-influence  theory 

of, 400 

embraces  a  valuable  element  of  truth,  401 

objections  to, 401 

primarily  an  offering  to  God, 401 

necessary  to  satisfy  God's  justice, 401 

priestly  and  judicial, .. 402 

limits  its  influence, 402 

Grotian,  or  Governmental  theory  of,  403 

contains  an  element  of  truth, 403 

objections  to, 403 

allied  to  Example  and  Moral-influence 

theories, .. .,  403 

leads  to  idea  that  nothing  is  good  in 

itself, 404 

leads  to  doctrine  of  indulgences  and 

supererogation, 404 

not  a  mere  scenic  representation, 404 

Irvingian  theory  or  theory  of  grad- 
ually extirpated  depravity, 405 

embraces  an  important  truth, 406 

objections  to, 406 

Anselmic,  or  Commercial  theory  of,..  407 
superseded  the  patristic  or  military 

theory  of, 408 

theories  of  its  relation  to  Satan, 408 

objections  to  Anselmic  theory  of, 408 

"criminal  theory"  of, 409 

does  not  duly  emphasize  union  of  be- 
liever with  Christ, 409 

limited  by  Anselm  and  Augustine  to 

the  elect, 409 

Romanist  in  tendency, 409 

Ethical  theory  of, 409 

furnishes  solution  of  two  problems,..  409 
tells  us  what  was  the  object  of  Christ's 

death, 409 

tells  us  what  it  accomplished , 409 

tells  us  what  were  the  means  used  in 

its  accomplishment, 409 

tells  us  how  Christ  could  justly  die,  . .  409 
an  ethical  principle  in  divine  nature 

demands  it, 410 

an  ethical  need  of  man's  nature  de- 
mands it, 410 

security  of  interests  of  divine  gov- 
ernment a  subordinate  result  of,...  410 
provision  for  human  needs  a  subor- 
dinate result  of 410 

primarily  a  necessity  to  God, 411 


Atonement,  divine  self-substitution  in,  411 
how  God  can  justly  demand  satisfac- 
tion in, 412, 

how  Christ  can  justly  make  satisfac- 
tion in, 412 

as  related  to  humanity  in  Christ, 412 

truth  in  Bushnell's  theory  of, 414 

Campbell's  theory  of,  the  truth  in 414 

its  retroactive  influence  on  Christ's 

humanity, 416 

Ethical  theory  of,  philosophically  cor- 
rect,  416 

combines   all   valuable  elements  in 

other  theories, 417 

holds  the  necessity  of  atonement  aris- 
ing from  immanent  holiness  of  God,  41T 
most  satisfactory  explanation  of  how 
demands  of  holiness  are  met  by  work 

of  Christ, 41T 

explains  sacrificial  rites  and  language,  417 
gives  proper  place  to  death  of  Christ,  417 
best  explanation  of  sufferings  of 

Christ, 41T 

satisfies  ethical  demand  of  human  nat- 
ure,.  41T 

highest  exhibition  of  God's  love, 418 

objections  to, 418 

doctrine  of,  not  immoral, 420 

faith  in,  its  influence, 420 

Christ's,  not  complete  since  it  requires 

faith ;  this  objection  answered, 420 

only  ground  of  acceptance  with  God,  421 
main  outlines  of,  given  in  Scripture, . .  421 
our  ignorance  of  its  method,  Butler 

and  Stearns  on, 421 

illustrated  by  amnesty, 421 

compared  to  bread, 421 

saves  though  accepter  knows  not  how,  421 

Atonement,  extent  of , 421 

unlimited, 421 

in  what  sense  for  all, 421 

application  of,  limited, 421 

passages  which  assert  Christ's  death  is 

for  all, 421 

passages  which  assert  a  special  effica- 
cy in  case  of  the  elect, 421 

secures  for  all  men  delay  in  execution 

of  sentence  against  sin, 422 

secures  continuance  of  the  common 

blessings  of  life, 422 

has  made  objective  provision  for  the 

salvation  of  all, 422 

has  procured  for  all  men  incentives 
to  repentance  and  the  agency  of 

church  and  Spirit, _ 422 

compared  to  sun  and  rain, 422 

work  of,  distinguished  from  applica- 
tion of , 422 

sufferings  of  Christ  in,  no  more  if  all 

were  saved, 422 

justice  in,  permits  but  does  not  re- 
quire sinner's  discharge, 422 

limited,  Owen  on,  ..  ..  422 


610 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Atonement,  limited,  advocates  of, 422 

universal,  advocates  of, 422 

Attribute,  its  synonyms, 115 

Attributes,  divine,  see  God, 

Attributes  of  mind  being-  higher  than 
those  of  matter,  the  substance  of 
the  one  higher  than  that  of  the 
other, 52 

Attributes,  definition  of  divine, 115 

have  an  objective  existence, 116 

how  related  to  essence, 116 

inhere  in  divine  essence, 116 

belong-  to  divine  essence  as  such, 117 

manifest  divine  essence, 117 

rational  method  of  determining- the,.  118 
Biblical  method  of  determining-  the,.  118 

classification  of  the, 118,  119 

absolute  or  immanent, 119,120-130 

involved  in  spirituality, 120 

involved  in  infinity, 122 

involved  in  perfection, 125 

relative  or  transitive, 119, 130-140 

having  relation  to  time  and  space,  ...  130 

having  relation  to  creation, 132 

having  relation  to  moral  beings, 137 

their  rank  and  relation, 140 

moral,  relation  to  natural, . . .  140 

holiness,  fundamental,  140 

divine,  to  give  up,  is  to  give  up  divine 

substance, 380 

immanent  involve  the  relative, 381 

Auerbach,  tendency  of  his  writings,  ...  484 

Augustine,  on  rest  in  God, 46 

on  definition  of  Trinity, 167 

his  analogue  of  Trinity, 167 

a  traducian, 252 

reasons  why  he  wavered  in  his  tradu- 

cianism, 253 

on  the  sinf  ulness  of  a  mere  capacity 

for  good  or  evil, 265 

his  teaching  as  to  Adam's  unfallen 

state,   266 

on  Adam's  intellect, 268 

the  dying,  and  the  32nd  Psalm, 287 

on  will  being  the  man  himself, 288 

on  the  essence  of  sin, 293 

on  virtues  of  the  heathen, 294 

on  human  nature, 311 

on  our  relation  to  Adam,.. _ 328 

his  double  view  of  Adam, 329 

recognized  free  personal  decision, 329 

on  imputation  of  sins  of  immediate 

ancestors, 336 

on  the  seed  sown  without  husks  pro- 
ducing husks, 337 

onEzekiellS, 337 

view  that  the  corrupt  tree  of  man's 
nature  may  produce  the  wild  fruit 

of  morality, 338 

on  Christ's  preaching  to  the  dead, 386 

on  why  God  does  not  teach  all? 431 

on  divine  choice  to  faith, ...  431 

limits  atonement  to  the  elect, 499 


Augustine,  on  post  mortem  punishment 

for  believers, 565 

Augustinian  theory  of  original  sin, 328 

of  depravity, 328 

Aurignac  Cave,  its  evidence  doubtful, .  272 

Austin's  definition  of  law, 273 

his  defective  view  of  law  of  nature,  .  274 

on  Hooker's  description  of  law, 274 

on  Ulpian's  explanation  of  law  of  na- 
ture,    274 

Australian  languages  resemble  those  of 

Eastern  and  Southern  Asia, 240 

Automatic  activity, 283 

"Automatic   excellence   or   badness," 

Raymond  on, 321 

Avarice,  what? 293 

Avatars,  Hindu, 89 

Christ's  incarnation  unlike, 379 

Average  moral  life  a  failure, 279 

Ayat  of  the  Koran,  what? 103 

Baader,  von,  quoted, 14 

Baalim, 153 

Babylon,  the  mystical,  significance  of 

its  destruction, 571 

Bacon,  Lord,  on  the  dangers  of  "  a  little 

philosophy," 39 

on  prophecy, 68 

on  Adam's  sin, 126 

on  "the  sparkle  of  the  purity  of  man's 

first  estate," 261 

regula  enim  legem  indicat,  non  statuit,  275 
on  conquering  nature  by  obedience,.  278 
on  dealings  of  God  with  spirits  as  not 

included  in  nature, 281 

on  revenge, 352 

Bahr's  theory  of  atonement, 394 

Baird,  Samuel  J., 26 

on  the  fall, 303 

on  Edwards, - 319 

on  law  as  addressing  nature, 320 

on  punishment  implying  desert, 321 

on  the  Federal  theory, 325 

on  imputation   of  sin  of  immediate 

ancestors, 336 

Baldwin,  C.  J.,  on  "  Adam,  where  art 

thou?" 307 

on  potency  of  divine  love  in  atone- 
ment,  405 

Balaam  inspired,  yet  unholy, 100 

Bancroft,  Bishop,  the  first  to  claim  di- 
vine right  of  Episcopacy, 500 

Baptism,   and   Lord's   Supper,   monu- 
ments of  historical  facts, 77 

in  formula  of,  Christ's  name  associa- 
ted with  that  of  God  on  footing  of 

equality, 148 

its  influence  according  to  the  Church 

of  Rome,  .., 267 

of  Jesus,  its  import, 415,  528 

Christian,  definition  of, ---- 

an  ordinance  of  Christ, 520 

instituted  by  Christ, 

of  universal  and  perpetual  obligation,  521 


IKDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


611 


Baptism,  of  John,  not  likely  to  have 
been  borrowed  by  Jew  from  Christ- 
ian,  521 

of  John,  an  adaptation  of  an  old  Jew- 
ish rite, ...- 521 

of  John,  recognized  by  Christ  as  from 
heaven,  521 

of  John,  Christ's  submission  to, 521 

of  John,  essentially  Christian  bap- 
tism,  ---.  521 

of  John  and  baptism  of  apostles,  only 
difference  between, 521 

proselyte,  authors  who  deny  its  ex- 
istence among  Jews  before  time  of 
John,  521 

proselyte,  authors  who  assert  its  ex- 
istence among  Jews  before  time  of 
John, 521 

its  practice  continued  by  Christ, 
through  his  disciples, 521 

its  analogy  to  Lord's  Supper  evidence 
of  its  continuance  to  Christ's  second 
coming, 522 

no  evidence  of  its  limitation  or  re- 
peal,   522 

Baptism,  its  mode,  immersion, 522 

N.  T.  circumstances  which  attended 
prove  it  immersion, 524 

of  Holy  Spirit,  its  meaning, 524 

figurative  allusions  to,  prove  it  to 
have  been  immersion, 524 

doctrine  and  practice  of,  in  Greek 
church,  535 

mode  of,  according  to  Westminister 
Assembly, 525 

by  aspersion,  occasionally  practised 
early  in  post-apostolic  period, 525 

clinic,  in  time  of  Novatian, 525 

mode  of,  according  to  Prayer-book  of 
Edward  VI, 525 

mode  of,  according  to  Salisbury  use,.  525 

affusion  in,  according  to  English 
church  only  for  weak, 525 

sprinkling  in,  never  sanctioned  by 
English  church, 525 

of  early  Church,  immersion, 525 

list  of  authors  on, 526 

its  law  fundamental  and  therefore  un- 
alterable save  by  the  Lawgiver, 526 

for  church  to  modify  its  law  implies 
unw  isdom  in  the  Lawgi ver, 526 

as  immersion,  the  only  adequate  sym- 
bol of  Gospel  truths, 526 

any  change  in  its  mode  vacates  ordi- 
nance of  its  symbolic  meaning,  ....  526 

its  observance  by  immersion,  objec- 
tions replied  to, 527 

if  impracticable,  no  duty, 527 

seldom  dangerous, 527 

if  dangerous,  no  duty, 527 

by  immersion,  not  indecent, 527 

as  a  symbol  of  death,  may  be  expected 
to  involve  some  inconvenience, 527 


Baptism,  unscriptural  methods  of  its 
administration,  divine  blessing  on, 

not  divine  sanction, 527 

Baptism,  its  symbolism, 527 

a  symbol  of  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ, 527 

a  symbol  of  the  purpose  of  Christ's 
death  and  resurrection, 527 

a  symbol  of  the  believer's  death  to  sin 
and  resurrection  to  spiritual  life,  ..  527 

a  symbol  of  union  with  Christ, .. 528 

a  symbol  of  the  union  of  all  believers 
in  Christ, 528 

a  symbol  of  the  death  and  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body, 528 

its  central  truth  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  528 

Christ's,  at  the  hands  of  John,  its  sym- 
bolism,   528 

a  symbol  of  sufferings  and  death,  be- 
cause a  complete  submersion,  528 

of  repentance,  Christ's  submission  to, 
how  explained, 415,416,  528 

Christ's,  in  what  sense  a  fulfilment  of 
righteousnesss, 529 

Christ's,  prefigurative  of  what? 529 

Christian,  to  what  it  refers  back,  ....  529 

what  is  implied  in  its  symbolism, 529 

its  meaning  has  become  obscured  by 
a  false  mode  of  administration, 529 

President  Woolsey's  views  on, 529 

symbolizes  the  method  of  Christian 
purification, 529 

and  Lord's  Supper,  their  related  sym- 
bolic reference  to  the  Christian's 
union  with  Christ, 529 

nothing  but  immersion  will  satisfy 
design  of  the  ordinance, 530 

destroyed,  if  its  symbolic  reference 
be  excluded, 530 

a  witness  to  the  facts  and  doctrines 
of  Christianity, 530 

a  historical  monument, .  530 

a  pictorial  expression  of  doctrine, 530 

to  change  its  form,  a  blow  at  Christi- 
anity and  Christ, 530 

Ebrard's  view  of, 530 

Olshausen's  view  of, 530 

Baptism,  subjects  of, 530 

command  and  example  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles  as  to  subjects  of  bap- 
tism,  530 

its  subjects  determined  from  nature 
of  church, 531 

its  subjects  determined  from  its  sym- 
bolism,   531 

Dean  Stanley  on, 531 

inferences  from  the  fact  that  only  re- 
generate persons  are  its  subjects,  . .  531 

if  regenerate  persons  its  subjects,  can- 
not be  a  means  of  regeneration, 531 

the  sign,  but  not  the  condition,  of 
forgiveness  of  sins, 531 


612 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Baptism,  subjects  of,  how  passages 
which  seem  to  teach  baptismal  re- 
generation are  to  be  explained, 531 

relation  of  symbol  and  thing  symbol- 
ized in,  Kendrickon, 532 

view  of  Campbellites, 532 

for  remission  of  sins,  list  of  authors 
on,  532 

High  Church  view  of,  authors  on, ...  532 

John  the  Baptist's  view  of,  from  Jo- 
sephus, 532 

primarily  the  act  of  the  person  bap- 
tized,....   532 

no  lack  of  qualification  in  adminis- 
trator invalidates, 532 

credible  evidence  of  regeneration  to 
be  required  of  candidate  by  church,  533 

"the  door  into  the  church,"  the 
phrase  criticized, 533 

first  in  point  of  time  of  all  outward 
duties, 533 

should  follow  regeneration  with  the 
least  possible  delay, 533 

a  candidate  for,  should  not  be  en- 
couraged to  wait  for  others'  com- 
pany,   533 

not  to  be  repeated... 533 

in  what  it  differs  from  Lord's  Sup- 
per,  534 

administered  by  a  Campbellite,  when 
valid, 534 

its  accessories  matters  of  individual 
judgment, 534 

its  formula, 534 

arguments  to  show  that  its  law  is  not 
that  of  circumcision, 537 

water  in,  believed  in  tbird  and  fourth 
centuries  to  be  changed  into  blood 
of  Christ, 544 

administered  by  heretics,  Council  of 
Trenton,. 545 

of  less  importance   than   love,  this 

statement  replied  to, 552 

Baptism,  infant,. 534 

without  warrant,. 534 

no  express  command  for, 534 

no  clear  example  of, 535 

passages  supposed  to  imply  it  really 
contain  no  reference  to  it, 535 

contradicted  by  prerequisites  of  or- 
dinance,  535 

contradicted  by  Scriptural  symbolism 
of  ordinance, 535 

contradicted  by  Scriptural  constitu- 
tion of  church, 535 

contradicted  by  prerequisites  for  par- 
ticipation in  Lord's  Supper, 535 

in  Greek  church  has  led  to  infant 
communion, 535 

to  what  its  rise  is  due, 536 

Neander's  view  as  to  its  origin, 536 

"Teaching  of  Apostles"  knows 
nothing  of, 536 


Baptism,  infant,   reasoning   by  which 

supported  unsound  and  dangerous,  536 
supported   by  reasoning    which   as- 
sumes power  of  church  to  abro- 
gate or  modify  Christ's  commands,-  536 
supported    by  a    vicious   reasoning 

from  the  Abrahamic  covenant,  ...  53ft 
supported   by  a  vicious  assumption 
of  an  organic  union  between  child 

and  parent, 536 

lack  of  agreement  among   its  sup- 
porters, an  argument  against, 537 

its  decline, 537 

its  evil  effects, 537 

forestalls   the  voluntary  act  of  the 

child  baptized, 537 

injurious  as  inducing  confidence  in 

an  outward  rite, 538 

infant,  injurious  as  obscuring  import- 
ant Christian  truths, 538 

in  England  followed  as  a  matter  of 

course  by  confirmation, 538 

its  influence  in  Germany, 538 

as  an  obstacle  to  evangelical  preach- 
ing,...  538 

destroys  spirituality  of  the  church,  538- 
injurious    as    putting  in    place    of 
Christ's     command    a    command- 
ment of  men, 538 

Baptismal  Regeneration, .454,  531 

Alexander  Campbell,  his  views  of,...  532 

High  Church  views  of, 532 

Robertson,  F.  W.,  his  views  of, 532 

Baptist  and  Romanist  positions,  no  halt- 
ing place  between,  ". 538 

Baptist  apostolical  succession  unneces- 
sary,   532 

Baptist  denomination,  its  progress  in 
England  and  America  contrasted,..  552 

Baptist  theology, 25 

Baptisteries,  natural  and  artificial, 534 

Baptists,  English, 551 

the  views  of  a  portion  on  communion,  548 

Baptists,  FreeWill, 551 

their  views  on  communion, 548 

admit  the  unbaptized  to  communion 

but  not  to  membership, 552 

convention  of,  their  action  as  to  mem- 
bership of  Pedobaptists, 552 

Baptists,  High  Church,  their  anxieties 

and  efforts, 532 

Baptists,  their  unity  maintained  with- 
out episcopal  or  presbyterial  organ- 
ization,   509 

Baptize,  the  command  to,  a  command 

to  immerse, 522 

used  with  ev, 524 

used  with  ei?, 524 

never  used  in  passive  voice  with  "  wa- 
ter,"  524 

Baptized  members  of  Pedobaptist 
churches,  why  excluded  from  com- 
munion?...   552 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS.  > 


613 


Sara  in  Gen.  1 :  27, 28,  may  mean  medi- 
ate creation,  or  creation  by  law, 192 

Barbarism,      recovered      from      only 

through  outward  influences, 270 

probably  a  broken-down  civilization,  271 

Bardesanesof  Edessa, 189 

Baring--Gould,  theory  of  atonement,..  393 

Barnabas,  in  what  sense  an  apostle, 507 

Bartlett,  exposition  of  1  Pet.  3 : 18-20,  ..  386 
on  figurative  force  of  certain  Scrip- 
ture terms  relating  to  future  state 

of  the  wicked. 560 

Basilides,  quotes  from  John's  Gospel,..    75 

a  representative  of  dualism , 187 

his  view  of  the  person  of  Christ, 361 

his  followers  become  Docetae, 361 

Bastian  held  spontaneous  generation,..  191 
Baur's  theory  of  origin  of  Gospels, ...    .    77 

his  statement  of  his  theory, 78 

his  dates  of  the  gospels,  .-. 78 

his  theory  examined, 78 

his  method  would  render  history  im- 
possible,   --..  -    78 

he  exaggerates  apparent  differences 

in  gospels, --- 78 

his  theory  morally  anomalous, 78 

his  theory  fails  to  account  for  early 

acceptance  of  gospels, - 79 

his  admissions  fatal  to  his  theory, 79 

Baxter,  Richard, 25 

on  man  growing  as  a  tree, 485 

Beal  on  Buddhism  and  Nirvana, 87 

Beast,  blasphemy  of, --- 571 

Beautitudes  respect  dispositions,  - 285 

*'  Became  God  "  to  make  Christ  suffer, 

why?. 411 

Bee,  working,  its  origin  from  queen- 
bee  and  drone  inexplicable, 236 

an  example  of  unconscious  finality, ..    44 
Beecher,  Edward,  on   pree'xistence  of 

human  soul, 248 

his  view  of  baptism  as  purification, ..  529 
Beecher,  H.W.,  on  miracles  as  midwives 

of  great  moral  truths, 65 

his  definition  of  holiness, 128 

his  inaccurate  view  of   Christ's  hu- 
manity,  370 

on  "flesh"  in  John  1:14, 371 

on  punishment  ceasing  so  soon  as  it 

ceases  to  do  good, 594 

Beecher,  Lyman,  his  views  of  regene- 
ration,   452 

how  he  met  perfectionism, 490 

Begun  existence  must  have  a  cause,  ...    40 
Beings,  the  highest,  need  most  tending,  485 

Bel  and  the  Dragon, 60 

Believe,  how  to,  no  man  can  teach  an- 
other,   483 

Believers,  in  them  the  "  old  man  "  grad- 
ually dies. 484 

their  souls  at  death  enter  into  pres- 
ence of  Christ,  563 

spirits  of  departed,  are  with  God,  ....  563 


Believers,  at  death  enter  Paradise, 563 

state  after  death  preferable  to  present,  563 

departed,  alive  and  conscious, 563 

their  souls  after  death  at  rest  and 

blessed,  564 

Bellamy,  Joseph, 26 

how  related  to  New  School  theology,  318 

his  exercise  of  pastoral  authority, 511 

Bellarmine, -    25 

on  the  difference  between  "imago" 

and"simMitwdo," 266 

his  idea  of  original  righteousness, 266 

Benediction  founded  on  intercession,..  423 
Benedictions,  apostolic,  in  them  name 
of   Christ  associated  with   that   of 

Father  on  footing  of  equality, 148 

why  "  God  "  instead  of  "  Father  "  in,.  148 
Benevolence  and  love  distinguished,  . .  293 

Bengel,  his  faith  in  the  Bible, 105 

on  withholding   wine   from  laity  in 

Lord's  Supper, 540 

his  "continuous"   interpretation  of 

Revelation, 570 

Bentham  on  nature  of  virtue, 142 

Berber  language,  Semitic  in  vocabulary 

and  Aryan  in  grammar, 240 

Berkleyanism,  Edwards  inclined  to  26,206,318 
Berkeley,  on  the  universe,  God's  con- 
versation with  His  creatures, 217 

Berkeley's  idealism, 53,  55 

Bernard  on  impossibility  of  burning  out 

"  image  of  God  "  even  in  hell, 262 

Bersier  on  "  our  neighbor," 330 

Beryl  of  Arabia,  his  view  of  Trinity,. ..  158 

Bewusst sein  =  a  "  be-knowing," 35 

Beza,  Theodore, 24 

his  supralapsarianism, 426 

Bible,  set  aside  by  Roman  Church, 18 

the  work  of  one  mind, 84 

the  mind  that  made  it  made  the  soul,    85 
its  silence  on  many  questions  about 

which  human  writings  deal, 85 

its  infinite  depth  of  meaning  points 

to  a  divine  origin, 86 

"the  word  made  flesh," .,  103 

humanity  of,  a  proof  of  its  divinity, . .  103 
errors  in  secular  teachings  do  not  ex- 
ist in  it, 105 

its  aim, 105 

difficulties  in,  analogy  between  them 
and  the  disorder  and  mystery  in  na- 
ture,   105 

insoluble    difficulties   in   connection 

therewith  to  be  expected, 105 

difficulties  in,  many  removed  or  less- 
ened by  time,  .-. 105 

difficult  to  separate  between  its  his- 
toric and  scientific,  and  its  religious, 

credibility,   105 

explanation  of  seeming  scientific  er- 
rors in,  105 

permanent  difficulties  in,  have  a  moral 
intention,  ..  ..105 


614 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Bibla,  apparent  historical  errors  in, 
often  due  to  errors  in  transcrip- 
tion,  - 107 

its  various  readings,  their   number, 

value,  and  probable  origin, 107 

or  due  to  use  of  round  numbers, 107 

or  due  to  meagreness  of  narrative,  ..  107 
they  are  dissipated  by  increasing  his- 
torical and  archaeological  research,  108 

alleged  errors  in  morality, 108 

sources  of  such  allegations, ..108,  109 

alleged  errors  of  reasoning  in, 109 

alleged  errors  in  quoting  or  interpret- 
ing the  O.  T.,  - 110 

alleged  errors  in  prophecy, Ill 

certain  books  of,  said  to  be  unworthy 

of  place  in, Ill 

ground  of  this  statement, Ill,  112 

portions  of  its  books  alleged  to  be 
written  by  others  than  the  persons 

to  whom  ascribed, 112 

introduction  of  a  document  into  its 
historical  books  does  not  vouch  for 
statements  contained  in  documents,  113 
introduction  into  it  of  sceptical  or 

fictitious  narratives, 113 

defence  of  such  introductions, 113 

contains  illustrations,  from  human 
experience,  of  struggles  and  needs 

of  the  soul, 113 

contains  dramatic  statements  in  which 
are  words  of  Satan  and  wicked  men,  113 

its  variety  a  stimulus  to  inquiry, 113 

contains  disclaimers  of  inspiration,..  113 
misinterpretations  on  which  this  as- 
sertion rests, 113 

not  primarily  a  book  of  poetry, 157 

does  it  recognize   other  revelations 

among  the  heathen? 359 

speaks  little  of  things  not  of  immedi- 
ate practical  advantage, 387 

Bible  Commentary  on  the  symbolism 

of  the  tree  of  life, 302 

Biedermann, 25 

Binary  stars,  certain  prophetic  state- 
ments compared  to, 572 

Birds,  their  creation  on  fifth  day, 195 

their  ancestry, - 195 

they  are  sea-productions, 195 

Birks,  on  creation  from  eternity, 190 

on  the  design  of  provision  of  human 

body, 248 

on  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 

and  evil, 305 

on  imputatfo  metaphysica, 325 

on  original  sin  not  doing  away  with 
significance  of  our  personal  trans- 
gression,  348 

Birth,  no  knowledge  possessed  at, 30 

into   kingdom,    according    to   God's 

will, - 429 

Christ  in  his,  how  related  to  maternal 
body, - 361 


Bishop,  ordaining,  Episcopal  qualifica- 
tions of, 508 

'  Bishop,' '  presbyter,'  and  '  pastor '  des- 
ignate same  office  and  order, 509 

testimony  of  Jerome, 509 

Dexter's  argument  on, 509 

'  Bishop,'  the  word  indicates  duties  of 

the  pastor, 509 

Black,  on  what  constitutes  a  sufficient 

antiquity, 50& 

Blake,  William,  his  saying  to  Crabbe 

Robinson, 362 

Blanco  White,  Mozley  on, 294,  591 

Bledsoe's  denial  of  created  virtue  or 

vice, 26f> 

Blessedness,  what? 127 

and  glory  contrasted, 127 

Blind  man,  one  or  two, 10& 

Blunt  on  emanation, 189 

Boardman's  comparison  of  Trinity, 167 

Bodies,   new,   of    saints,    confined    to 

place,. 58ft 

Body,  called  by  Scholastics  "image  of 

God  significative" 26T 

first,  if  annihilated  and  a  second  cre- 
ated, these  bodies  though  informed 

by  same  spirit  not  the  same, 57& 

the  particles  of  one  human,  may  be- 
come incorporated  with  the  bodies 

of  many  others, 578 

human,  why  given  ? 24S 

immortality  of,  described  by  Egyp- 
tians,  ---  561 

not  essential  to  activity  and  conscious- 
ness,   564 

of  man,  honorable, 247 

same,  though  changed  annually, 579 

a  "flowing  organism," 579 

a  normal  part  of  man's  being,  at  once 

Scriptural  and  philosophical, 580 

Christ's   glorified,   Ebrard's  specula- 
tions on,  580 

spiritual,  as  evolved  by  will, 580 

Boehme,  Jacob,  on  the  infinity  of  God,  123 

on  intestinal  canal  a  result  of  the  fall,  268 

Boethius,  definition  of  personality,  122,  377 

"  Bond-servant  of  sin,"  what? 258- 

Book  may  be  called  by  name  of  chief 

author, 112 

Book  of  Mormon, 69 

of  Enoch,  its  date,. 80 

of  Judges,  its  silence  on  Mosaic  ritual 

explained,  81 

Books  of  O.  T.  quoted  by  Jesus, 9& 

of  N.  T.  acknowledged  in  second  cen- 
tury,   - 1 72 

Books  written  by  "  laws  of  spelling  and 

grammar?" 43 

Borgia,  Csesar, 292 

Bossuet, - 

his  description  of  heathendom, 292 

Boston,  Thomas, 2ft 

Bourdaloue,  anecdote  of, 484 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


615 


Bowne  on  "geographers  of  the  divine 

nature," 6 

on  "  ethical  trust  in  the  infinite," 34 

on  "  the  experience-philosophy," 35 

on  reason  as  never  asking  a  cause  for 

mere  being, 40 

on  the  possibility  of  an  odor  and  a 
flavor  constituting  the  yellow  color 

of  an  orange, - 54 

on  personality, 55 

his  phenomenalism  =  objective  ideal- 
ism,      55 

his  theory  differs  from  Berkeley's, ....    55 

his  conception  of  space, - 55 

on  finite  things  as  modes  of  infinite,.  132 

on  heredity, 251 

on  freedom, 259 

on  the  ground  of  an  event, 437 

Brace  on  the  effect  of  Christianity  on 

society, - 93 

Brahma,  that  of  which  all  things  are  a 

manifestation, 87 

Brahmanism,  pantheistic, 55 

its  date, - 87 

its  nature, - 87 

Bread  in  Lord's  Supper  expressive  of 

unity, - 542 

Bread  of  life,  transforms  me,  not  I  it,.  542 

Breckinridge,  R.  J., 26 

Brethren,  Plymouth,  their  doctrines,  ..  499 

Bretschneider, 24 

on  "image  of  God," 267 

Bride-catching  not  primeval, 270 

"  Brimstone  and  fire,"  Shedd  on, 596 

Brougham's   examination  of   Clarke's 

argument, - 48 

Brown,  Dr.  J.,  on  mystery  of  permission 

of  moral  evil, 181 

Browning,  Robert,  on  right, 129 

on  "God  the  perfect  poet," 197 

a  trichotomist, 247 

on  all  that  "mark  God's  verdict  in 

determinable  words,". 280 

his  expression  "  healing  in  God's  shad- 
ow," in  what  sense  true, 354 

Bruce  on  "redemption  by  sample," 406 

Bruch  and  Austin  on  rewards, 139 

Brute,  the,  has  no  personality, 121 

is  not  self-conscious, 235 

cannot  objectify  self , 235 

has  no  concepts, 235 

has  no  language,  .. 235 

forms  no  judgments, 235 

has  no  reasoning, 235 

association  of  ideas  typical  process  of 

brute  mind, 235 

has  no  general  ideas  or  intuitions, 235 

has  no  conscience, 235 

has  no  religious  nature,... 235 

has  no  self-determination, 235 

lives  wholly  in  present, 

wholly  submerged  in  nature, 235 

cannot  choose  between  motives, 235 


Brute,  the,  obeys  motives, 235 

Brutes,   from   immateriality   of   their 

minds,  their  immortality  argued,...  555- 
Bryennios'  date  for  "Teaching  of  the 

Twelve  Apostles," 536 

Buckle's  theory  of  history, 218 

Buddeus, 24 

his  definition  of  holiness  criticised, 

128,  12& 

Buddha,  his  date, 87 

meaning  of  the  name, 87 

a  reformer, 87 

compared  with  Christ, . . 87 

Buddhism,  its  nature, 87 

triad  of, 170 

essentially  pessimistic, 200- 

Buddhist  proverb  on  law, 281 

Bilchner,  a  materialist, 52 

"Buncombe," 10 

Bunker  Hill,  no  battle  there  at  all 107 

Bunsen   on   Asiatic   origin   of    North 

American  Indians, 239 

Bunyan,  John, 25 

on  words  but  "  holding  the  truth,". .    160 
his  story  of  Christian's  release  from 

his  burden, 405 

his  church,  its  history, 548 

Burgesse  on  imputation  of  sin  of  imme- 
diate ancestors, 336- 

on  the  transmissibility  of  original  sin 
and  non-transmissibility  of  personal 

excellence, 337 

Burial  of  food  and  weapons  with  the 
dead  proves  faith  in  spiritual  being 

and  future  state, 272 

Burke,  Edmund,  on  human  laws  as  only 

declaratory, 275 

Burke  on  the  number  of  human  races,.  241 

Burnet,  Gilbert, 26 

Burnt-offering,  its  character, 39ft 

Burton,  Prof.  E.  D..  on  the  Vedas  and 

creation, 185 

Burton  N.  S.,  on  law  and  divine  inter- 
vention, referred  to, 282 

on  union  with  Christ,  symbolized  in 

baptism,  528 

Bushnell  on  nature  and  the  supernat- 
ural,     14^ 

on  character  of  Christ,... 90 

on  righteousness  and  benevolence,...  116 

his  definition  of  holiness, 129 

verges  toward  Sabellianism, 158 

on  the  Logos, 162 

on  sacrifice,  replied  to, 397 

on  atonement, 400 

his  modification  of  his  views, 400 

on  Mat.  8  : 17, 402 

his  change  of  front  in  later  writings,  402 
his  view  of  character  of  child  in  char- 
acter of  parent  as  seed  in  capsule,..  536 

on  "  sensible  experiences," 53T 

his  enumeration  of  grounds  on  which 
infant  baptism  is  supported, 53T 


616 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Bushnell   denies  hereditary  guilt  yet 

maintains  hereditary  holiness, 537 

suggests  a  form  of  annihilationism, . .  589 

on  "  one  trial  better  than  many," 591 

Butler,  Bishop, 16 

quoted  on  reason, 16 

his  doctrine  of  conscience  helpful  to 

theology, 18 

on  probable  evidence,.-- 39 

discoverer    of    supremacy    of    con- 
science,      46 

on  possibility  of  a  priori  conjectures 
as  to  how  a  divine  revelation  may 

be  given, 60 

on  the  mystery  of  Christ's  satisfac- 
tion,   431 

believed  in  brute  immortality, 555 

Buttmann  on  avri, 391 

Byron  on  "  'Tis  something  better  not  to 

be," 300 

on   the   impossibility  of    exorcizing 
from   "the   unbounded   spirit  the 

quick  sense  of  its  own  sins," 587 

Byzantine  and  Italian  painters,   their 

dominant  ideas  in  portraying  Christ,  366 
Cabanis'   remark   that  brain   secretes 

thought  as  iiver  bile, 52 

Caesar,  the  unifier  of  the  Latin  West,  ..  360 
his  words  on  crossing  the  Rubicon,  ..  586 
•" Caged-eagle  theory"  of  man's  exist- 
ence,   390 

Caiaphas  inspired,  yet  unholy, 100 

Cain,  his  marriage, 339 

his  fear, 339 

•Calderwood,  his  illustration  of  the  office 

of  reason  by  the  "  blazed ' '  path, 16 

his  view  of  Clarke's  and  Gillespie's  ar- 
gument,   48 

on  ground  of  moral  obligation, 143 

his    inaccurate    definition    of    con- 
science,   355 

on  facts  only  pointing  to  termination 

of  physical  existence, 356 

•Calixtus,  and  his  analytic  method  in 

systematic  theology, 33,  24,  37 

Calling  logically  subsequent  to  Redemp- 
tion,    --. 426 

its  nature,  434 

effectual,  A.  A.  Hodge  on, 437 

•Call,  made  to  individuals, 429 

the  general  or  external, 434 

its  sincerity, - 435 

the  special,  or  efficacious, 435,  436 

€all  to  ministry,  candidate  should  be 

assured  of, 513 

of  candidate  for  ordination,  church 

should  be  assured  of , 513 

Cfclovius,  24 

his  definition  of  God, 39 

•Calvinism,  great  religious  movements 

have  originated  in, 181 

advocacy  of  civil  liberty  connected 
with, - 181 


Calvinistic  and  Arminian  views  of  the 

will,  approximation  of, 177 

Calvin,  John, .33,    34 

on  Satan  as  a  theologian, 20 

on  the  "  indelible  sense  of  divinity,".    30 

on  preservation, 307 

on  impiety  of  not  being  satisfied  with 
being  made  after  similitude  of  God,  361 

on  the  essence  of  sin, 393 

on  imputation  of  the  first  sin, 333 

an  Augustinian  and  realist, 339 

on  men    guilty  through   their   own 

fault, 346 

on  regeneration  coming  through  par- 
ticipation in  Christ, 438 

on  union  with  Christ, 447 

onl  Tim.5:17, 509 

on  withholding  wine  in  Lord's  Supper 

from  laity, 540 

how    he    differed    from   Luther  on 

Lord's  Supper, 546 

how  he  differed  from  Zwingle, 546 

his  motto, 569 

on  seeds  of  hell  in  the  hearts  of  the 

wicked, 587 

on  the  justice  of  punishing  everlast- 
ing sin  everlastingly, 596 

Cambridge  Platform,  inadequate, 516 

Campbell,  his  distinction  between  origin 

of  moral  and  physical  laws, 275 

on  two  regions  of  divine  self-mani- 
festation,   383 

on  atonement, 400 

his  view  of  atonement  examined, 402 

his  theory  of  atonement,  the  truth  in,  414 
Canaan,  his  children  visited  on  account 

of  his  sins, 338 

Cannibalism  not  primeval  according  to 

Lubbock, 270 

Canon,  what? 73 

doctrine  of, 72 

of  Marcion, 73 

Canus,  Melchior, 25 

Capacity  for  good  or  evil,  a  simple,  a  sin,  365 
Careless,  the,  are  to  be  awakened  by 

presentation  of  claims  of  God's  law,  483 
Carlstadt's  opinion  as  to  administration 

of  Lord's  Supper, 541 

Carl yle  on  "an  absentee  God," 204 

variations  in  his  teaching, 291 

Froude's  opinion  of, 391 

disgusted  with  his  heroes  before  biog- 
raphies finished, 297 

on  Coleridge, 486 

Carman,  A.  S.,  on   divine  knowledge 
caused  from  eternity  by  something 

in  time, 174 

on  Edwards'  view  of  continuous  cre- 
ation, ..-_---. 20") 

"Carnal  mind,"  its  meaning, 290 

Caro's  sarcasm, 56 

Carthage,  third  Council  of,  recognizes 
Hebrews, - 75 


! 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


617 


Carthage,  Synod  of,  condemns  Pelagius,  310 
Casket  (symbol)  must  be  heeded,  if  gem 
(truth  symbolized)  would  not  be  lost,  530 

Caste,  what? 

Christianity,  the  foe  of , -  -  501 

Casualism, --  212 

Casuistry,  often  unscriptural  in  its  dis- 
tinctions,   --  --  347 

Catacombs,  the, -    92 

character  of  the  excavations, 92 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica  on, 92 

many  paintings  in  them  of  late  date,.    92 
Northcote's  estimate  of  their  extent,    92 
DeMarchi's  estimate  of  their  extent..    92 
Rawlinson's  estimate  of  their  extent,    92 
bottles  of  eucharistic  wine  found  in,.    92 
Catechism,  Roman,  its  teaching  on  the 
gift  added  to  original  righteousness, 
originalis  justitice  donum  addidit,  ...  266 
Catechism,   Westminister    Assembly's, 

on  decrees,. 176 

on  infant  baptism, - 538 

Catullus  on  death, 557 

Causality,  its  law  defined, 40 

its  principle  does  not  require  neces- 
sarily a  first  cause,  41 

Causa  sui, 41 

Causation,  free,  in volves  acting  without 

means, -v---    62 

in  man's  will,  leads  him  to  see  more 
than  mere  antecedence  and  conse- 
quence in  external  phenomena,  —  273 
Cause  and   effect,  their   simultaneity, 

how  reconciled  with  idea  of  time, . .  437 
their  simultaneity,  Hazard  on,  ...  ...  437 

Cause,  equivalent  to  "  requisite," 23 

an  infinite,  cannot  be  inferred  from  a 

finite  universe, 41 

efficient,  gives  place  to  final,  .  -  - 63 

various  definitions  of, 450 

determines  the  indeterminate,   xxix,  450 

Causes,  Aristotle's  four, 23 

formal,  23 

material, 23 

efficient, 23 

final, 23 

Causes,  an  infinite  series  of,  does  not  re- 
quire a  beginning  or  a  cause  of  it- 
self,    41 

Celsus  on  the  impossibility  of  one  sys- 
tem of  religion  for  different  peo- 
ples,    93 

Ceremonial    rites,    imply    ceremonial 

qualifications,  551 

Certainty  not  necessity, 178 

Chalcedon  symbol  on  Mary  as  "  mother 

of  God," 362,  370 

its  date, 362,  363 

its  formula  with  a  single  exception 

negative,  363 

it  condemned  Eutychianism, ; 

promulgated  orthodox  doctrine, 363 

Chaldean  monarchy,  its  date, 107 

40 


Chalmers,  Thomas, - 26 

his  anthropological  method  in  theolo- 
gy,    27 

on  ground  of  moral  obligation, 143 

on2Peter,  3, 586 

Chamier, 24 

Chance,  in  what  sense  term  allowable,.  212 
in  what  sense  not  inconsistent  with 

providence, 212 

as  a  name  for  human  ignorance, 212 

as  absence  of  causal  connection, 212 

as  undesigning  cause, 212 

Janet  on, 212 

Chances,  not  of  equal  importance, 212 

Change,    orderly,   requires   intelligent 

cause, 42 

Channing,  on  Christ  as  more  than  hu- 
man,   -. -.- 368 

Character,    wholesomely    affected    by 

systematic  truth, 9 

changed,  rather  than   expressed,  by 

some  actions, 177 

what  it  is, 257,312 

how  a  man  can  change  his, 258 

Harris  on, 260 

what  a  man  will  grant  as  to  his  own,.  297 
extent  of  responsibility  for,  accord- 
ing to  Raymond, 317 

sinning  makes  for  itself  a, 591 

sinful,  renders  certain  continuance  in 

sinful  action, 591 

dependent  on  habit, 596 

Charles  the  Fifth,  illustration  of  humili- 
ation of  Christ  from  his  abdication,  383 

Charnock  on  the  divine  essence, 116 

on  will, 178 

Chastisement  distinguished  from  pun- 
ishment,   351,  418 

Chemnitz, 24 

on  human  nature  in  Christ,  377 

Cherubim,  their  significance, 224 

never  found  with  angels, 224 

at  the  gates  of  Eden, 308 

Child,  and  two  oranges, 18 

man,  though  a,  not  necessarily  a  bar- 
barian,    271 

unborn,  has  promise  and  potency  of 

spiritual  manhood, 357 

Children,  individuality  of,  how  best  ex- 
plained,   251 

of  Gehazi  and  others,  visited  with  sins 

of  their  fathers, 338 

Chiliasts  in  every  age  since  Christ  as- 
cended,   569 

Chillingworth's  maxim  inaccurate, 12 

Chillon,  Prisoner  of,  used  as  an  illustra- 
tion,  583 

Chinese  religion,  a  survival  of  the  pat- 

riarchical  family  worship, 86 

their  history,  its  commencement,...  107 
perhaps  left  primitive  abodes  while 

language  still  monosyllabic, 240 

proverb  quoted, 297 


618 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Chitty,  anecdote  of. 20 

Choice,  not  creation,  the  office  of  will,.  259 

what?  according  to  New  School, 283 

evil,  uniformity  of,  implies  tendency 

or  determination, 321 

of  individuals  to  salvation,  Scriptural 

statements  of, 438 

God's,  a  matter  of  grace  in  eternity 

past,  Scriptural  proof 8  of, 429 

God  has  reasons  for  his, 432 

Christ,  the  organ  of  external  revelation,     8 
his  person   and   character  historical 

realities, 89 

conception  of,  no  sources  open  to 
evangelists  whence  they  might  de- 
rive it, 89 

conception  of,  beyond  human  genius,    89 

character  of,  Bushnell  on, 90 

descriptions  of.  their  general  accept- 
ance a  proof  of  actual  existence,  ..    90 
if  his  person  and  character  real,  Chris- 
tianity a  revelation  from  G  od, 90 

Mill  on  his  life  and  sayings, 90 

his  testimony  to  himself, 91 

expressly  claims  equality  with  God, . .    91 

not  an  intentional  deceiver, 91 

not  self-deceived, 91 

revealer  of  God's  feelings, 128 

the  whole,  present  in  each  believer, . .  133 
his  divinity,  some  passages  once  re- 
lied on  as  proving,  now  given  up, ..  146 
Old  Testament  descriptions  are  ap- 
plied to  him, 146 

possesses  attributes  of  God, 147,  367 

undelegated  works  of  God  are  attribu- 
ted to,. - 147 

receives  honor  and  worship  due  only 

to  God, - 148 

his  name  associated  with  that  of  God 

on  footing  of  equality, 148 

equality  with  God,  expressly  claimed 

for  him, 149 

sitwnDeus,  nonbonus, 149 

proofs    of    his    divinity    in    certain 

phrases  applied  to  him, 149 

his  divinity  corroborated  by  Christian 

experience,  149,  368 

his  divinity  exhibited  in  hymns  and 

prayers  of  church, 150 

his  divinity,  passages  which  seem  in- 
consistent with,  how  to  be  regarded,  150 

the  perfect  "imageof  God," 162 

the  centrifugal  action  of  Deity, 163 

and  Spirit,  characteristic  differences 

of  their  work, 164 

his  Sonship  eternal, 164 

his  Sonship  unique, 164 

if  not  God,  cannot  reveal  God, 169 

the  orders  of  creation  to  be  united  in,  221 

his  human  soul,  Dorner  on, 251 

his  character  convicts  of  sin, 277 

he  is  both  the  ideal  and  the  way  to  the 
ideal, 279 


Christ,  not  law,  the  "perfect  image" 
of  God, 

his  holiness,  in  what  it  consisted, 

in  Gethesemane  felt  for  race, 

believers  not  in,  as  to  substance  of 
their  souls,  when  atonement  made,. 

the  life  of,  which  makes  us  Christians, 
the  same  which  died  and  rose  from 
the  grave, 

human  nature  in,  may  have  guilt 

without  depravity, 

Christ,  the  person  of,  doctrine  of, ... 

historical  survey  of  views  respecting, 

according  to  Ebionites,  as  distinct 
from  Jesus,  a  preexisting  hyposta- 
sis, 

a  "  moral  person"  according  to  Nesto- 
rius, , 

his  two  natures, 

the  reality  of  his  humanity, 

expressly  called  "a  man," 

his  royal  descent  proved  in  genealogy 
of  Matthew, 

the  son  of  Abraham  in  Matthew's 
genealogy, 

a  natural  descendant  of  David,  proved 
in  Luke's  genealogy, 

the  son  of  Adam  in  Luke's  genealogy, 

possessed  essential  elements  of  human 
nature, 

had  the  instincts  and  powers  of  a 
normal  and  developed  humanity,  .. 

subject  to  laws  of  human  develop- 
ment,   

in  twelfth  year  appears  to  enter  on 
consciousness  of  his  divine  Sonship, 

suffered  and  died, 

his  death,  according  to  Stroud,  from  a 
broken  heart, 

only ' '  seemed ' '  to  develop  his  human- 
ity, danger  of  such  an  explanation 
of  the  phenomena, 

said  by  Justin  Martyr  to  have  been  an 
apprentice  to  carpentry, 

lived  a  life  of  faith  and  prayer  under 
the  self -chosen  limitations  of  his  hu- 
miliation,   

dependent  as  we  are  on  Scripture, 
much  of  which  was  written  for  him, 

"the  prince  and  perf ecter  of  our  faith,' 
as  actually  exercising  it, 

the  integrity  of  his  humanity, 

his  humanity  not  merely  complete  but 
perfect, 

was  supernaturally  conceived, 

his  birth  "a  creative  act  of  God  break- 
ing through  the  chain  *of  human 
generation," 

his  birth,  light  thrown  on  it  by  science 
which  recognizes  many  methods  of 
propagation  even  in  same  species, .. 

free,  both  from  hereditary  depravity 
and  from  actual  sin, 


282 
294 
33£ 

340- 

340- 

346 

380- 
360- 


364 
364 
364 

364, 
364 

364 

364r 

364 


364 


364 
364 


364 
365- 


365 


365 

3(55 


IJO)EX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


619 


Christ,  his  freedom  from  an  evil  in- 
clination on  which  temptation  could 
lay  hold 365 

his  immaculate  conception, 365 

had  he  been  only  human  nature, would 
not  have  been  sinless, 365 

his  divine  life  appropriates  the  human,  365 

his  incarnation  corresponded  to  be- 
liever's regeneration,  365 

his  assumption  of  human  nature  of 
such  a  kind  that,  without  sin,  it  bore 
the  consequences  of  sin, —  365 

if  pure  from  sin  and  tendency  to  sin, 
how  open  to  temptation? 365 

tempted  as  Adam  was, 365 

not  omniscient  in  temptation, 365 

had  keenest  susceptibility  to  innocent 
desire, 365 

and  to  fear, 366 

in  and  after  his  scenes  of  temptation 
never  prays  for  forgiveness, 366 

possessed  ideal  human  nature, 366 

had  no  perfection  of  physical  form,..  366 

took  our  average  humanity, 366 

sometimes  appearing  prematurely 
aged, 366 

sometimes  revealing  an  attractive  and 
awful  grace, 366 

perhaps  illustrating  at  different  times 
the  ideas  of  the  Byzantine  and  of  the 
Italian  painters, 366 

the  spirituality  of  his  human  nature 
perfect, 366 

united  in  himself  the  excellencies  of 
every  temperament,  nationality,and 
character, 366 

passively  innocent  yet  positively  holy,  366 

so  loveable  that  "love  can  never  love 
too  much," 360 

his  nature  the  basis  of  ethics  and  the- 
ology,   366 

his  nature  not  a  natural  but  a  miracu- 
lous product,  366 

his  human  nature  impersonal  prior  to 
its  union  with  the  divine  nature, ...  366 

finds  its  personality  in  union  with  the 
divine  nature, 366 

had  no  consciousness  or  will  apart 
from  personality  of  the  Logos, 366 

was  not  taken  into  union  by  the  divine 
nature  as  an  already  developed  per- 
son,   367 

not  two  persons  in,  a  human  person 
andadivine,  367 

his  human  nature  capable  of  self-com- 
munication,   367 

makes  him  spiritual  head  of  a  new 
race,  367 

makes  him  a  vine-man, 367 

this  new  race  propagated  after  analo- 
gy of  old,  367 

this  new  relationship  to  be  preferred 
to  old  natural  ancestry, 367 


Christ,  his  deity  in  relation  to  his  earth- 
ly ministry,  367 

instances  in  which  he  possessed  a  con- 
sciousness of  deity, 367 

instances  in  which  he  exercised  divine 
attributes  and  prerogatives, 367 

there  were  in  him  a  knowledge  and  a 
power  which  belong  only  to  God, . .  368 

the  exhibitions  of  deity  in  his  human 
life  have  elicited  testimonies  that  he 
was  more  than  man, 368 

his  deity  recognized  by  Christian  ex- 
perience,   368 

has  elevated  the  conception  of  child- 
hood and  womanhood  and  of  human 
life  in  general, 368 

his  humanity,  neglect  of  the  fact  of, 
has  led  to  the  acceptance  of  such 
substitutes  as  mariolatry,  saint-in- 
vocation, and  the  "real-presence"  368 
Christ,  union  of  two  natures  in  one 
person, 368 

possesses  a  perfect  divine  and  a 
perfect  human  nature, 368 

the  two  natures  in,  united  by  a  bond 
unique  and  inscrutable, 368 

though  possessed  of  two  natures,  is  a 
single  undivided  personality, 368 

possessed  of  a  single  consciousness 
and  will, 368 

uniformly  speaks  of  himself,  and  is 
spoken  of,  as  a  single  person, 368 

attributes  of  both  his  natures  inter- 
changably  ascribed  to  one  person,..  369 

infinite  value  of  his  atonement  and 
of  the  union  of  race  with  God  in 
him  founded  on  union  of  two  na- 
tures in  one  personality, 369 

his  undivided  personality  recognized 
by  universal  Christian  consciousness,  369 

in  him  neither  contraction  of  divini- 
ty or  humanity,  370 

Lutheran  doctrine  of  a  communion 
of  natures  in, 370 

modern  misrepresentations  of  the 
union  of  the  natures  in, 370 

his  humanity  not  a  contracted  and 
metamorphosed  Deity, 370 

his  humanity,  Gess's  view, 370 

his  humanity,  Hofmann's  view, 370 

his  humanity,  Ebrard's  view, 370 

his  humanity,  Beecher's  view, 370 

substance  of  God  cannot  be  in  Christ 
without  correlative  attributes, 371 

doctrine  that  his  humanity  is  a  meta- 
morphosed Deity  leads  to  panthe- 
ism,  371,372 

theory  that  his  humanity  is  but  met- 
amorphosed Deity  destructive  of 
Scriptural  scheme  of  salvation, 372 

theory  that  the  union  between  his  di- 
vine and  human  natures  is  not  com- 
pleted in  the  incarnating  act, 372 


620 


IXDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Christ,  his  human  consciousness  med- 
iating1 between  divine  and  human,  373 
Dorner's  view  of  the  union  of  the  di- 
vine and  human  in  him, 373 

Rothe's  view  of  the  union  of  the  di- 
vine and  human  in  him,  .. 373 

union  between  his  divine  and  human 
natures  gradual,  objections  to  the- 
ory that, .-- 373 

natures  in,  theory  of  the  gradual  in- 
tercommunication of,  Nestorian- 

ism,  ... 374 

union  of  natures  in,  Thomasius  on 

Dorner's  view  of, 374 

natures  in,  theory  of  gradual  inter- 
communication of,  a  merging  of 

persons  rather  than  natures, 374 

personality,  double,  never  hinted  at 

in  his  language, - 374 

the  real  nature  of  this  union, 374 

union  of  natures  in  his  person  the 

crowning  Christian  mystery, 374 

person  of,  chief  problems  in  regard  to,  375 
union  of  natures  in  him,  why  mys- 
terious? .-.- 375 

illustrations  of  union  of  natures  in 

him  imperfect,  375 

person  of,  a  unique  fact, - 375 

union  of  natures  in  him,  how  possi- 
ble,  375 

union  of  natures  set  forth  typically 

in  marriage, - - 376 

how  both  Creator  and  creature  ? 376  j 

union  of  natures  in,  does  not  involve 

a  double  personality, 376 

consciousness  and  will  both  single  in 

him, - 376 

consciousness  and  will  both  thean- 

thropic  in  him, 376 

divine  nature,  its  attributes  imparted 

to  human  nature  in  him, 377 

Spirit  mediates  communication  of  di- 
vine to  human  nature  in  his  humil- 
iation,  377 

Kahnison  human  nature  in, 377 

Philippi  on  human  nature  in, 377 

in  his  humiliation  subject  to  Spirit,  . .  378 

Servant  of  Jehovah, 378 

"  Lord  of  the  Spirit "  in  his  exaltation,  378 
divine  nature,  effect  upon  it  of  union 

of  natures, 378 

natures,  the,  derivatively  possessed  of 

their  mutual  attributes, 378 

union  of  Deity  and  humanity  in,  il- 
lustrated by  union  of  soul  and  body,  378 
natures,  necessity  of  union  of,  in  him,  378 

union  of  natures  in  him  eternal, 379 

Christ,  the  two  states  of, 380 

humiliation,  his  state  of, 380 

no  co-existence  of  two  souls  in, 381 

his  humiliation  consisted  in  surrender 
of  independent  exercise  of  divine 
attributes, 382 


Christ,  submission  of,  to  laws  which 
regulate  origin  of  souls  from  a  pre- 
existing sinful  stock, 383 

reached  consciousness  of  Sonship  at 

twelve  years  old, 383 

his  subordination  to  control  of  Holy 

Spirit, 383 

omnipresence  a  key  to  understanding 

of  his  humiliation, 383 

whole,  present  in  every  believer, 383 

would  he  have  become  man,  had  there 

been  no  sin? 384 

exaltation,  his  state  of , 384 

his  body  not  necessarily  subject  to 

death, 385 

his  resurrection  a  natural  necessity, . .  385 
his  descent  into  hell,  Calvin's  view,  ..  385 
his  presence  with  his  people  discussed,  386 

his  human  soul  ubiquitous, 387 

his  offices, 387 

Christ,  the  prophetic  office  of , 388 

his  teaching  as  preincarnate  Logos, ..  388 
in  his  earthly  ministry  like  and  unlike 

O.  T.  prophets, 389 

his  activity  prophetic  since  ascension,  389 
his  revelation  of  the  Father  in  glory, 

prophetic, 389 

Christ,  the  priestly  office  of, 390 

his  sacrificial  work,  or  work  of  atone- 
ment,   390 

as  a  martyr, 399 

his  death  set  forth  both  in  Baptism 

and  Lord's  Supper, 400 

the  great  Penitent, 400 

his  sufferings  propitiatory  and  penal,  401 
his  sacrifice  propitiates  human  con- 
science,    401 

his  work  and  that  of  the  Spirit, 402 

his   obedience,   active   and    passive, 

needed  in  salvation, 409 

his  union  with  humanity  involves  ob- 
ligation to  suffer  for  men, 412 

in  womb  of  Virgin  purged  from  de- 
pravity,   ..  412 

by  his  birth  exposed  to  guilt  and  pen- 
alty,    412 

his  guilt,  what? 412 

his  complicity  in  sin  of  race  but  a  sub- 
jective ground  for  laying  on  him  sin 

of  all, 413 

his    identification     with    humanity, 

views  of, : 413 

his  humanity  not  pre-natal, 413 

not  responsible  for  sins  of  men  merely 
as  upholder  and  life  of  all  and  spirit- 
ually one  with  believer, 413 

"a  sinner  in  Adam," 413 

not  constructive,  but  natural  heir  of 

guilt  of  the  race, 413 

substance  of  his  being  derived  by  nat- 
ural generation  from  Adam, 413 

in  Adam  just  as  we  are, 413 

has  same  race-responsibilities  as  we,.  4 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Christ,  priestly  office  of,  took  not  sin, 

but  its  consequences, 413 

his  obligation  to  suffer, 413 

his  sufferings,  their  justice,  imperfect 

illustrations  of, 413 

bore  an  imparted,  as  well  as  an  impu- 
ted, guilt, 414 

his  longing  to  suffer, ."...  414 

his  suiferings,  their  inevitableness,...  414 
suffered    as  the  only   healthy  mem- 
ber of  the  race, 414 

his  whole  life  propitiatory, 415 

inherited  penalty, 415 

inherited  guilt, 415 

his  circumcision,  its  import, 415 

his  ritual  purification,  its  import, 415 

his  legal  redemption,  its  import, 415 

his  baptism,  its  import, 415 

till  resurrection,  under  race-guilt, . . .  416 
his  atonement,  its  retroactive  influ- 
ence on  his  humanity, 416 

his  cross,  where   his  guilt   was  first 

purged, 416 

satisfaction  penal  not  pecuniary, 418 

his   propitiation    real,  though  judge 

and  sacrifice  are  one, -. 419 

his  satisfaction  not  rendered  to  a  part 

of  the  Godhead, 419 

responsible  because  organically  one 

with  humanity, 419 

his  sacrifice  does  not  extend  to  angels,  419 
his  sufferings  may  have  included  re- 
morse,   420 

his  sufferings  though  finite  in  time  are 

infinite  satisfaction, 420 

his  sufferings  equivalent  but  not  iden- 
tical with  those  due  by  sinner, 420 

extent  of  his  atonement, 421 

Savior  of  all,  in  what  sense, 421 

how  specially  the  Savior  of  those  who 

believe, 422 

his  priesthood  continues  forever, 422 

his  priesthood,  work  of  intercession,.  422 

his  intercession,  nature  of, 422 

his  intercession,  objects  of, 423 

his  general  intercession, 423 

his  special  intercession, 423 

his  intercession,  its  relation  to  that  of 

Holy  Spirit, 423 

his  intercession,  relation  of,  to  that  of 

saints, 424 

Christ,  the  kingly  office  of, 424 

his  kingship  respects  the  universe, ...  424 
his   kingship    respects    his    militant 

church, 424 

his  kingship  respects  his  church  tri- 
umphant,   425 

must  be  our  king  as  well  as  our  proph- 
et and  priest, 425 

on  throne,  an  important  subject  of 

meditation, 425 

Christ,  union  with,  reasons  for  neglect 
of  doctrine, ..  438 


Christ,  union   with,   Scriptural  repre- 
sentations of, 438 

"in  him,"  its  meaning, 440 

union  with,  its  nature, 441 

may  be  banished  to  remotest  room  of 
believer's  soul,  but  still  its  inhabit- 
ant,  443 

his  union  with  race  secures  objective 

reconciliation, 444 

his  union  with  believer  secures  sub- 
jective reconciliation, 444 

ascended,     communicates     life     to 

church,  446 

may  be  received  by  those  who  have 
not  heard  of  his  manifestation  in 

the  flesh, 468 

his   sufferings   ground   of    acquittal 

from  penalty  of  law, 476 

his   obedience,  ground  of  rewards,..  476 
union  with,  secures  his  life  as  domi- 
nant principle  in  believer, 478 

his  life  in  believer  gradually  extir- 
pates depravity, 478 

we  in,  =  justification, 479 

in  us  =  sanctification, 479 

his  work  for  us  and  in  us, 483 

becomes  a  new  object  of  attention  to 

the  believer, _.  486 

union  with,  secures  impartation  of 

Christ's  Spirit  to  believer, 487 

command  of,  cannot  be  modified  or 

dispensed  with  by  church , 526 

submitted  to  Mosaic  rites  appointed 

for  sinners, 529 

God's     judicial     activity     exercised 

through  him, 583 

his  human  body  confined  to  place,  . . .  585 
his  human  soul  not  confined  to  place,  586 
Christendom,  its  forward-looking  spirit 

owed  to  Scriptures, 85 

Christian,  his  experience   in   Pilgrim's 

Progress, . 232 

abandons  self, 294 

has  broken  through  race-connection,  354 

is  chastised,  but  never  punished, 354 

makes  progressive  conquest  of  sin- 
fulness  of  his  nature, 484 

Christianity,  in  what  sense  a  supple- 
mentary dispensation, J  5 

its  triumph  over  paganism  the  won- 
der of  history, 91 

obstacles  to  its  progress, 92 

the   natural   insufficiency   of  means 

used  to  secure  its  progress, 92 

influence  on  civilization, 93 

influence  on  individuals, 93 

how  it  supplements  pantheism, 133 

circumstances  in  Roman  civilization 

favoring  its  spread, 360 

Japanese  objection  to  its  doctrine  of 

brotherhood, 501 

Christological  method  of  theology, 27 

Christology, 358 


622 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Chronicles  incorporates  different  docu- 
ments,  113 

Chronology,  Hebrew, 106 

Septuagint, 106 

of  the  fathers, 106 

Usher's, 106 

Hales's, 106 

Chrysostom,  on  men  casting  themselves 

into  hell, --  587 

Church,  its  effectiveness  dependent  on 

correct  doctrine, 10 

unwritten  truth  before  it, 18 

was  it  before  Bible, 18 

prefigured, 68 

polity  and  ordinances,  their  design, ...  280 

a  prophetic  institution, 389 

of  England,  its  views  of  relation  of 

regeneration  and  baptism, 454 

doctrine  of  the, 494-553 

constitution  of  the,  or  church  polity, 

494-519 

its  largest  signification , 494 

and  kingdom,  distinction  between,...  494 
visible  and  invisible,  distinction  be- 
tween,  494 

invisible,     distinguished     from    the 

individual  church, 494 

the  individual,  defined, 495 

laws  of  Christ  as  to,  summarized, 495 

its  derivation, 495 

the  term  sometimes  applied  in  a  loose 

sense, 495 

designating  a  popular  assembly, 495 

used  in  a  generic  or  collective  sense,.  495 
local,  always  of  a  number  that  could 

assemble  in  one  place, 496 

of  New  York,  the  Baptist,  in  what 

sense  used, 496 

of  divine  appointment, 49g 

its  cecumenical-local  sense, 496 

local,  a  microcosm, 496 

a  voluntary  society, 497 

membership    in,  not   hereditary    or 

compulsory, 497 

an  outgrowth  of  regeneration, 497 

involuntary,  an  absurdity, 497 

union  with,  follows  soul's  spiritual 

union  with  Christ, 497 

Dorner  on  doctrine  of,  - 497 

organization  of, 497 

its  informal  organization, 497 

its  formal  organization, 497 

f  ormally  organized  in  New  Testament,  497 
progress  in  its  development  indicated 

by  names  given  to  Christians, 498 

not  an  exclusively  spiritual  body, 498 

theory    of    Friends    and    Plymouth 

Brethren  regarding, • 

its  organization  not  a  matter  of  expe- 
diency,  499 

organization,  the,  in  existence  before 
close  of  Canon,  binding  as  an  ex- 
ample,  


Church,  absurdity  of  moulding  its  order 
to  suit  countries  in  which  estab- 
lished,   500 

nature  of  its  organization, 500 

members  of  the  local,  must  first  be 

members  of  the  universal, 500 

its  members  regenerate  persons, 500 

recognizes  Christ  as  only  law-giver,..  500 
its  members  on  footing  of  equality,..  500 
no  jurisdiction  of  one  over  another,..  501 

independent  of  civil  power, 501 

the  local,  its  sole  object, 501 

the  local,  methods  of  promoting  its 

object, 501 

the  local,  united  worship  a  duty  of,..  501 
the  local,  mutual  watch-care  and  ex- 
hortation, a  duty  of ,  501 

the  local,  common  labours  for  recla- 
mation of  impenitent, 501 

its  law  the  will  of  Christ, 501 

qualifications  for  its  membership, 501 

duties  of  its  members, 501 

its  genesis, 502 

existed  in  germ  before  Pentecost, 502 

provision  for  offices  in,  made  as  exi- 
gencies arose, 502 

Paul's  teaching  with  regard  to,  pro- 
gressive,  502 

how  far  synagogue  was  model  of, 503 

a,  how  constituted, 503 

at  formation  of  a,  a  council  import- 
ant but  not  essential, 503 

its  government, 503 

its  government,  as  regards  source,  an 

absolute  monarchy, 504 

its  government,  as  regards  interpre- 
tation and  execution  of  Christ's  will, 

an  absolute  democracy, 504 

Free,  of  Scotland,  a  principle  in  its 

secession  from  Establishment, 504 

proof  that  its  government  is  demo- 
cratic, or  congregational, 504 

its  duty  to  preserve  unity  of  action,..  504 
to  seek  to  secure  unanimity  by  moral 

suasion, 504 

wilful  and  obstinate  opposition  to  its 

decisions,  schism, 504 

government  proceeds  upon  supposi- 
tion that  Christ  dwells  in  all  be- 
lievers,   504 

responsible  as  a  whole  for  pure  doc- 
trine and  practice,. 505 

ordinances   committed  to  whole,  to 

guard, 505 

the  whole,  elects  its  officers, 505 

the  whole,  exercises  discipline, 506 

educational   influence   of  devolving 

government  on  whole, 506 

pastor's  duty  to  develop  its  self-gov- 
ernment,  506 

government,  erroneous  views  of,  —  507 
the  Romanist,  or  world-church  theory 
of,..  507 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


623 


Church,  hierarchical  government   of, 
corrupting-  to  it  and  dishonoring-  to 

Christ, 307 

Protestant,  where  before  Luther? 508 

national-church  theorj"  of, 508 

national-church  theory  of,  invidious,  508 
a,  spiritual,  cannot  be  confined  to  geo- 
graphical lines, 508 

national-church  theory  of,  leads  to  a 

world-church  or  Romanism, 508 

Presbyterian  system  of,  authors  on,..  508 
independence  of,   not  given  up  till 

third  or  fourth  century, 508 

officers  of,  two, 509 

ordination  of  officers  in, 512 

local,  highest  authority  in  New  Testa- 
ment,   513 

discipline  of  the,  516 

local,  only  methods  of  exit  from, 516 

in  case  of  serious  internal  disagree- 
ments council  called  to  advise, 

should  not  be  ex-parte 519 

independence  requires  Christian  co- 
operation of  churches, 519 

listof  authoritiesongeneral  subjectof ,  519 

ordinances  of  the, 520-553 

oannot  modify  or  dispense  with  a 

command  of  Christ, 536 

-ocal,  not  a  legislative  but  executive 

body, 526 

not  above  Christ  and  Scripture, 526 

to  preserve  its  existence,  must  have 

control  of  its  membership, 533 

either  hereditary,  or  typified  by  Jew- 
ish people,  537 

the  true,  how  according  to  Romanists 

one  may  belong  to  the  soul  of, 545 

Churches,  Baptist,  their  essential  prin- 
ciples,  495 

theory  of  provincial  or  national, 508 

of  New  Testament,  held  intercourse 

as  independent  bodies, 508 

relation  to  one  another, 517 

equal  fellowship  of, 517 

fraternal  and  cooperative  fellowship 

of, 517 

ought  to  consult  on  matters  affecting 

their  common  interests, 518 

.should  seek  advice  of  one  another,...  518 
should  take  advice  of  one  another,...  518 
their  independence  qualified  by  inter- 
dependence,   518 

regulated  in  their  intercourse  by  same 
law  which  regulates  individual  be- 
lievers,   518 

how  may  fellowship  between  be  brok- 
en?   518 

Cicero,  on  what  the  eye  sees, xxxi 

on  the  idea  of  God  as  innate, 30 

on  honestum  and  utile, 132 

on  the  gods  governing  the  world, 211 

on  the  gods  neglecting  little  things,.  213 
on  sin,  quoted, ..  297 


Cicero,  on  culpability  in  trifles, 306 

on  man's  dependence  on  God,.. 450 

a  saying  of  his  applicable  to  the  church 

invisible,  494 

could  only  conjecture  as  to  immor- 
tality,   557 

Circulatio, 161 

Circumcision  of  Christ,  its  import, 415 

Circumcision,  arguments  to  show  that 
its  law  and  that  of  Baptism  are  not 

the  same, 537 

Circumincessio,  161 

City,  heaven  why  represented  as  a, 585 

City  of  God,  earthly  adumbrations  of, .  585 

Civilization,  arts  of,  can  be  lost, 271 

hopefulness  of  modern,  derived  from 

Hebrew  prophecy, 359 

Civil  law,  power  of,  not  the  ground  of 

moral  obligation, 141 

regards  not  merely  act  but   motive 

or  intent, 285 

Clan-relationship,    an    illustration    of 

Christ's  relations  to  race, 414 

Clarke,  Samuel,  ontological  argument 

according  to, 47 

his  argument  would  prove  God  to  be 

matter, 48 

his  argument,  Calder  wood's  criticism  of  48 

his  argument,  weakness  of, 132 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obligation,  142 
Clarke,  Dorus,  on  saying  the  catechism,  10 
Claudius  Lysias,  letter  of,  not  correct 

in  its  statements, 113 

Clement  of  Rome  quotes  from  New  Tes- 
tament writings, 74 

his  epistle  not  a  letter  of  the  bishop, 

but  of  the  church, 518 

the  ground  on  which  he  denied  future 

punishment, 591 

Clementines,  pseudo,  their  views, 361 

Closet,  Christian's,  Trinity  present  in, ..  424 

Cobbe,  Frances  Power,  quoted, 43 

on  Schopenhauer, 200 

her  comparison  of  nature  to  a  strand- 
ed ship, 554 

Cocceius, 24 

founder  of  the  federal  theology, 322 

Coffin,  called    by  Egyptians  "  chest  of 

the  living," 561 

Cogito,  ergo  Dew  est, 34 

Cogito,  ergo  sum  =  cogito,  scilicet  sum, ...    31 
Cognition   of    finiteness,    dependence, 
etc.,  the  occasion  of  direct  cognition 

of  the  infinite,  absolute,  etc., 29 

Colby,  H.  F.,  on  terms  of  communion,.  551 

Coleridge  on  faith, 3 

on  first  truths, 30 

on  experience, 63 

on  children's  education, 301 

on  evil  antecedent  to  personal  trans- 
gression,   321 

on  church's  power  to  modify  an  ordi- 
nance,   ..  526 


624 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Collections  of  New  Testament  writings 

date  back  to  first  century, 72 

Columbus  and  the  pig-eons, 213 

Comets,  an  illustration  from, 589 

Coming,  second,  of  Christ, 566 

nature  of, 567 

objects  to  be  secured  at, 567 

to  be  like  his  departure, 567 

analogous  to  his  first, 567 

Christ,  how  visible  to  all  at  his, 568 

hoped  for  by  early  Christians  in  their 

life-time, 568 

time  of,  hidden  in  God's  counsels, 568 

prophecies  of,  expressed   in  a  large 

way, 568 

time  of,  not  known  to  apostles, 569 

time  of,  hidden  from  Christ  in  the 

flesh, 569 

time  of,  presumption  of  pretending 

to  know, 569 

parallel  between  first  and,.. 569 

patient  waiting  for,  disciplinary, 569 

precursors  of, 569 

a  general  prevalence  of  Christianity, 

a  precursor  of 569 

a  deep  and  wide-spread  development 

of  evil,  a  precursor  of, 570 

a  personal    antichrist,   a   precursor 

of, 510 

four  signs  of  its  near  approach, 571 

decay  of  Turkish  Empire  said  to  be 

sign  of, 571 

Pope's  loss  of  temporal  power  said  to 

be  sign  of, 571 

conversion  of  Jews  and  their  return 

to  Holy  Land,  said  to  be  sign  of,  ...  571 
Holy  Spirit  and  conversion  of  Gentiles 

said  to  be  a  sign  of,    571 

its  relation  to  millenium, 571 

millenium  prior  to, 571 

immediately  connected  with  a  gener- 
al resurection  and  judgment, 572 

no  thousand  years  between  it  and  the 
resurrection  of  wicked  and  general 

judgment, 572 

of  two  kinds, 574 

a  possible  reconciliation  of  pre-mil- 
lenarian  and  post-millenarian  the- 
ories of, 574 

is  the  preaching  which  is  to  precede  it 

to  individuals  or  nations? 574 

the  destiny  of  those  living  at, 575 

Comings  of   Christ,  partial  and  typi- 
cal,    566 

Command,  a  slight,  best  test  of  obedi- 
ence,   306 

Commenting,  its  progress, 18 

Commercial  analogies  of  atonement  in 

Scripture, 391 

Commercial  theory  of  atonement, 407 

Commission,  Christ's  final,  not  merely 

to  eleven, 505 

Committee  on  discipline,  its  function,.  517 


Common  law  of  the  church,  N.  T.  prece- 
dent, ....     546 

Communion  of  natures  in  Christ,  Luth- 
eran view  of ,  370 

Communion,  terms  of,  church's  duty  in 

relation  to, 546 

not  terms  of  salvation, 551 

H.F.Colby  on, 551 

a  man  may  be  a  Christian  and  yet  not 

entitled  to,    551 

terms  of,  open,  special  objections  to,  551 
open,  the  practice  of  but  an  insignifi- 
cant fragment  of  organized  Christi- 
anity,    551 

open,  assumes  an  unscriptural  ine- 
quality among  the  ordinances, 551 

open,  tends  to  do  away  with   bap- 
tism  551 

open,  tends  to  do  away  with  all  disci- 
pline,    551 

open,  tends  to  do  away  with  visible 

church,  552 

open,   the   unsatisfactoriness  of  the 
only  grounds  on  which  it  can  be 

justified, 553 

strict,  objections  to,  answered, 552 

strict,    a     hindrance     to     Christian 

union, 552 

strict,  its  alleged  inconsistency, 552 

strict,  its  alleged  impolicy, 552 

Communion  with  God,  final  state  of,  ..  585 

Compact  with  Satan, 230 

Complex  action,  a  part  of,  often  men- 
tioned for  its  whole, 531 

Complexity  marks  elevation  in  the  scale 

of  being, 116 

Comte,  his  theory  that  all  knowledge  is 

phenomenal, - 4 

his  phrase  "positive  philosophy," —      4 
his  worship  of  universal  humanity,..    46 

its  meaning, 292,293 

his  theory  of  progress, 271 

Conant  on  genealogies 106 

on  the  description  of  Eden, 106 

on  £a7i-Ti£io, -  522 

Concept  is  not  a  mental  image. 5 

Conception,  immaculate,  of  Christ,  —  365 

of  the  Virgin,  absurd, 365 

Concepts  in  theology  may  be  sufficient- 
ly defined  to  distinguish  them  from 

all  others, 

Concessions  of  opponents  to  Baptists,..  553 

Concupiscence,  what? 266 

Romanist  doctrine  of, 

Concurrence,  divine,  theory  of, 202,  206 

with  second  causes,  inscrutable, 207 

with  evil  actions,  its  limitations, 207 

Condemnation,  for  depravity, 325 

an  act  of  justice, 42? 

Condillac,  a  materialist, 52 

Conduct,  immoral,  a  ground  of  exclu- 
sion from  the  Lord's  Supper, 549 

"Confession,"  meaning, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


625 


Confession  not  sufficient  to  take  away 
sin, 402 

Romanist  doctrine  of, 463 

Confession,  Westminister,  on  results  of 

man's  fall, 344,  345 

"Confessions    of    a    Beautiful   Soul," 

Goethe's, 290 

Conflagration,  final,  Peter's  and  John's 

descriptions  reconciled, 572 

in  two  periods  according  to  Elliott,  . .  572 

Conflict  in  believer, 484 

Confucianism,  sketch  of, 86 

Confucian  morality,  what? 

Confucius,  his  contemporaries, 86 

left  religion  as  he  found  it, 86 

Ezra  Abbot  on, 87 

Congenitally  cruel  disposition  not  ad- 
mitted a  plea  for  murderer, 

Congregational,    government    of    the 

church  is  democratic  or,  proved, ...  504 

churches,  entrance  of   Unitarianism 

into,  attributed  to  infant  baptism, .  538 

Connate  ideas,  what? 30 

Conscience,  what? 

proves  personality  in  Law-gi  ver , 46 

speaks  not  in  indicative  but  impera- 
tive mood, 

atheist's  view  of, 46 

not  a  reflection  of  nature, 

its  witness  against  pantheism, 56 

its  thirst  in  man  assuaged  by  atone- 
ment,  141 

its  nature, 254 

not  a  faculty  but  a  mode, 254 

intellectual  element  in, 254 

emotional  element  in, 254 

discriminative, , 254 

impulsive, 254 

does  not  include  moral  intuition, 254 

does  not  include  accepted  law, 254 

does  not  include  remorse  or  approval,  255 

does  not  include  fear  or  hope, 255 

distinguished  from  moral  reason, 255 

distinguished  from  moral  sentiment,    255 
Calderwood 'sin accurate  definition  of,  255 

Whewell  inaccurate  regarding, 255 

not  law-book  or  sheriff  but  judge,....  255 

uniform  and  infallible, 255 

in  what  sense  capable  of  education,..  255 
this  view  of,  reconciles  the  intuitional 

and  empirical  theories, 256 

"weak," 256 

"branded"  or  "seared," 256 

"sprinkled  from  an  evil," 256 

when  echo  of  God's  voice  ? 256 

its  spontaneity  and  sovereignty, 256 

the  authority  of,  explained, 256 

a  witness  to  a  personal,  holy  God, ....  256 
as  primarily  cognitive  or  intuitional, 

listof  authorson, 256 

Hopkins  on, 256 

Peabody  on 257 

H.  B.  Smith  on,  ..  ..257 


Conscience,  sin  renders  it  less  sensitive, 

but  can  never  finally  silence  it, 347 

human,  needs  propitiation  of  Christ's 

sacrifice, 401 

absolute  liberty  of,  a  distinguishing 

tenet  of  Baptists, 501 

Consciousness,  Christian,  not  anorma 

normans, 15 

Christian,  a  norma  normata, 15 

defined, 35 

in  its  strict  sense  cannot  be  a  source 

of  the  idea  of  God, 35 

its  mature  deliverances  to  be  regarded 
rather  than  blind  stirrings  of  primi- 
tive pulp,  Bowne  on, 35 

called  forth  by  presence  of  non-ego,.    57 
the  ethico-religious,  its  alleged  func- 
tion in  Biblical  interpretation, 100 

brutes  possess, 121 

Consistency  am  ong  the  evangelists, 83 

Constantinople,  Synod  of,  condemned 
Origen's   view  of   preexistence  of 

soul, 248 

Council  of,  condemned  Apollinarian- 

ism, 362 

Council  of,  sanctioned  view  of  John 

of  Damascus, 377 

Constructive  consent  to  Adam's  sin, ...  323 

Consubstantiation, 545 

not  required  by  Scripture, 545 

contradicts  justification  by  faith, 545 

requires  a  sacerdotal  order, 545 

logically  tends  to  Romanism, 545 

changes  the  ordinance  to  one  of  mys- 
tery and  fear, 545 

Contents  of  the  intuition  of  God, ......    37 

Continuist,  or  continuous,  interpreta- 
tion of  Revelation,  68,  570 

Continuous  creation, 205 

objections  to, 205,206 

list  of  authors  on, 206 

Continuous     development     in     God's 

revelation,  instances  of, 60 

Contrary  choice,  Adam  possessed  the 

power  of, 264 

not  essential  to  will,. 312 

present  power  of,  its  limits, 317 

Contrition,  Romish  doctrine  of 463 

Controversies   as   to  person  of  Christ, 

their  results  to  the  church, 11 

how  conveniently  classified, 363 

Conversion  of  Roman  Empire  to  Chris- 
tianity,     91 

Conversion,  God's  act  on  the  will  in,...  436 
sudden,  Drummond  on  humaneness  of,  459 

defined, 460 

includes  repentance, 460 

includes  faith, 460 

human  side  of  regeneration, 460 

a  voluntary  activity, 460 

man's  powers  may  be  interpenetrated 
by  the  divine  so  as  to  make  him  truly 
free,...  ..  460 


626 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Conversion,  divine  and  human  activity 
in,  not  one  of  chronological  succes- 
sion,  460 

there  must  be  an  unconstrained  move- 
ment of  man's  own  will  in, 460 

as  really  man's  own  work  as  if  there 

were  no  divine  influence  upon  him,  461 
a  view  of  the  union  of  human  and 

divine  in, 461 

combination  of  human  and  divine  in, 

illustrations  of, 461 

a  subordinate  use  of  the  term, 461 

subsequent  to  first,  its  character, 461 

Convicted  sinner,  in  greatest  danger,..  483 
in  first  instance  not  to  be  directed  to 

performance  of  external  duties, . . .  483 
Conviction   of    sin,  ascribed   to   Holy 

Spirit, 151 

how  much  of  it  needed  to  secure  sal- 
vation?   464 

Conybeare  and  Howson  on  "bishop" 

and  "elder,"  in  N.  T., 509 

on  Rom.  6:4, 524 

Cook,  Joseph,  on  Trinity, 144 

on  variability  of  species, 243 

on  laws  of  nature  the  habits  of  God,.  275 

his  comparison  of  man  to  sea, 288 

Copy,  an  evidence  when  original  lost, ..    70 
Corinthians,  Second,  5 :  4,  exposition  of,  415 
Corruption,  moral,  so  settled  that  no 
power  to  do  good  remains,  meets 

with  deepest  disapprobation, 286 

Corruption  of  moral  nature,  what, 340 

Corrupt  nature  universal  among  men,.  290 

Cosmogonies,  unscientific, 106 

Biblical  and  heathen,  comparison  of, 

list  of  authors  on, 193 

Cosmological  argument,  stated, 40 

an  argument  from  change  in  nature,    40 

its  advocates, 40 

its  defects, 40 

cannot  show  that  the  substance  of  the 

universe  had  a  beginning, 40 

cannot  show  that  cause  of  universe 

may  not  be  within  itself, 40 

proves  only  force, - 40 

cannot  disprove  an  infinite  series  of 

dependent  causes, 41 

cannot  from  a  finite  universe  prove 

an  infinite  cause, 41 

merely  proves  existence  of  cause  of 

universe  indefinitely  great, 41 

requires  intuition  of  infinite  as  sup- 
plement,      41 

its  value, 41 

Couches,  immersion  of, 523 

Council  of  churches,  its  place  in  ordi- 
nation,    514 

has  no  authority  which  does  not  re- 
side in  the  constituent  churches, ...  526 
Council  of  ordination,  should  be  numer- 
ous and  impartially  constituted, 514 

presence  of  lay-delegates  in, 514 


Councils  did  not  claim  authority  till 

second  century, 508 

"Counsel,"  in  Eph.  1 : 11,  its  meaning,.  171 

Counterfeit  miracles, 66 

Covenant,  condemnation  by,  theory  of,  322 

what  Cocceius  meant  by  it, 323 

with  Adam  disproved, 324 

Covetousness,  what? 293 

Cranial  capacity  of  man  and  apes  com- 
pared,    237 

Crawford  on  Abel's  sacrifice, 396 

on  Bushnell's  view  of  atonement, 401 

Creare,  its  significance  in  dictator  conso- 
les creavit, 506 

Creatiauism,  its  advocates, 250 

proof  alleged, 250 

modified  by  mo'dern  Reformed  theol- 
ogians,   251 

reasons  for  its  untenableness, 250 

not  required  by  Scripture, 250 

strips  man  of  noblest  powers  of  prop- 
agation,    250 

does  not  explain  children's  likeness  to 

parents, 251 

unphysiological,  250 

makes  God  the  author  directly  or  in- 
directly of  moral  evil, 251 

Creatianists,  most  Reformed  and  Rom- 
an Catholic  theologians, 250 

hold  Trvevfj.0.  to  be  direct  creation  of 

God,  250 

trichotomists  usually  are, 250 

Creatian  theory  of  origin  of  soul, 250 

Creation,  attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  the  Spirit, 15T 

the  decree  of,  was  the  decree  of  its  re- 
sults,  174 

doctrine  of, .183-202 

definition  of, 183 

not  a  fashioning  of  pre-existing  ma- 
terial,  183 

not  an  emanation  from  substance  of 

deity,  183 

divine.as  the  origination  of  substance,  183 
not  necessary,  but  the  act  of  a  free 

will, 183 

an  act  of  the  triune  God, 183 

proof  of  doctrine  of, 184 

a  truth  of  Scripture, 184 

Scriptural  revelation  of,  adds  the  one 
fact  necessary  to  unity  and  rational- 
ity of  science,  184 

direct  Scriptural  statements  of 184 

"created   to   make"  (Gen.  2:3),   its 

meaning, 185 

without  preexisting  materials,  a  He- 
brew idea, 185 

Hebrew  can  best  of  all  ancient  lan- 
guages express  acts  of  God  in, 185 

absolute,  perhaps  known  only  to  He- 
brews,    185 

idea  of,  asserted  by  some  to  be  known 
to  other  religions  than  the  Hebrew,  185 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


627 


Creation,  Rig- Veda  on, 185 

described  in  a  papyrus  in  British  Mu- 
seum,   185 

in  heathen  systems,  authorities  on,  . .  185 
"out  of  nothing-,"  its  origin  as  a  phrase,  186 

indirect  Scriptural  evidence  for, 186 

theories  which  oppose, 186 

dualistic  conception  of, 186 

out  of  nothing,  no  more  inconceivable 

than  eternity  of  matter, 187 

from  eternity, 117, 190 

not  a  necessary  result  of  God's  om- 
nipotence,   190 

from  eternity  a  contradiction  in  terms,  190 
eternal,  not  required  by  God's  immu- 
tability,     190 

eternal,  not  required  by  God's  love,..  190 
eternal,  inconsistent  with  God's  free 

will, 190 

infinite  as  well  as  eternal,  required  to 

satisfy  God, 190 

continuous, 190 

brings  forth   something-   capable   of 

self-development, 192 

lays  foundation  for  cosmogony, 192 

Creation,  Mosaic  account  of, 191-195 

unites  ideas  of  creation  and  develop- 
ment,..   191 

recognizes  development, 192 

probably  describes  brute  and  human 
life  as  acts  of  absolute  origination,.  192 

not  allegorical  or  mythical, 193 

not  a  vision  gran  ted  to  Moses, 193 

probably  a  revelation  made  to  first 
man  and  handed  down  to  Moses' 

time, 193 

hyper-literal  interpretation  of , 193 

hyper-scientific  interpretation  of,  ...  193 
in  general,  not  precise,  accord  with 

geological  history, 194 

pictorial-summary   interpretation,  ..  194 

reduced  to  a  tentative  scheme, 194 

no  scheme  of  reconciling  it  with  geol- 
ogy, a  finality,  194 

Augustine  on, 194 

Dana  on  succession  in, 195 

list  of  authors  on, 195 

Creation,  God's  end  in, 195 

testimony  of  Scripture  as  to, 195 

testimony  of  reason  regarding, 196 

God's  glory  the  only  end  actually  at- 
tained in, 196 

does   not  increase,  but  reveals  the 

divine  glory, 197 

God  loves  preeminently  the  manifes- 
tation of  himself  in, 197 

Creation,  its  relation  to  other  doctrines,  198 

its  relation  to  the  holiness  of  God, 198 

its    relation   to  the  benevolence  of 

God,  198 

how  "  good,"  though   physical   and 

moral  evil  exist, 198 

not  perfect  even  at  first, ...        199 


Creation,  its  relation  to  the  wisdom  and 

free-will  of  God,. 199 

cannot  fully  express  the  perfections 

of  God, 199 

God  always  had  plan  of, 199 

God  has  chosen  best  possible  plan  in, .  199 
in  relation  to  providence  and  redemp- 
tion,  300 

its  logical  alternative,  pantheism, 200 

doctrine  of,  constitutes  an  antidote 
to  most  of  false  philosophy  of  the 

time, 201 

the  Sabbath  as  commemorating, 201 

Assyrian  accounts  of , 201 

Creation,  continuous, 205 

its  principal  advocates, 205 

objections  to, 205 

contradicts  our  intuitions  of  sub- 
stance and  causality, 205 

denies  existence  and  efficiency  of  sec- 
ond causes, 205 

involves  all  the  difficulties  of  idealism,  205 
impugns  the  divine  veracity,  love,  and 

holiness,  206 

renders  personal  identity  inexplic- 
able,  206 

intended  by  Edwards  as  a  solution  of 

problem  of  original  sin, 206,  318 

tends  to  pantheism, 206 

denies  nature, 206 

renders  everything— that  is,nothing— 

supernatural, 206 

Dorneron, 206 

Creation,  all  the  orders  of,  to  be  united 

in  Christ, 212 

of  man,  a  fact  of  Scripture, 234 

of  man,  method  of,  not  disclosed  in 

Scripture, 234 

of  man's  soul  determined  by  psychol- 
ogy to  be  immediate, 234 

of  man's  body,  method  of,  whether 
mediate  or  immediate,  not  revealed 

in  Scripture, 236 

of  man's  body  to  be  preferably  regard- 
ed as  immediate, 236 

Agassiz's  theory  of  different  centres 

of, 242 

theory  of  separate  centres  of,  science 

adverse  to, 242 

man's,  in  harmony  with  his  dichoto- 

mous  nature, - 243 

of  soul,  passages  adduced  to  prove  di- 
rect divine  agency  in,  can  be  as  well 
understood  on  theory  of  mediate 

agency,  250 

of  man,  the  lofty  conception  in  the 

Protestant  and  Augustinian  view, .  266 
second,  a  point  of  distinction  from 

first, 376 

body  in,  made  corruptible, 558 

soul  in,  made  incorruptible, 558 

Creatura, - 192 

Credibility  of  writers  of  Scripture,....    82 


628 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


Credibility  of   Old  Testament  follows 

from  credibility  of  New, 

Credo  quid  impossibile  est, 18 

"Creed,"  meaning- of, 22 

Creeds,  how  they  sprang  up, 10 

of  third  and  fourth  century,  their  na- 
ture,      11 

Cremer  on  ^VXTJ, 245 

On  avTa.\\ayfj.a,  _ I 

On  £a7TTi£a>, 523 

Cries  of  animals  called  by  Cartesians 

"creaking  of  the  machine," 53 

Crime  prevented  by  conviction  that  it 

deserves  punishment, 352 

Crimen  Icesce  majestatis, 409 

Crimes  of  passion  and  deliberation, 285 

Crippen    on    Athanasius'     view    that 

Christ's  death  was  due  to  God, 408 

Criticism  and  speculation,  period  of, ...    24 
Cromwell  restrained  from   sailing   to 

America,  213 

Crosby,  Dr.  Howard,  his  view  of  Christ's 

humiliation, 380 

his  interpretation  of  John  1 : 14, 380 

Cross,  at  it  Christ's  guilt  first  purged, ..  416 

Culpability  in  trifles  often  great, 306 

Gumming,  John,  a  continuist  interpret- 
er of  Revelation,  570 

Cumulative  arguments,illustrations  of,    39 
Cunningham,   on  man   as  active  and 

passive  in   regeneration, 455 

his  concessions  to  Baptists,  . 553 

Cur  Deus  Homo,  abridged, 408 

Curry  on  Irving's  views, 406 

"Curse,"  its  meaning  in  Gal.  3 : 13, 415 

Curse  on  fallen   man  did  not  involve 

cessation  of  existence, 559 

Curtis  on  open  communion  frustrating 

purpose  of  visible  church, 551 

Custom  due  to  commanding  will, 275 

Customs,  biutal,  many  of  them  result  of 

corruption, 270 

"immemorial,"  binding,. 546 

Cuvier,  his  clue  to  discovery, 43 

Cyprian  on  progress  to  Episcopacy, 508 

on  a  middle  state  of  purification, 565 

Cyrenius  and  his  enrollment, 108 

Cyril,  on  generation  of  the  Son, 165 

Cyrus,  mentioned  in  prophecy, 68 

on  the  soul  living  beyond  this  mortal 

body, 557 

Dabney  on  Arminianism, 315 

on  soul  defiled  by  imputation, 325 

Dale,  on  $a-mi$<a, 522 

on  /SaTTTto, 522 

Dale,  R.  W.,  his  illustrations  of  moral 

influence  theory, 401 

his  view  of  Christ's  identification  with 

humanity, 413 

Dalgairns  on  knowing  something  of  the 

unknowable,  5 

Dalton's  law  of  gases  to  an  extent  illus- 
trative of  inspiration, 103 


Damascus,  John  of,  on  divine  nature,  .  16T 
on  Trinity  as  midway  between  polythe- 
ism and  abstract  monotheism,  169 

compares  death  of  Christ  to  felling  of 

a  tree, 362 

on  the  person  of  Christ, 36* 

on  two  consciousnesses  and  two  wills 

in  Christ, 377 

Damask,  illustration  from, 43 

Damasus,  Pope, 90 

"Damn,"  its  present  usual  connotation 
imposed  on  it  by  the  impressions 
the  Scriptures  made  on  the  popular 

mind,  694 

"  Damnation,"  the  word  so  rendered  in 

ICor.  11:  29,  its  meaning, 540 

Dana  on  the  succession  in  the  Mosaic  ac- 
count of  creation, 19,> 

on  diminution  in  number  of  species 

as  we  rise  in  scale, 241 

Danger,  men  instinctively  cry  for  help 

in, 33 

Dannhauer,  24 

Dante  on  the  impossibility  of  God 
writing  his  infinity  on  universe,  ...  123 

on  the  creation  and  fall  of  angels, 221 

Darkness,  outer,  final  state  of  wicked 

in, 58T 

Darwin,  his  doctrine  of  heredity  helpful 

to    theology,  18 

on  the  cause  of  variation  being  largely 

within  the  organism, 237 

Darwinism,  a  partial  truth, 237 

a  reversion  to  savage  and  heathen 

views, 237 

if  true,  only  a  method  of  divine  intel- 
ligence and  supplemented  by  acts  of 

creation, 237 

Date  of  Luke, 74 

of  Matthew  and  Mark, 74 

of  the  Gospels,  according  to  Baur, ...    78 
Davidis,  Francis,  denies  prayer  to  Christ 

and  is  perpetually  imprisoned, 359 

David's  sin  of  pride,  all  Israel  punished 

for,   338 

Dawson  on  the  innate  power  of  expan- 
sion in  species, 243 

Day,  in  Gen.  1, 18 

its  meaning, 106, 193, 194 

cannot  be  rendered  definitely  and  in- 
definitely in  same  scheme  of  pro- 
phecy,   572 

Day,  Prof.,  on  inspiration,  quoted, 103 

Deacon,  a  bond  of  union  between  pas- 
tor and  people, 511 

Deacons,  best  elected   for  a  term  of 

years,  512 

their  duties, 511 

help  church  and  pastor, 512 

ordination  of, 515 

ordination  of,  requires  no  consulta- 
tion with  other  churches, 513 

Deaconess,  the  office  of, 512 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


629 


Dead,  preaching- to, 386 

no  instance  in  Scripture  of  a  prayer 

for  the, 592 

Dead,  Egyptian  Book  of  the, 561 

its  ideas  on  future  life, 561 

on  resurrection, 580 

on  judgment, ---  582 

*  'Deadly  sins,  seven,"  in  Roman  Catho- 
lic doctrine, 294 

Deaf-mutes,  their  experience, 103 

Death,  a  consequence  of  the  fall, 306 

physical,  a  consequence  to  Adam  of 

the  fall, 306 

spiritual,  a  consequence  to  Adam  of 

the  fall, 307 

spiritual,  in  what  it  consists,. .307,  354,  554 

physical,  its  nature, 352,  554 

a  penalty  of  sin,  proved  from  Scrip- 
ture,  352,  a53 

proved  from  reason, 353 

and  suffering,  their  universal  preva- 
lence only  explicable  as  a  judicial 
infliction  on  account  of  common 

sinfulness, 353 

among  animals  before  fall  on  account 

of  man's  sin, 353 

not  a  necessary  law  of  organized  be- 
ing, shown  in  translation  of  Enoch 
and  Elijah  and  of  saints  alive  at 

second  coming, - . 353 

to  the  saint  the  gateway  to  full  divine 

communion, 354 

spiritual,  its  nature, 354 

the  principal  part  of  the  penalty  of 

sin, 354 

denounced  in  the  garden, 354 

escaped  by  Christians, 355 

eternal,  the  culmination  of  spiritual 

death, 355 

initiated  by  a  peculiar  repellent  ener- 
gy of  divine  holiness, 355 

involves  positive  retribution  of  God 

on  body  and  soul, 355 

second,  in  Scripture  referred  to  our 

personal  guilt, 348 

second,  its  nature, 554,555,  574 

second,  final  state  of  wicked  called 

the,  587 

begins  here,  culminates  hereafter, 554 

physical,  to  believer  not  a  penalty,  ..  555 
physical,  its  relation  to  believer  and 

to  unbeliever, 555 

not  a  cessation  of  being, 555 

maintained  on  rational  grounds, 555 

metaphysical  argument  for, 555 

teleological  argument  for, 556 

ethical  argument  for, 556 

historical  argument  for, 557 

theory  that  it  may  be  a  passage  into 
a  new  form  of  consciousness,  con- 
sidered,   556 

continuity  of  consciousness  after,  in- 
dicated in  many  Scriptures, 560 


Death,  not  a  cessation  of  being,  main- 
tained on  Scriptural  grounds, 558 

a  "sleep,"  what  it  implies, 560 

Jewish  belief  in  conscious  state  after,  561 

of  two  kinds, 574 

its  passionless  and  statuesque  tran- 

quility,  prophetic, 576 

Christian  in,  thinks  more  of  Christ  and 

his  cross  than  of  heaven, 586 

after,  God's  Spirit  withdrawn, 591 

Death  of  Christ,  set  forth  by  Baptism 

and  Lord's  Supper, 400 

of   Christ   continuous,  on  Romanist 

view  of  justification,.. 481 

Decree,  to  act,  not  the  act, 172 

permissive  in  case  of  evil, 172 

divine,  nota  cause, 176 

of  the  end  and  decree  of  means  com- 
bined,   178 

no  divine,  to  work    evil   desires  or 

choices  in  men, 179 

to  permit  sin,permissive  not  efficient,  179 
to  permit  sin,  no  more  difficulty  at- 
taches to,  than  to  actual  permission 

of  sin 179 

to  initate  a  system  in  which  evil  has 
a  place,  how  consistent  with  God's 

holiness,  180 

Decrees  of  God,  the, 171 

their  definition, 171 

are  but  one  plan, 171 

have  a  logical  relation, 171 

have  no  chronological  relation, 171 

not  the  result  of  deliberation, 171 

have  origin  in  a  free  will, 171 

not  a  necessary  divine  activity, 171 

relate  to  things  outside  of  God 171 

primarily  respect  acts  of  God  himself,  172 

not  addressed  to  creatures, 172 

coverall  human  acts, 172 

none  of  them  reads  "  you  shall  sin,"  .  172 
sinful  acts  of  men,  how  related  to,  ...  172 

proof  of  doctrine  of , 172 

doctrine  of,  proved  from  Scripture,..  172 

all  things  are  included  in, 172 

special  things  and  events  included  in,  172 

proved  from  reason, 173 

proved  from  divine  foreknowledge, .  173 

doctrine  of,  list  of  authors  on, 175 

proved  from  divine  wisdom, 175 

proved  from  divine  immutability,  . .  175 

proved  from  divine  benevolence, 175 

the  ground  of  thanks  to  God, 176 

objections  to  doctrine  of, 176 

not  inconsistent  with  man's  free  agen- 
cy,   176 

internal  to  divine  nature  and  there- 
fore   not    inconsistent   with    free 

agency,  176 

do  not  decree  efficiently  to  produce 

acts  of  the  creature, 177 

they  may  be  executed  by  man's  free 
causation,  . 177 


630 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Decrees  of  God,  consciousness  and  con- 
scious witness  that  they  do  not  com- 
pel the  free  will, 177 

do  not  remove  motive  for  exertion,..  178 
cannot    influence   action,  since   un- 
known at  time  of  action, 178 

and  fate  differ  in  what? 178 

as  connecting  means  and  ends,encour- 

age  exertion, 179 

harvest,  wealth,   salvation,  etc.,   de- 
creed in  use  of  suitable  means, 179 

do  not  make  God  the  author  of  sin,  . .  179 
make  God  the  author  of  free  beings 

who  are  authors  of  sin, 179 

practical  uses  of  the  doctrine, 181 

the  doctrine  of,  dear  to  the  matured 

mind  and  deep  experience, 181 

doctrine  of,  an  incentive  to  effort,  ...  181 

method  of  preaching, 181 

execution  of, i 183 

supralapsarian  order  of, 426 

order  of,  according  to  sublapsarians 

who  hold  limited  atonement, 427 

true  order  of, 427 

Deductive  inference,  what  ? 36 

Definition  of  theology, 1 

of  science, 1 

of  reason, 3 

of  the  term  God, 29 

of  holiness,  Wardlaw's, 128 

Defoe,  Daniel,  on  being  fed  more  by 

miracle  than  was  Elijah, 214 

Degeneration  of  races  often  as  marked 

as  their  development,  270 

illustrations  of , 270 

De  Ira  Del,  Lactantius, 1 

Deism, 204 

an  exaggeration  of  the  divine  trans- 
cendence,  204 

rests  on  a  false  analogy, 204 

a  system  of  anthropomorphism, 205 

saves  dignity  of  God  at  expense  of  his 

infinity, 205 

denies  all  providential  interference,  .  205 

tends  to  atheism, 205 

Deists,  principal, 204 

Deity,  indwelling,  heathen  on, 441 

Christ's,  considered  by  Nestorians  as 

impassible,   362 

Delitzsch  on  ^v^,  - 245 

on  personality  as  the  basis  of  the  im- 
age of  God,  265 

on  the  blush  of  shame, 345 

his  view  of  Christ's  humiliation, 380 

"  Delivering  to  Satan,"  what  involved 

in,   229 

Delphic  oracle, 67 

DeMarchi's  estimate  of  the  Catacombs,    92 

Democritus,  a  materialist, 52 

Demons,  casting  out  of,  attributed  to 

Holy  Spirit, 151 

possession  by, 228 

many  in  number, 228 


Demons,  Christ's  personal  intercourse 

with,  not  metaphorical, 229 

their  connection  with  idolatry, 229 

Denial  of  God's  existence  assumes  his 

existence, 33 

Denovan  on  work  of  the  Spirit, 164 

on  justification  by  law, 281 

on  Christ's  three-fold  office, 387 

on  Christ's  teaching, 388 

on  the  natural  heart, 453 

on  two-fold  aspect  of  justification,..  476 

on  faith  as  a  cheque, 478 

Depravity,  consequent  on  a  personal 
act  of  self-determination  in  a  time- 
less state  of  being,  theory  of,  objec- 
tions to, 249 

of  nature,  experienced  by  saints,  ex- 
amples of, 286 

of  nature  lying  beneath  consciousness 
a  matter  of  penitence  with  Chris- 
tian,    286 

Arminian  theory  of, 314 

theory  of  voluntarily  appropriated,  .  314 

New  School  theory  of , 318 

universal,  a  reason  for, 321 

Federal  theory  of, 322 

Augustinian  theory  of, 328 

Augustinian  theory  of,  its  history,  . .  328 
Natural  Headship  theory  of,  grounds 

of  its  superior  satisfactoriness, 330 

includes  lack  of  original  righteousness 
and  corruption  of  moral  nature,  ..:  340 

total,  its  explanation, 341 

subjective  pollution, 346 

of  will,  requires  special  divine  influ- 
ence,   431 

of  universal  humanity, 449 

Derivation  of  sapientia, 3 

of  "religion," 11 

of  "experience," 15 

of  "  mystic,' ' 17 

of  "symbol,"  22 

Descartes  teaches   doctrine   of  innate 

ideas,   30 

his  argument  for  existence  of  God 

both  a  priori  and  o  posteriori, 48 

his  argument,  in  what  sense  not  a 
branch  of  the  anthropological  argu- 
ment,    48 

on  origin  of  truth, 126 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,    142 

on  soul's  continuously  thinking, 566 

Descent,  Christ's,  into  underworld, 385 

into  Hades,  Christ's,  Luther's  view, ..  385 
into  Hades,  Christ's,  Dorner's  view, .  385 

Desert,  moral,  cannot  be  created, 265 

Design,  objections  to,  whence  arise, 43 

mistakes  regarding, 43 

not  so  much  known  as  believed  to 

be, 

Design  implies  designer,  an  identical 
proposition,  


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


631 


"  Desire,  wrong,  the  cause  of  sin  in  un- 
holy beings," 335 

Destruction,    eternal,    final   state    of 

wicked  an, 587 

Determinative  providence, 210 

Determination,  brutes  have, 132 

Determination  of  Canon,  in  what  sense 

work  of  Church, 72 

"  Determinatio  est  negatio," 6 

Determinism,  178 

theory  of, 259 

a  li  mited,  present  in  acts, -  259 

Determinists,  their  error,  .. 260 

"Deus  nescit  se  quid  est,  quia  non  est 

quid," 116 

Deuteronomy,  closing  chapter  added  by 

another  than  Moses, 113 

Development  of  Christ's  kingdom  not 

one  of  power  and  violence, 573 

Devil,  meaning  of  term, 227 

but  one, 228 

DeWette, 24 

his  publication  of  Luther's  letters,  . .    76 
Dexter  on  '  bishop,' '  elder,'  '  pastor,'. ..  509 
on  immersion,  a  new  thing  in  Eng- 
land in  1641, 525 

Dextra  Dei  ubique  est,  386 

Diabolm  nullus,  nullus  Redemptor, 232 

Diaconate  should  be  representative,  ...  512 

Diatessaron,  Tatian's, 75 

Diatoms,  their  beauty  inexplicable  on 

ground  of  "natural  selection," 236 

Dichotomous  theory  of  man, 243 

list  of  advocates  of , 244 

Dichotomy,  its  derivation, 243 

of  man's  nature,  testified  to  by  Scrip- 
ture and  consciousness, 243 

of  man's  nature,  supported  by  the  ac- 
count of  his  creation,  243 

held  by  Western  church, 247 

of  man,  as  defined  by  Anselm, 247 

Dickens,  Charles,  does  not  sufficiently 

recognize  heredity, 251 

Dick,  John, 26 

his  definition  of  holiness,  .- 128 

Dickson  on  <rap£, 291 

Dictation  theory,  what? 100 

its  doctrinal  connections, 100 

representatives  of  this  view, 100 

portion  of  truth  in, 101 

rests  on  a  partial  induction  of  facts,..  101 
at  variance  with  human  element  in 

Scripture, 101 

is  inconsistent  with  wise  economy  of 

means, 101 

sets  aside  need  of  eye  witnesses, 101 

contradicts  plan  of  God's  working  in 

the  soul, 101 

J>i€8  Irce,  the,  in  Goethe's  Faust, 346 

its  prayer  to  Jesus  quoted, 600 

Dignity,  plural  of, 152 

Dilemma  for  those  who  deny  Christ's 
resurrection, 66 


Diman  on  disproof  of  God,  disproof  of 

an  external  world, 4 

on  a  conception  of  God  as  the  ration- 
al explanation  of  the  universe, 39 

his  inference  from  "gravitation  "  ex- 
amined,    44 

on  conscience, 46 

his  view  of  the  anthropological  argu- 
ment,    47 

on  the  connection  of  matter  and  force    53 
on  present  dynamical  theory  of  na- 
ture more  in  harmony  with  Scrip- 
ture than  old  mechanical  theory,  . .  204 

on  science  in  history, 218 

on  sharing,  in  Christ,  the  one  omnipo- 
tent life  of  the  spiritual  uni- 
verse,   443 

Dimmesdale    in    Hawthorne's   Scarlet 

Letter,  referred  to, 346 

Dinah,      in      George      Eliot's     Adam 

Bede,  390 

Directive  providence, 210 

Disciples  or  Campbellites,  their  views 
of  relation  of  baptism  and  regener- 
ation,   454 

their  view  of  faith, 466 

their  views  of  baptism, 533 

Discipline,  of  two  sorts, 51  »j 

private  offences, 516 

public  offences, 516 

relation  of  pastor  to, 517 

pastor  organ  and  superintendent  of 

activity  of  church  in, 517 

Discrepancies  of  evangelists  only  dis- 
prove collusion, 82 

between  evangelical  narratives,  how 

they  arise, 82 

in  gospels,  compared  to  diversities  in 

stereoscopic  pictures, 83 

Bartlett's  illustration  of , 108 

Disobedience,  not  excused  by  forgetful- 
ness,  389 

"Disobedience"  often   substituted  in 

R.  V.  for  "unbelief"  of  A.  V. 467 

Disobedience  to  Christ's  commands,  a 
ground  of  exclusion  from  Lord's 

Supper, 549 

Dispositions,  predominate  in  lists  of 
"works  of  flesh"  and  "fruits  of 

Spirit," 385 

and  states,  regarded  as  virtuous  or  vi- 
cious by  mankind, 285 

evil,  the  stronger  they  are,  the  more 

they  are  condemned, 285 

evil,  condemned,though  not  traceable 

to  conscious  acts  of  individual, 285 

not  parts  of ,  but  effects  of ,  will, 288 

Disputed  books,  the  value  of  the  gener- 
al testimony  to  their  profitableness,  112 
Dissipation  of  energy,  modern  views  of, 

discredit  deism, 205 

Distinction  between  "Scripture"  and 
"Scriptures," 60 


632 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Distinctions  in  the  divine  nature  may 
furnish  conditions  of  consciousness 

from  eternity, 57 

Divine  will  not  ground  of  moral  obli- 
gation,   -  142 

Divorce  permitted  by  Moses, 108 

Docetas,  derivation  of  name, ..  361 

their  doctrines, 361 

their  fundamental  error,  the  inherent 

evil  of  matter, -.  361 

include  Patripassians  and  Sabellians,  361 

pantheistic, 361 

Docetism,  its  early  appearance  owing 
to  the  superhuman  impression  of 
himself  communicated  by  Christ,  . .  361 

Doctor  angelicus, .'. 53 

Doctor  suUilis, 23 

Doctrinal  sermon  recommended,  once  a 

month,   11 

one-third  of  it  should  be  devoted  to 

practical  application, 11 

Doctrine,    correct,    advantageous    to 

church, 10 

its  history  a  subordinate  source  of 

theology, - 17 

its  inexplicable  side, 18 

Documentary  evidence,  principles  of, 

as  applied  to  New  Testament, 69 

of  greater  weight  than  oral  testimony,    70 

Doddridge's  dream, 227 

Doederlein, 24 

Dogmatic  system  implied  in  revelation,      9 

Dogmatic  theology,  what  ? 22 

Dogmatism,  what? 

Dollinger  on  the  Baptists  being  unas- 
sailable from  Protestant  point  of 

view, 523 

Domine  quoiisquef     Calvin's  motto,  ...  569 

Donum  supernaturale,  what  ? 266 

Dorner  on  knowledge  of  God, 6 

on   space   and  time  as  earlier  than 

God, -. - 130 

his  account  of  Philo's  doctrine  of  Lo- 
gos,   - 154 

on  being  power  not  belonging  to  im- 
personality,   156 

on  a  Trinity  of  nature, 159 

on  divine  personality, 160 

on  intercommunion  between  persons 

Trinity, - 161 

on  jrpd?  in  John  1:1, 163 

on  impossibility  of  an  infinite  or  eter- 
nal creation,  .- 191 

on  creation  as  opposed  to  pantheism 

and  deism, 201 

on  creation  and  preservation, 202 

on  rest  of  God, 202 

on  "law  of  preservation," 203 

on  the  world  as  dependent, 203 

on  quietism, 219 

his  view  of  creatianism, 251 

is  his  view  of  the  natures  in  Christ 
pantheistic? 274 


Dorner  on  law  not  a  plastic  word, 282 

his  exposition  of  Pelagianism, 311 

on  race-responsibility, 313 

on  Arminianism, 316,  442 

on  Augustine's  view  of  men's  relation 

to  Adam, 329 

on  Ex.  20:5, 337 

his  idea  that  sin  against  Holy  Ghost  is 
confined  to  New  Testament  times, . .  350 

on  Arianism, 362 

on  the  origin  of  mariolatry,  saint-in- 
vocation and  transubstantiation,  . .  363 
on  Christ's  birth  as  illustrated  by  par- 
thenogenesis in  natural  science, 365 

on  Christ's  incarnation  corresponding 

to  believer's  regeneration, 365 

on  Mary,  the  saints,  and  transubstan- 
tiation, taking  place  of  Christ, 368 

on  three  ideas  in  incarnation, 370 

on   Gess's   view   of    the  person    of 

Christ, , 372 

his  view  of  the  union  of  the  divine 

and  human  in  Christ, 373 

on  marriage  as  a  type  of  humanity 

and  divinity  in  Christ, 376 

on  the  Son's  will  as  mediator, 379 

on  perpetuity  of  incarnation, 380 

on  origin  of  Apollinarianism, 381 

his  view  of  ubiquity  of  Christ's  human 

body,   386 

on  Mat.  20:28, 393 

on  modified  moral  influence  theory,..  402 

on  acceptilatio, 404 

on  Irving's  views, 406 

on  Christ's  entering  into  our  guilt-la- 
den life  as  one  belonging  to  it, 415 

on  men's  after-influence  (after  death), 
as  distinguished  from  Christ's  after- 
activity, 424 

on  intermediacy  of  Holy  Spirit, 437 

on  man's  causality  in  regeneration, ..  451 

on  God's  act  initiating  action, 461 

on  faith, 467 

on  Romanist  doctrine  of  justification,  481 

on  the  doctrine  of  the  church, 497 

on  Christ's  keeping  Supper  anew  with 

us,  542 

on  Romanist  view  of  Lord's  Supper,.  544 
on  cessation  of  reproduction  in  fu- 
ture,  554 

on  future  relations  of  spirit  and  na- 
ture,   554 

on  art  in  the  future  state, 554 

on  the  character  of  thought  in  the  in- 
termediate state, 566 

on  probation  ending  at  judgment,  ...  566 
his  view  of  Christ's  second  coming,..  574 
on  the  absence  of  naked  spiritualism 

in  New  Testament, 577 

his  view  of  identity  in  the  resurrec- 
tion,  579 

on  the  idea  of  judgment  as  involved 
in  Christianity, 


I 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


633 


Dorner  on   soul's   freedom  in  heaven 

founded  on  love-energy, 586 

on  character  of  matter  in  new  crea- 
tion,  586 

on    dissolution   of  sinful   soul  into 

nothing,  - 589 

on  punishment  as  something   more 

than  a  means  of  amendment, 597 

Dort,  Canons  of , 324 

Synod  of,  adopts  sublapsarianism, 436 

Douay  version,  its  unwarrantable  alter- 
ation of  tense  in  Mat.  26 : 28, 543 

Double  sense  of  prophecy, 68 

Doxologies  supposed  by  Meyer  to  be 

post-apostolic,   - 146 

Draper  on  comets, 589 

'*'  Dropping  "  of  names  from  church-list 

improper, 516 

Drummond  on  the  word  "  supernatur- 
al,"     14 

on  Romanism, 18 

onmystery, 18 

on  the  visible  created  from  invisible,  184 
on  reversion  to  wild  type  as  an  illus- 
tration of  spiritual  degeneration,  ..  350 

on  embryology  of  new  life, 446 

on  the  absence  of  abiogenesis  in  the 

spiritual  world, - 450 

on  humaneness  of  sudden  conversion,  459 
on  natural  man  passing  from  life  to 

death, 485 

on  growing  when  in  conditions    of 

growth, 486 

Drunkard,  is  there  a  physical  miracle 

wrought  for  him  in  generation  ? 446 

Drunkard's     children     presumptively 

drunkards? 537 

Dryden's  translation  of  Ovid  quoted,..  267 

Dualism,  two  forms  of , 186 

first  form,  two  self -existent  principles  186 

objections  to  this  view, 187 

second  form,  an  evil  an  da  good  spirit,  188 

refutation  of  this  view, 188 

Gnostic,  holding  matter  to  be  evil,  de- 
nied resurrection,  577 

Duality  in  Godhead,  prevented  by  a 

third  principle  of  unity, 163 

Duett  quemque  voluptas, 142 

Duns  Scotus, 23 

on  origin  of  truth, 126 

on  ground  of  moral  obligation, 142 

Duties,  all  our,  not  disclosed  in  revela- 
tion,  280 

Dwight,  Timothy, 26 

on  foundation  of  virtue, 142 

his  views  on  will, 319 

his  form  of  the  New  School  theory,..  319 
on  every  sinner  condemned  for  every 
sin,though  his  sins  continue  forever,  596 

Dynamical  theory  of  inspiration 103 

holds  inspiration  to  be  supernatural,.  102 
holds  written   Scriptures  to   be  in- 
spired,  102 

41 


Dynamical  theory  of  inspiration,  holds 

a  human  and  a  divine  element, 102 

Earth  to  be  purified  by  fire, 586 

Ebionism,   Judaism    within    Christian 

church, 360 

its  radical  misconception  that  God  and 
man  are  necessarily  external  to  each 

other, 361 

does  away  with  worship  of  Christ  and 

his  mediatorship, 361 

Ebionites,  derivation  of  their  name,  360,  361 
their  views  of  Christ's  relation  to  Di- 
vinity,   360 

their  origin, 361 

their  two  principal  divisions, 361 

Ebionitic  view  of   Christ  involved  in 

Pelagianism, 312 

Ebony-tree,  illustration  from, 294 

Ebrard, 25 

his  definition  of  God, 29 

his  comparison  of  trivialities  of  Scrip- 
ture to  hairs  and  nails  of  body, 104 

on  life-movement  of  Godhead, 163 

his  "  metaphysical  generation  "  of  the 

soul, 251 

his  view  of  humanity  of  Christ, 370 

on  signification  of  baptism, 415 

bis  view  of  baptism, 530 

on  spirit  as  master  of  matter  in  resur- 
rection,  580 

Ecclesiastes,  its  character, 113 

Ecclesiology, 494-553 

founded  on  union  with  Christ, 446 

Eden,  its  characteristics  suitable  to  in- 
fantile and  innocent  man,  303 

Edersheim  on  congregational  govern- 
ment in  synagogue, 503 

on  proselyte-baptism  in  time  of  Hillel 

and  Shammai, 521 

Education,  divine,  includes  impersonal 

law  and  personal  dependence, 216 

Edwards,  Jonathan,. 26 

tended  to  idealism, 26,  206 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,  142 

on  Son's  being  not  inferior  to  Father,  166 
he,  Alexander,  and   Charles  Hodge, 

wrong  in  views  of  will,  178 

on  the  sense  in  which  God  is  the  au- 
thor of  sin, 180 

his  views  of  continuous  creation, 205 

on  personal  identity, 206 

on  "  that  which  truly  is  the  substance 

of  all  bodies," 206 

on  "  the  heart "  an  element  in  guilt,..  285 
on  the  infinite  wickedness  of  the  hu- 
man heart, 287 

on  the  affections  as  modes  of  exer- 
cise of  the  will, 288 

on  original  sin, 309 

his  doctrine  of  man's  identity  with 

Adam, 318 

admitted  a  Placean  element, 318 


634 


IXDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Edwards,  Jonathan,  not  a  traducianist,  318 

his  philosophical  opinions, 318 

aBerkeleyan, 318 

his  position  as  to  relation  between 

race  and  Adam, 323 

do  certain  passages  from,  favor  the 

theory  of  mediate  imputation  ? 327 

rather  favor  the  theory   of  natural 

headship  of  Adam, 328 

on  the  two  things  which  make  Christ's 
sufferings  a  satisfaction  for  human 

guilt, 410 

does  not  assert  Christ's  endurance  of 

penalty  itself , 410 

on  justification  as  entrance  into  com- 
munion with  Christ, 445,  479 

on  union  with  Christ, 447 

on  a  speculative  contemplation  of 
divine  things  as  inoperative  to  ex- 
cite holy  affections, 452 

on  faith, 466 

on  witness  of  Spirit, 469 

on  faith  justifying, -  480 

his  style  of  address  in  the  sermon 
"  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry 

God,"  examined, 588 

Edwards  the  younger,  on  succession  in 

the  divine  mind, 131 

"  Effect  must  have  cause  "  an  identical 

proposition, 40 

Efficacious  call,  its  nature, -.  436 

Efficient  cause, 23 

Efficient     causes     preceded    by    final 

causes, 43 

4 'Effulgence,"  its  significance, 162 

Ego,  the  cognition  of  it  logically  pre- 
cedes that  of  the  non-ego, 57 

liveable  before  tMiikable, 57 

Egypt,  date  of  old  empire  of, 107 

Egyptian,    old,   language,   connecting 
link  between  Semitic  and  Indo-eu- 

ropean, 240 

notion  of  blessedness  of  future  life 
dependent  on  preservation  of  the 

body, 561 

idea  of  permanent  union  of  soul  and 

body, --.-  580 

Egyptians,  how  they  represented  God,.  134 
had  they  the  idea  of  absolute  crea- 
tion?   185 

possessed  a  knowledge  of  future  state,  561 
Egyptology,  an  illustration  of  revela- 
tion,        8 

'  Einzige,  cZer,'  every  man  is, 171 

'Elder'  connotes  '  rank,' 509 

Eldership,  plural,  in  certain  New  Testa- 
ment churches,  510 

in  some  cases  necessary, 510 

not  required  in  every  case, 510 

in  some  cases  impossible, 510 

advocates  of,  list  of, 510 

Elect  and  non-elect  to  be  preached  to,.  434 
Election,  its  relation  to  God's  decrees,.  172 


Election,   logically  subsequent  to  re- 
demption,    42$ 

particular,  regards  not  atonement  but 

special  influences  of  Spirit, 427 

doctrine  of, 427-434 

its  proof  from  Scripture, 427 

its  reasons  in  the  sovereign  will  and 

mercy  of  God, 427 

particular,    arrangement    of     proof 

texts, 428 

refuting  the  Lutheran  view  of , 430 

refuting  the  Arminian  view  of , 430 

its  proof  from  reason, 430 

proceeds,  not  upon  foreseen  faith,  but 

upon  foreseen  unbelief, 430 

stated  in  its  simplest  form, 431 

secures  for  an  objective  redemption 
its  result  in  subjective  salvation,  ..  431 

objections  to  doctrine  of, 431 

not  unjust  to  those  not  included  in  it,  431 

does  not  represent  God  as  partial, 432 

does  not  represent  God  as  arbitrary, .  432 
founded  on  reasons,  though  reasons 

unknown  to  us, 432 

does  not  tend  to  immorality, 432 

held  by  some  whom  it  does  not  hold,.  433 

does  not  inspire  pride, 433 

does  not  discourage  the  sinner  in  his 

efforts  after  salvation, 433 

does  not  discourage  efforts  for  the 

salvation  of  the  impenitent 433 

God's,  does  not  exclude  man's, 433 

decree  of,  wherein  different  from  de- 
cree of  reprobation, 434 

general  subject  of,  list  of  authors  on,  434 
Elemental  law  approximately  revealed 

in  special  injunctions, 280 

Elijah,  translation  of,  a  proof  of  future 

state,   561 

John  the  Baptist  as, 573 

Eliot,  George,  exaggerates  heredity, ...  251 

has  no  heroes, 297 

on  justice  being  within,  as   a  great 

yearning,  417 

on  reward  of  one  duty  being  power  to 

do  another, ,  485 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  her  gift  of  ring  to 

Earl  of  Essex, -  475 

immersed, 525 

Ellicott,  a  grammatical  commentator, .    18 

a  trichotomist, 245 

Elliott,  on  antichrist, 570 

a  continuous,  or  continuist,  interpret- 
er of  Revelation, 570 

his  scheme  of  the  Revelation, 570 

on  temporal  power  of  Papacy, -  571 

his  four  chief  signs  of  Christ's  ap- 
proach,   571 

errors  in  his  scheme  of  apocalyptic 

interpretation,  571 

on  Christ's  investiture  with  and  act- 
ual assumption  of  kingdom, 573 

Elohim,  its  use  in  Old  Testament 


OF   SUBJECTS. 


635 


Elohim,  is  it  analogous  to  Baalim? 152 

not  a  collective  term, 152 

used  of  the  Son, 152 

list  of  Fathers  who  saw  in  such  plural 
forms  an  allusion  to  the  Trinity,  ...  153 

Emanation,  the  doctrine  of, 189 

objections  to, 189 

derivation  of  the  word, 189 

and  generation,  difference  between,..  189 
Emancipation,   President's    proclama- 
tion of ,  feeling  of  country  at, 214 

Emerson,  G.  H,,  defence  of  restoration- 
ism,  590 

on  the  notion  of  moral  opportunity 

permanently  closed, 591 

Emerson,  R.W.,  on  faith, 3 

on  impossibility  of  freeing  ourselves 

from  God, 69 

on  goodness  with  an  edge, 140,  293 

on  the  fulfilment  of  God's  will, 220 

heredity  in  the  case  of , 253 

his  view  of  sin, 291 

his  view  of  Jesus, 291 

his  view  of  man's  "  I  can,"  in  reply  to 

duty's  "Thou  must," 344 

on  dying  for  truth, 399 

Emmons,  Nathanael, 26 

on  continuous  creation, 205 

on  annihilation  of  infants, 320 

on  our  relation  to  Adam's  sin, 323 

Emotional  element  in  faith, 465 

Emotions,  becoming  strongbecome  con- 
scious,   469 

Empirical  theory  of  morals,  truth  in, . .  256 

reconciled  with  intuitional, 256 

Encratites  deny  to  women  the  image  of 

God, 268 

Endor,  woman  of, 561 

"Enemies,"  in  Kom.  5 : 10,  what ? 392 

Energy,  dissipation  of, 184 

Enghis  skull,  the,  as  large  as  that  of  a 

modern  philosopher, 236 

England,  New,  its  settlement  by  Puri- 
tans,   213 

Englander,  New,  on  use  of  second  causes 
leading  to  higher  conceptions  of  di- 
vine action, 203 

Enmity  to  God  in  its  relation  to  sin,  ...  293 
Enmity  of  sinner  is  against  God,  not 

merely  against  truth, 452 

Enoch,  Apo  cryphal  book  of, 80 

Enoch,  translation  of,  a  proof  of  future 

state, 353,  561 

"  Enthusiasm  of  humanity,"  the  prob- 
lem, how  to  produce  it? 450 

Environment  and  organism  correlat- 
ed,  596 

Environment  in  future  state,  suited  to 

character,  587 

Environment,  variety  of,  progress  de- 
pendent on, 211 

Eophyte  must  in  nature  of  things  pre- 
cede Eozoon, 194 


Eozoo'n  implies  previous  existence  of 

Eophyte, 194 

Epictetus,  his  view  of  morality, 88 

on  the  gods'  governing  the  world,  . .  211 

Epicureanism, 88 

Epicurus,  his  materialism, 52 

his  view  of  morality, 88 

maxims,  142 

Episcopius, 25,  314 

Equivalency  and  identity,  as  to  Christ's 

sufferings, 420 

Error,  modern  forms  of,  and  heathen 
systems,  indicate  a  superhuman  in- 
telligence organizing  against  God,.  229 
Errors,  of  Scripture,  alleged,  in  science,  105 

alleged,  in  history, 107 

alleged,  in  morality, 108 

alleged,  of  reasoning, 109 

of  N.  T.,  alleged,  in  quoting  or  inter- 
preting the  O:  T., 110 

alleged,  in  prophecy, Ill 

Eschatology, 554 

authors  on, 554 

Esprit  gele,  Schelling's  matter, 189 

Essence,  its  synonyms, 115 

Essence    of    sin,  views  of  Augustine, 
Aquinas,   Luther,   Calvin,   Kreibig 

and  others, 293 

Essenes,  the, 89 

Esther,  book   of,  reverenced   next  to 

Pentateuch  by  the  Jews, 112 

no  mention  of  divine  name  in, 147 

"Eternal  sin,  an," 587,  595 

Eternity,  of  matter,  held  by  many  ante- 
Christian  and  Christian  philosophers,  40 

infinity  in  relation  to  time, 130 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

Ethica  of  Spinoza  worthless,  on  morals, 

as  Euclid's  Elements, ...    56 

Ethics,  conditioned  by  a  capacity  and 

love  for  the  morally  right, 3 

Christian,  and  Christian  faith  indis- 

solubly  united, 340 

Eucharist,  the  Romanist  view  of  tran- 

substantiation, 543 

the  Lutheran  and  High  Church  view 

of  consubstantiation, 545 

Eugene  Aram,  Bulwer's,  referred  to, . .  346 

Eutaxiology, 42 

Eutychians,  their  views, 363 

condemned  at  Chalcedon, 362 

called  Monophysites, 362 

an  Alexandrian  school, 363 

denied   any  real  becoming   man   on 

part  of  Logos, 363 

and  by  consequence,  atonement, 363 

and  the  possibility  of  any  real  union 

of  man  with  God, 363 

their  tertium  quiet,  formed  by  union 
of  the  divine  and  human  in  Christ, 

illustrated,  363 

Evangelists,  independent  witnesses,  ...    82 


636 


IXDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Evans  on  two  stages  of  the  humiliation,  384 

on  "the  penumbi'a  of  hell," 564 

Eve,  and  man's  original  state, 268,  269 

what  the  name  implies, 365 

Event  or  change,  every,  has  a  cause,  ..    40 
Events,  great,  arising  from  trifles,  in- 

stancesof, i  213 

not  left  by  divine  Being  to  chance  or 

human  will, 175 

Evidence,  principles  of,  as  applied  to 

divine  revelation, 69 

competent,  what  ? -    70 

satisfactory,  what? 70 

Evil,  divine  agency  regarding,  merely 

permissive,  .. 172 

if  permitted  now,  may  be  permitted 

forever, - 598 

Evolution,  not  inconsistent  with  design,    43 
of  universe,  requires   matter  to   be 

moved  from  without, 52 

implies  preceding  involution, —  191, 193 

man  not  a  product  of,. -  234-238 

Exaltation  of  Christ,  in  what  it  consists,  384 

its  stages, - —  385 

Examination  of  Liddon, - 150 

Example,  Christ  did  not  simply  set,  ....  399 

Example  theory  of  atonement, 397 

objections  to, 398 

Examples  of  priority  logical  yet  not 

chronological, - 437 

Exclusion,  form  of  church's  resolution 

in  case  of, 517 

of  members  who  have  failed  to  com- 
municate with  the  church, 517 

instant,  in  what  cases  required, 516 

Exegesis  based  on   trustworthiness  of 

verbal  vehicle  of  Scripture,  .. 104 

Exercise-system  of  Emmons,  ....26,  319,  456 
an  outgrowth  of  Edwards'  idealism,..  206 
as  applied  to  regeneration,  to  be  re- 
jected,   455 

Exile,  time  of,  not  favorable  to  the  con- 
struction of  a  costly  ceremonial, ...    81 
the,  its  effect  upon  the  Hebrews,  ....  360 

Existence  of  God,  doctrine  of, 29,57 

origin  of  our  idea  of, 29 

a  first  truth, - 29,31 

knowledge  of,  universal, 31 

knowledge  of,  necessary, 32 

knowledge  of,  logically  independent 

and  prior, 33 

presupposed  in  all  other  knowledge,.    33 
makes  mental  processes  trustworthy,    33 

assumed  in  belief  in  final  cause, 33 

incapable  of  logical  demonstration,..    34 
presupposed  in  logical  demonstration,    36 

corroborative  evidences  of, 39 

cosmological  argument  for, 40 

teleogical  argument  for, 42 

anthropological  argument  for, 45 

ontological  argument  for, 47 

an  hypothesis  necessary  to  account 
for  universe, 50 


Existence  of  God,  erroneous  explana- 
tions of  facts  regarding, 51 

Ex  nihilo  niliil  lit,  in  what  sense  true?..  187 
Experience,   Christian,   its  relation  to 

Scripture, 15 

Christian,    recognizes   Christ's   God- 
head,    368 

Experience,  derivation  of  word, 15 

not  a  source  of  the  idea  of  God, 34 

its  meaning,  according  to  Locke, 35 

Expiation,  and  reparation,  the  demand 

of  true  penitence, 418 

representative,     recognized     among 

Greeks, 394 

Explanations,  erroneous,  of  facts   of 

universe, 51 

Expositors  of  spirituality  of  decalogue, 

list  of, 280 

Extent  of  the  atonement, 421 

Exterminating  war,  in  case  of  Canaan- 

ites,  a  benevolent  surgery, 109 

External  revelation  does  not  communi- 
cate idea  of  God's  existence, 34 

Externality  of  spirit  and  nature  to  each 
other  in  future  giving  way  to  a  per- 
fect internal  existence,  Dorner  on,  554 
Ezra,  Old  Testament  probably  collected 

inhis  time, 80 

Facing-both-ways,  man  a  Mr.? 243 

Fact  local,  truth  universal, 113 

Facts  not  to  be  set  aside  because  their 

relations  are  obscure, 19 

Facts  of  science  useful,  though  beyond 

full  understanding, 19 

Faculties,  man's  three  mental, 254 

Fair  bairn  on  Koran, 89 

Fairchild  on  nature  of  virtue, 142 

Faith,  a  pre-requisite  in  physical  science,     2 

a  higher  knowledge, 2, 3 

un verifiable  certitude, 2,3 

Christian,  defined, 3 

synthesis  of  intellect  and  will, 3 

different  from  opinion  or  imagination,     3 

"unverified  reason," 3 

not  blind, -.. 3 

conditioned  by  holy  affection, 3 

a  work,  according  to  Wesleyanism,  ..  317 
in  a  truth,  possible  in  spite  of  insolu- 
ble difficulties, 335 

does  not  save,  but  atonement  which 

faith  accepts, 421 

thegiftof  God, 430 

and  salvation,  analogous  to  prayer 

and  its  answer, 431 

true,  involves  repentance, 464 

and  repentance,  different  aspects  of 

same  act, 464 

its  constituents, 465 

the  intellectual  element  in, 465 

the  emotional  element  in, 465 

the  voluntary  element  in, 465 

not  purely  intellectual, 466 

constituents  in,  illustrated, 466 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


637 


Faith,  distinguished  from  assurance,...  466 

phrases  descriptive  of, 466 

Romanist  view  of, 466 

Luther  on, 466 

Edwards  on, 466 

an  act  of  the  affections  and  will, 466 

not  destitute  of  moral  quality, 466 

not  chronologically  subsequent  to  re- 
generation,   467 

saving,  its  object, 467 

personal  trust  in  a  personal  Christ,  . .  467 

possible  to  a  child, 467 

penitent  reliance  on  God  as  Savior,  . .  468 

its  ground, 468 

possible  without  assurance, 468 

distinguishable  from  feeling  or  joy,  .  4£9 

and  feeling,  illustrated, 469 

leads  to  good  works, 469 

good  works  its  evidence, 469 

not  to  be  confounded  with  love  or 

obedience, 469 

in  what  sense  a  "work," 469 

unconscious  undeveloped  tendency 

towards  God  precedes  it, -  470 

conscious  and  developed  love  to  God 

follows  it,.. 470 

instrumental  cause  of  salvation, 470 

susceptible  of  increase, 470 

justifies,  why  rather  than  other 

graces? 480 

Wesleyan  scheme  inclined  to  make  it 

a  work, 481 

its  relation  to  justification, 481 

not,  with  the  work  of  Christ,  a  joint 

cause  of  justification, 481 

Puritan  doctrine  of, 482 

sanctification  by, 486 

Faithfulness,  God's  attribute  of, 137 

secures  fulfilment  of  promises, 137 

Fall,  the,  Scriptural  account  of, 303 

not  mythical  or  allegorical,  but  histo- 
rical,   302 

the  temptation,  and  the  resulting,  ...  302 

man's,  inward,  before  outward, 303 

difficulties  connected  with, 304 

of  a  holy  being,  its  possibility, 304 

recovery  from,  not  in  man's  power,  .  304 

Adam's,  psychologically  unique, 305 

H.  B.  Smith's  view  of,  criticized,  ....  305 
how  could  'God  permit  temptation 

which  led  to 305 

God's  permission  of  temptation  which 

led  thereto,  benevolent, 305 

evil  objectified  therein,  an  advantage,  305 
the  greatness  of  the  penalty  and  the 

slightness  of  the  command, 306 

the  divine  command  not  arbitrary  or 

insignificant, 306 

the  act  of  disobedience  the  revelation 

of  acorrupt  will, 306 

its  consequences  in  respect  to  Adam,  306 
physical  death  a  consequence  to  Adam 

of  his  sin,  ..  ..  306 


Fall,  the,  its  consequent  death  began  in 

our  first  parents  at  once, 307 

man's  existence  continued,  why? 307 

spiritual    death    a    consequence    to 

Adam  of  his  sin, 307 

involved  positive  and  formal  exclu- 

siou  from  God's  presence, 307 

the,   of   human   nature,  could    take 

place  only  in  Adam, 335 

has  weakened  man's  faculties, 343 

has  given  every  faculty  a  bent  away 

from  God, 343 

Fallen  condition  of  man,  according  to 

Romanist  view, 266 

according  to  Protestant  view, 266 

Falsehood,  what? .' 293 

False  religions,  caricatures  of  the  true,    13 
Farrar  denies  existence  of  evil  angels, .  229 

on  entrance  of  sin, 304 

Fatalism, 211 

contradicts  consciousness, 211 

exalts  divine  power  at  expense   of 

other  attributes, 211 

inconsistent    with    personality    and 

freedom  of  God, 212 

makes  necessity  the  only  God, 212 

list  of  authors  on, 212 

Fate  and  decrees,  differ, 178 

Father,  the,  recognized  as  God, 145 

and  Son  distinct  persons, 155 

and  Son  distinct  persons  from  Spirit,  155 
officially  first,  Son  second,  and  Spirit 

third, 166 

"Father,"  how    employed   for   whole 

Godhead, 161 

its  import  in  the  Trinity, 161 

"our,"  its  import, 162 

Fatherhood  of  God,  common,  texts  re- 
ferring to,  238 

special,  texts  referring  to, 238 

relation  of  the  common  to  the  spec- 
ial,   238 

list  of  authors  on, 238 

Fathers,  their  chronology, 106 

list  of  those  who  saw  in  plural  terms 
applied  to  God  in  O.  T.  a  reference 

to  the  Trinity, 153 

Faust,  Goethe's,  criticism  upon  in  Lon- 
don Spectator, xx vii,  291 

Favor,  divine,  restoration  to  rests  on 

righteousness  of  Christ, 476 

Federal  theology, 23,24 

method  of  theology, 27 

theory  of  imputation, 322 

its  rise, 323 

and  Augustinian,  compared, 323 

not  "  immemorial  doctrine  of  church 

of  God," 323 

its  order, 324 

objections  to, 324 

extra-scriptural, 324 

contradicts  Scripture, 324 

impugns  justice  of  God, 324 


638 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Federal  theology,  men  according-  to  it 

are  created  sinners, 325 

Feeling,  reasons  for,  required  by  a  re- 
fined and  reflective  age, 10 

alone,  is  valueless, 12 

has  logical  priority  in  religion 12 

Feelings  have  the  same  place  in  theolo- 
gy as  in  ethics  or  pss'chology, 8 

Felix  of  Urgella, 405 

Fellowship,     Christian,    distinguished 

from  church  fellowship, 552 

Fetichism,  its  nature, 272 

Fetich  worship, 31 

never  practised  by  Indo-Germanic  or 

Semitic  stocks, 272 

Feuerbach,  his  view  of  religion, 8 

his  view  of  God, 46 

a  materialist, 51 

Fichte,  on  being  born  in  faith, 3 

on  our  opinion  being  the  history  of 

our  hearts, 21 

on  leaming  unbelief, 65 

on  creation, 200 

on  the  birthday  of  his  child, 234 

Fiction,  the  truest,  has  no  heroes, 297 

Final  cause, 23,29,33,34 

intuitive  belief  in,  presupposed  in  in- 
duction and  argument, 42 

Hicks's  criticism  upon, 42 

Final  things,  doctrine  of, 554 

Finality  a  primitive  conviction, 42 

immanent  and  unconscious,  illustra- 
tions of, 44 

Finite  suggests  the  Infinite, 32 

Finney,  Charles  G., 26 

on  Song  of  Solomon, 112 

on  God  in  relation  to  himself  and  in 

relation  to  finite  beings, 131 

on  nature  of  virtue, 142 

on  knowledge  and  foreknowledge, ..  174 
on  God's    foreknowledge    of     who 

would  besaved, 430 

his  view  of  efficient  cause  in  regener- 
ation,  452 

Fire,  eternal,  final  state  of  wicked  in,..  587 
Fire  from  heaven,  Elijah  and  Jesus  in 

relation  to, 108 

Firmilianus  mentions  2  Peter, 76 

First  parents,  God's  treatment  of,  be- 
nevolent,   308 

First  truths,  in  general, 30 

their  nature, 30 

their  criteria, 31 

uni versality  of, 31 

necessity  of, 31 

logical  independence  of, 31 

priority  of, 31 

simple  and  irresolvable, 31 

denied, 31 

the  existence  of  God  a, 31 

Fish,  his  analogy  of  the  church's  life,..  502 
on  Stephen  as  both  ?  elder  and  dea- 
con,   ' 512 


Fisher,  on  the  constitution  of  man's 
mind  compelling  him  to  believe  in 

an  absolute  and  infinite  being, 32 

on  self-determination, 259 

on  Augustinian  and  Federal  theories,  323 

on  the  Federal  theory, 325 

on  Placeus' views, 326 

Fishes,  the  first,  ganoids  of  an  advanced 

type,  236 

Fiske,  John,  views  of  sin, 290 

on  the  illegitimate  hypotheses  of  both 

poet  and  materialist, 556 

Fitch  on  a  divine  purpose  which  is  not 

an  efficient  purpose, 179 

Fleming  quoted  on  "  innate  ideas, " . . . .    30 

on  "moral  laws," 277 

Flesh,  its  meaning, 290 

the,  how  a  help  in  the  conflict  with 

sin, 305 

as  applied  to  Christ,  means  "  human 

nature," 364 

Flint,  Austin,  on  spontaneous  genera- 
tion,   _ 191 

Flint,  Robert,  his  inferential  method  of 

reaching  idea  of  God, 36 

Foeticide,  murder, 253 

"  Fold,"  none  under  new  dispensation,.  446 

Fons  Trinitatis,  the  Father  is, 165 

Force,  if  known,  then  God  known, 5 

the  possibility  of  a  force  distinguish- 
able from  thedivine, 55 

in  modern    philosophy,    God  minus 

moral  attributes, 125 

its  continuous  existence  dependent 

on  sustaining  agency  of  divine  will,  203 
identification  of  with  will,  erroneous,  203 
identification  with  divine  will,  list  of 

advocates  of, 203 

super  cuncta,  subter  cuncta, 204 

Forces    and  laws   in   nature   may   be 

transcended  by  higher, 62 

Forces  of  universe,  deism  fails  to  ac- 

countfor, 204 

Foreknowledge  of  God,  as  to  free  acts, 

mediate  or  immediate? 135 

'divine,  of  the  future,  implies  its  fixity 

by  decree, 173 

includes  all  actions  future, 174 

of  free   human   actions,  denied   by 

some, 174 

divine,  does  it  rest  on  motives  or  is  it 

intuitive? 135, 175,  178 

of  individual,  Scripture  statements  of,  428 
as  distinguished  from  f  oreordinatiou,  429 
Forgery,  theory  of,  cannot  account  for 
internal  characteristics  of  Christian 

documents, 81 

Forgetfulness  no  excuse  for  disobedi- 
ence,   '. 289 

Forgiveness,  view  of  its  impossibility 

disputed, 

cannot  be  granted  unconditionally  by 
public  bodies, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


639 


Forgiveness,  optional  with  God,  since 

he  himself  makes  satisfaction, 418 

human,  accorded  without  atonement, 

may  not  divine? 463 

an  element  in  justification, 474 

none  in  nature, 474 

not  theree'stablishment  of  health,  but 

crisis  of  convalescence, 484 

Foreordination,  its  nature, 172 

the  basis  of  foreknowledge, 173 

distinguished  from  foreknowledge,..  429 

Foresight,  illustrations  of, 182 

Formal  freedom,  what? 177 

Forms  of  thought,  are  facts  of  nature,.     6 

external  to  the  mind, 6 

Formula  of  Concord,  Lutheran,  on  will 

in  conversion, 436 

on  God  himself  dwelling  in  believ- 
ers,   442 

Forrest,  Edwin,  his  repudiation  of  con- 
version,   298 

"Forty  and  two  months," 571 

Forster,W.  E.,  on  annilhilation, 557 

Foster,  John,  on  gathering  questions 

for  eternity, 19 

on  miracles  the  great  bell  of  the  uni- 
verse,    65 

Fourth  gospel,  its  genuineness, 75 

Free  acts  known  to  God, 134 

Free  agency  defined, 176 

can  coexist  with  certainty, 176 

Free  creatures,  their  actions  immediate- 
ly known  to  God,  134 

Preedom,  four  senses  of  the  word, 177 

physical,  what? 177 

formal,  what? 177,  317 

moral,  what? 177 

real,  what? 177,  317 

its  most  exaggerated  view  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  doctrine  of  the  de- 
crees,   177 

of  indifference, 178 

certain  remnants  left  to  man, 258,  342 

M  tiller  on  formal, 317 

of  choice  within  certain  limits,  not  in- 
compatible with  complete  bondage 

of  will, 344 

formal,  distinguished  from  real, 345 

Freer  on  Christ's  birth, 406 

French  fleet  dispersed  by  storm  in  an- 
swer to  prayer, 213 

Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  on  the  influence  of  a 

gospel  in  a  Deccan  village, 468 

Freundlos  war  cler  grosse  Weltenmeister,  190 
Friends,  shall  we  know  our,  in  heaven?  585 

Froude,  on  history  no  science, 218 

his  opinion  of  Carlyle, 291 

Fuller,  Andrew, 25 

his  definition  of  God, 29 

his  doubt  as  to  value  of  arguments 

for  God's  existence, 39 

on  union  with  Christ, 447 

Fttrsehung,  an  aspect  of  providence,  ...  208 


Future  action  of  a  man  may  become 

certain,  though  not  necessary, 258 

Future  condition  of  men,  stages  in, 554 

Future  life,  Jewish  belief  in, 561 

knowledge  of , possessed  by  Egyptians,  561 
proved  by  translation  of  Enoch  and 

Elijah, 561 

by  invocations  of  the  dead, 561 

by  allusions  to,  in  Old  Testament, 561 

Philo  and   Josephus  declare  Jewish 

faith  in, 561 

New  Testament  declarations  of  Jew- 
ish faith  in,  561 

why  probably  not  made  more  promi- 
nent by  Moses, 561 

how  taught  by  Christ, 561,  562 

resurrection  of  Christ,  chief  proof  of,  562 
Future  prefigured  in  rites  and  ordinan- 
ces,      68 

Future  retribution,  allusions  to,  in  Old 

Testament,  561 

Futurist,  interpretation  of  Revelation,    68 

interpreters  of  Revelation, 570 

Gallon's  view  of  piety, 46 

Ganoids,  the  first  geologic  fishes, 236 

Garden  of  Eden,  banishment  from, 308 

Gassendi,  his  view  of  ground  of  moral 

obligation, 141 

on  God  as  author  of  form,  not  sub- 
stance,    183 

Gear's  analogy  of  Trinity, 167 

Geddie,  Dr.  John,  his  epitaph, 501 

Gehazi,  his  children  visited  for  his  sins,  338 

GemacMe,  das,  sin  is, 292 

Genealogies,  of  Scripture,  considered,  .  106 

of  evangelists, 108 

of  Mathew  and  Luke,  how  perhaps 

differentiated, 364 

Generation,  consistent  with  equality  in 

Trinity, 164 

as  applied  to  the  Son,  but  an  approxi- 
mate expression,  165 

Generation,  spontaneous, 191 

unverified, _ 191 

does  not  require  denial  of  creation,  . .  191 
Genesis,  first  chapter  of,  its  power  of 

adjusting  itself  to  science, 106 

incorporates    documents   of    earlier 

times, 112 

"  Genius  for  religion,"  useless  without 

special  divine  aid, 60 

Genius,  its  inward  impulse  not  inspira- 
tion,      98 

Gentiles,  judged  not  by  gospel  but  by 

law  of  nature, 590 

Genuineness,  of  the    Christian    docu- 
ments,      72 

meaning  of  the  term, 72 

of  New  Testament, 72 

of  Second  Peter, 73 

only  allowed,  in  early  church,  after 

careful  examination, 74 

of  fourth  gospel, 75 


640 


I^DEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Genuineness,  the  only  hypothesis  which 
explains  the  early  reception  of  New 

Testament  documents, 76 

Genus  apotelesmattcum, 370 

idiomaticum, 370 

tapeinoticon, 370 

majestaticum, 370 

the   last   denied    by  the    Reformed 

church, 370 

Geographical  position  of  Lutheran  and 

Reformed  religion, 24 

Geologic  history  arranged  to  corres- 
pond with  foreseen  fact  of  human 

apostasy, 352 

Gerhard,  John,  his  idea  of  faith, 3 

his  position  in  theology, 24 

his  view  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 545 

Gesetz,  its  derivation, 273 

Gess,  inaccurate  view  of  the  humanity 

of  Christ, 370 

"  Get  religion,"  is  the  phrase  correct  ?. .    12 
Gethsemane,  scene  of  Satan's  appeal  to 

the  fears  of  our  Saviour, 366 

its  teaching, 399 

Oewordene,  das,  sin  not, 292 

Gibbon,  his  enumeration  of  secondary 
causes  favorable  to  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity,   93 

was  his  impulse  inspiration  ? 98 

on  transubstantiation, 544 

Gifford,  O.  P.,  on  the  man  who  on  prop- 
er occasion  shows  no  knowledge  of 

God,  being  not  man  but  brute, 33 

Gift  of  individuals  by  Father  to  Son, 

proof s  of, 429 

Gill,  John, 25 

Gillespie's  statement  of  the  ontological 

argument, 48 

Calderwood'  s  criticism  upon, 48 

Given,  "grace  and  truth"  are  simply, 

xxv,  50 

Glory,  final  state  of  righteous  one  of,..  585 

God's,  his  end  in  creation, 196 

God's,  the  only  end  actually  attained 

in  the  universe, .-. 196 

the  end  most  intrinsically  valuable,..  196 
the  only  end  consistent  with  God's 

independence, 197 

comprehends  and  secures  every  inter- 
est of  the  universe, 197 

the  end  proposed  to  the  creature, 198 

"Glorify,"  cannot  always  be  understood 

subjectively,  477 

Gnostic  Ebionism,  its  doctrines, 360 

Gnostics,  alluded  to, 12 

Alexandrian,  their  views  of  creation,  186 
their  doctrine,  according  to  Lightf  oot,  187 

Sjo-ian,  held  to  emanation, 189 

their  view  of  man's  T^eC/ua, 247 

God,  theology  the  science  of, 1 

though  apprehended  by  faith,  a  sub- 
ject for  science, 2 

capacity  of  human  mind  for  knowing,     4 


God,  though  not  phenomenal,  known,.  4 
not  all  predicates  of  him  are  negative,  6 
definable  by  certain  positive  predi- 
cates,    6 

in  what  sense  "  absolute," ft 

in  what  sense  "infinite," 6 

in  what  sense  limited, 6 

limited  by  his  unchangableness  and 

personal  distinctions, 6- 

his  internal  limitation  is  perfection,  .  6 
self -limited  by  his  self -chosen  rela- 
tions to  universe,  6 

his  power  thus  to  limit  self,  essential 

to  perfection, 6- 

his  self -revelation  renders  theological 

science  possible, T 

has  revealed  himself  in  nature, 14 

"made  me,"  in  what  sense   we  say 

it? ...  15. 

not  the  soul  of  the  universe, 20 

God,  the  existence  of, 29-57 

origin  of  our  idea  of, 29 

definitions  of, 29 

his  existence  a  first  truth,  or  rational 

intuition,  29 

it  conditions  all  reasoning,  and  rises 
into  consciousness  on  reflection 
upon  phenomena  of  nature  and 

mind, 29 

knowledge  of  his  existence  universal,31, 32 
knowledge  of  his  existence  necessary  32, 33 
knowledge  of  his  existence  logically 
independent  and  prior  to  all  other 

knowledge, 33 

other  supposed  sources  of  our  idea  of,    34 
idea  of,  not  from  external  revelation,    34 

not  from  tradition, 34 

idea  of,  not  from  experience, 34 

not  from  sense-perception  and  reflec- 
tion,  34,35 

not  a  race-experience, - 34,  35 

not  a  matter  of  mere  feeling, 35- 

idea  of ,  does  not  arise  from  reasoning,    35 
faith   in  his  existence   not    propor- 
tioned to  strength  of  reasoning  fac- 
ulty,     3S 

what  we  know  of,  not  limited  to  the 

conclusions  of  reasoning, 36 

idea  of,  not  derived  from  inference, .    36- 
unlike  idea  of  existence  of  our  fellow 

men, .- 36 

intuition  of,  its  contents, 3T 

what  he   is,     men   to   some   extent 

know, -. 37 

what  is  intuitively  known  of  him,  ...    37 
presentative  intuition  of,  not  impos- 

.      sible, 37 

only  a  rational    intuition   of,   here 

claimed, ' 37 

intuition  of  him  neither  progressive 

norcomplex, 37 

his  existence  not  proved  but  assumed 
and  declared  in  Scripture, 37 


IKDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


641 


God,  existence  of,  evidence  inlaid  in 

very  nature  of  man, 37 

knowledge  of  him,  though  intuitive, 
capable  of  explication  and  corrobo- 

ration, 39 

conception  of  him  most  rational  ex- 
planation of  the  fact  of  the  universe,    39 
Fuller's   doubt    whether   arguments 
about  his  existence  had  not  made 

more  sceptics  than  believers, 39 

Cosmological  Argument  for  his  ex- 
istence,      40 

its  proper  statement, 40 

its  defects, ----40,  41 

its  value, 41 

Teleological  Argument  for  his  exist- 
ence,     43 

its  nature, 42,  43 

its  defects, 44 

its  value, 44,  45 

Anthropological   Argument   for  his 

existence, 45 

its  nature  stated  in  three  parts, 45,  46 

its  defects, 47 

its  value, 47 

not    the    Brocken-shadow  of   man's 

self,  .-.- - 46 

Historical  Argument  for   his  exist- 
ence, its  value,  47 

Biblical  Argument  for  his  existence, 

its  value, 47 

Ontological  Argument  for  his  exist- 
ence,      47 

its  three  forms, 47,  48 

its  defects, 48,  49 

its  value, ., 50 

Clarke's  and  Gillespie's  arguments  for 

his  existence, 48 

a  priori  arguments  for  his  existence, 

what? 48 

arguments  a  posteriori,  what  ? 48 

Descartes'  argument  for  his  existence,    48 

this  an  argument  a  posteriori, 48 

Anselm's    argument    for  his    exist- 
ence,   49,50 

belief  in  him  not  the  conclusion  of  a 
demonstration  but  the  solution  of  a 

problem, 50 

his  love  and  provision  for  the  sinner 

not  clearly  made  known  in  nature,.    59 
God,  the  nature,  decrees,  and  works  of,  115 

the  attributes  of, 115 

his  acts  and  words  arise  from  settled 

dispositions, 115 

his  dispositions  inhere  in  a  spiritual 

substance, 115 

his  attributes,  definition  of, 115 

relation  of  his  attributes  to  his  es- 
sence,   116 

his  attributes  have  an  objective  ex- 
istence,    116 

and  are  distinguishable  from  the  di- 
vine essence  and  from  each  other,.  116 


God,  attributes  of ;  regarded  falsely  as  a 

Being  of  absolute  simplicity, 116 

he  is  rather  a  Being  infinitely  com- 
plex,   116 

nominalistic  notion,  its  error, 116 

his  attributes  inhere  in  the  divine  es- 
sence,   116,  117 

he  is  not  a  compound  of  attributes,  ..  117 

extreme  realism,  its  danger, 117 

attributes  of,  belong  to  his  essence  as 

such, 117 

distinguished  from  personal  distinc- 
tions in  the  Godhead, 117 

distinguished  from  his  relations  to  the 

world, 117 

illustrated  from  intellect  and  will  in 

man,  117 

his  attributes  essential  to  his  being,..  117 
attributes  of,  manifest  the  divine  es- 
sence,    117 

in  knowing  attributes  of,  we  know 
the  Being  to  whom  attributes  be- 
long,   117 

his  attributes,methods  of  determining,  118 
rational  method  of  determining,  three- 
fold,  118 

its  ground  and  limitations, 118 

its  history, 118 

Biblical  method  of  determining,  final 

and  decisive, 118 

his  attributes,  how  classified 118 

absolute,  or  immanent, 118 

relative,  or  transitive,  ..-, 118 

his  attributes,  the  absolute  or  imma- 
nent, a  threefold  division  of, 119 

his  attributes,  the  relative  or  transi- 
tive, a  threefold  division  of, 119 

his  attributes,  schedule  of, 119 

order  in  which  they  present  them- 
selves to  the  mind,  119 

his  moral  perfection  involves  relation 

of  God  to  himself, 120 

his  absolute  or  immanent  attributes,  120 

his  spirituality, 120 

meaning  of  the  term, 120 

is  not  matter, 120 

is  not  dependent  upon  matter, 120 

the  material  universe  not  his  senso- 

rium, 120 

his  spirituality  not  contradicted  by 

anthropomorphic  Scriptures,  - 120 

pictures  of  him,  degrading, 120 

imagination  forms  a  picture  of , 120 

desire  for  an  incarnate,  finds  its  satis- 
faction in  Christ,  120 

his  spirituality  involves  life  and  per- 
sonality,   121,122 

life,  as  an  attribute  of, 121 

has  a  subject, 121 

is  not  correspondence  with  environ- 
ment,  121 

is  the  source  within  himself  of  move- 
ment and  activity, 121 


642 


LtfDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


God,  personality,  as  an  attribute  of, —  121 

meaning  of  personality, 131 

includes  self-consciousness  and  self- 
determination,  121,  122 

his  infinity,  meaning  of  term, 122 

a  positive  idea, 122 

does  not  involve  identity  with  "  the 

all," 122 

intensive  rather  than  extensive, 123 

his  infinity  enables  him  infinitely  to 

love  the  single  Christian, 123 

his  infinity  qualifies  his  other  attrib- 
utes,   123 

and  constitutes  the  basis  for  the  rep- 
resentations of  his  majesty  and 

glory, 123 

his  infinity   involves  self-existence, 

immutability,  and  unity, 123-125 

his  self-existence,  what  ? 123 

he  is  causasui, 123 

his  aseity,  what  ? 123 

exists  by  necessity  of  his  own  being,.  124 
his  existence   dependent,  not  on  his 

volitions,  but  his  nature, 124 

his  immutability,  what? 124 

his     perfection     inconsistent     with 

change,  124 

ascription  of  change  to,  how  ex- 
plained?   124 

anthropomorphic  representations  of,  124 
change  in  his  treatment   often   de- 
scribed as  a  change  in  himself, 124 

his  immutability  secures  his  adapta- 
tion to  the  conditions  of  his  child- 
ren,    124 

his  immutability  consistent  with  ex- 
ecutions, in  time,  of  his  eternal  pur- 


124 

his  immutability  is  not  immobility,  ..  124 
but  permits  activity  and  freedom,  ...  125 

his  unity,  what? 125 

notion  of  more  than  one,  self -contra- 
dictory and  unphilosophical, 125 

his  unity  not  inconsistent  with  the 

doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 125 

his  unity,  its  lessons 125 

his  perfection,   explanation    of  the 

term, 125 

involves  moral  attributes,  truth,  love, 

and  holiness, 125-130 

himself  a  sufficient  object  for  his  own 

activity, 126 

histruth,  what? 126 

his  immanent  truth  to  be  distin- 
guished from  veracity  and  faithful- 
ness,   126 

he  is  truth,as  the  truth  that  is  known,  126 
his  immanent  truth  foundation  of  all 

other  truth, 128 

his  truth  guarantee  of  revelation  and 
ground  of  an  eternal  divine  self- 
contemplation,  126 

his  love,  what? 127 


God,  his  immanent  love  to  be  distin- 

guished from  mercy  aud  goodness,. 
his  immanent  love  finds  a  personal 

object  in  his  own  perfection,  ....... 

has  infinite  feeling,  .................... 

his  immanent  love  a  ground  of  the 

divine  blessedness,  .................. 

is  he  passible?  ......................... 

blessedness  consistent  with  emotions 

of  sorrow,  .......................  127, 

his  holiness,  what?  .................... 

holiness  is  self  affirming  purity,  ..... 

his  holiness  is  not  justice,  ............. 

not  the  aggregate  of  divine  perfec- 

tions, ................................  . 

not  self-love,  .......................... 

not  the  manifestation  of  love,  ........ 

mercy  optional  with  him,  ............ 

his  holiness,  its  three  elements,  ...... 

purity  of  substance,  .................. 

energy  of  will,  ........................ 

self-affirmation,  ....................... 

in  his  moral  nature  are  both  willing 

and  being,  ........................... 

his  holiness  not  simply  a  matter  of 

will  but  also  of  being,  .............. 

in  it  being  logically  precedes  willing, 
his  unchangeableness  and  unchang- 

ingness,  .........................  ----- 

his  will  expresses  his  nature  rather 

than  causes  it,  ....................... 

his  relative  or  transitive  attributes,.. 
his  attributes,  which  have  relation  to 

time  and  space,  ...................... 

his  eternity,  what?  .................... 

not  under  law  of  time,  ................ 

not  in  time,  but  time  in  him,  .......... 

his  thoughts,  no  chronological  succes- 

sion in,  .............................. 

present  time  has  an  objective  reality 

to,  .................................... 

his  immensity,  what?  ..............  ... 

not  under  law  of  space,  ..............  . 

not  in  space,  but  space  in  him,  ....... 

yet  space  has  an  objective  reality  to,. 
his  attributes  which  have  relation  to 

creation,  ............................. 

his  omnipresence,  what  ?  ............. 

not  potential,  but  essential,  .......... 

dwelling  in  the  heavens,  in  what  sense 

ascribed  to,  .......................... 

his  omnipresence,  deistic  and  Socinian 

view  of,  .............................. 

the  presence  of  the  whole  of  God  in 

everyplace,  ..................... 

totiisin  ommparte,  .................... 

cannot  be  divided  or  sundered,  ...... 

his  omnipresence  not  necessary  but 

free,  ......  /.  ................. 

his  omniscience,  what?  ............. 

his  omniscience  deducible  from  his 

omnipresence  and  self-knowledge,  . 
his  omniscience  immediate, 


127 

127 
127 

127 
127 

128 
128 

128 

128 

128 
128 
129 
129 
129 
129 
129 
130 

129 

129 

129 

129 

130 
130 

130 
130 
130 
130 

130 

131 
131 
131 
131 
131 

132 
132 
132 


132 

133 
133 


133 


ItfDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


643 


•God,  his  omniscence,  Egyptian  symbol 

of, 134 

his  scrutiny,  its  intensity, 134 

knows  thing-s  as  they  are, 134 

foreknowledge  of,  covers  not  merely 
motives  but  the  acts  themselves  of 

free  creatures, 134 

his  knowledge  of  contingent  future 
events,  Aristotle's  teaching  upon,..  134 

Socinus' teachings  upon, 134 

his  knowledge  of  future  acts  of  free 

agents, 134 

method  of  his  foreknowledge, 135 

his  prescience  not  causative, 135 

his  omniscience,  does  not  embrace 
the  self-contradictory  and  impossi- 
ble,  135 

his  omniscience  called  in  Scripture 

"wisdom," 136 

his  omnipotence  what? 136 

does  not  extend  to  that  which  is  self- 
contradictory  or  contradictory  to 

his  own  nature, 136 

has  power  over  his  power, 136 

can  do  all  he  will,  not  will  do  all  he  can,  136 
has  a   will-power  over  his   nature- 
power,  136 

his    omnipotence   implies   power   of 

self-limitation, 136 

permits  human  freedom, 137 

humbles  itself  in  the  incarnation, 137 

his  attributes  which  have  relation  to 

meral  beings, 137 

his    veracity     and     faithfulness,   or 

transitive  truth, 137 

they  secure  the  consistency  of  his 
revelations  with  himself  and  with 

each  other, 137 

the  fulfilment  of  all  promises  ex- 
pressed or  implied,  137 

they  afford  his  people  a  sure  ground 

of  confidence, 137 

his  mercy  and  goodness,  or  transitive 

love, 137 

his  mercy,  what? 138 

his  goodness,  what? 138 

his  love,  its  eternal  and  perfect  ob- 
ject, his  own  nature, 138 

his  love,  how  men  become  subordi- 
nate objects  of, 138 

his    justice    and    righteousness,   or 

transitive  holiness, 138 

his  justice,  what? 138 

his  righteousness,  what  ? 138 

they  are  revelations  of  inmost  nature 

of  God, 139 

do  not  bestow  reward, 139 

are  devoid  of  passion  and  caprice,  139, 140 
their  revulsion  against  impurity  and 

selfishness, 140 

God,  Trinity  in,  doctrine  of, 144-170 

his  name  given  to  creatures  in  figura- 
tive and  secondary  sense, ..  146 


God,  as  "self-willing right," 163 

distinctions  in  Trinity  based  on  this 

view, 163 

as  source,  origin,  authority,  is  Father,  166 
as  expression,  medium,  revelation,  is 

Son, 166 

as     apprehension,    accomplishment, 

realization,  is  Holy  Spirit, 166 

eternally  lonely,  a  repugnant  thought,  168 

decrees  of,  doctrine  of, 171-182 

sin,  how  decreed  by, 179 

preservation  from  sin  afforded  by, 
without  violation  of  moral  agen- 
cy,   180 

God,   works   of,   or  execution  of  the 

decrees, 183-233 

not  a  demiurge ;  he  antedates  matter,  192 

his  plan  cannot  be  frustrated, 196 

his  end  in  creation, 195-198 

"  his  own  sake,"  fundamental  reason 

of  activity  in, 197 

his  self-expression  not  selfishness,  ...  197 
in  expression  of  himself  in  universe 
communicates  to  his  creatures  ut- 
most possible  good, 197 

the  only  being  who  can  rightly  live 

for  himself, 198 

his  end,  certainty  of  its  realization 

our  comfort  in  affliction, 198 

hisrest,  what? 202 

disjoins  from  himself  certain  portions 

of  force, 204 

the  perpetual  observer, 205 

does  not  work  all,  but  in  all, 206 

represented  by  Hebrew  writers  as  do- 
ing what  he  merely  permits,  209 

his  immutability  a  ground  of  his  prov- 
idence,   210 

his    benevolence,   a   ground   of   his 

providence, 210 

his  justice,  a  ground  of  his  provi- 
dence,   211 

his  agency,  natural  and  moral  distin- 
guished,  220 

knowledge  of,  conditioned  by  love, . .  264 
his  nature,  attributes  of,  other  than 

holiness,  set  forth  by  gospel, 281 

dealings  of  the  sinner  are  with  him 

rather  than  with  government, 404 

salvation  of  all,  in  what  sense  desired 

by, 435 

"  God     prays,"  —  this     transcendental 

flight  of  Talmud  fulfilled  in  Christ,.  365 
Godet,  on  Logos  as  implying  'reason,'..  162 

on  Trpos  in  John  1:1, 163 

on  the  existence  of  angels  antecedent- 
ly probable,  221 

on  ' spirit '  and  'soul,' 247 

his  "Chinese  hermit," 468 

on  Christ's  twofold  work, 483 

Goethe,  a  believer  in  the  five  senses, —      3 
on  the  connection  between  inclination 
and  opinion, 21 


644 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Goethe,  on  deception  being-  always  self- 
deception, 289 

his  character, 290 

on  sin  as  a  man's  own  shadow, 291 

on  the  possibility  of  a  man's  commit- 
ting any  fault, 297 

on  man's  dependence  on  God, 450 

Golden  age,  Luthardt's   list  of  classic 

references  to, 268 

Good  deeds  of  the  unregenerate  man, 
their  relation  to  the  general  course 

of  his  life  illustrated, 449 

Goodness,  definition  of, 138 

Goodness  involves  causality  and  de- 
sign,    45 

Goodness  of    God,  witness  to  among 

heathen,  referred  to  in   Scripture,    59 
Goodwin's  experience  of  the  evil  dispo- 
sitions within  him, 297 

Good  works,  the  gift  of  God, 430 

Gordon,  A.  J.,  on  holiness  as  something 
more  than  dead-white  purity,  as  in- 
volving living  activity, 130 

on  Christ,  creation's  sceptre-bearer,..  424 
on   church's   union   with    Christ   on 

throne, 425 

on  regeneration  as  a  communication 

of  the  divine  nature  to  man, 457 

on  the  terminal  lines  of  Christ's  min- 
istry,   _-. 576 

Goschel  on  $v\ri, 245 

on  trichotomy  as  related  to  cretian- 

ism, 250 

Gospels  run  counter  to  Jewish  ideas 

and  expectations, 77 

superior  in  literary  character  to  the 

time  of  their  origin, 78 

their  relations  to  a  historical  Christ, . .    78 
coincidence  of  their  statements  with 

collateral  facts  and  circumstances,.    83 
Gospel  testimony  conformable  with  ex- 
perience,      83 

its  rapid  progress  at  beginning  a  proof 

of  its  divine  origin, 91 

makes  men  moral, 480 

Gottesbewusstsein,  not '  consciousness  of 

God,'  but  'knowledge  of  God,' 35 

Gough  on  the  change  wrought  on  the 

drunkard  in  regeneration, 446 

Government,  common,  not  necessary 

in  church  of  Christ, 509 

Government  of  the  church, 503-517 

Governmental  theory  of  atonement,...  403 
Grace,  supplemental  of  law,  as  the  ex- 
pression of  the  nature  of  the  law- 
giver,   281,  ! 

saves  without  merit  on  the  sinner's 

part,and  without  necessity  on  God's,  282 
a  revelation  of  the  heart  of  God  be- 
yond what  could  be  expressed  in 
law,  and  which  is  only  expressed  in 

Christ, : 

its  relation  to  the  law  of  God,  ....281,  410 


Grace  does  not  abrogate,but  republishes 
and  enforces  the  law, 282 

secures  fulfilment  of  law,  by  remov- 
ing obstacles  to  pardon  in  the  di- 
vine mind  and  by  enabling  man  to 
obey, 282 

has  its  law, which  transcends,  but  does 
not  suspend  or  annul,  the  "  law  of 
sin  and  death," 28£ 

its  place  midway  between  Pelagian- 
ism,  which  admits  of  no  obstacle  to 
forgiveness  of  sin,  and  rationalism, 
which  admits  of  no  break  between 
transgression  of  law  and  its  conse- 
quences,   282 

a  revelation  partly  of  law  but  chiefly 
of  love, xxvii,282 

its  plastic  influence  as  compared  with 
law, which  is  merely  an  external  im- 
perative,   282 

a  higher  revelation  of  God,  a  prophe- 
cy of  which  is  found  in  law, 282 

according  to  Pelagius,  a  grace  of 
creation,  an  endowment  of  man 
with  reason  and  will, 311 

universal,  accordi  ng  to  Wesley, 314,  315 

Raymond's  inconsistency  in  use  of 
the  term, 315 

in  Arminian  usage  the  restoration  of 
man's  natural  ability  to  act  for  him- 
self which  does  not  save  him  but 
enables  him  to  save  himself, 316 

may  afford  a  larger  chance  for  salva- 
tion than  if  we  had  been  sinless 
Adams, 339 

unmerited  favor  to  sinners, 427 

God  can  and  does,  in  sovereignty  and 
with  justice,  bestow  more  of  it  on 
one  than  on  another, 427,  42$ 

its  distribution  by  God  regulated  by 
some  other  reason  than  the  salva- 
tion of  as  many  as  possible,  .- 428 

God's  choice  of  sinners  to  salvation  a 
matter  of, -429,  431 

as  the  only  ground  on  which  salvation 
is  extended  to  any,  affords  no  reason 
for  complaint  if  others  suffer  the 

due  reward  of  their  deeds, 431 

"Gracious  ability," 313,  316 

Greek,  church,  the,  its  doctrine   and 
practice  as  to  baptism, 525 

Fathers,  the,  in  their  treatment  of  the 
"image  of  God,"  Gen.  1:26,  empha- 
size the  element  of  personality,...  261 

language,  the,  afforded  a  literary  me- 
dium for  the  gospel,  360 

Greeks  recognized  representative  ex- 
piation,  394 

Green  on  the  Puritans,  -^  — 

Greg,  on  God  as  the  only  being  who 
cannot  forgive 

on  the  punishment  of  the  innocent 

*    and  acquittal  of  the  guilty, 41 


LtfDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


645 


Gregory,  D.  S.,  his  view  of  ground  of 

moral  obligation  143 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  called  "theologian,"    1 
on  Christ's  death  as  reconciling  the 

divine  attributes, v 408 

on  the  indispensableness  of  a  pastor's 

teaching  by  his  life, 511 

Gregory  of  Nyssa, 23 

atraducian, 252 

on  Christ  as  at  once  bait  and  hook  for 

Satan, 408 

Gregory  the  Great,  his  guarded  refer- 
ence to  the  doctrine  of  purgatory, . .  565 

Griinm-Wilke  on  panTifr, 523 

Grotian  theory  of  atonement, 403 

Grotius,  Hugo, 25 

his  views  of  atonement, 403 

a  prgeterist  intepreter  of  Revelation,.  570 
Ground  of  moral  obligation,  views  re- 
garding,   141-143 

Guericke,  on  independency  of  Manich- 

seanism, 188 

Guidance,  the  privilege  of  the  Christ- 
ian,  219 

Guilt,  Federal  view  of, 323 

doctrine  of, 345-350 

its  nature, 345 

only  incurred  through  self-determined 

transgression, - 345 

not  mere  liability  to  punishment, 346 

constructive,  has  no  place  under  di- 
vine government,  346 

an  objective  result  of  sin, 346 

not  to  be  confounded  with  deprav- 
ity,   346 

obligation  to  satisfy  the  outraged  ho- 
liness of  God, 346 

of  sin,  how  set  forth  in  Scripture, ....  346 
explained  in  New  Testament  by  terms 

"debtor"  and  "debt," 346 

how  Christ  may  have,  without  deprav- 
ity,  346 

and  depravity,  reatus  and  macula, 316 

not  to  be  confounded  with  subjective 

consciousness  of  guilt, 347 

primarily  a  relation  to  God,  and  sec- 
ondarily to  conscience, 347 

Scripture  recognizes  degrees  of , 347 

degrees  of,  set  forth  by  variety  of 

sacrifices  under  Mosaic  law, 347 

variety  of  awards  in  judgment  ex- 
plained by  degrees  in, 347 

measured  by  men's  opportunities  and 

powers, 348 

measured  by  energy  of  evil  will, 349 

measured    by    unreceptiveness    for 

grace, 349 

Christ's,  not  merely  an  imputed  but 

an  imparted, 414 

and  depravity  distinguishable, 416 

is  endless, 595 

Guyon,  Madame, 17 

her  faith, ..469 


Guyot's  objection  to  the  hyperliteral 
interpretation  of  Mosaic  account  of 

creation, 193 

Habit  begets  fixity  of  character, 596 

Hackett,  Dr.  H.  B.,  on  the  altar  "to  an 

unknown  God," 15 

on  a  clerical  error  in  Acts  7  : 16, 107 

on  "It  is  his  angel," 226 

on  the  prominence  given  to  the  clos- 
ing scenes  of  Christ's  life, 400 

on  departing  and  being  with  Christ,..  563 
Hadley  on  the  light  of  nature  in  rela- 
tion to  immortality, 558 

Hagenbach  on  the  synthetic  method  of 

theology, 27 

Hales's  chronology, 106 

Hall,  John,  on  the  forbidden  tree, 306 

Hall,  Edwin,  on  mode  of  baptism, 526 

Hall,  Robert,  his  argument  for  existence 

of  God  criticized, 41 

on  John's  baptism  not  Christian  bap-  - 

tism,  521 

maxim   not   accepted   by  the   great 

evangelical  denominations, 548 

his  statement  as  to  terms  of  commun- 
ion,  551 

would  admit  to  church  those  who  de- 
ny perpetuity  of  baptism  in  church,  551 

anecdote  of , 562 

Hamilton,  Sir  William,  on  the  "unpic- 
turable  notions  of  the  intelligence,"      5 

on  the  absolute  and  infinite, 6 

confounds    "infinite"    and    "indefi- 
nite,"     6 

on  difficulties  in  theology,  also  diffi- 
culties in  philosophy, 20 

on  a  competent  divine  necessarily  a 

scholar, 21 

on  demonstrating  the  absolute  from 

the  relative, 36 

his  opinion  of  the  anthropological  ar- 
gument,     47 

his  refutation  of  idealism, 53 

on  sensation  proper, 53 

on  non  sentimus,  nisi  sentimus  sentire,  283 
on  its  belonging  to  mental  existence 

continuously  to  think, 566 

"Hands  of  the  living  God," 277 

Hanna  on  1  Cor.  15  :28, 379 

on  account  of  resurrection  in  1  Corin- 
thians,  577 

Hardening  of  sinner  not  due   to  any 

positive  divine  efficiency, 434 

Harnack,  Prof.,  on  the  reading  "  only 

begotten  God,"  in  John  1:18, 146 

on  baptizein  meaning  eintauchen  and 

untertaucJien, 524 

on  the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles,  525 

Harnoch  on  Manichaeanism, 188 

Harold's  death  by  a  chance  shot, 213 

Harris,  Samuel,  his  classification  of  the 
intuitions, 29 


646 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Harris,  Samuel,  on  the  existence  of  God 

a  datum  of  scientific  knowledge, . . .    33 
on  science  as  that  which  gives  occa- 
sion and  content  to  idea  of  the  ab- 
solute Being1, 

on  science  observing  the  universe  and 

missing-  God, 51 

compares  man  to  a  bottle  of  sea- water 

in  the  sea, 55 

his  definition  of  person, 122,  377 

on  the  relation  of  the  absolute  to  the 

finite, 123 

his  definition  of  language, 235 

on  man's  distinctive  characteristic  of 

personality, 246 

on  motives  and  character, 260 

on  sin, 295 

on  indifference, 313 

on  spiritual  body  as  evolved  by  will,.  580 
Harris,  W.  T.,  on  Herbert  Spencer's  self- 
contradiction,  7 

on  the  impossibility  of  science,  if  Rea- 
son has  not  made  the  world, 34 

Hartmann,  R.,  on  the  hypothetical  com- 
mon ancestor  of  man  and  apes, 237 

Hartmann,  Ed.  von,  on  science  petrified 

at  question  of  origin, . 184 

Harvest  decreed  as  result  of  labor, 179 

Harvey,  his  clue  to  discovery, 43 


on  the  remains  of  divine  likeness  in 

fallen  man, 263 

on  sin, 289 

Hastings,  Prof.,  on  the  natural  being 

the  ideal, 261 

Hatch's  inconclusive  method  of  prov- 
ing Episcopacy 508 

Hatred,  what? 293 

Haven's  view  of  ground  of  moral  obli- 
gation,   142 

Haven,  New,  school,  on  regeneration,..  457 
Havilah,  Gen.  10 : 16,  perhaps  stands  for 

atribe, 106 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  heredity  in  the 

case  of, 253 

illustration  of  guilt,  in  his  Scarlet  Let- 
ter,    346 

Hazard,    on    Edwards'    confusion    of 

thought  as  to  motive  and  will, 259 

on   the    simultaneity   of   cause   and 

effect, 437 

his  criticism  of  Mill's  view  of  causa- 
tion,    450 

Headship,  Adam's  natural,  theory  of,  328-333 

considerations  favoring  it, 330 

it  best  explains  Rom.  5 : 12-21, 330 

combines  the  truths  of  the  mediate 

and  Federal  theories, 330 

postulates  a  real  and  fair  probation  of 

our  common  nature, 330 

rests  on  correct  philosophical  princi- 
ples,   331 

accepts  Scriptural  representations, . .  331 


Heart,  its  meaning  in  Scripture, 3 

Heathen,  vulgar,    prejudiced    against 

early  Christianity, 90 

their  virtues,  what  ? 294 

who  have  not  heard  the  gospel,  their 
salvation  as  related  to  that  of  in- 
fants,   357 

their  religious   systems    sources  of 

deeper  corruption, 358- 

religions  of,  God  had  a  part  in  all  the 

good  of  them, 35$ 

in  proportion   to   their   cultivation, 

become  despairing, 35$ 

they  have  an  external  revelation, 359> 

some  among  them  may  have  found 

the  way  of  life, 46S 

apparently  regenerated,  instances  of,  468 
Heathenism,  despair  its  characteristic,.  35& 
a  negative  preparation  for  Christian- 
ity,   358 

list  of  authors  on, 359- 

Heautontimoroumenoi,  the  lost  are, 591 

Heavenly  state,  one  of  communion  with 

other  orders  of  intelligences, 586 

Heaven,  reasons  for  believing  that  it  is 

a  place, 231,585,586 

a  place,  since  it  contains  Christ's  hu- 
man body,  231,  585 

where  it  is,  not  revealed, 231 

why  represented  as  a  city, 585 

of  the  saints,  earth  may  be  the, 586. 

of  the  saints,  wider  than  limits   of 

earth, 586 

our  ruling  conception  should  be  that 

of  a  state, 586- 

final  state  of  the  righteous  in, 585-587 

rewards  in,  how  they  are  equal  and 

how  they  vary, 585 

a  rest  from  what  ? 585 

a  rest  consistent  with  service, 585 

we  shall  know  our  friends  in, 585 

knowledge  and  love  of  friends  in,  not 
inconsistent  with  perfect  love  of 

Christ, 585 

Hebrews,  "  genuine,"  though  not  writ- 
ten by  Paul,  72 

its  genuineness, 75 

accepted  during  first  century, 75 

its  genuineness  doubted  during  sec- 
ond and  third  century, 75 

again  accepted  by  Jerome  and  Augus- 
tine,    75 

formally  recognized  at  end  of  fourth 

century, 75 

its  probable  author, 75 

intended  to  counteract  Ebionism, 361 

Hebrews,  James,  and  Jude,  regarded  by 

apostles  as  inspired, 97 

Hegel,  his  idea  of  religion, 12 

his  analogy  of  the  Trinity, 167 

on  God  as  the  absolute  idea, 167 

on  God  as  eternally  begotten  Son, ...  167 
on  creation,  ..  ..  200- 


IXDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


647 


Hegel,  his  views  of  paradisaic  condi- 
tion,  269 

on  original  sin, t 301 

Heine  on  Napoleon, 293 

Heir  of  glory  may  not  know  his  happy 

situation, 482 

Hell,  essentially  a  condition, 231 

reasons  for  believing  that  it  is  also  a 

place, 231 

where  it  is,  not  revealed, 231 

preferred  by  its  occupants  to  heaven,  591 
its  present  usual  connotation  imposed 
on  it  by  the  impression  the  Scrip- 
tures made  on  popular  mind, 594 

force  of  its  Gothic  etymon,  "a  covered 

hole," 598 

Help  from  above,  need  of,  felt  by  great- 
est minds,  450 

Henderson  on  Messiah  as  "the  Lord,".  154 
on  the  chief  proof -text  of  the  Federal 

theory, 324 

Hengstenberg,  his  method  of  interpret- 
ing Revelation, 570 

on  the  millennium  begun  in  the  mid- 
dle ages, 574 

Henotheism,  what  ? 125 

"  Henry  Esmond,"  referred  to, 75 

Henry,    Matthew,   on   woman's   being 

taken  out  of  man's  side, 268 

on  satisfying  an  offended  conscience,  405 

Henry  VIII,  alluded  to, 12 

Herbert's  inferential  method  of  reach- 
ing idea  of  God,  36 

Herbert,  George,  on  adoring  the  broom 

while  leaving  the  house  foul, 18 

Herbert,  Lord,  of  Cherbury, 204 

Herder, 24 

Heredity,  facts  which  it  cannot  explain,  236 

modified  by  environment, 251 

illustrations  of , 253 

does  not  excuse, 285 

principle  of,  works  for  theology, 329 

the  law  of,  has  given  new  confirma- 
tion to  old  doctrine  of  original  sin,.  339 

Heresy,  as  selected  truth, 442 

a    ground    of    exclusion    from    the 

Lord's  Supper, 549 

Herod  Antipas,  an  instance  of  growing 

hardness, 349 

Heroes,  none  in  Thackeray  and  George 

Eliot, 297 

Herschel  on  the  atoms  of  the  material- 
ist,      52 

Herzog  on  Manichfeanism , 188 

Hesiod  places  formless  matter  in  the 

beginning, 192 

Hicks,  his  division  of  the  teleological 

argument, 42 

on  the  badness  of  the  world  an  argu- 
ment for  God's  goodness, 199 

Hierarchical  spirit,  antichrist, 570 

Hillel  and  Shammai,  their  diversity  of 
opinion  on  proselyte-baptism, 521 


Hill,  Pres.  Thos.,  on  the  material  world 
as  the  shadow  of  a  real  and  imma- 
terial being, 51 

Hill,  Rowland,  on  the  devil  making  lit- 
tle of  sin,  298 

on  preaching  to  the  non-elect, 434 

Hindustan,  date  of  Sanskritic  Indians' 

entrance  into, 107 

Hingewandt  zu,  Dorner's  translation  of 

7rp6?,  John  1:1, 163 

Hipparion,  the  two-toed  horse, 237 

Historical  theology,  what  ? 21 

Historical  types  are  prophecies, 68 

History  defying  our  moral  sense, 556 

History,  inspired,  record  in,  does  not 

imply  divine  approval, 108 

History,  nature  is  linked  to, 213 

History  of  doctrine,  what  ? 21 

Hitchcock,  Dr.  R.  D.,  on  the  silence  of 
Scripture  as  to  resurrection  of  flesh 

or  body, 577 

Hobbes  on  the  influence  of  the  passions 

on  the  acceptance  of  truth, 21 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,   141 

his  definition  of  society, 232 

Hodge,  A.  A., 27 

on  concatenation  of  all  events, 171 

on  effectual  calling, 437 

on  the  ordo  salutis, 437 

on  union  with  Christ, 437 

Hodge,  Charles, 27 

on  mind  not  the  only  force, 203 

on  man's  power  to  fall  and  to  recover 

himself, 304 

on  Wesley's  Arminianism, 314 

a  cretianist, 325 

on  man's  inability, 345 

on  governmental   theory   of  atone- 
ment,   404 

on  divine  purpose, 431 

on  God's  general  call, 435 

on  the  proportion  of  the  lost  to  the 

saved, 598 

Hofmann,  his  view  of  the  "  image  of 

God," 264 

his  view  of  humanity  of  Christ, 370 

his  theory  of  atonement, 393 

Holbach,  a  materialist, 52 

Holiness  of  God,  defined, 128 

is  not  justice, 128 

Quenstedt's  definition  of, 128 

is  not  the  aggregate  of  divine  perfec- 
tions,   128 

definitions   of  Dick,    Wardlaw,   and 

Beecher, 128 

is  not  God's  self-love, 128 

definition  of  Buddeus, 128 

no  utilitarian  element  in, 128 

is  not  love  or  a  manifestation  of  love,  129 
definitions  of  Hopkins  and  Bushnell,.  129 

doctrinal  results  of  their  error, 129 

Scriptural  refutation  of  it,  . .  . .  129 


648 


IXDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Holiness  of  God,  what  it  is  positively,..  129 

it  is  purity  of  substance, 339 

being  logically  precedes  willing, 129 

it  is  energy  of  will, 129 

the  free  moral  movement  of  the  God- 
head,    129 

not  a  still  and  moveless  purity, 130 

it  is  self -affirmation, 130 

not  a  mere  negation  of  sin,  but  the  af- 
firmation of  an  inward  principle  of 

righteousness, 130 

a  "glassy  sea  mingled  with  fire," 130 

works  on,  specified, 130 

transitive,  what? 138 

distributive,  what? 139 

legislative,  what? 139 

the  fundamental  attribute  in  God, ...  140 

shown  from  Scripture, 140 

presents  itself  most  prominently  to 

conscience  of  sinner, 140 

insistence  upon,  also  in  heaven, 140 

shown  from  our  moral  constitution,  .  140 
shown  from  the  actual   dealings  of 

God, 141 

conditions  and  limits  exercise  of  other 

attributes, 141 

shown  from  God's  eternal  purpose  of 

salvation, 141 

and  mercy,  antagonism  between  them 

removed  by  atonement, 141 

of  God,  the  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,   141 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

in  man,  creatable, 264 

love  for,  is  the  essence  of  virtue, 292 

in  Christ,  what? 294 

according  to  Pelagius,  not  concreat- 

ed, 311 

immanent,  denied  by  governmental 

theory  of  atonement, 404 

the  gift  of  God, 430 

an  indispensable  condition  of  securing 

tne  favor  of  God, 449 

implies  a  change  in  that  which  consti- 
tutes character, 449 

not  attainable  by  natural  develop- 
ment,   449 

is  true  freedom, 459 

a  germ  whose  nature  it  is  to  grow,  ...  485 

final  state  of  the  righteous  one  of, 585 

Hollaz, 24 

on  truth  in  God, 126 

his  definition  of  sin, 289 

his  view  of  man's  relation  to  Adam,..  325 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  on    man  an 
omnibus  in  which  his  ancestors  are 

seated, 253 

on  the  will  a  drop  of  water  imprisoned 

in  a  solid  crystal, 344 

Holy,  God  must  be ;  merciful  he  may  be,  140 
Holy   Ghost,   sin    against,   how    it  is 
"venial,"...- 348 


Holy  Ghost,   sin  against,  an  externa 

symptom, 349 

not  an  isolated  act, 349 

the  culmination  of  a  long  and  evil 

course, 349 

accompanied  with  profound  indiffer- 
ence or  active  hostility  against  God,  349 
cannot  be  forgiven  because  the  soul 
which   has   been   guilty  of  it  has    i 
ceased  to  be  receptive  of  divine  in- 
fluences,  349 

not  limited  to  New  Testament  times,  350 
probably  committed  by  Jews  when 
after  Pentecost  they  rejected  Holy 

Spirit's  witness, 350 

Holy  Spirit,  organ  of  internal  revela- 
tion,  8,  163 

recognized  as  God, 150 

is  a  person, 155 

his  work  distinguished  from  that  of 

Christ, 164 

procession  of  the, 155,  166 

relation  to  Christ  during  his  state  of 

humiliation, 377,  378,  382 

application  of  redemption  through 

the  work  of, 426-493 

Homer,  one,  more  probable  than  many 

Homers, 82 

on  man's  wretchedness, 200 

Homiletics,  what? 22 

Honestum  and  uttte,  Cicero  on, 142 

Honesty  of  gospel  writers,  evidences  of,    82 
Honors,  divine,  ascribed  to  Holy  Spirit,  151 

Hooker,  Richard, 26 

his  distinction  between  aptness  and 

ableness, 263 

his  famous  description  of  law, 276 

on  the  law  of  grace, 282 

on  Son  of  man  "  ascending  up  where 

he  was  before," 370 

his  views  of  ecclesiastical  polity, 500 

Hope,  element  of,  essential  to  existence 

even  of  a  heathen  religion, 59 

Hopkins,  Pres.  Mark,  on  moral  reason,     3 

on  impersonal  intelligence, 44 

on  materialism, 53 

his  illustration  of  tea-kettle, 121 

on  nothing  a  priori  against  eternity  of 

matter, 184 

on  the  unwisdom  of  those  who  deprive 
themselves  of  "  the  training  which 

is  under  personality," 216 

on  effects  produced  by  combination,.  217 
on  the  incongruity  of  Tyndall's  pray- 
er-test,    218 

on  conscience, 256 

-on  man's  original  dominion, 268 

on  man  as  including  woman, 269 

on  absence  rff  cruel  treatment  of  fe- 
males among  animals, 271 

on    distinction   between   moral   and 

physical  law, 275 

his  definition  of  cause, ...        450 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


649 


Hopkins,  Pres.  Mark,  on  nature  of  vir- 
tue,  142 

on  faith, 466 

Hopkins,  Samuel, 26 

his  definition  of  holiness, 129 

on  continuous  creation,  .. 205 

his  views  of  our  relation  to  Adam's  sin,  323 
on  utter  impossibility  of  sinners  obey- 
ing the  law  of  God, 345 

Horace,  on  the  supremacy  of  nature,..  301 
Host,  its  meaning-  in  Romish  church,  . .  545 

adoration  of,  idolatry, 545 

"  Host  of  heaven  "  phrase  examined,...  224 
House  of  Lords,  action  of,  in  relation  to 

copies, 70 

Houses  accessible  to  floods,  figure  from,  586 

•Hovey,  Pres.  Alvah,  on  Quenstedt, 24 

his  definition  of  soul, 246 

his  objections  to  mediate  imputation,  327 
his  objection  to  Augustinian  view  of 
race's  connection  with  Adam  as  not 
supported  by  believer's  connection 

with  Christ,  examined, 340 

his  reply  to  Bushnell, 401 

on  Mat.  8:17, 402 

on  election, 427 

on  Rom.  9:  20, 432 

on  reasons  for  the  divine  election, 432 

on  our  having  no  reason  to  think  that 

God  treats  all  moral  beings  alike, . .  432 
his  illustration  of  regeneration  from 

photography, 450 

on  John  1:12, 13, 458 

on  present  sufferings  of  believers  and 

unbelievers, 555 

Howe,  John, 26 

his  definition  of  God, 29 

. Hughes,  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop, 

his  assertion  in  relation  to  Baptists,  538 
Human  element  in  Paul's  writings  and 

those  of  the  evangelists, 101 

Human  mind,  can  know  God, 4 

Human  nature,  essential  elements, -.243-248 

Human  soul  of  Christ,  ubiquitous, 387 

Humanity,  has  a  capacity  for  religion,.    32 
its  full  concept,  marred  in  the  first 

Adam,  realized  in  the  second  Adam,  366 
its  exaltation  in  Christ,  to  be  the  ex- 
perience of  his  people,  385 

justified  in  Christ's  justification, 479 

Humanity  of  Christ, 364 

its  reality, 364 

its  integrity, 365 

supernaturally  conceived, 365 

free  from  hereditary  taint  and  actual 

sin, 365 

ideal  in  its  character, 366 

impersonal  before  union  with  the  di- 
vine nature,  366 

was  germinal  and  capable  of  self -com- 
munication,   367 

how  related  to  the  Logos  in  his  exal- 
tation,   386 

42 


Humanity  of  Christ,  as  to  his  soul,  ubi- 
quitous,  387 

not  pre-incarnate, 413 

Humbert,  King  of  Italy,  an  illustrat- 
ion from  his   conduct  during  the 

cholera  scourge, 4J7 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von,   does  not 

mention  God  in  his  "  Cosmos," 1 

on  Psalm  104, 203 

on  mankind  one  single  species, 241 

Hume,  David,  on  a  starry  night,  anec- 
dote of, 32 

his  "reasonable  remark," 40 

his  idealism, 53 

on  miracles    as  "a  violation  of  the 

laws  of  nature," 62 

his  argument  against  miracles, 64 

his  argument  against  miracles  falla- 
cious,      64 

on  prophecy, 67 

on  the  validity  of  the  argument  for 
honesty  derived  from  the  absence 

of  motive, 84 

on  prayer, 216 

anecdote  of, 497 

on  purgatory  as  the  fulcrum  of  a  lev- 
er by  which  to  move  the  world, 565 

Humiliation, Christ's,  _...T 380-384 

nature  of, 380 

what  it  is  not, 380 

theory  that  it  consisted  in  surrender 
of  relative  divine  attributes,  objec- 

tionsto, 380 

consisted  in  giving  up,  not  divine  at- 
tributes or  nature,  but  "glory," 381 

consisted  in  surrender  of  independ- 
ent exercise  of  divine  attributes, ...  383 

a  continuous  self-renunciation, 382 

true  doctrine  of,  tabulated  with  erro- 
neous doctrines, 382 

Anselm's  view, 382 

stages  of, 382 

omnipresence  furnishes  a  key  to  the 

mystery  of, 383 

not  the  Logos  perse,  but  the  God-man, 

endured  the, 383 

the  latency  of  the  divine  during,  vari- 
ous illustrations  of ,  383 

during  the,  the  Spirit  only  permitted 
at  intervals  the  consciousness  and 

exercise  of  divine  fulness, 383 

human  nature  in,  increasingly  appro- 
priates to  conscious  use  the  latent 

fulness  of  the  divine  nature, 383 

truedoctrine  amiddleground  between 

extremes, 383 

must  not  be  minimized, 383 

its  only  limit  sinlessness, 383 

Evans  on  two  stages  in, 384 

Humility,  its  derivation, 462 

H  umists,  the  principal  modern , 54 

Hunt,     Holman,     his     picture,  "The 
Shadow  of  the  Cross,"  alldued  to,..  365 


650 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Huther,  on  the  prominence  to  leader- 
ship in  church  given  in  Paul's  later 

epistles, 503 

Hutter,  Leonard, 24 

Button  on  the  haunting1  presence  of  a 

righteous  Life  and  Will, 37 

on  the  Trinity  in  relation  to  the  social 

nature,.. - -  169 

on  Trinity  as  setting  forth  a  perfect 

filial  will, 170 

on  the  higher  the  mind,  the  more  it 
glides  into  the  region  of  Providence,  220 

on  Goethe, - --  290 

on  God's  intercourse  with  men   by 

faculty  and  by  teaching, - . .  426 

Huxley,  Thomas,  his  criticism  on  posi- 
tivism,   - - 46 

calls  brutes  "  conscious  automata,". -    53 

on  matter, 53 

denies  "must,"  in  uniformity  of  na- 
ture,   -- 63 

on  development  from  Orohippus  to 

modern  horse, -- 192 

objection  of,  to  creation  of  birds  on 

fifth  day, - 195 

on  the  "  gulf  "  between  man  and  the 

highest  brute, 235 

on  the  absence  of  proof  of  origination 

of  species  from  selection, 237 

his  supposed  discovery  of  proof  of  the 
development  theory  in  the  descent 
of  the  modern  horse  from  Orohip- 
pus,   237 

on  the  needlessness  of  assuming  more 

than  one  stock  for  mankind, 241 

Hydrogen,  solidification  of,  .-- 376 

Hylomorphism,  63 

Hymns,  Christian,  full  of  divinity  of 

Christ,  150 

adduced  in  favor  of  Christ's  propitia- 
tory work, - 399 

Hyper  physical  communication  between 

minds,  perhaps  possible, 579 

'lam,'  in  Ex.  3:14,   implies  personal- 
ity,  122 

mistaken  by  Matthew  Arnold, 122 

'  I  am  that  I  am,'  in  Ex.  3 : 14,  its  signifi- 
cation,  123 

Idea  of  God,  intuitive,  though  not  de- 
veloped apart  from  observation  and 

reflection, 30 

its  universality, 31 

its  necessity,.. 32 

its  logical  independence  and  priority,    33 

other  supposed  sources  of, 34 

not  from  external  revelation, 34 

not  from  experience, 34 

not  from  reasoning, 35 

Idea  of  the  infinite,  not  an  infinite  idea,    48 

Idealism,  its  view  of  revelation, 

definition  of, 53 

elementof  truth  in, ..- 53 

error  in, 53 


Idealism,  continuous  creation  involves 

difficulties  of, 2a5,  206-- 

Idealistic  pantheism,  makes  God  both 

subject  and  object  of  religion, 12 

Idealistic  philosophy   of   thirty   years 

ago,  its  influence  as  to  body, 577 

Ideality  of  Christ's  human  nature,  ....  366 
Ideally  possible,  the,  known  to  God,,..  134 

Ideas,  have  decided  fate  of  world, 211 

Ideas   of  heathen,  not     measured   by 

power  of  expressing  them, 31 

Identity,  man's  with  Adam,  Edwards' 

theory  of, 31& 

as  applied  to  material  things, 579 

bodily,  in  what  it  consists, 579- 

according  to  Dorner, 580 

Idiomaticum,  genus, 370 

Idle  word,'  why  condemned, 285 

Idolatry,  makes  God  in  image  of  man,.     5 

a  grosser  anthropomorphism, 121 

its  connection  with  evil  spirits, 229 

distinguished  from  fetiehism, 272 

transubstantiation  is  virtual, 545 

Idol,  worship  of,  contrasted  in  Talmud 

with  that  of  Jehovah, 133 

Ignatius,  first  theological  systematizer,    23 
quotes    from  New  Testament  writ- 
ings,      74 

Ignorance,  invincible,  Pius  IX  on, 545 

sacrifices  for, 285 

sins  of, -.-.  348 

Ignorant  la  legis  neminem  excusat, 289 

Image,  its  significance, 162 

in  Gen.  1 : 26,  27,  its  meaning, 262 

as  applied  to  Christ,  its  meaning, 26£ 

Image   and    likeness,  of    God,   distin- 
guished by  Romish  theologians, 265 

why  used  together, 265 

Image  of  God,  in  what  it  consisted, ....  261 

its  natural  element, 261 

its  moral  element, 261 

views  of  the  Greek  Fathers, 261 

views  of  the  Latin  Fathers, 262 

involves  proper  complement  of  facul- 
ties,   -- - 262 

involves  right  moral  tendencies, 262 

consists  chiefly  in  original  righteous- 


theory  that  it  includes  only  personal- 
ity,   ---  264 

its  advocates, - .--  264 

objections  to, -  264 

in  man,  in  it  the  ethical  overshadows 

"    the  natural, 

not  mere  ability  to  be  like  him,  but 

actual  likeness, 264 

theory  that  it  consists  in  man's  natu- 
ral capacity  for  religion, 265 

objections  to  this  theory  of, 265 

difference     between    Romanist    and 

Protestant  doctrine  of , 266 

results  of  man's  possession  of, 26 

reflected  in  man's  physical  form, 267 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


651 


Image  of  God,  not  bodily  resemblance 

to  Creator, 267 

according  to  Scholastics,  proprie  and 

significative, - -  267 

presented  immediately  by  spirit, 267 

presented  mediately  by  body, 267 

involved  subjection  of  sensuous  im- 
pulses to  control  of  spirit, 267 

exaggerated  views  of,  in  the  Fathers,  268 
involved  dominion  over  lower  crea- 
tion,   268 

Socinian  view  of , 268 

Limborch's  view  of, 268 

denied  to  women  by  Encratites  and 

Peter  Martyr, 268 

involved  communion  with  God, 268 

concomitants  of  its  possession, ...  268 

Immanent  and  unconscious  finality,  ex- 
amples of, - -f- 44 

teleological  argument  proves  only, ...    44 
Immanent,  explanation  of  term  as  ap- 
plied to  attributes, 120 

Immensity,  God's  attribute  of, 131 

infinity  in  relation  to  space, 131 

Immobility  and  Fate  cannot  be  wor- 
shiped,   125 

Immoralities  in  Scripture,  seeming,  due 

to  unwarranted  interpretations, 109 

Immorality,  of  doctrine  of  atonement, 

charge  of,  unfounded, 420 

of  doctrine  of  election, 432 

of  doctrine  of  justification, 479 

Immortality  of  the  soul, 555-562 

maintained  on  rational  grounds, 555 

metaphysical  argument  for, 555 

teleological  argument  for, 556 

only  applicable  to  the  righteous, 556 

of  righteous,  proved  from  God's  love,  556 

ethical  argument  for, 556 

of  wicked,  proved  from  God's  justice,  556 

historical  argument  for, 557 

widespread  indications  of  a  belief  in,  557 

this  argument  for,  of  what  value, 557 

a  general  appetency  for, 557 

the  idea  congruous  with  our  nature, .  557 

Dorner  on  its  true  pledge, 558 

authors  on  the  question  of, 558 

maintained  upon  Scriptural  grounds,  558 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  the 

most  impressive  proof  of, 562 

Immortality  without  holiness,  unend- 
ing misery, 269 

Immutability.  God's  attribute  of, 124 

ascribed  to  Christ, 147 

Impassible,  is  God? , 127,128 

was  God,  in  sufferings  of  Christ? 362 

Impersonal  intelligence   may  account 

for  the  order  of  nature, 44 

Imprecatory  Psalms, 109 

Illumination,  revelation  in  widest  sense 

includes, 8 

Holy  Spirit  gives,  to  perceive  truth 
already  revealed, .    15 


Illumination,  without  inspiration, 95 

cannot  account  for  revelation  of  new 

truth,  __ 99 

not  necessarily  connected  with  proph- 
ecy,  100 

cannot  account  for  prophecy, 100 

alone  could  not  secure  Scripture  writ- 
ers from  error, 100 

not  always  dependent  on  holiness, 100 

an  inspiration  dependent  only  upon, 

possesses  no  authority, 100 

Illumination-theory  of  inspiration,  its 

doctrinal  relations, - 99 

it  contains  several  distinctively  Chris- 
tian elements, 99 

its  advocates, 99 

itsdefects, 99 

makes  reason  ultimate  authority  in    - 

religious  truth, 100 

Imperfection  in  order  of  universe,  if 

granted,  explicable, 43 

Imputatio  metaphysica, -  325 

Imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  pos- 
terity,    308-340 

two  questions  demanding  answer, 308 

proper  meaning  of  the  phrase, 309 

has  always  a  realistic  basis  in  Script- 
ure,  - 309 

two  fundamental  principles  in, 309 

difference  between   Old   School  and 

New  School  views, - --  310 

no  theory  of,  wholly  satisfactory, 310 

theories  of, , - 310-340 

Pelagian  theory  of ,  and  objections,..  310 
Arminian  theory  of,  and  objections,.  314 
New  School  theory  of,  and  objections,  318 

Federal  theory  of,  and  objections, 322 

Mediate  theory  of,  andobjections,...  325 
Augustinian  theory  of,  most  satisfac- 
tory of  theories, 310 

of  Adam's  sin  to  the  race,  grounded 
in  the  fact  of  a  real  union  of  the 

race  with  Adam, 328 

and  in  real  historical  connection  of 
each  member  of  the  race  with  its 

first  father  and  head, 329 

theories  of,  tabular  view, 334 

objections  to  Augustinian  doctrine  of,  335 
Imputation,  of  sins  of  immediate  ances- 
tors, Augustine  on, 336 

of  sin  to  Christ,  grounded  on  a  real 

union  between  Christ  and  humanity,  413 
of     Christ's     righteousness     to    us, 
grounded  in  a  real  union  of  the  be- 
liever with  Christ, 445,479 

Inability  (see  Sinner),  ...- 358,342-345 

Incarnation,  Dorner  on  three  ideas  in- 
cluded in, 370 

'  In  Christ,'  the  phrase  a  key  to  Paul's 

epistles  and  to  the  whole  N.  T., 440 

Inconclusiveness,  seeming,  of  Scriptur- 
al arguments,  due  sometimes  to  ig- 
norance of  divine  logic, 109 


652 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Incorporation,  guarantees  truth, 102 

'Indefinite'    not    equivalent   to  'infi- 
nite,'        6 

Independence  Day,  referred  to, 77 

Indeterminateness,  moral,  man  never  in 

a  state  of, 176 

Indeterminism,  when  tenable, 260 

Indifference,  liberty  of,....  178,  258,  317,  590 
Individuals,  statements  of  God's  pur- 
pose to  save,  428 

foreknowledge  and  choice  of,  to  sal- 
vation, statements  of, 428 

allotted  as  disciples  to  certain  of  God's 

servants, - 429 

given  by  Father  to  Son,  proof -passa- 
ges,  - - 429 

are  made  recipients  of  special  call  of 

God, - 429 

born  into  God's  kingdom  by  God's 

will, 429 

Indolence  leads  to  pantheism, 55 

Induction,  its  validity  depends  on  exist- 
ence of  God, - 33 

Inductive  inference,  what  ? 36 

Indwelling   of    God,    its    extent    and 

modes, 376 

reaches  its  highest  stages  in  Christ's 
union   with  believer  and  in  God's 

union  with  Christ, -  441 

Inertia, --- 52 

Inexistentia, - 161 

Infant  salvation,  Watson  on, 315 

according  to  New  School, 320 

doctrine  of,  .- 355-357 

considerations  favoring, 355-357 

its  earliest  American  advocates, 357 

some  consequences  of, 357 

little  said  of,  in  Scripture, 357 

yet  conclude  that  no  human  soul  is 
eternally  condemned  solely  for  sin 

of  nature, ---  357 

Infants,  die  before  personal  and  con- 
scious choice, - 300 

their  death  proves  sin  of  nature, 300 

are  mere  animals,  theory  that, 321 

unbaptized,  regarded  by  French  peas- 
ants as  animals, - 538 

are  in  a  state  of  sin, 355 

are  possessessed  of  a  relative  inno- 
cence,   - 356 

are  the  object  of  special  divine  care,.  356 

have  a  right  to  salvation, 356 

are  chosen  to  eternal  life, 356 

through  the  grace  of  Christ  are  saved,  356 
are   included   in  the  provisions  of  a 
mercy  which   is   coextensive  with 

the  ruin  of  the  fall, 356 

provision  is  made  for  their  salvation 

otherwise  than  by  personal  faith,...  357 
rule  of  final  judgment  cannot  apply 

to  infants, 357 

their  regeneration  wrought  at  first 
view  of  Christ  in  the  other  world,..  357 


Infanticide  might  have  been  encour- 
aged by  definite  assurance  of  in- 
fants'salvation,  357 

Inference,  dedu  ctive,  what  ? 3H 

inductive,  what? 36 

immediate,  not  reasoning, 36 

mediate,  what  ? 36 

not  a  source  of  the  idea  of  God, 36 

Infinite,  the,  expresses  a  positive  idea,.      6 
the,  is  it  a  negation  of  the  thinka- 
ble?  .- 6 

the  ground  of  the  finite, 6 

idea  of,  McCosh  on, 49 

not  the  indefinite, 6,122 

Infinity,  God's  attribute  of,  what?..  122, 123 
in  one  direction  not  infinity  in  all,.  6,  597 

Infirmity,  sins  of, 348 

Influence,  special  divine,  required  by 

depravity  of  will, 431 

Innatce  cogitationes, 30 

Innate  or  connate  ideas,  what  ? 30 

Innocence  suffering  for  guilt,  not  un- 
just,   -. 419 

Innocency,  negative,  the  Creator  of,  the 

author  of  sin, 265 

Inorganic,  the  basis  of  the  organic, 52 

Inquirers,  Scriptural  advice  to, 482 

Insanity,  sometimes  dependent  on  sub- 
jugation of  will  to  a  foreign  power,  229 

Insilce  cogitationes,  - 30 

Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures, 95-114 

definition  of, 95 

defined  not  by  its  method  but  by  its 

result, 95 

may  include  revelation, -    95 

without  revelation, 95 

may  include  illumination, 95 

without  illumination, 95 

list  of  works  on, -- 95 

proof  of, - 96 

presumption  in  favor  of , 96 

of  the  O.  T.  vouched  for  by  Jesus,-..    96 

promised  by  Jesus, 

claimed  by  the  apostles,. 96 

attested  by  miracles  or  prophecy, 96 

theories  of, 97-102 

Intuition-theory  of, 

permits   the   use  of  natural  insight 

into  truth, 

in  matters  religious  and  moral  secures 
for    man's    vitiated     insight    help 

against  error, 

not  mere  inward  impulse  of  genius, . . 

logical  results  of  this  theory, 98 

Illumination-theory  of, 

doctrinal  connections  of  this  theory, .    99 

its  principal  advocates, 

in  some  cases  may  have  amounted  to 

mere  ilium  ination, 

that  this  was  constant  method  of,  de- 
nied,...-  

communication  of  new  truth  requires 
something  more, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


653 


Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  illumina- 
tion-theory of,  spiritual  perception 

too  imperfect  to  be  trusted, 100 

this  theory  of,  leaves  Scripture  with- 
out authority,  100 

makes  reason  the  ultimate  standard,.  100 

Dictation  theory  of, 100 

doctrinal  connections  of , 100 

principal  advocates  of, 100 

in  some  cases  involved  communica- 
tion of  words, 101 

this  theory  of,  rests  on  partial  induc- 
tion of  Scriptural  facts, 101 

cannot  account  for  manifestly  human 

element, „..  101 

Dynamical  theory  of, -  103 

distinguished  from  other  theories  of,  102 
union  of  divine  and  human  elements 

in, 102 

analogies  of  regeneration  and  person 

of  Christ, 102 

not  external  impartation  and  recep- 
tion,  102 

consisted   with   highest  exercise   of 

natural  powers, -  102 

illustrated  from   experience   of  the 

preacher, 102 

peculiarities   of  thought    and   style 

pressed  into  its  service, 103 

only  secured  infallible  transmission 

of  truth, 103 

was  not  omniscience  or  complete  sanc- 

tiflcation,  -.'-. 103 

secured  a  perfect  teacher  but  not  a 

perfect  man, 103 

permitted  progress  in  Christian  doc- 
trine, --.. 103 

did  not  generally   involve   a   direct 

communication  of  words, 103 

new  truths  of,  seemed  to  its  subjects 

as  discoveries  of  their  own  minds,..  103 
verbal  as  to  result,  but  not  as  to  pro- 
cess,   „ 103 

sometimes  guided  even  in  selection  of 

words, 104 

constitutes    Scriptures    an    organic 

whole, ..  104 

two  cardinal  principles  of, 104 

two  common  questions  regarding, 104 

of  Scriptures  all  pervading, 104 

there  are  no  degrees  in, 104 

objections  to  doctrine  of , 105-114 

principal  objections  to,  drawn  from 

secular  teachings  of  Scripture, 105 

errors  in  secular  matters,  if  proved, 

not  necessarily  fatal  to  it, 105 

alleged  errors  in  matters  of  science,. .  105 
"  germinal  modes  of  expression  "  used 

in,.. 106 

its  subjects  may  not  have  understood 
scientific  interpretation  of  natural 

events  they  described, 106 

alleged  errors  in  matters  of  history,..  107 


Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  alleged 

errors  in  morality, 108 

of  reasoning, 109 

in  quoting  or  interpreting  the  O.  T.,. .  110 

in  prophecy, Ill 

boob  s  unworthy  of  a  place, _  Ill 

books  written  by  others, 112 

permits  and  regulates  compilation,  ..  112 

sceptical  or  ficitious  narratives, 113 

acknowledgment  of  non-inspiration,  114 

Inspired  record,  an,  probability  of, 96 

writers,  experiences  of,  illustrated  by 

that  of  preacher, 102 

documents  not  exempt  from  mistakes 

in  transcription, 107 

Institutio  Religionis  Christiana?,  Cal- 
vin's,   : 24 

Intellect  and  heart  essential  to  knowl- 
edge of  divine  things, 3 

Intellectual  element  in  faith, 465 

Intellectual  views  into  which  will  has 

entered,  man  responsible  for, 258 

Intention,  deliberate,  aggravates  sin  but 

is  not  of  its  essence, 288 

Intercession,  Christ's  work  of , 422-424 

nature  of  his, 423 

his  sacerdotal  benediction  based  upon 

it, 423 

an  activity  of  Christ  upon  ground  of 

his  sacrifice, 423 

objects  of  Christ's, 423 

general,  for  all  men, 423 

special,  for  his  saints, 423 

of  Christ,  its  relation  to  that  of  Holy 

Spirit, 423 

of  Christ,  its  relation  to  that  of  saints,  424 

Intercessors,  saints  are, 424 

Intercommunication 161 

Intercommunion  between   persons  of 

Trinity, 160 

Intermediate  state, 562-566 

of  righteous, 563 

of  wicked, 564 

notasleep, 564 

not  purgatorial, 565 

incomplete, 566 

of  conscious  joy  to  the  righteous, 566 

of  conscious  pain  to  the  wicked, 56(5 

a  state  of  thought, 566 

sin  in,  because  more  spiritual,  demon- 
iacal,  566 

exchanged  for  perfect  joy  or  utter 
misery  only  with  the  resurrection 

and  judgment, 566 

Internal  characteristics  of  the  Christian 
documents  unaccountable  on  theory 
of  forgery  or  gradual  accretion,  ...  81 

International  law,  how  far  it  exists, 274 

a  partial  metaphor, 274 

Interpretations,  strained,  to  be  avoided,  116 

illustrations  of  such, 116 

Intestinal  canal  and  its  appendages  is 
result  of  fall,  theory  that, 268 


654 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


'  Into  the  name,'  in  baptismal  formula,.  534 

Intuition,  its  meaning, 89 

views  of, 29 

of  God,  knowledge  of  what  it  is,  pro- 
gressive,      37 

an  obscure,  may  be  explicated  into 

distinct  consciousness, 39 

of  final  cause,  beneath  expectation  of 

uniformity, 63 

moral,  what? 254 

Intuitions,  classification  of, 29 

presentative,     as    self-consciousness 

and  sense-perception, 29 

rational,  as   space,  time,  substance, 
cause,  final   cause,  right,  absolute 

Being, 29 

rational,  further  subdivided, -  - .    29 

of  relations,  as  space  and  time, 29 

of   principles,   as   substance,    cause, 

final  cause,  right, -    29 

of  absolute  Being,  as  God, 29 

how  related  to  experience, 30 

may  be  developed  late, 30 

do  they  give  us  only  abstract  ideas  ? . .    36 
Intuitional  theory  of  morals,  truth  in,.  256 

reconciled  with  empirical,  .- 256 

Intuition-theory  of  inspiration, 97 

its  doctrinal  connections, 97 

its  representatives, 97 

objections  to, 97 

Intuitive  ideas,  evolved  from  soul  itself 

on  suitable  occasions, 248 

Plato's  view  of, 248 

Invalidity,  seeming,  of  Scriptural  rea- 
soning, sometimes  arises  from   its 

highly  condensed  form, 109 

Irenaeus,  refers  to  gospels, 73 

his  testimony  investigated, 73 

*  Irresistible,'  a    better    word    '  effica- 
cious,'   .- 436 

Irving,   representations  of  his   views,  406 

objections  to  his  view, 406 

his  views,  Dorner  on, 406 

his  view  of  sacrifice,  that  of  sin, 407 

his  view  of  the  identification  of  Christ 

with  the  race, 413 

Irvingian  theory  of  atonement, 405 

*Is,'  its  meaning  in  words  of  institu- 
tion of  Lord's  Supper, 543 

Isaiah,  a  later, 72 

prophecy  of ,  its  division, 113 

his  style  may  have  varied  in  forty 

years,  113 

Islam, 89 

its  meaning, -  212 

Isocrates,  on  Heraclitus, 105 

Israelites,  postponement  in  their  case  of 

much  teaching, -  109 

positive  preparation  in  their  history 

for  Christ's  redemption, 359 

Italy,  its  unification, 571 

'Jack    and   Jill,'  philosophical   inter- 
pretation of , 78 


Jacob,  on  *<XT'  OIKOV, 539 

one!™?, 540 

on  Lord's  Supper  implying  not  real 
presence  but  real  absence  of  Christ's 

body, 544 

his  concessions  to  Baptists, 553 

'  Jacob,'  the  correct  reading   in  Acts 

7:16, 107 

Jacobi,  F.  H.,  his  view  of  theology, 8 

his  philosophy  marks  transition  from 

rationalism, 24 

his   saying,    "nature   conceals   God, 

man  reveals  him," 45 

Jacobi,  Prof.  J.,  on  1  Cor.  7:14, 535 

Jael's  patriotism,  not  her  treachery,  ap- 
proved,   108 

James,  Luther's  opinion  of  his  epistle,.  112 

his  position  on  justification, 472 

Janet,  his  view  of  finality, 42 

his  method  in  his  work  on  Final  Causes,    42 

his  objections  to  optimism, 199 

on  effects  produced  by  combination,.  217 

Jansen  and  Jansenism, 25 

Janus,  man  the  true, 243 

Jefferson  on  a  Baptist  church  being  the 
truest  form   of    democracy  in   the 

world, 506 

'Jehovah,'  what  it  implies, 123 

Adonai  substituted  for, 146 

Jewish  reverence  for  the  name, 147 

'  Jeremiah,'  a  clerical  error  for  '  Zech- 

ariah,'  in  Mat.  27  :  9, 107 

Jerome,  accepts  Hebrews, 75 

on  absurdity  of  God's  knowing  how 
many  gnats  there  are  the  world, ...  213 

a  creatianist, 250 

on  '  bishop '  and  '  presbyter, ' 509 

on  teaching  power  essential  in  a  pas- 
tor,  510 

Jerrold,  Douglas,  on  dogmatism, 22 

Jerusalem,  its   artificial  water-supply 

abundant, 523 

'  Jerusalem,  the  New,' a  symbol, 447 

Jessica,  on  "sweet music," 269 

Jesus,  Ebionitic  view  of , 361 

"master  of  those  who  know," 389 

not  inspired,  but  inspirer, 389 

bowing  at  name  of, 546 

Jesus  Christ,  expressly  called  God, 145 

recognized  as  God, 145 

See  Christ. 
Jew,  trust  of  a  pious,  implicitly  a  faith 

in  Christ, -  359 

Jewish  advantages  dependent  not  on  a 
"  genius  for  religion,"  but  on  divine 

revelation, 359 

hopefulness  derived  from  prophecy,  359 
Jews,  the  only  ancient  forward-looking 

people, 

the  three  great  truths  in  their  divine 

education, 359 

the  three  principal  educational  agen- 
cies in  their  history, 359,  360 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


655 


-Jews,   rendered    monotheists    by    the 
exile, 360 

converted  by  it  from  an  agricultural 
to  a  trading  people, ---  360 

imbued  by  it  with  spirit  of  Roman 
civilization, - - 360 

their  dispersion  a  monotheistic  start- 
ing point  for  gospel,  360 

.Job,  a  historical  personage, 113 

book  of,  its  speeches  perhaps  never 

delivered  in  their  present  form, 113 

.John,  his  gospel,  differs  from  synop- 
tics,     70 

his  second  and  third  epistles,  not  re- 
ferred to  by  apostolic  fathers, 74 

his  gospel,  genuineness  of, 75 

his  second  and  third  epistles,  eviden- 
ces of  their  genuineness, 76 

difference  of  his  style  in  Revelation 
and  in  Gospel, 113 

his  gospel,  need  we  assign  it  a  later 
origin  on  account  of  its  doctrine  of 

the  Logos? 154 

.    his  first  epistle,  does  it  teach  perfec- 
tionism,   489 

John  of  Damascus, 23 

a trichotomist, .  247 

translated  by  Peter  Lombard, 363 

influences  western  theology  in  middle 


on  double  consciousness  and  will  in 

Christ, 377 

John  Scotus  Erigena, 23 

Johnson,  F.  H.,  on  "natural  selection 

the  scavenger  of  creation," 236 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  quoted  on  sin,  . .  297 
Joseph  and  Mary,  variations  in  method 

of  divine  communication  to, 102 

Josaphat,  St.,  another  name  for  Bud- 
dha,   468 

.  Josephus,  mentions  Jesus, 71 

on  books  of  Old  Testament, 80 

his  numbers  vary  in  some  instances 

from  present  Hebrew  Scriptures,..  107 
on  opinions  of  Pharisees  and  Saddu- 

cees  concerning  future  life, 561 

Jouffroy,  on  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,   142 

on  mental  existence  requiring  con- 
tinuous thinking, 566 

Jowett,  on  sacrifice, 397 

Judaism,  classed  with   "rudiments  of 

the  world," 358 

a  positive  preparation  for  Christian- 
ity,   359 

as  a  preparation  for  Christ,  list  of  au- 
thors on,  360 

modern,  its  tendency, 168 

Judas, 292 

his  experiences  under  influence   of 

Christ, 492 

.statements  regarding  him  not  true  on 
hypothesis  of  a  final  restoration,...  592 


Jude,  epistle  of,  not  referred  to  by  apos- 
tolic Fathers,  74 

evidences  o  f  its  genuineness, 76 

American    Revisers'    translation   of 

verse  4, 434 

Judex  damnatur  cum  nocens  absolvitur, .  139 
Judge,  a,  his  indignation  a  type  of  God's 

anger, 139 

purity  a  sympathetic  element  in, 583 

Judge,  Christ  the  final,  because  his  hu- 
man nature  makes  intelligible  the 

grounds  of  judgment, 583 

because  his  complex  person  secures 

mercy  and  justice,. 583 

because  this  is  the  reward  of  his  suf- 
ferings and  the  proof  that  humanity 

has  been  redeemed, 584 

Judge,  English,  who  punished  not  for 
stealing  sheep  but  that  sheep  might 

not  be  stolen, 353 

'Judge  the  world,'  how  the  saints  will,.  584 
Judging  the  world,  attributed  to  Christ,  147 
Judgment,  perfection  of,  secured  by 

Christ's  promise  to  apostles, 100 

God's,  against  sin  in  Christ,  faith  rat- 
ifies,  1.  480 

of  God  as  to  moral  action,  connected 
with  general  state  of  heart  and  life,  343 

Judgment,  the  last, 580-584 

a  final  and  complete,  to  be  expected,.  581 

passages  describing, 581 

its  nature,... 581 

an  outward,  visible,  definitely  future 

event, 581 

evil  reserved  for, 581 

expected  in  future, 581 

after  death, 581 

resurrection  a  preparation  for, 581 

its  accompaniments  outward  and  visi- 
ble,  581 

required  by  God's  justice, 582 

Egyptian  process  of , 582 

apart  from,  God's  justice  only  ap- 
proximate,   582 

apart  from,  Christianity  only  a  sort 

of  dualism, 582 

various  respects  in  which  God's  right- 
eousness will  be  vindicated  by, 582 

object  of, 582 

preparations  for,  in  law  of  memory, 
law  of  conscience,  and  law  of  char- 
acter,   582 

a  vision  of, 583 

a  manifestation  of  the  heart, 583 

a  scene  of  self-revelation  and  self- 
condemnation, 583 

culmination  of  a  process  of  natural 

selection, 583 

the  Judge  in,...: 583 

why  its  conduct  committed  to  Christ,  583 

subjectsof, 584 

among  its  subjects  are  all  men,  each 
possessed  of  body  as  well  as  soul,..  584 


656 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Judgment,  the  last,  among  its  subjects 

are  all  evil  angels, 584 

grounds  of , 584 

grounded  upon  the  law  of  God, 584 

grounded  upon  the  grace  of  Christ,..  584 

list  of  authors  on, 584 

Judgments,  in  history  of  individuals 
and  nations,  many  partial  and  im- 
perfect,    580 

spiritual,  passages  describing, 581 

present,  temporal,  and  spiritual,  have 
inner  connection  with  the  judgment 

final,  outward  and  complete, 583 

educational  agencies  among  Jews, ...  360 
Judson,  Adoniram,  his  self-denying  la- 
bors an  argument  for  Christianity,.    93 
on  wine  essential  to  Lord's  Supper,  . .  539 
'  Just,'  may  refer  to  moral  character,..  477 

may  refer  to  relation  to  law, 477 

Justice  of  God,  is  transitive  holiness,..  138 

holiness  in  its  punitive  relations, 138 

not  a  manifestation  of  benevolence,.  138 

legislative,  as  imposing  law, 139 

not  a  matter  of  arbitrary  will, 139 

does  not  bestow  rewards,  — 139 

devoid  of  all  passion  or  caprice, 139 

both  subjective  and  objective, 418 

simply  a  manifestation  of  God's  holi- 
ness,   594 

Justification,  delivered  from  charge  of 
being  arbitrary  and  mechanical  by 

doctrine  of  union  with  Christ, 445 

doctrine  of, 471-483 

definition  of, 471 

a  judicious  and  declarative  act, 471 

regarded  by  Arminians  as  sovereign,.  471 

Scriptural  proof  of, 471 

James  and  Paul  on, 472 

elements  of,- 474 

includes  remission  of  punishment,...  474 

includes  restoration  to  favor, 475 

special  helps  included  in, 476 

its  relation  to  God's  law  and  holiness,  477 

a  forensic  term, 477 

its  difficult  feature,.. 477 

declaratory,  its  proclamation  in  the 

heart  helps  to  make  men  just, 478 

its  relation  to  union  with  Christ, 478 

its  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Spirit,.  478 

its  true  ground, 478 

its  ground  is  not  new  righteousness 

and  love  infused  into  us, 478 

its  ground  is  riot  the  essential  right- 
eousness of  Christ's  divine  nature 

become  ours  by  faith, 478 

its  ground  is  the  satisfaction  and  obe- 
dience of  Christ, 478 

not  external  and  immoral, 479 

and  sanctification,  not  different  stages 

of  the  same  process, 479 

gifts  and  graces  its  accompaniments, 

not  its  ground, 480 

its  relation  to  faith, 480 


Justification,  why  it  rests  on  faith, 48ft> 

since  its  ground  is  only  Christ,  justi- 
fied person  has  peace, 481 

effect   of    Romanist   making   works 

with  faith  a  joint  ground  of, 481 

has  no  degrees, 481 

according  to  Romanist  view,  a  contin- 
uous process, 481 

Dorner  on  Romanist  view  of, 481 

instantaneous,  complete,  and  final,...  482 

not  eternal  in  the  past, 482 

all  subsequent  acts  of  pardon  implied 

in  the  first  act  of , 482 

advice    to    inquirers    demanded   by 

Scriptural  view  of, 482 

general  subject  of,  list  of  authors  on,  483 

book  of  life  is  book  of, xxix,  584 

'  Justified,'  may  refer  to  character, 477 

may  refer  to  law, 477 

'Justify, 'its  derivation, 477 

contrasted  with  'condemn,' 474 

Justinian,  his  edict, 571 

Justin  Martyr,  refers  to  "memoirs  of 

Jesus  Christ," 7$ 

his  inaccuracies  of  quotation, 73 

on  the  youthful  Jesus  a  carpenter,...  365. 
propounds  theory  of  ransom  paid  to 

Satan, 408 

his  theory  of  annihilation, 589 

Justitia  civilis, 342 

Justus,  its  derivation, 477 

Justus  et  justificans, 411 

Kahnis,  his  definition  of  God, 29- 

on  the  divine  self-consciousness  un- 
folding in  the  divine  knowledge, ...  126 
on  doctrine  of  preexistence  of  souls,.  249- 

on  creatianism, 251 

on  the  human  nature  in  Christ, 377 

on  doctrine  of  the  Kenotics, 381 

Kaleidoscope,  the  mind  not  a, 6 

Kalpa, 170- 

Kane,  Dr.,  his  lens  of  ice, 21 

Kant,  his  view  of  religion, 12 

on  the  sense  of  duty,... 12 

on  what  law  owes  to  gospel, 16 

his  view  of  revelation, 24 

on  nothing  in  vain, 43> 

on  the  weakness  of  the  teleological 

argument, 44 

on  faith  in  duty  requiring  faith  in 

God, 46- 

on  pree'xistence  of  human  soul, 248 

on  the  "categorical  imperative"  of 

conscience, 256 

his  mistake  as  to  freedom, 260* 

on  the  science  of  law, 27S 

on  the  fundamental  law  of  reason,...  280- 

on  human  nature, 301 

his    "I  ought;,   therefore    I  can"  a 
relic  of  man's  original  but  now  lost 

consciousness  of  freedom, 344 

his  definition  of  an  organism, 442" 

on  the  need  of  a  new  creation, 449* 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


657 


Kant,  his  argument  for  immortality,  its 

nature  and  defects, --  557 

on  mental  existence  as  involving  con- 
tinuous mental  activity,  566 

Karen  tradition, 

Keble,  quoted, 

on  entrance  of  sin, 303 

'  Keep  What  Thou  Hast,'  duty  both  of 

pastor  and  of  every  believer, ' 

Keil  and  Delitzsch  on  Cain's  marriage,.  239 

Keil's  theory  of  atonement, i 

Kelly,  William,  a  "continuous"  inter- 

pretater  of  Revelation, 570 

Kempis,  Thomas  a,  mystical  tendency 

in, 17 

on  self-depreciation, 287 

Kendall,  Amos,  anecdote  of, 497 

Kendrick,  Dr.  A.  C.,  on  spiritual  little 

children, 356 

on  relation  between  baptism  and  the 

thing-  signified  in  it, 533 

on  local  associations  in  heaven, 586 

Kenosis,  theory  of, 380 

Keri, 147 

Kestner's  wife,  Goethe's  treatment  of,.  290 

Kethib, 147 

King,  Christ  must  be  owned  as, 425 

King,  Clarence,  on  sudden  yet  natural 

modifications  of  species, ..  192 

Kingdom,  Christ's  giving  up  the,  illus- 
trated,  379 

and  church,  distinction  between, 494 

Christ  not  divested  of,  till  millennium,  573 
Christ's,  a  necessary  decline  of,  till 
his  second  coming,  theory  of,  not 

scriptural  nor  wholesome, 573 

Kingly  office  of  Christ, ;_  424,425 

Kingship  of  Christ,  what? 424 

with  respect  to  the  universe, 424 

with  respect  to  his  militant  church,..  424 
with  respect  to  his  church  triumph- 
ant,  425 

of  Christ,  present,  Luther  on, 425 

of  Christ,  list  of  authors  on, 425 

Kingsley,  Charles,  on  the  Lord  harden- 
ing the  heart, xxvii,  210 

Knapp,  Jacob,  prayer  of, 214 

Knapp,  the  German  theologian, 24 

'Know,'  its  meaning  in  Scripture, 428 

Knowing,  its  laws  not  merely  arbitrary 

or  regulative, 6 

Knowledge  of  God,  possible  to  human 

mind, 4 

Knowledge,  faith  only  a  higher  sort  of,     2 

not  confined  to  phenomena, 4 

of  mind  not  merely  negative, 4 

analogy  to  one's  nature  or  experience 

not  essential  to, 4 

Spencer'  definition  of, 5 

forming  an  adequate  mental  image 

not  essential  to, 5 

not  essential  to  it  that  we  know  in 
whole, 5 


Knowledge,  partial,  distinguished  from 

knowledge  of  apart, 5- 

may  be  real  and  adequate  though  not 

exhaustive, 5- 

involves  limitation  or  definition, 6 

relative  to  knowing  agent, d 

is  of  a  thing  as  it  is, 7 

though  imperfect  may  be  of  value, . .    19- 

none  possessed  at  birth, 30 

'takes   them    [future    events],     not 

makes  them,' Whedon, 135 

requires  presupposition  of  the  Abso- 
lute Reason,  3& 

does  not  ensure  right  action, 231 

aggravates  but  is  not  essential  to  sin,  288 
God's,  direct  and  without  intermedia- 
ries,  134 

divine,  intuitive, 135- 

divine,  includes  all  actions  possible,..  174 
distinguished  from  foreknowledge,..  174 

sins  of, 34& 

final  state  of  righteous  one  of, 585 

Koran,. 60,  89 

Kreibig  on  Christ's  work  reaching  even 

to  nature, A 199- 

on  essence  of  sin, 293 

on  personal  sin,  if  proceeding  from 
original,  leaving  men  guilty  only  of 

Adam's  sin, 338 

on  all  suffering  being  punishment,...  354 
on  solution  of  problem  of  atonement,  417 

Kronos,  time, 130- 

and  Uranos,  not  before  God,.. 130- 

Kung-fu-tse  =  Confucius, 86 

Kurtz  on  God's  holiness  maintaining 

and  restoring  order  of  world, 355 

Ladd,  on  Cogito,  ergo  Deus  est, 34 

on    entrance   of    Unitarianism   into 

Congregational  churches, 538 

Lamb  of  God,  a  sin-offering, 392 

the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 595- 

Lamb's  book  of  life,  those  written  in, 

alone  saved, 426,  xxix,  584 

Lange,  J.  P.,  on  derivation  of  reiigio,..    11 

his  theological  position, 25- 

on  pagan  conceptions  which  like  pa- 
limpsests show  through  Christian- 
ity,  188 

Language,  difficulty  of  putting  spirit- 
ual truths  into,  18 

resembles  the  walls  which  keep  open 

a  tunnel  into  a  sand-bank, 18 

dead,  only  real  living, 21 

how  constructed, 44 

not  necessary  to  thought, 103 

defined, 23S 

the  effect,  not  the  cause,  of  mind, 235 

Laodicea,    Council  of,  admits  2  Peter 

into  Canon, 76 

Lao-tse,  his  trinity, 170 

Lateinos, 570- 

Lateran,  St.  John,  Luther's  experience 
at,  true, ...  ..482 


653 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Latin  Fathers,  their  view  of  the  "im- 
age of  God," -v-.-  262 

Lava,  illustration  of  directive  provi- 
dence drawn  from, 210 

stream,  illustration  of  downward  ten- 
dency of  fallen  nature, 336 

Law,  cause,  and  force,  are  alike  known,     4 

Law,  is  method,  not  cause,  43 

what  it  is, 139 

reveals  God's  love  and  mercy  manda- 

torily, xxvii,  252 

in  general,  true  conception  of, 273 

its  essential  idea, 273 

its  seven  characteristics, -  -  -  273,  274 

primary  use  of  the  term, -.-  273 

even  in  physical  science,  implies  a  su- 
preme will, 273 

includes  idea  of  force  and  cause,  —  273 
in  various  languages,  its  derivation, .  273 

its  characteristic,  generality, 274 

implies  a  power  to  enforce,  - 274 

without  penalty,  is  mere  wish  or  ad- 
vice,   274 

in  case  of  free  rational    agents,  im- 
plies duty  and  sanctions, 274 

an  expression  of  the  nature  of  the 

lawgiver, 274 

and  of  the  condition  in  the  subjects 

which  corresponds  thereto, 274 

of  God,  its  nature, 275 

elemental, 275 

physical  or  natural, 275 

physical,  not  necessary, 275 

moral,  what? 276 

its  seven  characteristics,  .-. 276 

the  expression  of  a  personal  will, 276 

sometimes  used  as  agent  for  princi- 
pal,    276 

discovered,  not  made, 276 

tested  by  utility,  though  not  consti- 
tuted byit, 276 

expression  of  nature  of  God, 276 

its  perfect  embodiment  seen  only  in 

Christ, 276 

in  natural  and  spiritual   world   the 

same, 277 

a  revelation  of  constitutive  principles 

of  being, 277 

a  revelation  of  eternal  reality, 277 

list  of  references  on, 277 

of  God,  a  transcript  of  divine  nature, 
certain  implications  arising  thence,  277 

not  arbitrary, 277 

not  temporary, 277 

not  merely  negative, 277 

not  partial  in  its  requirements, 277 

not  outwardly  published, 277 

not  inwardly  conscious, 277 

not  local, 277 

not  changeable, 277 

not  a  sliding-scale  of  requirements,..  277 
moral,  God  cannot  change  it  without 
ceasing  to  be  God, 278 


Law,  as  ideal  of  human  nature,  its  adap- 
tation to  man's  nature, 278 

its  characteristics, 278 

its  all-comprehensiveness, 278 

its  spirituality, 278 

demands  right  disposition  and  state, .  278 

its  solidarity, 279 

a  method  of  salvation,  only  to  first 

man, 279 

to  sinners,  a  means  of  discovering:  and 

developing  sin, 279 

awakes  despair  and  drives  to  Christ,..  279 
as  a  mirror,  reveals  derangement,  but 

does  not  remove  it, 279 

prepares  for  grace, 279 

as  positive  enactment, 279 

general  moral  precepts, 279 

special  injunctions, 280 

written,  imperfect,  why  and  how? 280 

written,  in  scope  and  design  morally 

perfect, 280 

its  relation  to  grace  of  God, 281 

not  an  exhaustive  expression  of  will 

and  nature  of  lawgiver, 281 

of  God,  its  general  expression  does 
not  exclude  special  injunctions  and 

acts, 281 

in  itself  only  sets  forth  God's  holiness,  281 
does  not  exclude  grace,  as  creation 

does  not  exclude  miracle, 281 

not  abrogated  by  grace,  as  natural 

law  is  not  suspended  by  miracle,  . . .  282 
becomes   "perfect  law   of  liberty" 

only  in  connection  with  grace, 282 

on    condemning   oneself    for  being 

greatest  sinner  one  knows, 287 

its  supreme  requirement, _  294 

identical  with  constituent  principles 

of  being, 335 

the  all-comprehending  demand  of  har- 
mony with  God, 340 

the  Mosaic,  a  factor  cooperating  with 

other  human  factors, 358 

an  educational  influence  to  Jews, 359 

must  precede  gospel  both  in  history  of 

world  and  individual, 359 

according  to  Grotius, 403 

its  basis  in  nature  of  God, 416 

freedom  from,  what  ? 487 

as  a  moral  rule,  unchanging, 487 

believer  not  free  from  obligation  to 

observe, 487 

as  a  system  of  curse  and  penalty,  be- 
liever free  from, 488 

as  a  method  of  salvation,  believer  free 

from, 488 

as  an  outward  compulsion,  believer 

free  from,  ., 488 

not  a  sliding  scale  graduated  to  man's 

moral  condition, 488 

God's,  as  known  in  conscience  and  in 
Scripture,  a  ground  of  final  judg- 
ment,   ». 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


659 


Xiawrence,  on  penalty  paying-  no  debts,  591 
Laws,  of  knowing1,  correspond  to  na- 
ture of  things, 6 

of  theological  thought,  laws  of  God's 

thought, 6 

of  natu  re,  not  violated  in  miracle, 62 

of  nature,  not  to  be  conceived  of  as 
only  acting  singly,  but  as  capable 

of  combination, 217 

Law's  "  Serious  Call  to  a  Devout  and 

Holy  Life," 287 

Laying-on  of  hands,  its  place  in  ordina- 
tion,  513 

Leben,  Das,ist  der  GMer  Mchstes  nicht, .  345 

Legal  analogies  of  atonement, 391 

Legge,  his  criticism  on  Matheson's  view 

of  Confucianism, 86 

on  date  of  Chinese  history, 107 

Leibnitz,  on  revelation, 16 

his  "  nisi  intellectus  ipse, " 35 

on  sin, 291 

Leibnitz- Wolffian  doctrine, 24 

Leighton,  Archbishop,  on  seeking  God's 

glory  a  means  of  happiness, 198 

on    none    of    God's    children    born 

dumb, 486 

Lenormant  on  Sanskritic  Indians. 107 

Leo  the  Great,  saying  of,  in  regard  to 

extent  of  atonement, . 409 

Leo  X  and  the  Reformation, .'.  179 

Lepsius, 25 

Leasing,  on  a  "  revelation  that  reveals 

nothing," 16 

his  "search  fortruth," 98 

Letter-missive  calling  a  council  of  ordi- 
nation,   514 

Levitical  enactments,  their  design, 280 

Lewes,  his  definition  of  life  and  mind 

criticized, 121 

on  "  creation  out  of  nothing," 187 

on  phenomena  as  subject  to  super- 
natural volition, 217 

would  substitute  "method"  for  "law,"  273 

Lex,  its  derivation, 273 

Leydecker, 24,27 

Licensure, its  nature, 512 

Liddell  and  Scott,  on  /3a7rTt'£a>, 522 

Liebner,  on  Dorner's  view  of  the  union 

of  the  natures  in  Christ, 374 

Life,  not  produced  from  matter, 52 

as  it  ascends,  marked  by  increasing 

differentiation, 116 

incapable  of  definition, __  121 

not  a  mere  process, 121 

not  mere   correspondence  with  en- 
vironment,    121 

according  to  Aristotle, 121 

ascribed  to  Christ, 147 

-ascribed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

principle  of,  apparently  a  new  crea- 
tion of  God,  193 

animal,  though  propagated,  not  ma- 
terial, ....  ..  253 


Life,  its  "  power  to  draw  out  from  the 
putrescent  clod  materials  for  its  own 

living," 365 

its  various  relationships  honored  by 
being  taken  into  union  with  divini- 
ty in  Christ, .... 368 

an  expression  of  independence  and 

dependence : 441 

man's  physical,  conscious  of   a   life 

within  not  subject  to  will, 441 

man's  spiritual,  conscious  of  life  with- 
in a  life, 441 

man's  natural,    preserved    by    God, 

much  more  spiritual, 491 

of  sin,  attains  completeness  in  future,  554 
Christian,  attains  completeness  in  fu- 
ture,  554 

book   of,   the   book  of  justification, 

.' .xxix,  584 

eternal,  final  state  of  righteous, 585 

Lightf  oot,  as  a  commentator, 18 

on  the  Logos, 162 

on  the  Colossian  heresy, 187 

on  advance  of  bishop  from  primus  in- 
ter pares,  to  vicegerent  of  Christ,..  508 

on  epistle  of  Clemens  Romanus, 518 

his   date  for  "Teaching  of  Twelve 

Apostles," 536 

Lightwood,  on  law  as  custom, 274 

Lily,  grows  in  stagnant  pool, 251 

Limborch, 25,314 

his  view  of  image  of  God, 268 

a  creatianist, 314 

his  departures  from  tenets  of  Armin- 

ius, 315 

Lincoln,  Dr.  Heman,  on  the  two  great 
laws  which  confirm  Scripture  doc- 
trine of  retribution,  596 

Lincoln,  William,  on  heresy  as  selected 

truth, 442 

Lindsay,  Dr.  Philip,  on  a  knowledge  of 
Greek  Testament  a  preparation  for 

death, 21 

Lineamenta  extrema,  Augustine  on,  ...  345 

List  of  theological  text-books , 28 

Literature,  of  the  second  century,  its 

character  illustrated,  78 

modern,  frequently  ignores  man's  de- 
pendence on  God, 484 

Livingstone,  on  universal  recognition 

of  a  God, 31 

'Living Temple, 'of  John  Howe, 26 

Loci  Communes,, 24 

Locke,  refutes  doctrine  of  innate  ideas,    30 

his  idea  of  experience, 35 

on  the  impossibility  of  producing  co- 
gitable existence  out  of  incogitable,  45 

on  inspiration, 103 

on  the  soul  thinking  not  always, 566 

Locutiones  varice,   sea  non  contrarice; 

diversce,  sed  non  adversce, 108 

Log-os,  the  whole,  how  present  in  man 
Christ  Jesus, 133 


660 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


Logos,  John's  doctrine  of  the,  radically 
different  from  Alexandrian  Logos- 
idea  of  Philo, 531 

John's  doctrine  of  the,  its  relation  to 

Palestinian  Memra, 154 

doctrine  of,  list  of  the  authorities  on,  154 

its  significance, 162 

various  views  on  the,. 162 

the  preincarnate,  granted  to  men  a 
natural  light  of  reason  and  con- 
science,   315 

purged  of  its  depravity  that  portion 
of  human  nature  which  he  assumed, 
in  and  by  the  very  act  of  taking  it,.  365 
during  earthly  life  of  Jesus,  existed 

outside  his  flesh, 383 

the  whole,  present  in  Christ  and  yet 

present  everywhere  else, 383 

can   suffer   on   earth    and   reign   in 

heaven  at  same  time, 383 

his  surrender  of  independent  exercise 
of  divine  attributes,  how  best  con- 
ceived,   383 

his  preparatory  work, 388 

Lombard,  Peter, 23 

on  original  depravity, 323 

on  possibility  of  God's  knowing  more 

than  he  is  aware  of, 383 

Long,  on  "Salisbury  use"  in  baptism, .  525 
'  Lord  of  hosts,'  meaning  of  the  desig- 
nation,   22* 

Lord'sDay, 201 

Lord's  Supper, 538-553 

Lord's  Supper  and  Baptism,  monuments 

of  historical  facts, 77 

Lost,  their  number  small  compared  with 

that  of  the  saved, 598 

Lot  of  nations  and  of  individuals,  not 

wholly  in  their  own  hands, 211 

Louis  XIV,  saying  of, 292 

XV  and  XVI,  their  fates  contrasted,.  556 

XVI,  a  "  sacrificial  lamb," 419 

Love,  necessary  to  right  use  of  reason 

with  regard  to  God, 3,  16 

its  loss  obscures  rational  intuition  of 

God, 37 

of  God,  nature  cannot  prove  it, 47 

of  God,  immanent,  what  ? 127 

not  to  be  confounded  with  mercy  and 

goodness, 127 

finds  a  personal   object   within  the 

Trinity, 127 

constitutes  a  ground  of  divine  bless- 
edness,   127 

of  God,  transitive,  what? 137 

denominated  mercy  and  goodness, ...  137 

distinct  from  holiness, 138 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

to  God,  the  prerequisite  of  knowledge 

of  him, 264 

revealed  in  grace  rather  than  in  law,.  282 
defined, 292 


Love,  to  God,  all  embracing  require- 
ment of  law,... 294 

eternity  of,  its  effectiveness  as  an  ap- 
peal,   433 

fixed  on  sinners  of  whom  he  knows 

the  worst, 433 

unchanging, 433 

has  dignity, 597 

for  holiness,  involves  hatred  of  un- 

holiness, 597 

brotherly,  in  heaven  implies  knowl- 

knowledge, 585 

Lovelace  quoted, 293 

Lowndes'  view  of  intuition, 29 

Lubbock,  Sir  John,  on  the  anthropoid 

ape  and  the  ant, 236 

takes  every  brutal  custom  as  sample 

of  man's  first  state, 270 

Lucretius,  his  materialism, 51 

on  impossibility  of  creation  out  of 

nothing, 187 

Luke,  gospel  of,  written  before  end  of 

Paul's  first  imprisonment, 74 

declaredly  a  compilation, 112 

his  relation  to  Paul, 97 

'Lunar  politics,' £ 

Lust  per  se,  not  sin  according  to  Roman- 
ist doctrine,  481 

Luthardt,  his  view  of  nature, 47 

on  extreme  realistic  conceptions  of 

God, 11T 

on  dualism  as  an  alternative  to  crea- 
tion,  201 

on  Melancthon's  views  of  regenera- 
tion,   451 

on  the  foundation  of  the  universal 

belief  in  immortality, 558 

Luther,  preacher  rather  than  theologian    24 
his  comparison  of  Trinity  to  a  flower,  167 

his  prayer  for  Melancthon, 218 

his  mediaeval  opinions  of  Satan, 230 

a  trichotomist,  according  to  Delitzsch,  247 
a  dichotomist,  according  to  Thoma- 

sius, 247 

on  reproduction  of  mankind, 252 

his  experience  of  depravity  of  nature,  286 

on  essence  of  sin, 293 

on  God's  "tworods," 351 

on  the  need  of  "  new  tongues  "  to  set 

forth  mystery  of  incarnation, 375 

on  Christ  as  the  ichneumon  within 

the  crocodile,  Satan, 408 

on  Christ's  care  of  his  church, 425 

on  Christ's  present  reign, 425 

on  union  with  Christ, -  447 

his  comparison  of  preachers  to  "  liv- 
ing books," - - 456 

what  he  meaps  by  being  passive  in 

conversion, -. 461 

on  faith,.. 466 

on  the  validity  of  a  company  of  pious 
laymen  choosing  one  of  their  num- 
ber to  administer  sacraments, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


661 


iiuther,  on  what  baptism   means  and 

the  mystery  signifies, 528 

his  view  of  infants  being  justified  by 

personal  faith, 536 

how  he  differed  from  Calvin  on  Lord's 

Supper, 546 

on  the  end  of  the  world, -.  569 

Lutheran  theology, 23,  24 

and  Reformed  theology,  their  geo- 
graphical positions, 24 

istraducian, 252 

its  doctrine  of  a  communion  of  na- 
tures in  Christ,  370 

its  view  of  Christ's  quickening  and 

resurrection, -  385 

its  view  of  relation  of  regeneration 

and  baptism, 454 

its  view  of  Lord's  Supper, 545 

Lutlierus  redivivus, - 24 

Lyall,  on  will's  sovereign  obedience  to 

motive, 259 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  on  earth's  autobiog- 
raphy not  going  back  to  begin- 
ning,   -.- 184 

Lynch,  Archbp.,  of  Toronto,  on  belong- 
ing to  the  body  and  not  to  the  soul 

of  the  church, 545 

Maat,  the  Egyptian  goddess, 582 

Macaulay ,  his  jest,  truth  in, 485 

on  the  remedy  for  evils  of  liberty  be- 
ing liberty, 500 

Maccabees,  First,  no  direct  designation 

of  God  in, 147 

Macintosh,  C.  H.  (C.  H.  M.)t  on  taber- 
nacle,  110 

on  the  Lord's  Day, 201 

on  God  more  than  law, 282 

on  Adam's  knowledge  of  a  good  he 
could  not  do  and  of  an  evil  he  could 

not  avoid, 302 

on  Adam's  temptation, 303 

on  Cain's  and  Abel's  sacrifices, 396 

on  God's   putting   himself  between 

his  people  and  the  accuser, 475 

on  God  testifying  of  Abel's  gifts, 479 

Magister  sententiarum, 28 

Magnetism,  personal,  what  ? 454 

Maimonides,    on    the     immersion     of 

couches, 523 

Maine,  on  custom  becoming  law, 274 

Maistre,  Count  de,  his  experience, 298 

Maitland,  a  Futurist, 470 

Majestaticum,  genus, 370 

Malice,  what? I 

Mammals,  eminent  above  other  verte- 
brates,   195 

Mammoth   Cave,   its  blind  fish  as  an 

illustration, ! 

Man,  in  what  sense  supernatural, 14 

furnishes  highest  type  of  intelligence 

and  will  in  nature, 44 

at  least  as  to  intellect  and  freedom, 
not  eternal  a  parte  ante, 45 


Man,  his  intellectual  and  moral  nature 
implies  an  intellectual  and   moral 

author, ...    45 

his  moral  nature  proves  existence  of 

a  holy  Lawgiver  and  Judge, 46 

recognizes  in  God  not  his  like  but  his 

opposite, 46 

his  emotional  and  voluntary  nature 
proves  existence  of  a  Being  who  is 
a  satisfying  object  of  human  affec- 
tion and  end  for  human  activ- 
ity,   46 

mistakes  as  to  his  own  nature  lead 
to  mistakes  as  to  great  first  Cause,  47 

his  consciousness,  Royce's  view, 1 55 

his  will  above  nature, 62 

can  objectify  self, 121 

is  self-determining, 122 

his  nature  a  concave  glass, 122 

inexplicable  from  nature, 202 

a  spiritual,  reproductive  agent,  yet 

God  begets, 207 

a  creation  of  God, 234 

a  child  of  God, 234 

his  soul  not  a  product  of  unreasoning 

forces, 234 

and  brute,  distinctions  between, 235 

in  his  personality,  supernatural,  - 235 

and  brute,  differences  between,  list  of 

authors  on, 235 

his  body  not  developed  from  brute,..  236 
does  not  degenerate  as  we  travel  back 

in  time, 236 

unity  of  the  race, 238-243 

according  to  Agassiz,  one  species  in 

various  races, 242 

objections  to  this  view, 242 

essential  elements  of  his  nature,..  243-248 

dichotomous  theory  of, 243 

constituted  of  body  and  soul  or  spirit, 

passages  in  which 244 

nature,  trichotomous  theory  of, 244 

his  immaterial  part,  in  different  as- 
pects, is  tyvxn  or  TrveCjua, 246 

not  a  three-storied  but  a  two-storied 

house, 246 

different  in  kind  from  the  brute, 246 

origin  of  his  soul, 248-254 

theory  of  pree'xistence, 248 

creatian  theory, ". 250 

traducian  theory, 252 

his  moral  nature, 254 

his  conscience, 254 

his  will, 257 

he  and  his  motives,  one, 260 

his  original  state, 261-272 

his  original  state,  described  only  in 

Scripture, 261 

his  original  state,  general  subject  of, 

list  of  authors, 261 

his  original  state,  essentials  of,  ....261-267 
created  not  merely  innocentbut  right- 
eous,   262 


662 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Man,  his  original  righteousness  not  the 
substance  of  human  nature, 263 

in  no  sense  the  author  of  his  own 
holiness, 264 

his  fallen  state,  Romanist  view  of 265 

his  loss  by  first  sin  not  a  forfeiture  of 
special  gift  of  grace,. 265 

since  fall  not  able  to  obey  God  and 
cooperate  with  him  in  salvation,  . . .  265 

his  unfallen  state,  Augustine's  teach- 
ing regarding,  --.  266 

his  original  state,  incidents  of,....  267-272 

his  possession  of  the  divine  image, 
results  of, 267 

h^is  present  state  felt  not  to  be  his  nat- 
ural one,  .- - 269 

his  original  state,  Scriptural  account 
of,  said  to  be  contradicted  by  pre- 
historic facts,.-. --  269 

his  primitive  savagery,  theory  of, 
based  on  an  insufficient  induction,.  270 

his  tendency  to  fall  unless  elevated 
and  sustained  from  without, 270 

his  original  state,  Scriptural  account 
of,  opposed  by  religious  history  of 
mankind? 271 

a  law  unto  himself, 277 

as  a  finite  being,  needs  law, 278 

as  a  free  being,  needs  moral  law, 278 

as  a  progressive  being,  needs  ideal 
and  infinite  law, 278 

according  to  Scripture,  responsible  for 
more  than  his  merely  personal 
acts, - - 338 

not  wholly  a  spontaneous  develop- 
ment of  inborn  tendencies,  348 

the  ideal,  realized  only  in  Christ, 366 

his  reconciliation  to  God, 426-493 

his   perfection   reached   only  in  the 

world  to  come, 554 

Manasseh,  the   impious  son   of   pious 

Hezekiah, 537 

Manfred,  Byron's,  his  words  quoted,  ..  583 
Manhood,  ideal,  of  Christ, 366 

list  of  authors  on, 366 

Mani, 188 

Manichaeans,  dualists, 188 

denied  reality  of  Christ's  human  body,  361 
Manichaeanisra, 188 

the  culmination  of  Gnosticism, 188 

list  of  authorities  on, 188 

Manifestations,  divine,  to  our  first  pa- 
rents in  visible  form, 268 

not  the  perfect  vision  to  be  enjoyed 

by  beings  of  confirmed  holiness, ...  268 
Mankind,  common  origin  of,  not  dis- 
proved by  diversities  in  the  species,  242 

diversities  among,  owing  to  environ- 
ment,   242 

'  Man  of  sin,'  meaning  of  epithet, 227 

his  conduct, 295 

Mansel,  his  view  of  intuition, 29 

on  the  idea  of  space, 30 


Mansel,  on  the  freedom  of  the  will  a 

postulate  of  philosophy, 12? 

on    impossibility   of   demonstrating 
that  the   soul  is    compound   and 

therefore  destructible, 555 

Manuscripts  of  New  Testament,  in  ex- 
istence in  third  century, 72 

Man's  original  righteousness,  see  Orig- 
inal righteousness, 263 

Maran  atha, 568 

Marcion, ...    73 

Canon  of , 73 

an  emanationist, 189 

Marck,  on  our  union  with  Adam, 324- 

Marcus  Antoninus,  on  the  gods'  govern- 
ing the  world, 211 

Marcus  Aurelius, 88 

Marguerite,  in  Goethe's  Faust,  referred 

to, 346 

Mariolatry,  invocation  of  saints,  and 
tran substantiation,  Dorner  on  ori- 
gin of, 363 

arose  from  a  neglect  of  the  humanity 

of  Christ, 36S 

Mark,   his    gospel,  its    character  and 

date, 74 

his  arrangement  of  material, 74 

"  the  interpreter  of  Peter," 94, 97 

7  : 4,  critical  observation  on, 523 

16 : 9-20,  critical  note  on, 357,  520 

Marriage,  a  type  of  the  union  of  human- 
ity and  divinity  in  Christ, 37& 

Marshall's  Life  of  Washington,  illustra- 
tion from, 11? 

Martensen,  Bishop,  on  Romanism, IS 

on  God  as  "the  simply  One," 116 

on  divine  passibleness, 128 

on  God  as  the  perfect  unity  of  the 
ethically  necessary  and  the  ethically 

free, 130 

on  contingent  events  being  beyond 

divine  foreknowledge, 134 

on  love  and  grace, 138 

on  the  "  nothing  "  out  of  which  God 

creates,  .-. 187 

his  views  on  creation, 190 

his  mistake  as  to  Jewish  representa- 
tions of  the  world, 192 

on  thinking  in  the  intermediate  state, 

as  a  "self-brooding," 566 

Martineau,  James,  on  divine  agency,  ..      5 

on  non-progressive  religion, 19 

holds  the  eternity  of  matter, 40,  168 

on  the  inorganic  part  of  the  world,  . .    51 
on  duty  relative  to  an  objective  right- 
eousness,  25ft 

on  supposed  death  of  God, 295 

on  cause,  as  determining  the  indeter- 
minate, .../. -xxix,450 

'Mary,  mother  of  God,'  disliked  by 
Nestorius,  ratified  by  Chalcedon 

statement, 362 

in  what  sense  correct ?  ...  370- 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


663 


Mason,  S.  R.,  on  the  greater  probability 
of  a  Christian  falling-  away  than 

Adam, 493 

Maspero's  answer  to  Pierret, 185 

Material,  force,  as  little  observable  as 

divine  agency, 5 

cause,  one  of  Aristotle's  four  causes,.  23 
org-anism,  not  necessarily  a  hindrance 

to  free  activity  of  spirit, 580 

Materialism,  idealism,  and  pantheism, 
results  of  a  desire  for  scientific  uni- 
ty,. 51 

Materialism,  what? 51 

element  of  truth  in, 51 

old,  in  which  force  was  a  property  of 

matter, . 52 

objection  to,  from  intuitions, 51 

objection  to,  from  mind's  attributes,.  52 
cannot  explain  the  psychical  from  the 

physical, 52 

furnishes  no  sufficient  cause  for  high- 

est  phenomena  of  universe, 53 

furnishes  no  evidence  of  conscious- 
ness in  others, 53 

Sadducean,   denies    resurrection    of 

body, 577 

recent,  its  service  to  proper  views  of 

body, 577 

Materialistic  idealism, 52 

a  new  materialism  in  which  matter  is 

a  manifestation  of  force, 52 

its  elements  of  truth  and  error, 53 

its  definition  of  matter  objected  to,  . .  54 
its  definition  of  mind  objected  to,  ...  54 
involvesthedifficultiesof materialism,  54 

or  the  difficulties  of  pantheism, 54,55 

Mathematics,  a  disclosure  of  the  divine 

nature,  „ 126 

Matheson,  on  Confucianism, 86 

Matter,  not  self-moving, _  _ 52 

materialistic  definition  of,  unsatisfac- 
tory,     54 

eternity  of,  Martineau  on, 168, 184 

eternity  of,  not  disproved  by  science,  184 
according  to  Schelling,  is  "esprit 

gele," 189 

has  not  cause  of  being  in  itself, 203 

not  inherently  evil, 290 

its  powers   and   capacities,  when   in 
complete  subjection  to  spirit, cannot 

be  estimated, 580 

its  character,  according  to  Dorner,  in 

new  creation, 586 

Matthew,  gospel  of,   objection   to   its 

genuineness, 74 

its  probable  date, 74 

in  Hebrew,  among  the  Nazarenes,  ...  361 

Maurice,  on  sacrifice, 397 

on  atonement, 400 

McCabe,  on  divine  nescience  of  future 

contingencies, 134,  174 

on  godlike  human  will  thwarting  the 
greatlAM, ..175 


McCheyne,  R.  M.,  the  character  of  his 

preaching, 600 

McCosh,    on    characteristics    of    sub- 
stance,        4 

on  intuitions, 30,36 

on  source  of  the  idea  of  God, 36 

on  works  of  the  Spirit, 164 

on  faith, 466 

on    the   essential    thing    about  the 

resurrection, 580 

Mcllvaine,  on  the  Edenic  trees, 302 

on  the  symbol  of  spiritual  shame, 345 

Meal,  three    measures   of,  were   they 

symbolic? lift 

Mediate  imputation,  theory  of, 325 

its  modern  advocates, 3^6 

objections  to, 327 

Mediator,  the,  unites  in  himself  the  hu- 
man and  the  divine, 360 

Meehan,  denies  sterility  of  hybrid  vege- 
tables,   241 

Melancthon,  Philip, 23 

his  analogue  to  Trinity, 167 

his  illustration  of  deism  by  the  ship- 
builder,    204 

his  definition  of  sin, 289- 

on  imputation  of  the  first  sin, 323 

on  1  Cor.  15 : 28, 379- 

on  Christ  as  chargeable  with  guilt  (et 

reatus), 415- 

on  "old  Adam," 433 

his  views   on   agencies  in  regenera- 
tion,  451 

on  being  drawn  willingly  in  conver- 
sion,   461 

on  fides  nonest  sola,... 480- 

his  apothegm  on  faith  only,  but  not 

faith  alone, 487 

on  end  of  the  world, 569' 

Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  his  investiga- 
tions into  Canon, 74 

excludes  Apocrypha, 74 

'Memoirs  of  Jesus  Christ,' 73 

in  Justin  Martyr,  means  '  gospels,'  ...    73 
Memory,  its  impeccability,  secured  by 

Christ's  promise  to  apostles, 100 

a   preparation  for    the    final    judg- 
ment,  582 

of  an  evil  deed,  becomes  keener  with 

lapse  of  time, 596 

Memra,  Palestinian  use  of,  relation  to 

John's  Logos, 154 

Men,  as  well  as  animals,  automata  to 

materialist, 53 

their    essential     unity    revealed    by 

Christianity, 340 

"free  among  the  dead," 344 

as  sinners,  not  irrespective  of  their 

sins,  objects  of  saving  grace, 426 

Mencius,  a  disciple  of  Confucius, 86 

Mens  humana  capax  divince,  the  im- 
portance of  the  maxim, 102 

Mens  rea,  essential  to  crime, 285- 


664 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


Mental  and  moral  characteristics  com- 
mon to  men,  best  explained  by  sup- 
position of  common  origin, 240 

Mental  phenomena,  known, 4 

Mercy  of  God,  indicated  in  his  delay  to 

punish  transgressors, 59 

optional, - 129,140,141 

defined  more  at  large, 138 

divine,  matter  of  revelation  alone,...  141 

election  a  matter  of , 427 

*  Mercy,  the  quality  of,  not  strained,' 

the  phrase  annotated, 140 

Merits  of  Christ,  apart  from  ours,  se- 
cure us  eternal  life, 488 

Messiah,  O.  T.  descriptions  of,.... 154 

described  as  one  with  Jehovah, 154 

in  some  sense  distinct  from  Jehovah,  154 
called  "the   Lord"    or   "the   Sover- 
eign," a  title  peculiar  to  Jehovah,  .  154 
prophecy  of,  growing- clearer  through- 
out O.  T.  history, 359 

4  Metaphysical  generation,'  of  the  soul,  251 

Method  of  theology, 20 

Methodist  doctrine  and  discipline,  arti- 
cles of  religion, 316 

Methodists, '— .  314 

Meyer,  on  1  Cor.  7 : 10, 114 

his   supposition  that  doxologies  are 

post-apostolio, 146 

on  the  Logos,  - , 162 

on  n-po?  in  John  1:1, 163 

on  guardian  angels, 226 

on  heathenism,  the  reign  of  the  devil,  229 

not  a  trichotomist, 247 

on  <rapf , 291 

his  interpretation  of  Eph.  2:3, 299 

on  spiritual  infants, 356 

on  Eph.  5: 31, 384 

on  "enemies," in  Rom.  5:10, 392 

On  avri, 393 

on  Rom.  5 : 25, 26, 411 

on  TTI'CTTIS, 465 

on  "righteousness," 473 

on  a  subjective  dying  and  reviving 

with  Christ, 474 

on  Acts  13 : 2,  3, 505 

on  Mark  7: 14, 523 

on  ev,in  Mat.  3:11, 524 

on  aiwnos  in  Mat.  25 : 46, 594 

Michael  Angelo's  Last  Judgment,  al- 
luded to,  ..--  368 

Michael,  the  archangel,  his  function, ...  223 
Miley,  on  suspending  choice  and  fixing 
attention,  as  initial  step  in  regenera- 
tion,.  452 

Military  theory  of  atonement, 408 

Mill,  J.  S.,  on  probability  in  favor  of 

causation  by  intelligence, 45 

his  autobiography,  a  criticism, 46 

on  sensation,  matter,  and  mind, 53 

his  denial  of  the  all-comprehensive 

character  of  Christian  morality, 86 

on  life  and  sayings  of  Jesus, 90 


Mill,  J.  S.,  on  man's  supreme  end 142 

not  a  Manichaean, 187 

on  law  of  nature, 273 

his  idea  of  cause, 450 

on  the  absence  of  a  feeling  of  interest 

in  others, 450 

on  sentimentality, 552 

his  reply  to   teleological    argument 

for  man's  immortality, 556 

Millennium,  followed  by  a  conflict  be- 
tween righteousness  and  evil,  ac- 
companied by  political  and  natural 

troubles, 570 

relation  of  Christ's  second  coming  to,  571 

prior  to  Christ's  second  coming, 571 

and  day  of  judgment,  theory  of  their 

contemporaneousness, 572 

Miller,  Edward,  on  the  miraculous  con- 
ception,    406 

Miller,  John,  his  view  of  Christ's  identi- 
fication with  race, 413 

Milton,  John,  his  seeming  denial  of 
God's  foreknowledge  of  free  acts,..  134 

on  "spiritual  creatures," 227 

on  the  folly  of  men's  accusing  their 

Maker,  their  making,  or  their  fate,.  290 
on  the    growth    of     communicated 

good, 486 

on  the  mind  making  a  hell  of  heaven, 

a  heaven  of  hell, 586 

Mind,  has  no  parts,  yet  is  known, 6 

its  organizing  instinct, 9 

gives  both  final  and  efficient  cause,. . .    42 
recognizes  itself  as  different  from  and 
higher  than  the  material  organiza- 
tion which  it  uses, 51 

and  matter,  distinct  substances, 52 

not  transformed  physical  force, 52 

its  highest  activities  independent  of 

physical  conditions, ..    52 

continues  to  grow  after  growth  of 

body. 52 

has  direct  knowledge  of  a  spiritual 
substance  underlying  mental  phe- 
nomena,   54 

materialistic  definition  of,  unsatis- 
factory,   54 

the  theory  which  regards  it  as  obverse 
side  of  matter,  as  difficult  as  that  of 

pure  materialism, 54 

the  absolute,  not  conditioned  as  the 

finite, -    57 

of  man,  divine  energy  therein  not  in- 
compatible with  its  highest  intelli- 
gence,   104 

has  not  cause  of  being  in  itself, 203 

'Mind  of  flesh, 'its  meaning, 290 

Minds,  the  finest,  of  the  leaning  type,. .    46 
Minister,  Christian,  his  chief  qualifica- 
tion rightly  to  conceive  and  express 

the  truth, 

his  relation  to  church  work, 
forfeiture  of  standing  as, 


I^DEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


665 


Minister,  Christian,  who  has  power  to 

discipline? 516 

Ministry,  Christian,  temptations  to  am- 
bition obviated  by  absence  of  gra- 
dations in, - 510 

not  a  close  corporation, -  511 

Ministry  of  Christ,  the  earthly,  pro- 
phetic,   -.- --- 389 

the  earthly,  its  likeness  and  unlikeness 

to  that  of  O.  T.  prophets, 389 

since  ascension ,  prophetic, 389 

in  glory,  prophetic, 389 

Minos,  generally  believed  in, 557 

Miracle,  definition  of , 61 

erroneous  conceptions  of, 61 

not  a  suspension  or  violation  of  natu- 
ral law, 61 

not  a  sudden  product  of  natural  agen- 
cies,      61 

not  an  event  without  a  cause, 61 

not  irrational  or  capricious, 61 

not  contrary  to  experience, 61 

palpable  to  the  senses, 61 

does  it  belong  to  a  higher  order  of 

nature? 61 

endless,  not  God's  method, 253 

Miracles,  as  attesting  a  divine  revela- 
tion,   61-67 

how  designated  in  the  N.  T., 61 

providential,  what? .61,215 

and  special  providences,  compared, _.    61 

possibility  of, 62 

rendered  possible  by  existence  of  a 

divine  will  above  nature, 63 

probability  of  miracles, 63 

presumption  against, 63 

presumption  against,  turned  by  fact 
of  moral  disorder  into  presumption 

infavorof, 63 

do  not  require  greater  power  than  or- 
dinary processes  of  nature, 64 

imply  self-restraint  and  self-limita- 
tion on  part  of  him  who  works  them,    64 
accompanied  by  sacrifice  of  feeling  on 

part  of  Christ, 64 

amount   of  testimony  necessary  to 

to  prove, 64 

Hume's  argument  against,  stated  and 

refuted, 64 

evidential  force  of, . 65 

accompany  new  communicationsfrom 

God, 65 

the  epochs  of, 65 

cessation  of, 65 

certify  to  the  commission,  and  author- 
ity of  a  teacher, 65 

do  not  stand  alone  on  evidences, 65 

do  not  lose  their  value, 66 

true  starting-point  in  arguing  about,    66 
resurrection  of  Christ  the  most  cen- 
tral and  decisive  of, 66 

counterfeit,  argue  belief  in  true, 66 

counterfeit,  marks  of, 66 

43 


Miracles,  do  they  still  remain  in  the 

church? 66 

Missionaries,  home  and  foreign,  are  the 

true  N.  T.  evangelists, 515 

are  they  required  to  take  letters  of 

dismission? 515 

Mivart,  on  God's  contemplation  of  the 

universe, 134 

on  idea  of  absolute  creation,  from  our 

own  free  volitions, 187 

on  "  natural  selection  "  as  a  "  puerile 

hypothesis," 237 

on  development  of  body  depending 

on  informing  soul, 237 

on  the  savage-theory, 270 

Modern  idealism,  traceable  from  Locke, 

through  Berkeley  and  Hume, 53 

Modern  spiritualism, 131 

Moehler,  his  statement  "  God   cannot 
give  a   man  actions,"  commented 

on, 263 

his  criticism  on  Luther's  use  of  term 

"nature," 263 

on  the  "image"  and  "likeness"  of 
God,  and  on  the  donum  supernatu- 
ral,   266 

on  bad  popes,.. 507 

Moffat's  testimony,  correctedby  Living- 
stone,     31 

Mohammed,  founder  of  Islam, 89 

his  belief  as  to  origin  of  his  bodily  and 

mental  states, 91 

Mohammedanism,  its  nature, 89 

character  of  its  later  Arabic  philoso- 
phy,    168 

is  fatalism  essential  to? 212 

and  Christianity, 212 

Molecular  movement  and  thought,  not 
cause  and  effect  but  concomitants, .    52 

Molecules,  manufactured  articles, 43 

Molina,  the  Jesuit,  and  scientia  media, . .  174 
Molluscs,  their  beauty  inexplicable  by 

"natural  selection," 236 

Monad,  of  Leibnitz, 52 

Monarchians,  derivation  of  the  name,.  158 

their  views, 158 

Monism,  what? 5 

idealistic, 5 

materialistic, 5 

contradicts  consciousness, 56 

Monod,  Adolphe,  on  saving  law  first, 

then  himself, 373 

Monogenism,  modern  science  in  favor 

of, 241 

Monophysites,  another  name  for  Euty- 

chians, 363 

Monotheism,  an  original,  facts  point  to, 

..31,272 

Hebrew,  precedes  polytheistic  systems 

of  antiquity, 272 

Montanists,  first  formulated  doctrine  of 

Trinity, 144 

first  defined  personality  of  Spirit,  ....  144 


666 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Montanus, 389 

Montesquieu,  on  relations  antecedent  to 

positive  law, 275 

Montholon,  Count,  Napoleon's  remark 

to  him  concerning-  Christ, 368 

Moody,  D.  L.,  his  conversion, 150 

is  there  a  physical  miracle  wrought  for 

the  drunkard  in  regeneration? 446 

Moral  argument  for  existence  of  God, 

the  title  criticized, 45 

faculty,  its  deliverances,  though  re- 
sults of  race-experience,  yet  afford 
evidence  of  an  intelligent  cause, . . .    45 
disorder,  creates  presumption  in  fa- 
vor of  miracles, 64 

freedom,  what? 177 

nature  of  man, 254-260 

decisions,  vary  not  through  conscience 

but  through  moral  reason, 255 

likeness  to  himself,  how  God  restores,  263 

law,  what, 276 

law,  man's  relations  to,  extend  beyond 

consciousness, 309 

government,  God's,  recognizes  race- 
responsibilities,  309 

union,  or  human  and  divine  in  Christ,  362 

analogies  of  atonement, 391 

Moral  evil,  see  Sin. 

Moral  obligation,  its  ground, 141 

notgroundedin  power, 141 

not  grounded  in  divine  will, 141 

notgroundedin  utility,  .. 142 

not  grounded  in  nature  of  things, 142 

notgroundedin  abstract  right, 142 

its  ground,  Scriptural  view  of,. ..  143 

its  ground  in  moral  perfection  of  di- 
vine nature,  143 

'Moral  reason,' 3 

Moral  things,  judgment  on,  involves  act 

of  will, 467 

Morality,  Christian,  a  fruit  of  doctrine,    10 
of  New  Testament,  its  characteristics,    86 
of  New  Testament,  of  divine  origin,.    86 
Christian,  its  all-comprehensive  char- 
acter denied  by  Mill,.... 86 

heathen  systems  of, 86 

heathen,  does  not  recognize  man's  de- 
pravity and  dependence  on  divine 

grace, 86 

of  Bible,  progressive, 108 

mere  insistence  on,  cannot  make  men 

moral, 480 

Morals,  intuitional  and  empirical  theo- 
ries of,  reconciled, 256 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  his  saying  regarding 

end  of  punishment  untrue, 351 

Morell,  his  definition  of  a  revelation, ...      7 
on  the  practical  conviction  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  God, 50 

on  man  a  free  agent, 260 

Morgan,  L.  H.,  his  periods  of  human 

progess, 270 

Mormonism,  its  anthropomorphism, ...  121 


'  Morning  stars,'  its  meaning, 222 

'Mortal, 'all  unpardoned  sin, 348 

Morton,  on  the  number  of  human  races,  241 
Mosaic  account  of  creation,  its  two-fold 

nature, 191 

its  proper  interpretation, 193 

Mosaic    sacrifices,    their    theocratical 

office, 394 

their  spiritual  office, 394 

Moses,  conscience  an  ideal, 46 

theory  of  one,  more  probable  than 

theory  of  several, 82 

Moslem,  its  meaning, 212 

'Mother  of   God,'  how    applicable  to 

Mary, 370 

Motion,  an  argument  to  prove  its  im- 
possibility,      20 

involving  the  idea  of  time,  Hazard  on 

the  difficulty  of, 437 

Motive,  not  a  cause  but  an  occasion,...  176 
man  never  acts  without  or  contrary 

to, 176 

aground  of  prediction, 176 

a  source  of  influence  without  infring- 
ing on  free  agency, 177 

the  previously  dominant,  not  always 

the  impulsive, 177 

Motives,  man  can  choose  between, 176 

persuade  but  never  compel, 178 

and      dispositions,     constitute      the 

strength  of,. 257 

not  causes,  but  influences, 258 

do  not  determine  but  persuade  the 

will, 348 

not  wholly  external  to  the  mind  in- 
fluenced by  them, 452 

consist  of  external  presentations  and 

internal  dispositions, 452 

lower  as  well  as  higher,  appealed  to 

by  the  Spirit, 458 

Movements  at  first  sight  seemingly  in- 
consistent, may    be    parts   of  one 

whole, 179 

Moxom,  P.  S.,  on  God  the  immediate 

author  of  each  new  individual, 253 

on  preeminence  of  Christ, 424 

Mozley,   011   relation   of   supernatural 

fact  and  supernatural  doctrine, 65 

his  extension  of  the  term  'miracle,' ..  215 
on  Augustine's  views  of  original  sin,.  329 

onEzekiel  18, 337 

on  Scriptural  passages  which  describe 
the  phenomena  rather  than  the  re- 
ality of  death,  560 

on  possession  of  God  evidence  of  im- 
mortality to  Jews, 562 

Muir,  on  Lord's  Supper, 77 

on  Mohammedanism, 89 

Mtiller,  Julius/ 16 

on  "  a  cause  which  is  not  an  effect,"..    41 
his  idea  of  God  as  will,  and  of  God's 
essence  as  God's  act,  criticized,  — 
on  God  the  object  of  his  own  love,... 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 


667 


Mtiller,  Julius,  on  "all  self-conscious- 
ness a  victory  over  time, " 131 

on  God's  relation  to  time, 131 

on  creation  implying  beginning1, 191 

on  preexistence  of  human  soul 248 

on  the  extra-temporal  fall  of  nvev^a,.  249 
his  view  that  only  the  i//vx*?  fell  in  the 

sin  of  our  first  parents, 249 

on  freedom  and  accountability, 259 

his  view  of  the  image  of  God, 264 

on  "will"  and  "ego"  identical, 288 

on  cmp£, 291 

on  Hegel's  view  of  sin  as  denying  ho- 
liness to  Christ,  xxvii,292 

on  freedom, 317 

on  depravity  either  as  sin  or  an  excuse 

for  sin, 322 

on  mediate  imputation, 327 

on  original  sin, 329 

on  the  dangers  of  the  merely  "  organ- 
ic theory  of  sin," 338 

on  the  reason  why  the  sin  against  the 

Holy  Ghost  is  unpardonable,  ....349, 350 
on  Christ's  birth  a  creative  act  of  God 
breaking  through  the  chain  of  hu- 
man generation, 365 

denies  the  regnum  natures  of  Christ,  .  424 

on  spiritual  and  second  death , 555 

Miiller,  Max,  on   invisible  objects   of 

worship, 31 

on  date  of  the  Vedas, 107 

on  the  three  stages  of  language, 240 

on  Buddha  as  original  of  the  St.  Josa- 
phat    of    the   Greek    and   Roman 

churches, 468 

Muratorian  Canon, 73 

Murder,  differs  from  homicide  only  in 

motive, 285 

Murderer,  why  worthy  of  death  ? 262 

Murphy,  J.  J.,  on  faith, 3 

on  "  the  different  but  converging  lines 

of  proof  "  of  a  God, 39 

his  view  of  mind,  matter,  force,  and 

will, 55 

on  eternity  as  a  circle, 131 

on  God  as  contrasted  with  impersonal 

law, 281 

Music,  echoes  longing  for  some  posses- 
sion lost,  268 

Mystic,  its  derivation, 17 

every  true  believer  a, *. 17 

Mysticism,  true, 17 

false,.. 17 

its  errors, 17 

Mystik  and  Mysticismus, 17 

Myth,  its  nature, 76 

Myths,  how  they  grow, 77 

Myth-theory  of  Strauss, 76 

its  animating  principle,  denial  of  mir- 
acle,      77 

objections  to, 77 

does   not   give   time   for  growth  of 
myths, 77 


Myth-theory  of  Strauss,  such  growth  of 

myths  impossible  in  first  century,..  77 
gospels  no  outgrowth  of  Jewish  ideas,  77 
theory  inconsistent  with  characters 

and  lives  of  apostles, 77 

cannot  account  for  acceptance  of  gos- 
pels by  Gentiles, 77 

cannot  explain  Christianity, 77 

Nachwirkung  and  Fortwirkung, 424 

'Name,  In  my,' its  meaning  and  cor- 
relates,   446 

Names  given  to  Christians  in  New  Tes- 
tament, progress  in, 498 

Names  of  God,  five,  Ewald  on, 152 

Napoleon,  his  despatches  omit  mention 

of  Trafalgar, 71 

his  variety  of  plans  before  a  battle, ..  175 

his  Russian  campaign, 213 

his  character, 280 

on  Jesus  Christ  more  than  man, 368 

his  military  genius  grew  with  experi- 


ence, 


Narcissus,  Goethe  a,  according  to  Hut- 
ton, 290 

National-church  theory,  or  theory  of 

provincial  or  national  churches,  ...  508 
National    Council   of    Congregational 
churches,  its  decision  as  to  discipline 

of  a  minister, 516 

Nations,  each  represents  an  idea, 60 

Natura  humana  in  Christo  capax  divwce,  376 

Natura  naturans,  of  Spinoza, 136 

'  Natural  '=  psychical, 244 

Natural  insight,  as  only  source  of  relig- 
ious  knowledge,  renders  religious 

truth  merely  subjective, 98 

leads  to  gross  self-contradiction, 98 

involves  denial  of  a  truth-revealing 

God, 198 

Natural  law  not  suspended  or  violated 

by  miracle, 60 

its  general  uniformity,  advantages  of.    63 
effects  aside  from,   to   be  expected 

when  moral  ends  require, 63 

Natural  life,  God's  impartation  of,  a 
foreshadowing  of  a  desire  to  bestow 

higher  blessings, 138 

Natural  realism,  and  location  of  mind 

in  body, 132 

Natural  revelation,  supplemented   by 

Scripture, 15 

Natural  selection,  artificial  after  all,...    52 
an  important  feature  in  God's  method,  236 
not  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  his- 
tory of  life, 236 

gives  no  account  of  the  origin  of  sub- 
stance or  of  variations, 236 

the  mere  scavenger  of  creation, 236 

fails  to  explain  certain  geological,  ana- 
tomical, and  entomological  facts,..  236 
fails  to  explain  the  beauty  of  lower 
forms  which  can  be  of  no  advantage 
to  possessors, 236 


668 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Natural  selection,  unproved  by  the  in- 
stance of  a  single  species  having 
been  produced  either  by  artificial  or 

natural  selection, 237 

the  worst  doctrine  of  election, 431 

Natural  theology,  what? 14 

Nature,  its  usual  sense, 14 

its  strict  sense, 14 

in  its  usual   sense  includes  spiritual 

facts, - 14 

in  its  proper  sense  does  not  include 

man  as  immaterial, 14 

its  outward  witness  to  God, 14 

its  inward  witness  to  God, 14 

God  has  revealed  himself  in, 14 

argument  for  God's  existence  from 

change  in, 40 

argument  for  God's  existence  from 

order  and  useful  collocation  in, 42 

indictment  of ,  by  Mill, 43 

apart   from   man,  cannot   be   inter- 
preted,     44 

does  not  assure  us  of  God's  love  and 

provision  for  the  sinner, 59 

its  definition, 62 

by   itself    furnishes   a    presumption 

against  miracles, - 63 

as  synonym   of   essence,   substance, 

being, 115 

according  to  Schleiermacher  the  full 

expression  of  divine  causality, 136 

its  forces  dependent  and  independent,  204 

the  brute  submerged  in, 235 

human,  why  it  should  be  reverenced,  262 

in  what  sense  sin  a, - 263 

as  something  inborn, 299 

every  member  of  race  possesses  a  cor- 
rupted,  - 299 

a  corrupt,  sinful  acts  and  dispositions 

ref erred  to  and  explained  by, 299 

a  corrupt,  belongs  to  man  from  first 

moment  of  his  being, -  299 

a  corrupt,  underlies  man's  conscious- 
ness,  - 299 

a  corrupt,  cannot  be  changed  by  man's 

own  power, 299 

a  corrupt,  first  constitutes  man  a  sin- 
ner before  God, 299 

a  corrupt,  is  the  common  heritage  of 

the  race, 299 

designates,  not  substance,  but  corrup- 
tion of  substance, -.  299 

a  depraved,  which  one  did  not  person- 
ally and  consciously  originate,  how 

responsible  for, 308 

human,  Pelagian  view, 311 

human,  semi-Pelagian  view,. 311 

human,  Augustinian  view, 311 

human,  organic  view  of, 313 

human,  atomistic  view  of, 313 

the  whole  human,  once  existed  as  a 

personality  in  Adam, 335 

human,  can  apostatize  but  once, 336 


Nature,  human,  totally  depraved, 341 

man  may  to  a  limited  extent  act  down 

upon  and  modify  his, 344 

sin  of,  and  personal  transgression,...  348 

impersonal  human,... 370 

Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson's  definition  of,  ...  377 
human,   its   development  into    new 

forms,  theory  considered, 556 

'  Nature  of  things,  in  the,'  phrase  ex- 
amined,    174 

Naville,  Ernest,  on  liberty, 259 

on  seminal  existence  in  Adam, aso 

Nazarenes  (Ebionites),  their  view  re- 
specting Christ, 361 

Neander,  motto  of, 21 

on  Logos, 162 

not  a  trichotomist, 247 

on  sin, 304 

on  Pelagianism, 312 

on  James's  position  as  to  faith  and 

works, 473 

on  John's  seizing  on  radical  points  of 

difference,  omitting  gradations, 489 

his  view  of  church  development, 499 

on  personal  independence  in  church,  500 

on  the  form  of  baptism, 525 

his  view  of  baptism, 535 

on  Acts  16:15,  33, 535 

Nebular  hypothesis,  substantially  true,  194 
Necessitarian  philosophy,  suitable  for 

the  brute, 235 

Necessity  of  theology, 9 

Negation,  involves  affirmation, 6 

Nero,  an  illustration  of  power  of  consci- 
ence,   46 

his  persecutions, 91 

shows  that  sin  is  not  mere  weakness,.  292 

'  Neron  Kaisar,' 570 

Nescience,  divine,  opposed  to  our  fun- 
damental convictions  and  to  repre- 
sentations of  Scripture, 135 

Nestorians,  their  views  on  person  of 

Christ, 362 

were  philosophical  nominalists, 362 

Nestorius, ..- 362 

his  dislike  to  phrase  'Mary,  mother 

of  God,' 362 

regarded  Christ  as  a  peculiar  temple 
of  divinity,  as  God  and  man,  not 

God-man, 361 

a  philosophical  nominalist, 362 

Neutrality,   between    good    and   evil, 

never  created  by  God, 264 

between  good  and  evil,  a  sin, 265 

New  England  theology, 26 

New  Haven  theology, 26 

substantially  Arrninian, 430 

Newman,  A.  H.,  Prof.,  on  Ignatius  the 

first  systematizer, 23 

on  the  connection  between  infant 
baptism  and  an  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishment  536 

Newman,  F.  W.,  on  revelation, 7 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


669 


Newman,  F.  WM  his  Phases  of  Faith  = 

phases  of  unbelief, 98 

Newman,  J.  H.,  on  Eve's  conduct, 303 

New  School,  theology, 26 

theologians,  their  definitions  of  holi- 
ness,  129 

its  definition  of  sin,  references  upon,  285 

its  watchword  as  to  sin, 310 

theory  of  imputation, 318-322 

history  of  its  development, 318, 319 

modifications  of  views  within, 319 

objections  to, 319 

contradicts  Scripture, 319 

rests  on  false  philosophical  principles,  320 

impugns  justice  of  God, 320 

inconsistent  with  facts, 321 

an  alternative  presented, 322 

New  Testament,  earliest  manuscripts, . .    70 

genuineness  of  books  of , 72-80 

moral  system  of , 86 

Newton,  John,  his  experience, 298 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  on  prophecy  not  in- 
tended to  gratify  curiosity, 69 

a  continuous,  or  continuist,  interpret- 
er of  Revelation, 570 

Nice,  council  of, 159,  361 

Nicene  Fathers,  their  error  as  to  Sonship,  165 
Nicoll,  on  the  invincible  last  enemy, ...  354 

on  Christ's  perfect  holiness, 407 

on  the  resurrection, 576 

Nihil  est  in  intellectu  nisi  quod  ante 

fuerit  insensu, 35 

Nineveh,  winged  creatures  of , 224 

Nirvana,  doctrine  of,  what  ? 87 

perversion  of  an  earlier  and   purer 

idea, 87 

Nitzsch,  on  mysticism, 17 

his  System  a  sort  of  Biblical  theology,    21 

his  theological  position, 24,25 

his  view  of  the  image  of  God, 264 

Noblesse  oblige,  its  highest  form  in  God,  143 
Noel,  Baptist  W.,  one  of  his  reasons  for 

being  baptized, 548 

Noetus  of  Smyrna,  his  view  of  Trinity,  158 
Nominalism  incompatible  with  revela- 
tion,   116 

Nominalistic  notion  of  God's  absolute 

simplicity,  its  error, 116 

Non-apostolic  writings   recommended 

to  church  by  Apostolic  sanction,  ..    97 
Non-conformity  in  disposition  or  state 

to  God's  law  is  sin, 283 

Non-inspiration,  supposed,  of  certain 

portions  of  Scripture, 114 

Non  pleni  nascimur, 311 

Nordell,  on  holiness  and  love,.-. 138 

Northrup,  G.  W.,  on  order  of  Federal 

theory, 324 

'Nothing,' in  the  phrase  '  creation  out 

of  nothing,'  criticized, 183 

Notitia,  an  element  in  faith, ... 465 

Noumenon,in  external  and  internal  phe- 
nomena,        4 


Novels,  some,  contain  more  truth  than 

some  histories, 113 

Nullm  in  microcosmo  spiritus,  nullus  in 

macrocosmo  Deus, 44 

Number  cannot  be  infinite, 41 

Nurture,  as  well  as  nature,  a  factor  in 

formation  of  character, 251 

Obduracy,  sins  of  incomplete, 349 

sins  of  final, 349 

Obedience,  Christ's  active  and  passive, 

both  needed  in  salvation, 409 

Christ's  active  and  passive  insepara- 
ble,  420 

Christ's  active    and    passive,  secure 

more  than  pardon, 420 

'  Obey,'  not  the  imperative  of  religion,    12 

Object  of  saving  faith, 467 

Object  of  worship  common  to  all  men,    31 
Objective,  the  perfect,  to  a  perfect  in- 
telligence,   168. 

Obligation  to  obey  law,  based  on  man's 

original  ability, 278 

Occam,  on  divine  nature  and  attributes,  lift 
his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,   142 

OZdipus,  his  view  of  his  sins, 292 

Offences,  among  men,  cannot  always  be 

passed  over, 418 

private,  in  church  discipline,  how  to 

be  dealt  with, 516 

public,  in  church  discipline,  how  to  be 

dealt  with, 516 

Offer  of  salvation,  no  insincerity  in,  ...  435 
Offering  of  great  day  of  atonement,  . . .  396 

Officers  of  the  church, 509-516 

Offices  of  Christ, 387 

Old  Testament,  its  genuineness, 80 

Jesus  vouches  for  its  inspiration, 96 

intimations  of  the  Trinity  in, 152 

Olshausen,  on  John  1:1, 116 

his  analogue  to  Trinity, 167 

his  view  of  baptism, 530 

his  view  of  immortality  as  inseparable 

from  body, 577 

Omission,  sins  of,  trespass-offering  for,  285 

sin  of,  an  act  of  commission, 348 

Omne  vivum  e  vivo,  or  ex  ovo, 191 

Omnia  mea  mecum  porto, 586 

Omnipotence  of  God,  defined, 136 

not  power  to  do  what  is  not  an  object 

of  power, 136 

does  not  imply  exercise  of  all  God's 

power, 136 

not  instinctive  or  necessary  force,  ...  136 

implies  power  of  self -limitation, 136 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

Omnipresence  of  God,  defined, 132 

not  potential  but  essential, 132 

illustrated  by  presence  of  soul  every- 
where in  body  or  brain, 132 

not  presence  of  a  part  but  of  whole  of 
God  in  everyplace, 132 


670 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Omnipresence  of   God,  totus  in   omni 

parte, 133,419 

not  necessary  but  free, 133 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

a  key  to  understanding  of  Christ's  hu- 
miliation,   

Omnipresent,  how  God  might  cease  to 

be, 133 

Omniscience  of  God,  defined, 133 

argued  from   his  omnipresence  and 

self-knowledge, 133 

its  technical  sense, 133 

its  characteristics, 134 

implies  that  God  knows  things  as  they 

are, 134 

implies  foreknowledge,  not  only  me- 
diate but  immediate, 134,135 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

attributed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

becomes  foreknowledge,  through  de- 
crees,  174 

independent  exercise  of,  how  surren- 
dered by  Christ,  383 

'One  eternal  now,'  how  to  be  under- 
stood,   131 

OntoJogical  argument,  three  forms  of,  47-50 

that  of  Clarke  and  Gillespie, 47,48 

that  of  Descartes, 48 

that  of  Anselm, ..48,49 

compared  to  an  algebraical  formula,    49 

Dorner's  statement  of, 49 

conclusion  from, 49 

Oosterzee, Van,  on  human  nature, 301 

on  impossibility  of  hardened  lava  re- 
turning to  crater, 349 

on  universal  atonement, 422 

Ophir,  Gen.  10 : 16,  perhaps  stands  for  a 

tribe, 106 

Optimism,  the  true  form  of, 199 

a  false,  considered, 199 

a  false,  list  of  authors  on, 199 

in  any  form,  denied  by  some, 200 

Oracles,  ancient, 67 

Ordain,  has  a  technical  sense  not  found 

in  New  Testament, 513 

Ordain,  who  are  to? 513 

Order,  and  useful  collocation,  imply  a 

cause, 42 

unpurposed,  illustrations  of , 43 

without  inequality,  illustrated  by  re- 
lation between  man  and  woman,  ...  166 
moral,  of  the  world,  an  argument  for 

divine  providence, 211 

physical,   has    only  a   relative   con- 
stancy,   275 

of  regeneration,  conversion,  and  jus- 
tification,   446 

Orders,  sacred,    indelibility    of,  erro- 
neous,  516 

Ordinances  of  the  church, 520-553 

their  nature, 520 

Protestant  view  of, ...  . .  520 


Ordinances   of  the   church,  Romanist 

view  of, 520 

of  Papal  church, 530 

Ordination,  of  church  officers,  its  na- 
ture,   512 

a  recognition  and  authorization, 512 

should  be  accompanied  by  a  special 
service  of  admonition,  prayer,  and 

laying  on  of  hands,... 512 

of  a  pastor,  t hree  stages  in, 513 

of  deacons,  requires  no  consultation 

with  other  churches, 513 

certain  accompaniments  of,  which  are 

appropriate  and  obligatory, 513 

laying  on  of  hands,  its  place  in, 513 

an  act  of  the  church, 513 

candidate  for,  should  be  member  of 

the  ordaining  church, 513 

power  of,  rests  with  the  church, 514 

council  of  churches,  its  place  in, 514 

council  of,  its  constituents, 514 

letter-missive  calling  a  council  of, 514 

order  of  procedure  in  a  council  of,...  515 

programme  of  public  services, 515 

who,  besides  pastors,  should  receive  ?  515 
of  ministers,  referred  to  as  "  imposi- 
tion of  hands," 532 

Ordo  sahitis,  accoi'ding  to  A.  A.  Hodge,  437 
Organic,  and  organized,  substances,  ...    52 

Organic  view  of  human  nature, 313 

Origen  of  Alexandria,  on  systematiz- 
ing,       9 

conceived  plan  of  expounding  doc- 
trines in  order, 23 

on  innate  notions  of  morality, 30 

on  genuineness  of  2  Peter, 76 

his  views  on  creation, 190 

on  preexistence  of  the  soul, 248 

his  interpretation  of  Mat.  20:3, 248 

his  idea  of  the  atonement, 400 

on  the  doctrine  of  a  literal  resurrec- 
tion,  578 

the  ground  on  which  he  denied  future 

punishment, 591 

Origin  of  the  gospels,  rationalistic  theo- 
ries of , 76 

Origin,  unity  of,  proved  by  unity  of 

species, 241 

Original   "  image   of    God,"    in   man, 

what  it  implied, 262,  263 

theory  that  it  consisted  simply  in  per- 
sonality  264 

theory  that  it  was  simply  man's  natu- 
ral capacity  for  religion, 265 

Original  knowledge  of  God,  man's,  im- 
plies a  direction  of  affections  and 

will  toward  God, 264 

Original  moral,  likeness  to  God,  man's, 

or  holiness, 262 

Original  natural  likeness  to  God,  man's, 

or  personality, 262 

Original  righteousness,  what? 263 

not  the  substance  of  human  nature,..  263 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


671 


Original  righteousness,  not  a  gift  added 

after  man's  creation, 263 

a  tendency   of   affections   and   will, 

with  power  of  evil  choice, 363 

how  it  differed  from  perfected  holi- 
ness of  saints, 263 

a  propagable  moral  disposition, 263 

though  lost,  left   man  possessed   of 

natural  likeness  to  God,  263 

Original  sin,  realistic  conception  of,.-    27 

what  is  meant  by  the  phrase  ? 309 

its  problem. 309 

actual  sin  more  guilty  than, 310 

no  one  condemned  merely  on  account 

of,..-. - 310 

substance  of  Scripture  doctrine  con- 
cerning,  331 

a  misnomer  on  any  other  theory  than 

that  of  its  coiner, 340 

no  soul  finally  condemned  simply  on 

account  of, 357 

Original  state  of  man,  essentials  of, 261 

difficulties  in  understanding  it, 261 

Romanist   and  Protestant  views  of, 
lead  to  divergencies  as  to  sin  and 

regeneration, 266 

incidents  of , 267 

Orohippus,  the  four-toed  horse, 237 

Osiris,  identification  of  dead  with,  by 

Egyptians,  - 441 

the  heart  weighed  in  presence  of, 582 

Os  sublime,  manifestation  of  internal 

endowments, 267 

Overbeck's  picture  of  the  child  Jesus, 

its  fantastic  character, 365 

Ovid,  on  "man  looking  aloft," 267 

on  sinful  tendency, 297 

on  representative  expiation, 394 

Owen,  John, 25 

on  offices  of  Persons  in  Trinity, 166 

an  Augustinian  as  well  as  a  Federal- 
ist,...  323 

on  limited  atonement, 422 

Owen,  Richard,  on  matter  and  mind, ...    54 

held  to  spontaneous  generation, 191 

on  man  from  the  beginning  ideally 

present  on  the  earth, 195 

on  a  primitive  pair  in  human  race,...  241 

Page-Roberts,  on  heredity, 253 

Pain,  and  imperfection,  before  the  fall,  198 
in  brutes,  the  purpose  it  subserves,  . .  199 

Paine,  Thomas,  on  natural  religion, 58 

eulogized  by  R.  W.  Emerson, 291 

Pajon,  Claude,  his  views  of  Baptism,...  532 
Palastiological  sciences,  point  to,  but  do 

not  lead,  to  a  first  Cause, 41 

Palestine,  "a  fifth  gospel," 83 

prepared  in  God's  providence, 208 

Paley,  on  "  the  original  propagators  of 

the  gospel," 83,84 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,  142 

his  definition  of  virtue,...  ..  142 


Paley,  on  law  presupposing  an  agent,..  274 
Pananglican  Councils,  contain  world- 
church  idea,  509 

Panpresbyterian  Council,  its  action  in 
relation   to   observance   of   Lord's 

Supper, 548 

its  action  in  relation  to  Cumberland 

Presbyterians, 549 

contains  world-church  idea, 509 

Pantheism,  defined, 55 

elements  of  truth  in, 55 

itserrors, t. 55 

in  it  the  worshiper  is  the  worshiped, .  55 
the  fruit  of  Hindu  want  of  energy 

and  longing  for  rest, 55 

its  idea  of  God  self-contradictory, ....  56 
its  unity  of  substance  without  proof,  56 
opposed  by  our  intuition  of  God,  ....  56 
and  mysticism,  Scripture  recognizes 

elements  of  truth  in  them, 56 

gives  no  explanation  of  personality,.  56 
its  effects  on  public  morals  disastrous,  56 

fatalistic, 56 

refuted  by  fact  of  sin,  Bushnell  on,.. 

- xxv,  56 

places  the  supreme  cause  below  our- 
selves,     57 

answer  to  its  chief  objection  to  per- 
sonality in  God, 57 

assumes  that  law  is  an  exhaustive  ex- 
pression of  God, 281 

should  worship  Satan, 292 

requires  denial  of  miracle, 63 

requires  denial  of  inspiration, 98 

anti-trinitarianism  leads  to, 168 

involved  in  doctrine  of  emanation,  ..  189 

continuous  creation  tends  to. 206 

at  the  basis  of  some  Docetism, 361 

not  involved  in  doctrine  of  union  with 

Christ, 442 

Papal  church,  its  ordinances, 520 

Papias  refers  to  Matthew  and  Mark,  ...    74 

his  testimony  defended, 74 

Parables,  not  necessarily  historical, 113 

in  Luke  15,  relation  of , 431 

Paradise,  when  world  will  become, 199 

the  abode  of  God  and  the  blessed, 563 

Paradvzon  summum  evangelicum,  the,  .  411 
Pardon  limited  by  atonement,  inconsis- 
tent with  divine  omnipotence,  an- 
swered,   418 

limited   by   atonement,  inconsistent 

with  divine  love,  answered, 418 

justice  to  Christ,  mercy  to  recipient,.  419 
its  conditions  can  be  rightly  assigned 

by  God, 419 

what  it  is, 474 

through  Christ,  honors  God's  justice 

as  well  as  his  mercy, xxix,  478 

Parisian  sculptor,  and  his  several  photo- 
graphs,      78 

Park,  E.  A.,  his  definition  of  inspiration,    95 
on  God's  love  to  Satan,  ..  ..138 


672 


IXDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Park,  E.  A.,  on  doctrine  of  Trinity,  ....  144 

on  decrees, 172 

his  view  that  evil  is  a  part  of  the  best 

moral  system, 180 

on  God  as  above  subordination, 198 

on  Arminianism, :.. 317 

his  views  of  sin, 319 

on  governmental   theory   of  atone- 
ment,   403 

on  instantaneous  regeneration, 459 

on  evils  of  Presbyterianism, 509 

on  Congregationalism  and  Indepen- 
dency,   -  519 

Parker,  Theodore,  on  verbal  revelation,     7 

on  forging  a  Jesus, 89 

Parseeism, - 88,89 

Parsimony,  law  of, 41 

its  application  to  the  various  argu- 
ments for  existence  of  God, 49 

Pascal,   on   pure  intellect   leading   to 

scepticism, 30 

on  knowing  truth  not  by  reason  but 

by  the  heart, 21 

his  theological  position, 25 

on  miracles, 65 

on  virtue  bought  cheaply  by  pain,  ...  199 

on  birth  in  sin, - 301 

Passion,  the,  necessitated  by   Christ's 

incarnation, 414 

Passover,  the. -  396 

referred  to, 77 

festal  in  its  nature, 540 

Pastor,  his  duty  to  develop  independent 

Christian  activity, 506 

his  ruling  to  be  done  through  others,  506 

an  officer  of  the  church, 509 

'identical  with  bishop  or  presbyter,  ..  509 

his  duties, 510 

a  spiritual  teacher, 510 

his  private  intercourse  as  important 

as  his  public  work, 511 

administrator  of  ordinances, 511 

not  a  priest  exclusively  to  administer 

ordinances,  - 511 

a  superintendent  of  discipline, 511 

a  presiding  officer, 511 

his  extreme  authority  in  old  Congre- 
gationalism of  New  England, 511 

his  functions,  executive, 511 

ordination  of,  three  stages  in, 513 

'  Pastors  and  teachers,'  in  Eph.  4 : 11, 

refer  to  one  office, 510 

Pastors  should  cultivate  friendly  rela- 
tions with  other  pastors  and  other 

churches, 519 

Path  blazed,  an  illustration, 16 

Patriarchs,  age  of,  in  Old  Testament,..  108 
Patripassians,  derivation  of  the  name,.  158 

their  views, 158 

Patristic  theory  of  atonement, 408 

Pattison,  S.  R.,  on  age  of  world, 107 

Patton,  F.  L.,  on  the  varying  hypothe- 
ses of  unbelievers, 44 


Patton,    F.   L.,    on    "metaphysics    of 

oughtness,"  referred  to, xxv,  142* 

on  the  idea  of  penalty, 352 

on  John  7: 17, 467 

on  eternal  punishment  consistent  with 

justice, 595 

Paul,  the  human  element  in  his  writ- 
ings,  101 

his  hope  of  Christ's  speedy  coming,  . .  Ill 

and  James,  on  justification, 472 

on  consciousness  in  the  intermediate 

state, 563 

Peabody,  on  Christianity, 13 

on  conscience, 257 

on  will, 258 

Peace,  unattainable  on  Romish  view  of 

justification, 481 

a  fruit  of  justification, 481 

Pearson,  John, 26- 

on  Christ's  preaching  to  the  dead, 386 

Peccatum  aliemim,  imputed  according 

to  Federal  theory, 325 

Pedobaptists,  as  holding  and  propagat- 
ing false  doctrine,  not  admissible  to 

Lord's  Supper 54fr 

their  errors,  Arnold  on, 549 

guilty  of  schism, 550 

think  themselves  baptized,  statement 

replied  to, - 552 

Pelagianism  denies  doctrines  of  grace 
as  rationalism  refuses  to  accept  pri- 
mitive truths, xxv.501 

accepts  nothing  as  "given,"  but  must 
work  out  a  salvation  for  itself,  .xxv,  50- 

its  theory  of  imputation, 310-313 

its  view  of  Rom.  5:12, 311 

on  human  nature, 311 

Dorner's  view  of, 311 

unf  ormulated  and  sporadic, 311 

contradicts  Scripture, 312 

what  it  denies, 312 

Schaff  on, 312 

involves  an  Ebionitic  view  of  Christ,.  312 

tends  to  rationalism, 312 

rests  on  false  philosophical  principles,  313 

Neanderon, 312 

ignores  law  by  which  acts  produce 

states, 312 

denies  existence  of  character, 312 

Thornwellon, 313 

Pelagius,  a  creatianist, 250 

his  view  of  sin, 310 

on  Rom.  5:12, 311 

on  grace,  simply  grace  of  creation,. ..  311 
Penalties,  divine,   not   vindictive   but 

vindicative, 139 

Penalty,  what? 13£ 

a  consequence  of  sin, 350-355 

the  idea  of,...: 350 

not  essentially  reformatory, 351 

not  essentially  deterrent  and  prevent- 
ive,  351 

the  actual,  of  sin, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


673 


Penalty,    immanent    demand    for,   in 

God's  holiness, - 390 

a  substitute  for,  distinguished  from  a 

substituted  penalty, 403 

cannot   be   inflicted   for  security  of 

government, 403 

its  object  the  vindication  of  justice,  ..  416 
Penitence,  recognizes  need  of  repara- 
tion and  expiation, 418 

Penitent,  Christ  the  great, 400 

Penruddock,  Nigel,  in  "Endymion,"  on 

Satan's  personality, 223 

Pentateuch,  authorship  of, 81 

Wellhausen  on,. 81 

Kuenen  on, 81 

W.  Robertson  Smith  on, -...    81 

its  Mosaic  authorship  defended,....  81,82 
if  Moses  is  chief  author,  its  inspiration 

not  invalidated, -. 113 

Pepper,  Pres.,  on   contingent   knowl- 
edge,   135 

on  a  divine  plan, 171 

on  divine  volition, 174 

on  the  union  of  God's  will  and  man's 

will, 210 

on  moral  law, 275 

Percept,  what? 5 

'Perfect,'  as  applied  to  godly  men, 296 

Perfection,  in  God,  power  of  self -limi- 
tation essential  to  it 6 

and  attributes  therein  involved, 125 

involves  truth,  love,  and  holiness, 126 

of  individual  and  church,  reached  in 

world  to  come, 554 

Perfectionism, 488 

list  of  writers  on, 488 

objections  to, 488 

rests  on  wrong  views  of  law, 488 

rests  on  wrong  views  of  sin, 489 

rests  on  wrong  views  of  will, 489 

contradicted  by  Scripture, 489 

some  of  its  greatest  advocates  have 
not  claimed  perfection  for  them- 
selves,   490 

how  best  met, 490 

Permanent  states,  each  faculty  has, 257 

our  comparative  unconsciousness  of,  283 
Permissive  providence,  its  character, . .  209 

Perowne,  on  Psalm  96:10, 199 

on  Psalm  104, 203 

Persecutions,  set  on  foot  by  govern- 
ment against  early  Christians, 90 

Perseverance,  human  side  of  sanctifi- 

cation, 483 

definition  of, 491 

doctrine  of,  proved  from  Scripture,..  491 

doctrine  of,  proved  from  reason, 491 

a  necessary  inference  from  other  doc- 
trines,   491 

accords  with  analogy, 491 

implied  in  assurance  of  salvation, 491 

rests  on  divine  determination  to  keep 
saints, ..  491 


Perseverance,    Christian   trusts   God's 

purpose  for, 49£ 

objections  to  doctrine  of, 492 

not  inconsistent   with   human   free- 
dom,   492 

does  not  tend  to  immorality, 492 

is  in  holiness, 492 

does  not  lead  to  indolence, 49£ 

doctrine  of,  a  strong  incentive  to  be- 
liever,  492 

doctrine  of,  not  opposed  by  Scripture 

commands  and  warnings, 492 

of  righteous,   secured   by  Scripture 

commands  and  warnings, 49& 

general  doctrine  of,  list  of  authors 

on, 493 

Persevere,  believers  freely, 492 

Persians,  ancient,  repudiated  images, ..  120 
Persius,    on   impossibility  of   creation 

out  of  nothing, 187 

Person,  what? 45,  122,  376,  37T 

'Person,'  in  doctrine  of  Trinity,  only 

approximately  accurate, 159 

Person,  how  he  can  be  given  in  differ- 
ent measures?  15fr 

Person  and  character  of  Christ,  as  proof 

of  revelation, 89-91 

Person  of  Christ,  the  natures  in,  illus- 
trative of  inspiration, 10£ 

the  doctrine  of, 360-380 

historical  survey  of  views  respecting,  360 
the  two  natures  in,  their  reality  and 

integrity, 364 

the  union  of  two  natures  in  the  one,.  368- 
Personal,  identity,  dependent  on  mem- 
ory,   .52 

intelligences,  their  existence  cannot 

be  explained  by  pantheism, 5fr 

identity,  inexplicable  on   theory   of 

continuous  creation, 20ft 

wrongs,  rule  as  to  their  forgiveness 

among  men  does  not  apply  to  God,.  418 
influence,  often  distinct  from  word 

spoken, 454 

Personality,  defined, 45, 122,  376,  377 

of  God,  not  proved  by  teleological 

argument, 44 

of  God,  the  conclusion  of  the  anthro- 
pological argument,. 45-47 

of  God,  denied  by  pantheism, 55 

the   highest,   dependent  on  infinite- 
ness, 51 

its  nature, 121 

various  definitions  of , 122 

self-conscious  and  self-determining,.  122 
in  Godhead,  consistent  with  essential 

unity, 160- 

what  is  meant  by, 262 

various  definitions  of, 262 

inalienable, 26£ 

only  obscured  by  insanity, 262 

involves  boundless  possibilities, ......  262 

the  foundation  for  love  between  men,  262 


674 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Personality,  constitutes  a  capacity  for 

redemption, 262 

Satan  possesses, 264 

definitions  of, 377 

in  Christ,  illustrations  of, ..  377 

4  Personify  ing,'  substituted  by  Mill  for 

Comte's  term  'theological,'..- 272 

Persons  of  Godhead,  have  a  numerical 

unity  of  nature  or  essence, 160 

Peshito  Version, 73 

Pessimism, 200 

remedy  for, 200 

Petavius, 25 

Peter,  how  he  differed  from  Paul, 103 

Romanist  claims  with  respect  to, 507 

Christ  gave  no  supreme  authority  to,.  507 
if  he  had  supreme  power,  could  not 

transmit  it, 507 

his  being  at  Rome  not  conclusively 

proved, 507 

no  evidence  that  he  appointed  bishops 

as  his  successors, 507 

was  he  founder  of  Roman  church  ?  . .  507 

Peter,  First,  3 : 18-20,  discussion  of, 386 

Peter,  Second,  genuineness  of, 73 

not  referred  to  by  Apostolic  Fathers,    74 

probable  history  of, 76 

evidences  of  its  genuineness, 76 

Peter  Lombard,  first  great  systematizer 

of  Western  Church, 23 

on  the  cross  as  a  mouse-trap  for  Sa- 
tan,   408 

Peter  Martyr, 24 

denied  image  of  God  to  women, 268 

Peter  the  Hermit, 213 

Peyrerius,  on  Adam  as  descended  from 

a  black  race, 239 

Pharaoh's  heart,  how  hardened, 210 

judicially  forsaken  by  God, 210 

he  hardened  his  own  heart, 210 

Phenomena,  definition  of, 4 

can  we  know  only  ? 4 

Philemon  and  Onesimus,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  pardon,  419 

Philippi,  his  idea  of  faith 3 

his  illustrations  of  God's  providential 

dealings  with  evil, 220 

on  the  relations  of  the  doctrine  of 

Satan  to  sin, 233 

on  man's  original  state, 261 

on  Adam's  moral  state  at  creation, ...  264 
on  Corner's  view  of  the  union  of  the 

natures  in  Christ, 274 

on  the  fall, 303 

on  human  nature  in  Christ, 377 

on  objections  to  a  religious  doctrine,.  418 
Philippians  2:6-8,  a  detailed  examina- 
tion of,. 384 

Philo,  and  the  Apocrypha, - 80 

his   Logos-idea   not  foundation     of 

John's  doctrine  of  the  Logos, 153 

on  pree'xistence  of  soul, 248 

declares  faith  in  immortality, 561 


Philosophy,  defined, 22 

Phinehas,  how  he  "made  propitiation,"  402 
Phrases  indicating  common  authorship 
of  Revelation  and  gospel  of  John,..    75 

Physical,  science,  rests  on  faith, 2 

freedom,  what? 177 

death, 306,  307,  352-354,  554-562 

Physician's    prescription,    illustration 

from, 10 

Physico-theological  argument,  42 

Physiological  change  due  to  new  con- 
ditions, instances  of, 242, 243 

Physiology,  comparative,  does  not  show 
man's  body  to  be  developed  from 

lower  animals, 235 

argument  from,  in  favor  of  unity  of 

human  race, 241 

Pickering,  on  eleven  human  species  or 

one, 241 

Pictet, 24 

Pictures  of  Christ,  Luther  on, 121 

objections  to, 121 

Pilgrims,  landing  of,  referred  to, 107 

'  Pillours  of  eternity,'  Spenser, 124 

Placeus  of  Saumur, 24 

his  theory  of  mediate  imputation,  ...  325 

objections  to  his  theory, 327 

Plasticity  of  species,  originally  greater,  243 

Plato,  his  cave,  an  illustration, 15 

on  man's  duty  to  be  good  or  to  kill 

himself, 58 

his  reference  to  a  "  divine  communi- 

cation,"-.. 59 

and    Xenophon,    their  accounts    of 

Socrates, 70 

his  view  of  morality, 88 

on  truth  in  God, 126 

on  fountain  of  efficiency,  law,  and  vir- 
tue,    143 

his  view  of  intuitive  ideas, 248 

his  argument  for  the  immortality  of 

the  soul  from  its  pree'xistence, 248 

on  the  pree'xistence  of  soul, 248 

on  the  body  the  "  tomb  of  the  soul,"-  290 

on  sin, 301 

on  derivation  of  sin, 301 

his  argument  for  immortality,  Cicero 

on, 557 

Pliny,  his  letter  to  Trajan, 91 

on  the  Christian  religion, 92 

on  Christian  hymns  chanted  to  Christ 

as  God, 150 

Plumptre,  on  eirepuJTij/ua, 455 

Plural  form,  common  with  Hebrews, . .  152 
Plural  number,  never  used  by  Christ  in 

referring  to  himself, 369 

Plural  is  m  ajcstaticw, 152 

Plurality  in  Godhead,  passages  in  Old 

Testament  which  teach, 152 

Plurality  of  elders,  in  certain  New  Tes- 
tament churches, 510 

Plutarch,  his  personification  of  law,  ...  276 
on  heathen  worshipers, 297 


IXDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


675 


Plutarch,    on   God,    the   brave   man's 

hope, --  433 

Pocket  baptismal  and  communion  ser- 
vices, without  warrant, - 505 

Poesy  and  poem,  contrasted, 473 

Poetry,  a  forward  or  backward-looking1 

prophecy, 269 

echoes  longing  for  some  possession 

lost, 269 

Polanus,  on  God's  method  of  creating 

souls, 250 

Polity,  church, 494-519 

Baptist,  "best  for  good  people," 504 

Poly  carp,  his  evidence, 73,74 

Polytheism,  what? 125 

held  to  one  supreme  Fate, 125 

the  element  of  ti-uth  in, 168 

Pomeroy,  on  law, 275 

Pompadour,  Madame,  and  Marie  Antoi- 
nette, their  fates  contrasted, 556 

Pools  of  modern  Jerusalem,  their  di- 
mensions,   523 

Pope,  Alexander,  his  ridicule   of  the 
doctrine  that  all  things  were  made 

for  man's  use, 43 

on  the  hidden  perfection  of  nature,..  214 

Pope,  W.  B.,  on  <r<£pf, 291 

on  universal  depravity, 299 

Porter,  his  view  of  intuition, 29 

on   existence   of   God   the   basis   of 

induction, 33 

on  original  perception, 53 

his  definition  of  personality, 122 

calls  space  and  time  correlates  to  be- 
ings and  events,  130 

on  Maine  de  Biran's  theory  of  causa- 
tion,  203 

on  the  possibility  of  the  spirit  of  man 

possessing  lower  powers, 246 

on  volition, 259 

his  definition  of  personality, 377 

Positive,  philosophy,  what  implied  in?.      4 

predicates  of  God,  possible, 6 

testimony,  outweighs  negative, 71 

proofs,  that  the  Scriptures  are  a  divine 

revelation, 72-94 

law,  just  and  lasting  when  a  republica- 

tion  of  law  of  nature, 274 

enactment,  in  form  of  general  moral 

precepts, 279 

enactment,  as  ceremonial  or  special 

injunctions, 880 

enactment,  to   be  supplemented  by 

law  of  being, 280 

Positivism,  its  errors  regarding  theo- 
logical, metaphysical,  and  positive 

phases  of  thought, 272 

Possession,  by  demons, 228 

not  bodily  or  mental  disease, 228 

may  be  physical, 228 

may  be  spiritual, 228 

Possibility  of  miracles,  rests  on  the  ex- 
istence and  personality  of  God, 68 


Possibility  of  theology, 2-9 

Postulates,  required  by  a  correct  expla- 
nation of  universe,. 51 

Pott,  opposes  Miiller's  theory  of  lan- 
guage,   240 

Potwin,  on  atonement, 401 

on  governmental   theory   of  atone- 
ment,....  404 

Power,  God's,  its  impress  on  the  uni- 
verse, Dante  on, 133 

'Power  to  the  contrary,'  what  it  was 

in  Edward's  view, 317 

Preeterist    interpretation    of     revela- 
tion,  68,570 

Praxeas  of  Rome,  his  view  of  Trinity,.  158 
Prayer,  relation  of  providence  to, . .  215-219 
can   God   answer,  consistently  with 

fixity  of  natural  law? 215 

Tyndall's  assertion  about, 215 

its  effect,  more  than  reflex  influence 

on  petitioner, 215 

not  a  mere  spiritual  gymnastics, 216 

answers  to,  not  confined  to  spiritual 

region, 216 

not  answered  by  the  suspension  or 

violation  of  order  of  nature, 216 

not  linked  by  physical  relation  to  its 

answer, 216 

may  be  answered  by  to  us  unknown 

combinations  of  natural  forces, 216 

moves  God, 217 

answers  to,  may  be  the  result  of  pre- 

arrangement, 217 

answers  to,  list  of  authors  on, 217 

is  its  relation  to  its  answer  capable 

of  scientific  test? 218 

may  be  tested  as  a  father's  love  may 

be  tested, 218 

answers  to,  attested  by  history  and 

experience, 218 

connected  with  its  answer  by  God's 
will,  which  can  have   no  physical 

test, 218 

'guage,' Tyndall's, 218 

impulse  to,  evidence  of  Christ's  inter- 
cession for  us  in  heaven, 424 

Prayer-book,  English,  Arminian, 24 

on  infant  baptism, 538 

Prayer-book  of  Edward  VI,  immersion 

in, 525 

Prayers,  Christian,  full  of  divinity  of 

Christ, 150 

Preaching,  doctrinal  sermons, 11 

may,   with  Scripture,  assume   exist- 
ence of  God, 37 

doctrine  of  decrees,  proper  method  of,  181 
of  organic  unity  of   race,  does  not 

neutralize  appeals  to  conscience,. ..  338 
should  first  treat  individual  trans- 
gressions,    348 

regards  elect  and  non-elect, 434 

must  press  duty  of  immediate  sub-  • 
mission  to  Christ, 461 


676 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Preaching,  of  everlasting  punishment, 
not  a  hindrance  to  success  of  gos- 
pel,.. 599 

Precedent,  New  Testament,  the  '  com- 
mon law'  of  the  church, 546 

Preconf ormity  to  future  event, 42 

Precursors  of  Christ's  second  coming, . 

569-571 

Predestinated,  not  pre-necessitated,  ...  176 

Predestination,  its  nature, 172,  428,  429 

Predicata,  distinguished  from  attributes  117 
Predicate,  when  without  and  when  with 

the  article, 145 

Predicates  of  God,  certain  are  positive,     6 
Prediction,  only  a  part  of  prophecy,  67,  388 

not  essential  to  science, 218 

Preestablished  harmony,  of  Leibnitz,..    52 
Pree'xistence  of  Christ,  remembered  by 

him, 249 

Pree'xistence  of  human  soul,  theory  of,  248 

ancient  and  modern  advocates  of, 248 

Talmudist  view  of, 248 

idea  of,  in  modern  poetry, 248 

element  of  truth  at  basis  of  theory,--  248 

objections  to  the  theory, 248 

contradicts  Mosaic  account  of  crea- 
tion,  249 

no  memory  of  act  done  in, 249 

sheds  no  light  on  origin  of  sin,  but 

increases  difficulties, 249 

sinful  act  done  in,  does  not  explain 

inherited  sensual  sin, 249 

MUller's  view  of  the  extra-temporal 
act  committed  by  individual  therein,  249 

Kahnis  on, 250 

Preference,  immanent,  what? 257 

'elective,'  of  New  School, 288 

Premises,  finite,  cannot  yield  an  infinite 

conclusion, 36 

Preparation,  historical,  for  redemp- 
tion,  358-360 

negative,  in  history  of  heathen  world,  358 

positive,  in  history  of  Israel, 359 

Preparatives,  to  the  completeness  of 

the  kingdom  of  God, 554 

Prerequisites,  to  participation  in  Lord's 

Supper, 546-553 

Presbyter,   deposed  for    publishing   a 

pretended  work  of  Paul, 74 

identical  with  pastor  or  bishop, 509 

Presbyterianism,  its  practical  evils,  —  509 
Prescience,  divine,  not  pre-determina- 

tion, 133 

not  causative,... 133 

Presence,  of   Christ  with  his  people, 

what? 387 

of  God,  a  hell  to  the  sinner, 452 

Presentative  intuition,  what  ? 27 

of  God,  not  impossible, 37 

the  normal  condition  of  humanity,...    37 
enjoyed  by  unfallen  man,  occasion- 
ally by  the  saints,  and  to  be  the 
blessing  of  heaven, 37 


Preservation,  definition  of, 202" 

distinguished  from  creation, 202 

a  positive  agency, 202 

upholds  properties    and   powers   of 

matter  and  mind  in  actual  exercise,  202 
doctrine  of,  its  proof  from  Scripture,  202 
doctrine  of,  its  proof  from  reason,...  203 

required  by  God's  sovereignty, 204 

a  mean  between  two  extremes, 204 

theories  which  virtually  deny, 204 

midway  between  deism,  and  continu- 
ous creation  or  pantheism, 206 

Pretermission  of  sin,  limited  in  dura- 
tion,  422 

justified  by  the  cross, 422 

Preventive  providence, 209 

Pride,  what? 293 

essence  of  sin,  according  to  Augus- 
tine and  Aquinas, 293 

'Priest,'  and   'minister,'   how    distin- 
guished,   544 

Priest,  High,  breast-plate  of, 424 

Priest,  pastor  is,  only  as  every  Christian 

is, 510 

'  Priesthood,  the,  a  chronic  disorder  of 

the  human  race,' 499 

Priestley,  his  idea  of  inspiration, 95 

on  nature  of  virtue, 142 

Priestly  office  of  Christ, 390-424 

continues  forever, 422 

Primitive  rules  not   applicable    now, 

this  statement  replied  to, 55£ 

Principles,  intuitions  of, 29 

Principles  of  evidence  applicable  to 

proof  of  divine  revelation, 69-71 

Priority,  logical,  of  the  idea  of  God,  . .    33 

not  necessarily  superiority, 16fr 

Prison  at  Philippi,  probably  provided 

with  atank, 52$ 

Probability,  a  guide  of  life, S» 

of  miracles,  rests  upon  belief  in  God 

as  moral  and  benevolent  being, 61 

Probation  after  death,  Dorner  on,.  385,  56& 

theory  of,  refuted, 590-592 

theory  of,  a  result  of  denying  proba- 
tion of  race  in  Adam, 592 

Probation  in  Adam, 335 

Procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  views  of 

Greek  and  Latin  churches  on, 155 

consistent  with  equality  in  Trinity,..  164 
as   applied  to    Spirit,   an    approxi- 
mate term, 165 

Prodigal,  an   illustration   of  essential 

principle  of  sin, 

'Produces,'  more  than  'precedes,' 450 

Progress,  of  early  Christianity,  effected 

by  insufficient  means, 90 

supposed,  from  stone  to  bronze  and 
iron  implements,  not  supported  by 

later  investigations, 271 

Prolegomena, 1-28 

idea  of  theology, 

material  of  theology, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


677 


Prolegomena,  method  of  theology, ...  20-28 
Prometheus,  leg-end  of,  a  prediction  of 

the  true  Redeemer, 394 

Promise  of  tempter,  its  nature, 295 

Promises,  faithfulness  and  goodness  in 

relation  to, - 138 

Proof  of  divine  revelation,  principles 

of  evidence  applicable  to, -.69—71 

Prophecies  useful  in  time  of  persecu- 
tion,    112 

Prophecy,  as  attesting  a  divine  revela- 
tion,     67 

Prophecies  uttered  by  Christ, 68 

definition  of,  ... 67 

relation  of,  to  miracles, 67 

requirements  in, 67 

general  features  of, 67 

different  kinds  of , 68 

its  double  sense, .. - 68 

like  Japanese  pictures, 68 

unfulfilled,  its  purpose, 69 

fulfilled,  its  evidential  force, 69 

supposed  errors  in,  as  an  objection  to 

inspiration,  . . Ill 

errors  in  interpreting,  arise  from  con- 
founding  drapery  with  substance, 

or  from  misapplication, Ill 

modern,  in  what  sense  true, 389 

new,  self -condemned, 389 

Prophet,  not  always  aware  of  meaning 

of  his  own  prophecies, 68 

his   later  utterances,  may   elucidate 

earlier, Ill 

is  his  soul  rapt  into  God's  timeless  ex- 
istence?   131 

meaning  of  the  word, 388 

any  organ  of  divine  revelation,  or  me- 
dium of  divine  communication, 388 

Prophetce  priores,  why  so  called ? 388 

Prophetic  office  of  Christ, 388 

its  nature, ! 

its  stages, 388 

three  methods  of  fulfilling, ; 

work  of  Christ,  four  stages  of, 

his  preparatory  work  as  Logos, 

his  earthly  ministry,  as  incarnate, 389 

his  guidance  and  teaching   of  the 

church  since  his  ascension, 389 

his  final  revelation  to  his  saints  in 

glory, 

Prophets,  personal  surmises  of,  not  nec- 
essarily correct,  Ill 

in  what  sense  Christians  are, 

Proprietates,  distinguished  from  attri- 
butes,  117 

Proselyte-baptism,  its  existence  among 

the  Jews, 521 

silence  of  some  ancient  authors  re- 
garding,   521 

Protevangelium,  contained  germinally 

the  whole  truth  of  Scripture, 84 

Providence,  doctrine  of, 207-220 

definition  of,  ..  ..207 


'rovidence,   is  a  for-seeing,  as  well  as 

afore-seeing, 207 

distinguished  from  preservation, 207 

all-comprehending, 207 

embraces  all  natural  influences  which 
prepare  for  operation  of  word  and 

Spirit, 207 

its  character  in  respect  to  evil  acts,  . .  208 

list  of  authors  on, 208 

Scriptural  proof  of , 208 

involves  control  over  universe, 208 

over  physical  world, 208 

over  brutes, 208 

over  nations, 208 

over  man's  birth  and  life, 208 

over  seeming  accidents, 208 

over  seeming  trifles, 208 

protects  the  righteous 208 

answers  prayer, 208 

exposes  and  punishes  wicked, 208 

involves  a  government  of  free  actions,  209 

preventive, 209 

permissive, 209 

directive, 210 

determinative, 210 

rational  proof  of , 210 

proof  a  priori  of, 210 

from  immutability  of  God, 210 

from  benevolence  of  God, 210 

from  justice  of  God, 211 

heathen  ideas  of , 211 

heathen  believed  in  a  general  rather 

than  in  a  particular 211 

proof  a  posteriori  of, 211 

from  outward  lot  of  individuals, 211 

from  moral  order  of  world, 211 

theories  which  oppose  the  doctrine  of,  211 

fatalism  substitutes  fate  for, 211 

casualism  substitutes  chance  for, 212 

its  existence  proved  as  that  of  a  God 

is  proved, 213 

merely  general,  theory  of  a, 213 

particular,   denial  of,   is  a  form  of 

deism, 213 

Cicero  and  Jerome  on, 213 

merely  general,   arguments   against 

the  theory  of, 213 

general,  involves  particular, 213 

particular,  historical  instances  of , 213 

prepares  way  for  conversion, 214 

particular,  prompted  by  love, 214 

particular,  essential  to  religion, 214 

particular,  believed  in  on  emergen- 
cies,   .---  214 

particular,  belief  in,  grounded  on  in- 
tuition,  214 

particular,    confirmed    by   Christian 

experience, 214 

particular,  confirmed  by  answers  to 

prayer, 214 

in  life  of  Luther, 214 

in  life  of  Judson, 214 

prepares  way  for  conversion, 214 


678 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Providence,  doctrine  of,  its  relation  to 

miracles  and  works  of  grace, 215 

particular,  God  makes  use  of  natural 

laws  in, .. 215 

special,  what? 215 

special,  and  miracles,  not  to  be  con- 
founded,   215 

special,  naturalistic  view  of, 215 

doctrine  of,  opposed  to  naturalism, . .  219 

made  personal  by  Holy  Spirit, 219 

doctrine  of,  its  relation  to  prayer  and 

its  answer,  see  Prayer, 215-219 

doctrine  of,  its  relation  to  Christian 

activity, 219 

doctrine  of ,  is  not  quietism, 219 

doctrine  of,  is  not  naturalism, 219 

doctrine  of,  its  relation  to  evil  acts  of 

free  agents. 220 

permissive,  distinguished  from  acts  of 

efficient  causation, 220 

regulates   evil   decision   which   man 

has  himself  made, 220 

compels  persistent  iniquity  to  glorify 

God, 220 

Providential   government,   a   general, 

Scriptural  proof  of,. 208 

Providential  interferences,  divine,  mat- 

tersof  fact, 205 

'  Providential  miracles,' 61,  215 

Prudential  committee,  its  function,  ...  517 

Psalm  8,  its  fulfilment, 385 

Psychical  change,  accompanied  by  phy- 
sical change, 52 

Psychology,  determines  the  creation  of 

the  soul  to  be  immediate, 234 

Punishment,  conscience  predicts,  1 46 

does  not  proceed  from  love, 129 

proceeds  from  justice, 139 

idea  of  it, 350 

a  vindication  of  justice, 350 

not  essentially  reformatory, 351 

not   essentially   deterrent    and  pre- 
ventive,   351 

does  not  remain  for  the  Christian, 354 

its  nature, 410 

an  ethical  need  of  the  divine  nature, .  410 

an  ethical  need  of  human  nature, 410 

of   guilty,  Christ's   penal  sufferings 

substituted  for, 410 

Christ  can  justly  bear,  because  he  in- 
herited guilt,  412 

omission  of,  by  God,  would  be  virtual 

approval  of  sin, 418 

justification  is  remission  of, 474 

upon  the  ground  that  Christ  bore  our,  476 

future,  doctrine  of, 588-600 

future,  is  not  annihilation, 588 

future,  excludes  new  probation  and 

ultimate  restoration  of  the  wicked,  590 
future,  declared  by  Scripture  everlast- 
ing,   592 

everlasting,    not    inconsistent    with 
God's  justice, 594 


Punishment,  reaction  of   divine   holi- 
ness against  its  moral  opposite, 594 

justand  right  in  itself, 595 

future,  never  spoken  of  in  Scripture 
as  chastisement, 595 

future,  has  its  reason  not  in  divine 
benevolence  but  divine  holiness, 595 

endless,  since  its  reason  endless, 595 

endless,  since  ill-desert  is  endless,.-..  595 

inflicted  by  men,  not  endless,  because 
they  do  not  take  account  of  God,. ..  595- 

capital,  the  human  penalty  which 
approaches  nearest  the  divine, 595 

eternal,  founded  on  eternal  sin, 595 

endless,  since  sin  is  endless, 595 

of  sin,  if  just  at  all,  may  continue  as 
long  as  sin  exists, 59a 

final,  not  for  acts  but  for  character,..  596 

future,  even  apart  from  outward  tor- 
ment, has  its  source  in  conscience,.  596 

future,  of  wicked,  approved  by  their 
consciences, 596 

increasing  and  unending  in  a  future 
state,  explicable  on  principles  ob- 
servable even  now, 596 

future,  infinite  in  duration  yet  admits 
of  degrees,... - 59fr 

future,  not  at  each  instant  infinite 
pain, 597 

and  sin, idea  of  disproportion  between, 
grows  out  of  belittling  of  sin, 597 

everlasting,  not  inconsistent  with  di- 
vine benevolence, 597 

not  necessarily  a  means  of  attaining 
some  higher  good, 597 

vindication  of  holiness,  its  primary 
and  sufficient  object, 597 

in  this  J  if e,  not  always  remedial, 597 

of  one  incorrigibly  impenitent  person, 
wrong,  if  punishment  of  a  number 
is  wrong, 598 

inflicted  by  law,  its  execution  required 
by  general  good  of  universe, 59S 

everlasting,  an  everlasting  proof  of 
sin  as  moral  suicide, 598 

and  sin,  if  their  temporary  existence 
not  inconsistent  with  God's  benevo- 
lence, their  eternal  not, 508 

eternal,  its  infliction  causes  God 
sorrow, 598 

eternal,  preaching  of,  not  a  hinder- 
ance  to  success  of  gospel, 599 

eternal,  if  true,  should  be  preached, . .  599 

eternal,  evil  results  of  ignoring  it  in 
preaching, 509 

eternal,  fear  of,  though  not  the  high- 
est, yet  a  proper,  motive, 600 

eternal,  not  less  but  greater  than  the 

physical  pains  used  to  symbolize  it,  600 
Punitive  purposes  of  God,  men  made 

their  foretellers  and  executioners,.  109 
'  Purchase,'   its  Scriptural  meaning  as 
applied  to  Christ's  work, 429 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


679 


Purgatory,  doctrine  of,  connected  Avith 
idea  that  punishment  yet  remains 

for  the  Christian, 354 

arises  from  Romish  view  of  justifica- 
tion,  - 481 

growth  of  the  doctrine  of, 565 

Hume's  simile  regarding, 565 

Purification,  ritual,  of  Christ, 415,  529 

Puritans,   their  mistake  in  reenacting 

Mosaic  code, 280 

their  sense  of  the  divine  purity, 287 

Purpose  of  God,  includes  many  decrees,  171 

in  election,  what?... 172 

in  reprobation,  what? 172 

to  save  individuals,  passages  which 

prove, 428 

to  do  what  he  does,  eternal, 430 

to  save,  not  conditioned  upon  merit  or 

faith, 430 

Pythagoras,  on  the  importance  of  a  di- 
vine authority  in  teaching  duties, . .    58 

his  conception  of  morality, 88 

believed  himself  charged  with  a  divine 

mission, - 91 

Qualifications,  for  baptism, 530 

for  church  membership, 500 

for  communion, 546 

of  a  presbyter  or  pastor, 509 

of  a  deacon, , 509 

Qualities,  necessarily  imply  substance,.      4 
only  in  substance  have  a  ground  of 

unity, .-.. 4 

Quantitative   plural,  a  Hebrew  usage 

signifying  unlimited  greatness, 152 

Quasi  carcere,  Christ  not  thus  in  heaven,  386 
Quatrefages,  on  the  monogenistic  doc- 
trine,.  241 

Quenstedt,  his  theological  position, 24 

Hovey's  estimate  of  him, 24 

his  definition  of  holiness,. 128 

criticism  thereupon, 128 

his  classification  of  the  works  of  God,  183 
held  the  antecedent  probability  of  the 

existence  of  angels, 221 

on  the  ground  that  nature  never  pro- 
ceeds per  saltum, 221 

his  interpretation  of  Christ's  giving 
up  the  kingdom  to  the  Father  as 
merely  an  exchange  of  outward  ad- 
ministration for  inward, 379 

on  union  with  Christ,. 438 

on  justification  producing  no  intrinsic 
change  in  its  object,  since  it  is  out- 
side of  man  in  God, 480 

Questioning  of  God's  word,  followed  by 

contradiction  of  it, 100 

Quia  voluit,   of   Calvin,   not  the  final 

answer  as  to  God's  operations, 199 

Quickening,  Christ's, 385 

distinguished  from  his  resurrection,.  385 

Quietism,  defined, 219 

the  errors  into  which  its  advocates 
have  often  run, 219 


Quietism,  its   misunderstanding    of    2 

Chron.  16:12, 219 

QuintusCurtius,. 419- 

Quit-rent,   illustration  from, 306 

Quo  non  ascendant?  not  the  motto  of 

Christ, 417 

Quoting    the   O.   T.,  supposed    errors 

in,  an  objection  to  inspiration,....  110 
Race,  Scriptures  trace  its  descent  from 

a  single  pair, 238 

its  descent  from  a  single  pair,  at  the 

foundation  of  Pauline  doctrine, 238 

its  descent  from  a  single  pair,   the 

ground  of  natural  brotherhood, 23& 

its  descent  from  a  single  pair,  corrob- 
orated by  history, 239- 

human,  descended  from  a  source  in 
Central    Asia,    list    of    authorities 

on, 23£ 

its  common  origin  supported  by  phil- 
ology,   240 

its  unity  proved  from  psychology, 240 

its  unity  proved  from  physiology, 241 

Race-experience,    of    Spencer,  not    a 

source  of  the  idea  of  God, 34,35 

Race-responsibility,  recognized  in  God's 

moral  government, 30£ 

based  upon  an  original  and  conscious 

act  of  free-will, 310 

in  which  the  race  as  an  organic  whole 

revolted  from  God, 310 

Race-sin,  what? , 310 

Rabab's  faith,  not  her  duplicity,   ap- 
proved,   io& 

Raising  the  dead,  attributed  to  Christ,..  147 

Ramus,  Petrus, 24 

Ransom,    its   meaning   as  applied    to 

Christ's  work, 420 

Rational  intuition,  what  ? 29 

enumeration  of, 29 

of  God,  possessed  by  men, 37 

of  God,  obscured  by  loss  of  love, 37 

Rationalism,  and  Scripture, 16 

its  teachings, 16 

its  errors, 16 

is  it  an  "over-use  of  reason" ?.. 16 

refuses  to  accept  primitive  truths,  just 
as  Pelagianism   refuses  to   accept 

doctrines  of  grace, xxv,  50 

the  form  in  which  Pelagianism  be- 
comes complete,. 312 

Rationalistic,  theologies, 24 

theory  of  the  origin  of  the  gospels, 

unscientific, 76 

Rationalists,  accept  nothing  as  "given," 
but  seek  to 'work  out  all  knowledge 

by  reasoning, xxv,  50 

Rationality,  acting  for  a  reason, 176 

Rawlinson,  on  the  Catacombs, 90 

on  absence  of  negroes  in  Egyptian 

monuments  before  1500  B.  C., 243 

on  failure  to  find  traces  of  savage  life 
in  cradle  of  the  race,...  ..  271 


t)80 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


Raymond,  his  objection  to  government 
by  plan, 175 

on  the  image  of  God  as  consisting  in 

mere  personality, - 264 

his  views  on  j  ustice  and  grace, 315 

inconsistent  in  his  application  of  the 

term  "grace," -  315 

on  possibility  of  a  child  growing  up 

into  regeneration, 318 

Headings,  various,  their  number,  value, 

and  origin,  considered, 107 

Heal  freedom,  what?...                         ..  177 
Realism,  its  extreme  teachings  in  rela- 
tion to  God  to  be  avoided, 117 

extreme,  tends  to  idealism , 117 

Realist,  in  what  sense  the  author  is  one,  329 
Realistic   conception   of   original   sin,    27 

Reality,  of  Christ's  humanity, 364, 365 

Reason,  definition  of, 3 

is  not  reasoning, 16 

in  its  large  sense,  its  office  towards 

religion, 16 

moral,  depraved  by  sin, — 256 

says  sclo,  judgment  says  conscio, 256 

knows,  never  con-knows, 256 

Reasoning,  distinguished  from  reason,.    16 

not  a  source  of  the  idea  of  God, 35 

supposed  errors  in,  an  objection  to 

inspiration, ...109,110 

Jewish  methods  of,  sometimes  sanc- 
tioned in  Scripture,...  ..  110 
Rebellion,  feeling  in   the   country   at 

breaking  out  of  the,.. ..  214 

Beception  of  Christ,  involved  in  faith,.  465 
Recollection,  apparent,  of  things  not 

before  seen,  explained, 248 

memory  greater  than, - 383 

Reconciliation,   the  removal  of  God's 

wrath  towards  man... —  392 

of  man  to  God,  through  the  work  of 

the  Holy  Spirit,. ...426-493 

objective,  secured  by  Christ's  union 

with  race, 444 

subjective,  secured  by  Christ's  union 

with  believer, .-  444 

as  restoration  to  favor, 475 

Redemption,   "settled in  heaven," 141 

and  resurrection,  what  is  secured  by 

them,-.. 269 

wrought  by  Christ, 358-425 

its  meaning, - 391 

legal,  of  Christ,  its  import, 415 

its  application,.. .426-493 

application  of,  its  three  stages, 426 

application  of ,  in  its  preparation,....  426 
application  of,  in  its  actual  beginning,  436 
application  of,  in  its  continuation,...  483 

from  Sheol, 560 

Hedi's  maxim,. 101 

Reformed  theology, 23,  24 

Reformers,  Augustinians,..- ...  329 

lief  utation  of  idealism,  by  Sir  William 
Hamilton, 53 


Regenerate,  some  who  are  apparently, 

will  fall  away, 492 

and    those    seemingly    so,  not   cer- 
tainly distinguishable   in  this  life,  492 
their  fate,  if  they  should  not  perse- 
vere, set  forth  in  Scripture, 493 

their  perseverance  may  be  secured  by 

these  very  warnings, 493 

Regeneration,   illustrative   of  inspira- 
tion,   102 

ascribed  to  Holy  Spirit, 151 

its  nature  according  to  the  Roman- 
ist,   267 

possibility  of  education  into,  accor- 
ding to  Raymond, 318 

conversion,   and  justification,   their 

order, 436 

and  conversion,  their  relations, ..-437-447 
coming    through    participation     in 

Christ,  Calvin  on, 438 

doctrine  of, 447-460 

its  nature, 447 

Scripture  representations  of, 448 

indispensable  to  salvation, 448 

a  change  in  inmost  principle  of  life,..  448 
a  change  in  heart  or  governing  dis- 
position,  448 

a  change  in  moral  relations  of  soul, . .  448 
a  change  connected  with  truth  as  a 

means, 448 

an  instantaneous  change, 448 

secret,  and  known  only  by  results, 448 

a  change  wrought  by  God, 449 

a  change  accomplished  through  union 

of  the  soul  with  Christ, 449 

necessity    of,    shown    from  rational 

considerations, 449 

Cicero's  use  of  term, 450 

its  efficient  cause, 450 

three  views  of  its  efficient  cause, 450 

human  will  as  efficient  cause  of , 450 

is  solely  the  act  of  man,  objection  to 

the  view  that, .  450 

the  act  of  man  cooperating  with  di- 
vineinfluence  applied  through  truth, 

objections  to  view  that, 451 

truth  is  its  efficient  cause,  objections 

to  view  that, 452 

immediate  agency  of  Holy  Spirit  its 

efficient  cause, 453 

Spirit's  agency  in,  accompanied  by  in- 
strumentality,   453 

any  change  wrought  in,  must  be  on 

soul,  not  on  truth, 453 

Spirit  comes  in  contact  with  soul,  —  453 
inward  unsusceptibility  must  be  re- 
moved,   453 

God's  power   in,  acts  not  upon  the 

truth  but  upon  the  sinner, 453 

no  change  in  intensity  of  the  truth 
will  secure  a  recognition  of  its 
beauty,  apart  from  a  change  in  the 
moral  disposition, 453 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


681 


Regeneration,  influence  of  the  Spirit  in, 
operates  directly  on  heart,  in  con- 
junction with  presentation  of  truth 

to  intellect, 453 

differs  from  'moral  suasion,'  in  being 

an  immediate  act  of  God, 453 

its  primary  and  secondary  features,..  454 
the  initial  exercise  of  the  new  disposi- 
tion in,  secured  by  truth  as  means,  454 
truth  in,  '  brings  forth,'  rather  than 

'begets,' 454 

a  result  of  truth  '  energized '  or  '  in- 
tensified,' view  that,  list  of  authori- 
ties on, - 454 

view  that  Spirit  operates  directly  on 

soul  in,  list  of  authorities  on, 454 

instrumentality  in, 454 

instrumentality  in,  not  baptism, 454 

baptism  a  sign  of , - 454 

and  baptism,  different  aspects  of  same 

fact, 454 

the  spiritual  change  in,  incongruous- 
ly connected  with  physical  means, .  454 
as  an  activity  accomplished  through 

truth, 455 

Holy  Spirit  illuminates  mind  in, 455 

man  passive  in,  only  as  to  change  of 

his  ruling  disposition, 455 

man  active  in,  as  to  exercise  of  new 

disposition, 455 

man  not  a  machine  in, 455 

man's  activity  in,  an  activity  in  view 

of  truth, 455 

change  of  disposition  and  its  initial 

exercise,  strictly  synchronous, 455 

Cunningham  on  man's  activity  and 

passivity  in, 455 

illustrated  from  photography, 456 

instrumentality  of  truth  In,  denied  by 

some, 456 

•of  infants,  probably  somehow  con- 
nected with  truth, 456 

nature  of  change  wrought  in, 456 

not  a  change  in  substance  of  body  or 

soul, 456 

a  change  in  the  governing1  disposition, 

or  in  the  direction  of  the  affections,  457 
not  impartation  or  infusion  of  a  new 

substance, 457 

the  enlightment  of  the  understanding 
and  rectification  of  the  volitions  not 

primary  facts  in, 457 

a  restoration  of  tendencies  lost  in  the 

fall, 458 

an  instantaneous  change, 458 

not  a  gradual  work, 458 

its  preparation  may  be  gradual, 458 

its  recognition  may  be  gradual, 458 

its  ordinary  antecedent,  conviction  of 

sin, 458 

must  not  be  confounded  with  sancti- 

fication, 459 

immediate,  its  enjoyment  progressive,  459 
44 


Regeneration,  its  immediateness,  illus- 
trations of, 459 

not  a  matter  of  training, 459 

takes  place  in  a  region  of  soul  below 

consciousness, 459 

work  of  God  in,  never  directly  per- 
ceived,     459 

contravenes  no  law  of  man's  being, ..  459 
spiritual  existence  communicated  in, 

known  only  by  phenomena, 459 

conversion  and  sanctification  its  evi- 
dences,   459 

recognized  indirectly  in  its  results,  . .  459 
at  the  moment  of,  soul  only  conscious 
of  its  exercises  with  regard  to  truth,  459 

its  human  side,  conversion, 459 

sanctification    the    development    of 

principle  received  in, 459 

an  efficient  act  of  God, 479 

relation  to  sanctification, 484 

baptismal,  rule  of  interpretation  to  be 
applied  to  passages  which  seem  to 

teach, 531 

credible  evidence  of,  its  nature, 533 

Regent's  Park  Church,  London,  some  of 
its  deacons  unbaptized  in  any  form,  548 

Regnum,  glorice, 424 

gratice, 424 

naturce,  of  Christ,  denied  by   Julius 

Miiller, 424 

Regularity,  the  general  order  of  inor- 
ganic nature,  43 

Reid,  Thomas,  on  duration, 131 

on  space, 132 

Reid,  William,  onkPlymouth  Brethren- 
Ism, 499 

'Reign,'  of  sin,  its  import, 284 

Reinhard,  his  theological  position, 24 

Rejection  of  Christ,  by  those  who  have 
enjoyed   special   divine  influences, 

fearful  consequences  of, - 493 

Relations,  of -God  to  universe,  subjects 

forscience, 2 

of  natural  and  Scriptural  theology, ..    15 

intuitions  of , 29 

Relative,  explanation  of  term  as  applied 

to  attributes, 120 

Relative  justice  of   certain  acts   and 

deeds, 108 

Relative  or  transitive  attributes,  ..  .118-120, 

130-140 

Relativity,  doctrine  of,  originates  with 

Kant, '. 6 

Religion,  its  relation  to  theology, 11 

its  definition, 11 

its  derivation, 11 

false  conceptions  of, 11 

views  of  Hegel,  Schleiermacher,  and 

Kant, 12 

its  essential  idea, 12 

there  is  but  one, 13 

its  content  greater  than  that  of  the- 
ology,     13 


682 


IXDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Religion,  inferences  from  definition  of,  13 
distinguished  from  formal  worship,.-  13 
capacity  for,  possessed  by  humanity,  33 
in  China,  a  survival  of  the  worship  of 

the  patriarchal  family, 86 

Indian  systems  of, 87 

Greek  systems  of, -  -    87 

systems  of  Western  Asia, 88 

beginning  of,  an  acceptance  of  God's 

end  as  ours, 198 

the  theory  of  its  progress  from 
fetichism  to  polytheism  and  mono- 
theism,   271 

true,  whatitis, 445 

true,  fills  heart  and  life  with  God,  ....  448 
human  systems  of,   make   salvation 

effect  of  human  work, 481 

Religions  of  the  world,  book-religions,  60 
heathen,  purer  from  polytheism,  as  we 

go  back, 272 

Religious  books,  of  Hindus,  Persians, 

and  Chinese,  inconsistent, 84 

Religious  feeling,  in  contact  with  super- 
sensible reality,   not    the   original 

source  of  idea  of  God, 34 

Religious  truths,  are  too  emotional  for 

science,  statement  that, 8 

are  incomprehensible,  and  therefore 
incapable  of  scientific  arrangement, 

statement  that, 8 

are  unsystematic,  and  therefore  in- 
capable of  scientific  arrangement, 

statement  that, 8 

Remission  of  punishment,  an  element 

of  justification, » 474 

comes  after  repentance, 482 

Remorse,  perhaps  an  element  in  Christ's 

sufferings, 420 

Renan,  his  faith, 32 

his  theory  of  the  gospels, 79 

animus  of  his  theory,  disbelief  in  the 

supernatural, 79 

his  theory  examined, 79 

Renouf,  on  pantheism, 56 

on  a  papyrus  relating  to  creation,  ...  185 
on  the    Egyptian    approaching   the 

European  type, 343 

Reparative  goodness,  of  God  in  nature, 

a  hint  of  his  mercifulness, 49 

Repentance,  more  for  sin  than  sins,  —  386 

the  gift  of  God, 430 

its  three  constituents,.. 462 

an  intellectual  element  in, 462 

includes  a  recognition  of  sin, 462 

a  recognition  of  facts, 462 

an  emotional  element  in, 463 

includes  sorrow  for  sin, 463 

a  voluntary  element  in, 463 

includes  an  inward  turning  from  sin 

and  disposition  to  seek  pardon, 463 

Romanist  view  of, 463 

Romanist  view  of,  remits  culpa,  but 
retains  to  an  extent  pwna, 463 


Repentance,  wholly  an  inward  act, 46$ 

manifested  by  confession  of  sin, 403 

manifested  by  reparation  for  injury,  463 
to  be  distinguished  from  its  fruits.  ..  463 

a  negative  condition  of  salvation, 463 

furnishes  no  offset  to  claims  of  law,  .  463 

felt  by  penitent  to  have  no  merit, 463 

the  gift  of  God, 463 

only  exists  in  conjunction  with  faith,  464 

learned  at  the  cross, 464 

preaching  of,  a  preaching  of  faith, ...  464 

true,  involves  faith, 464 

and  faith,  connected  in  conversion  as 
sensation  and  perception  in  con- 

sciousnesss, 464 

the  general  subject  of,  list  of  authors 

on,  464 

Reprobation,  its  relation  to  decrees  in 

general, 172 

decree  of,  its  nature, 434 

Reproduction,  its  cessation  in  the  fu- 
ture,    554 

Requirements  in  prophecy, 67 

Requisites  to  the  study  of  theology,  ...    20 
Respice,  aspice,  prospice,  of  Bernard,  ap- 
plied to  prophet's  work, 388- 

Responsibility,  for  inherited  evil  affec- 
tions and  state  of  will,  its  ground,..  358 

for  whatever  springs  from  will, 288 

for  a  depraved  nature  which  one  did 
not  personally  or  consciously  origi- 
nate,    308 

is  special  gift  of  Spirit  essential  to?.  315 
what  essential  to,  according  to  Ray- 
mond,   317 

for  a  sinful  nature  which  one  did  not 

personally  originate,  a  fact, 335 

none,  for  tendencies  from  immediate 

ancestors, 386 

for  beliefs,  authors  on, 467 

Restoration  to  favor,  an  element  in  jus- 
tification,   475 

Restoration,   ultimate,   of  all   human 

beings,  theory  of , 590 

Restorationist,  Church  of  Rome  prac- 
tically,   565 

Results,   historical,  of  propagation  of 

Scripture  doctrine, 91-94 

Resurrection,  not  an  event  within  the 

realm  of  nature, 62 

of  Christ,  the  central  and  sufficient 

evidence  of  Christianity, 66 

of  Christ,  dilemma  for  those  who  deny,    66 
of    Christ,    Strauss    cannot    expain 

belief  in, 77 

of  Christ,  attested  by  Epistles  which 

Baur  regards  as  genuine, 79 

of  Christ,   Renan  counts  it  a  pious 

fraud,  ...... 79 

Christ's  argument  for,  in  Mat.  22 :  32, 

.109,561,563,577 

a  divine  work  attributed  to  Christ,  ..  H7 
attributed  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 150, 151 


INDEX   OP   SUBJECTS. 


683 


Resurrection,  of  Christ,  angels  present 

at, 227 

of  Christ,  gave  proof  that  the  penalty 

of  sin  was  exhausted, 353 

a  stage  in  Christ's  exaltation, 385 

proclaimed   Christ  as  perfected  and 

glorified  man,.  386 

of  Christ,  the  time  of  his  justification,  416 
secured  to  the  believer  by  union  with 

Christ, 445,446,482 

its  relation  to  regeneration, 457 

sanctification  completed  at  the, 489 

Of  Christ  and  of  the  believer,  baptism 

a  symbol  of, 527-530 

implied  in  the  symbolism  of  the  Lord's 

Supper, 542 

Christ's  body  an   object  of  worship 

after  the, 545 

an  event  preparing  for  the  kingdom 

of  God, 554 

allusions  in  the  O.  T.,  to, 561 

of  Christ,  the  best  and  only  certain 

proof  of  immortality, 562 

perfect  joy  or  misery  come  only  with 

the, 566 

doctrine  of  the, 575-580 

of  the  just,  and  of  the  unjust, 575 

passages  describing  a  spiritual, 575 

passages  describing  a  literal  and  phy- 
sical,   575 

its  relations  to  sanctification, 576 

the  exegetical  objection  to, 576 

is  a  physical,  not  a  spiritual,  change,.  576 
of  body,  included  in  Christ's  redemp- 
tion,   576 

of  body,   determined  by  nature   of 

Christ's  resurrection, 577 

of  body,   shown   by   accompanying 

events, - -  577 

the  scientific  objection  to, 578 

not  a  resurrection  of  all  particles  of 

the  old  body, 578 

does  not  require  a  single  particle  of 

the  old  to  be  in  the  new, 578 

Paul's  illustration  of, 578 

other  illustrations  of , 579 

what  constitutes  identity  in, 579 

same  formative  principle  in, 579 

same  physical  connection  in, 579 

recognition  of  the  body  in, 579 

Porter  and  Dorner  on  identity  in, 579 

powers  and  capacities  of  matter  in, ..  580 
development   of  an   organ   for  the 

spiritual  life,  McCosh  on, 580 

spirit  master  of  matter  in  the,  Ebrard 

on,  580 

influence  of,  upon  joy  or  suffering, ..  588 

Retaliation,  permitted  by  Moses, 108 

Return  of  Jews,  predicted, 68 

Reuben,  his  sin  visited  on  his  children,.  338 
Revealed  truths,  because  unsystematic, 
not  incapable  of  scientific  arrange- 
ment,        8 


Revelation,  idealistic  notion  of, 7 

Morell's  definition  of, 7 

induces  a  new  mode  of  intelligence,..      7 

an  external,  possible, 7 

furnishes  objective  facts  for  science,      7 

illustrated  from  Egyptology, ...      8 

in  nature,  not  enough  for  sinner, 15 

in  Scripture,  supplemental  to  that  in 

nature,  - - 15 

the  objective  truth  made  known  in 

Scripture, 15 

God  submits  to  its  conditions, 18 

Kant's  view  of , 24 

from  God,  reasons  a  priori  for  ex- 
pecting,    58 

manneedsit, 58 

needed,  psychological  proof, 58 

needed,  to  throAV  light  on  certain 
truths  which  are  not  given  in  reason 

or  intuition, 58 

gives  confirmation  and  authority  to 

natural  truths, 58 

presents  the  merciful  and  helpful  as- 
pects of  the  divine  nature, 58 

needed,  historical  proof, 58 

needed  on  account  of  increasingly 
imperfect  knowledge  of  religious 

truths, ...    58 

need  of,  proved  by  man's  condition, . .    58 
need   of,   proved  by    conviction   of 

helplessness  in  some  nobler  natures,  58 
presumption  that  it  will  be  supplied,  59 
God's  wisdom  affords  a  presumption 

that  it  will  be  given, 59 

a  fuller,  expectation  of,  justified  by 

imper  feet  revelation  in  nature, 59 

a  presumption  in  favor  of  its  provis- 
ion from  the  general  connection  of 

want  and  supply, 59 

hope  of,  justified  by  analogies  of  na- 
ture and  history,  59 

a  priori  reasons  for  expecting,  induce 
a  hope  rather  than  an  assurance, ...  59 

man  may  expect,  marks  of, 60 

the  later  will  confirm  and  enlarge  the 
knowledge  of  God  derived  from 

nature, 60 

will  follow  divine  procedure  in  other 

communications, 60 

in  nature,  analogous  to  revelation  in 

grace, 60 

likely  to  follow  method  of  continu- 
ous historical  development, 60 

likely  to  be  delivered  in  first  place  to 
one  nation  and  to  individuals  there- 
in,    60 

likely  to  be  preserved  in  written  and 

accessible  documents, 60 

likely  to  present  evidence  that  its 

author  is  the  G  od  of  nature, 60 

requires  divine  attestation  to  assure 
original  recipient,  and  to  give  it  au- 
thority in  eyes  of  others, 60 


684 


IXDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Revelation,  a  divine,  miracles  as  attest- 
ing-,  - 61 

in  Scripture,  consistent  but  progress- 
ive,...     84 

distinguished  from   inspiration   and 

illumination, 95 

sometimes  excluded  illumination, 100 

Revenge,  what? 293 

'  Reversion  to  type,'  man  never  experi- 
ences,  236 

Review,  Catholic,  on  infant  baptism,...  538 
Review,  Mercersburg,  on  infant  baptism  538 
Reville,  on  the  best  book  for  a  lifelong 

imprisonment, 85 

Revulsion,   the,  of  the  divine  nature 

against  sin,  its  intensity, 140 

Rewards,  earthly,  appeal  to  in  Old  Tes- 
tament,  108 

proceed  from  goodness  of  God, 138 

not  bestowed  by  justice  or  righteous- 
ness,   139 

goodness  to  creatures,  righteousness 

to  Christ,. 139 

are  motives,  not  sanctions, 274 

Rhadamanthus,  generally  believed  in,.  557 

Rhys  Davids,  on  Nirvana, 87 

Richards,  on  Calvin  as  a  teacher  of  uni- 
versal atonement,  426 

Richter,  Jean  Paul,  on  beam  of  light 
entering  dark  and  dusty  chamber,  .  284 

Ridgeley,  Thomas,.. 26 

Right,    abstract,    not   the  ground   of 

moral  obligation, 142 

self-willing,  God  is, 163 

based  on  arbitrary  will,  is  not  right, ..  163 
based  on  passive  nature,  is  not  right,  163 

as  being,  is  Father, .-.  163 

as  willing,  is  Son, - 163 

Righteous,  final  state  of  the, 585-587 

Righteousness  of  God,  what? 138  j 

holiness  in  its  mandatory  aspect, 138 

its  meaning  in  2  Cor.  5  : 21, 415 

an  attribute  which  demands  that  sin 

should  be  punished, - 416 

Rig  Veda,  on  creation, 185 

Rites  and  ordinances,  prefigure  the  fu- 
ture,  - 68 

Ritschl,  on  atonement, 400 

Robertson,  F.  W.,  alluded  to, 18 

his  methods  of  study, ». 20 

his  definition  of  personality, 122,  377 

his  analogy  of  Trinity, 167 

on  Trinity  under  figure  /of  personal- 
ized intellect,  affection,  and  will,...  168 

on  chaos  before  creation, 187 

on  irre vocableness  of  deeds, 282 

on  atonement, 400 

on  truth  of  fact,  and  ideal  truth, 478 

on  faith  alone  justifying,  but  not  faith 

that  is  alone, 487 

his  view  of  baptismal  regeneration,..  532 

Robinson,  Dr.  E.  G.,  on  sin, 295 

his  definition  of  nature, 377 


Robinson,  John,  his  saying, 18 

his  farewell  address  to  Pilgrim   Fa- 
thers,   105 

Romaine,  on  "a  year  famous  for  be- 
lieving,"   218 

Romance-theory,  of  Renan, 79 

objections  to, 79 

Romanism ,  and  Scripture, 17 

a  mystical  element  in,. 17 

Romanist,  view  of  the  image  of  God  in 

man, 265 

definition  of  sin, 289 

view  of  Christ's  quickening  and  res- 
urrection,   385 

view  of  faith, 466 

view  of  Lord's  Supper, 543 

Romans,  first  chapter,  Brahmin's  view 

of, 85 

9 : 5,  a  description,  not  a  doxology, ...  145 

5: 12,  Pelagian  view  of,... 311 

5:12,  Arminian  interpretation  of , 314 

5 : 12,  Whedon's  view  of,  controverted,  316 
5 : 12,  New  School  interpretation  of,..  318 

5  : 13,  Federal  interpretation  of, 323 

5:12,  interpretation  of  according  to 

Mediate  theory, 326 

5 : 12,  its  interpretation  according  to 

theory  of  Natural  Headship, 328 

5 : 12-19,  detailed  exposition  of, 331 

3 : 25,  26,  exposition  of , 411 

8:28-30,  exegesis  of , 428 

its  subject,  righteousness  by  faith,  or 

salvation  by  faith, 460 

treats  of  both  justification  by  faith 

and  sanctification  by  faith, 460 

Roscelin,  his  theological  position, 23 

Rothe,  on  the  divine  attributes, 116 

on  God's  knowledge  increasing,  ..134, 135 

on  God's  power, 136 

his  view  of  creatianism, 251 

his  view  of  sin, 289 

his  view  of  the  union  of  the  divine 

and  human  in  Christ, 373 

Rousseau,  on  his  sins, 298 

Rowland  Hill,  anecdote  of, 434 

Royce,  and  Hegel,  difference  of  their 

views,  .  - 55 

Riickert,  quoted, 39 

Ruskin,  John,  on  condemnation  for  the 

"undones,". xxix,  348 

Sabbath,  its  importance, 201  ^ 

of  perpetual  obligation, 201 

in  Assyrian  accounts  of  creation, 201 

antedates  decalogue, .' 201 

indications   of,   long   before   Mosaic 

legislation, 201 

rule,  applies  to  man  as  man, 201 

what  abrogated  in  relation  to, 201 

its  change  fr6m  seventh  day  to  first, .  201 

Jewish  and  Christian,  contrasted, 201 

list  of  authors  on, 201 

seventh-day  view,  authors  on, 202 

Sabellian  doctrine  of  Trinity, 158 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


685 


Sabellian    doctrine    of  Trinity,  Bush- 

nell's  view  resembles, 158 

unscriptural, 158 

Sabellianism,  list  of  authors  on, 159 

Sabellius, 158 

Sacrifice,  its  institution, 308,  393 

not  the  presentation  of  a  gift, 393 

not  a  symbol  of  renewed  fellowship,.  394 
not  offering:  of  life  and  being  of  wor- 
shiper,  ---.  394 

its  true  import  is  satisfaction  by  sub- 
stitution,   394 

theocratical  and  spiritual  offices  of, . .  394 
though  without  formal  inculcation, 

may  possess  divine  sanction, 396 

how  it  may  have  originated. 396 

doctrine  of,  assumed  in  N.  T., 397 

James's  silence  on,  argument  from,..  397 

Maurice's  view  of, 397 

Jowett's  opinion  on, 397 

Sacrifices,  Jewish,  a  tentative  scheme 

of, .-  396 

for  the  individual, 396 

for  the  family, 396 

for  the  people, 396 

Sacrifices  of  Old  Testament,  what  in- 
volved in, 395 

patriarchal,  were  sin-offerings, 395 

Sacrificial,  work  of  Christ, 390-423 

analogies  of  atonement, 392 

language  of  N.  T.,  not  an  accommoda- 
tion to  Jewish  methods  of  thought,  397 

Sadduceeism,  of  first  century, 77 

Saints,  prayer  to,  a  misconception  and 

blasphemy, 424 

how  intercessors? 424 

as  applied  to  believers,  its  meaning,..  490 

new  bodies  of,  confined  to  place, 586 

Saisset,  on  the  pantheist's  God, . . 56 

Sakya  Muni,  =  Buddha, 87 

Sales,  Francis  de, 17 

Salisbury  use,  as  to  baptism, 525 

Salvation,  decreed  to  faith, 179 

not  through  violation  of  law, 278 

by  grace,  without  merit  on  our  part, 

without  necessity  on  God's, 282 

Arminian  orderof, 316 

possible,  apart  from  visible  church  and 

means  of  grace, 357 

how  a  matter  of  debt  to  believer, 405 

no  impropriety  in  offering  it  to  all 

who  are  willing  to  receive  it, 435 

dependent  not  on  quantity  but  on 

quality  of  faith, 482 

not  bought,  but  taken, 482 

is  the  health  of  the  soul, 484 

Samaritan  Pentateuch,  its  testimony  to 

Old  Testament, 80 

Samaritans,  received  Pentateuch  only, 

why? 80 

Sameness,  of  a  river,  in  what  it  consists,  579 
of  the  living  body,  in  what  it  con- 
sists,   ..  579 


Sanctification,  an  efficient  act  of  God,.  479 

doctrine  of, 483-490 

divine  side  of  perseverance, 483 

definition  of, 483 

a  work  of  God, 484 

a  continuous  process, 485 

distinguished   from   regeneration  as 

growth  from  birth, 485 

accompanied  by  mortification  of  sin 

and  increasing  obedience  to  Christ,.  485 
effected  by  indwelling  Spirit  of  Christ,  485 

not  by  believer's  efforts, 486 

its  instrumental  cause,  faith, 486 

the  object  of  this  faith  is  Christ, 486 

depends  on  strength  and  persistence 

of  faith, 486 

progress  of,  irregular, 486 

never  completed  in  this  life, 486 

of  soul,  completed  at  death, 486 

of  body,  completed  at  resurrection, . .  486 
complete,  never  asserted  of  saint,  in 

Scripture, 489 

complete,  apostolic  admonitions  in- 
consistent with,  489 

complete,  doctrine  of,  not  warranted 

by  USe  Of  re'Aeios, 489 

complete,  denied  of  any  man  by  Scrip- 
ture,   .-- 489 

complete,  disproved  by  Christian  ex- 
perience,  490 

complete,  doctrine  of,  list  of  authors 

on, 490 

'Sanctified,' as  applied  to  believers,  its 

meaning, 490 

'  Sanctified  intellect, '  what  ? 16 

'  Sanctify,' its  twofold  meaning, 490 

'  Sanctify,'  sometimes  cannot  be  under- 
stood subjectively, 477 

Sanctifying  faith,  its  object,  Christ, ....  486 

the  reception  of  Christ  himself, 486 

Sartorius,  his   illustration  of  the   one 

personality  in  Christ, 377 

his  illustration  of  unchanged  divinity 

in  God-man, 383 

Satan,  his  personality, 223 

not  a  collective  term  for  all  evil  be- 
ings   223 

various  literary  conceptions  of, 223 

his  place  in  Biblical  and  in  oriental 

systems, 224 

meaning  of  term, 227 

opposed  by  Holy  Spirit,  the  advocate,  228 

his  temptations,  negative, 228 

his  temptations,  positive, 228 

his  access  to  human  mind,  its  mode 

not  known, 228 

perhaps  influences  mind  through  phy- 
sical organism, 228 

delivering  to,  what  involved  in, 229 

a  special  period  of  activity  allowed 
him  during  the   Savior's   personal 

ministry, 230 

his  power,  limitations  of, 230 


686 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Satan,  could  he  change  his  nature  by  a 

single  act? 231 

would  his  wisdom  have  prevented  his 

entering1  on  a  hopeless  rebellion  ?  . .  231 
his  sin  essentially  sin  against  the  Holy 

Ghost, 232 

doctrine  of,  its  relations  to  the  doc- 
trine of  sin,  .- 233 

his  fall, 304 

his  fall,  its  nature, 305 

must  God  bestow  on  hirn  a  "  gracious 
ability,"  before  he  can  be  responsi- 
ble?   315 

would  escape  punishment,  on  reform- 
theory  of  penalty,... 351 

grows  in  cunning  and  daring, 589 

Satisfaction,  required  by  God's  holiness 

in  atonement, - 390 

by  substitution,  import  of  sacrifice,..  394 
and  forgiveness,  that  they  are  mutu- 
ally exclusive,  answered,  418 

penal  and  pecuniary,  how  distin- 
guished,   418 

Romanist  doctrine  of, 463 

Saturninus,  of  Antioch, 189 

Savagery,  was  this  man's  original  con- 
dition?    269-271 

Saving  grace,  regards  men  as  sinners, 

not  as  irrespective  of  their  sins, 426 

Sayce,  A.  H.,  on  a  district  in  neighbor- 
hood of  Baltic,  as  cradle  of  Aryan 

race, 240 

Scarlet  thread  of  Bahab,  was  it  sym- 
bolic?    110 

Scarlet  thread,  through  every  rope  and 
cord  of   British   navy,  illustration 

from, 530 

Sceptical    or    fictitious   narratives    in 
Scripture,  a  supposed  objection  to 

inspiration,... 113,  114 

Schaff,  on  the  Pelagian  controversy,...  312 
Schiller,  on    "the  very  curse  of    evil 

deed," 336 

on  "guilt  the  greatest  of  ills," 345 

on  the  "seeming"  being  fulfilled  in 

heaven, 554 

Schism  a  ground   of   exclusion  from 

Lord's  Supper, 550 

Schleiermacher,  his  view  of  theology,. .      8 

his  view  of  religion, 12 

his  position  in  German  theology,...  12,  24 

on  the  divine  attributes, 116 

on  nature  as  the  full  expression  of 

the  divine  causality, 136 

on  Sabellianism, 158 

his  view  of  the  image  of  God, 264 

his  view  of  sin, 289 

on  eschatologyas  unfulfilled  prophecy  554 

Scholasticism,  period  of, 23 

Scholastics,  their  questions  about  angels  221 
their   opinion   that  the    "image   of 
God  "  in  man  consists  simply  in  his 
natural  capacity  for  religion, 265 


Scholastics,  their  views  of  man's  origi- 
nal state, 268 

'  School,  New,'  what? 26 

its  theory  of  imputation, 318-322 

'School,  Old,'  what? 26 

its  tenet,  the  guilt  of  inborn  deprav- 
ity,   310 

what  theories  are, 310 

Schools,  Old  and  New,  their  views  of 

"choice,"  and  "state," 283 

their  views  of  sin, 283 

Schopenhauer,  his  views, 43 

his  pessimism, 200 

Science,  definition  of , 1 

its  aim, 1 

when  possible,... 2 

requires  a  knowledge  of  more  than 

phenomena, 4 

of  God,  our  knowledge  of,  never  ex- 
haustive,   19 

none  complete, 19 

its  necessary  datum,  the  existence  of 

a  personal  God, 33 

supposed  errors  in  matters  of,  an  ob- 
jection to  inspiration, 105-107 

physical,  knows  nothing  of  origins, . .  184 

Scientia  media, 174,225 

does  not  belong  to  God, 174 

Scientia  simplicis  intelligentice, 174 

Scientia  visionis,  174 

Scientific  unity,  desire  for,  has  led  to 
erroneous  explanations  of  facts  of 

universe, 51 

Scio,  and  conscio, 256 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  anecdote  of, 85 

Scott,  Thomas, 18 

Scotus  Erigena,  on  the  divine  nature, . .  116 

on  asexuality  of  the  first  pair, 268 

Scribner,  on  life  on  earth  originating  at 

North  Pole, 240 

Scripture,  and  nature, 14 

and  rationalism, 16 

appeals  to  reason,  in  its  large  sense, . .    16 
contains  nothing  repugnant  to  a  prop- 
erly  conditioned   and   enlightened 

reason, 16 

and  mysticism, 17 

and  Bomanism, 17 

knowledge  of,  incomplete, 18 

topics  on  which  silent, 19 

teaching,  supernatural  character  of,.    84 
unity   of    subjects,    spirit,   and   aim 

in, 84 

its  moral  and  religious  utterances  un- 

contradicted  and  unsuperseded,  —    84 
its  moral  and  religious  ideas,  ever  in 

advance  of  age  in  which  proclaimed,    85 
its  unity  accounted  for  only  by  sup- 
position of  supernatural  suggestion 

and  control, 

teaching  of,  its  supernatural  char- 
acter proved  by  the  testimony  of 
Christ  to  himself, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


68? 


Scripture,  doctrine  of,  historical  results 

of  its  propagation, 91 

doctrine  of,  its  beneficent  influence  a 

proof  of  divine  origin,. 93 

each  part  must  be  interpreted  in  con- 
nection with  the  whole, 104 

its   authors   differ,  the   divine  mind 

is  one, 104 

in   connection  with  the  person  and 
words  of  Christ,  an  infallible  and 
perfect  rule  of  faith  and  practice,..  104 
no  fairly    interpreted     passage    of, 

shown  to  be  scientifically  untrue, . .  106 
sets  before  us  the  original  or  resur- 
rection body,  269 

not  a  complete  code  of  practical  ac- 
tion,  280 

an  enunciation  of  principles, 280 

much  of  it  written  not  merely  about, 

but  for,  Christ, 365 

Scriptures,  the,  a  revelation  from  God, 

T 58-114 

the  work  of  one  God,  and  so  organic- 
ally articulated,  104 

why  so  many  interpretations  of, 106 

obscure  and  figurative  to  be  inter- 
preted by  plainer,  572 

'Sealing,'  a  view  of , 462 

Sealing,  of  the  document,   affords  an 
evidence  plainer  than  the  writing,..  486 

-Seal  of  the  Spirit,  what? 469 

Seals,  in  book  of  Revelation,  Alford's 

view  of, 571 

Elliott's  view  of, 571 

"  Season,'  in  Luke  4 : 13,  the  interval  be- 
tween the  wilderness  and  Gethsem- 

ane, 366 

Second   causes,  denial   of,  is  idealism 

and  leads  to  pantheism, 55 

Second  coming  of  Christ,  see  Coming, 

second, 566-574 

Secretan,  on  collective  life  in  Adam,...  330 

Seed,  natural  and  spiritual, 207 

Seelye,  J.  H.,  on  civilization  as  depend- 
ent on  Christian  influence, 270 

Selection,  implies  intelligence  and  will, 
and  cannot  be  merely  "  natural,"  . .  237 

natural,  theor y  of, 236 

the  final  judgment,  the  culmination 

of  a  process  of, 583 

Selenology,  an  illustration, 2 

Self,  abandoned  in  Christian, 294 

Self -consciousness,  in  man,  argues  self- 
consciousness  in  man's  maker, 45 

pantheism  cannot  explain, 56 

does  God  need  a  non-ego  to  call  forth 

his? , 57 

distinguished  from  consciousness,  ...  121 
Self-contradictory  things,  not   objects 

of  knowledge, 135 

not  objects  of  power, 136 

Self-determination,  an  element  in  per- 
sonality,     54 


Self-determination,  a  God  without, 
pantheistic  idea  of,  self-contradic- 
tory,   56 

distinguished  from  determination, ...  121 

Self-exaltation,  a  character  of  sin, 290 

Self-existence,  of  God,  implies  that  God 

is  causasui, .„ 123 

implies  that  God  exists  by  necessity 

of  his  own  being, 124 

attributed  to  Christ, 147 

Self-existent  person,   a    less   mystery 

than  a  self -existent  thing, 123 

Self-limitation,  all  external  limitation 

upon  Godis, 6 

perfection  implies  the  power  of, 6 

divine,  involved  in  miracles, 64 

the  perfection  and  glory  of  God, 64 

power  of,  involved  in  God's  infinity,  -  123 
not  excluded,  but  implied,  in  omnipo- 
tence,    J36 

its  culmination,  in  the  humiliation  of 

Christ, 382,383 

Self-love,  holiness  is  not  God's, 128 

is  primary  cause  of  all  moral  action, 

according  to  N.  W.  Taylor, 293 

rather  is  sin,  and  the  essence  of  sin,..  293 

can  never  cast  out  self-love, 451 

Self-sacrifice,  possible  to  God, 6 

Self-substitution,  divine,  as  in  prayer, 

so  in  atonement, 411 

Selfishness,  the  essence  of  sin, 293 

connot  be  resolved  into  simpler  ele- 
ments,   293 

forms  in  which  it  manifests  itself,  . . .  293 
of  unregenerate,  the  substitution  of  a 

lower  for  a  higher  end, 293 

Semi-parasitism,  of  Romanism, 18 

Semi-pelagian,  view  of  irvev^a  as  free 

from  original  sin, 247 

view  of  human  nature,  311 

Semitic  race,  uninspired  productions  of, 
contrasted  with  inspired, 

Seneca, 

praises  death, 200 

on  depravity, 297 

on  man's  dependence  on  God, 450 

his  time  most  immoral, 480 

Sensation,  materialistic  idealism  defines 

matter  and  mind  in  terms  of,. 53,  54 

Sensation  and  perception,  relation  of, 
illustrates  relation  of  repentance 

and  faith, 464 

Sense   and    reason,   not    concreatedly 

opposed, 265 

Sense-perception  and  reflection,  will  not 

furnished  us  idea  of  God, 34,  35 

Sensibility,  included  in  reason, 3 

and  will,  distinct, 178 

Sensibilities,  not  states  of  will, 288 

how  may  be  regarded  as  voluntary, . .  288 
'  Sensitizing  '  the   photographic   plate, 
analogous  to  Spirit's  influence  in 
regeneration, 456 


... 


688 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


'  Sensual,' =  psychical, 244 

Sensuousness,  theory  of  sin  as, 389-291 

'  Sentences,  The, ' '  of  Peter  Lombard, ...    23 

Sentimental]  ty ,  its  nature, 552 

Separation,  of  the  soul  from  the  body, 

=  physical  death, 306 

of    the    soul    from    God,  =  spiritual 

death, 307 

Septuagint,  and  the  Apocrypha, 80 

apparently  false  translations  from, 

explained, 110 

Seraphim,  their  signification, 224 

Serapion,  on  the  care  given  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  Canon, 75 

Sermon  on  the  mount,  do  Matthew  and 

Luke  differ  as  to  its  scene  ? 107 

Serpent,  the,  in  Asiatic  myths, 302 

Servant  of  righteousness,  what? 258 

Service,  final  state  of  righteous,  one  of,  585 
Session,  at  right  hand  of  God,  Christ's,.  386 
Seventh-day  theory,  its  geographical 

difficulties, - 201 

Sexuality,  the  first  sin,  according  to 

some  Scholastics, -  - 268 

Shakespeare,   on    the   "divinity    that 

shapes  our  ends,"- 211 

Shasters,  Hindu,  unscientific, 105 

Shedd,   William  G.  T.,  on  God's  two 

revelations, - 14 

his  theological  position, —    26 

on  divine  attributes, 117 

on  God's  compassion  to  the  non- 
elect, - 138 

his  analogue  to  Trinity, 167 

on  difference  between  emanation  and 

generation, -.. 189 

on  the  Tridentine  account  of  man's 

creation, 266 

on  'nature,' 299 

on  man's  responsibility  for  his  in- 
ability,    307 

on  imputation  of  sins  of  immediate 

ancestors, 336 

on  losing  the  talents,  no  release  from 
obligation  to  return  them  with  in- 
terest,   345 

on  provision  made  entirely  by  offend- 
ed party,  -417 

on  '  foreknew,'  in  Rom.  8  :  28, 428 

on  '  brimstone  and  fire,' 596 

Shelley,  on  an  "  intellectual  spirit  per- 
vading the  universe," 32 

his  drowning, 214 

Shintos,  Japanese,  repudiate  images,  . .  120 
Ship,  God's  purpose  its  anchor,  repent- 
ance and  faith,  its  engines, 433 

Sick,  the,  who  desire  to  communicate, 

orderly  action  in  relation  to, 551 

'  Signality,'  an  impoi'tant  element  in  the 

miracle, 62 

Silence,  of  Scripture,  disciplinary  and 

probationary, 19 

Simeon,  a  type, 569 


Simon,  on   God's  self-substitution   in 

atonement, 411 

Sin,  its  permission,  a  difficulty  of  all 
theistic  systems, - 180- 

its  permission,  how  not  to  be  explain- 
ed, .--. 180 

deliverance  from,  possible  without 
violation  of  moral  agency, 180 

permitted,  because  an  incident  in  a 
system  adapted  to  the  divine  self- 
revelation,  18ft 

not  preventable,  doctrine  that,  list 
of  authors  who  advocate, 180 

permitted  at  a  great  cost  to  God, 187 

its  permission,  list  of  authors  on, 181 

man's,  that  it  was  suggested  from 
without,  its  mitigating  circum- 
stance,   232 

anature,  in  what  sense? 263 

effect  of  first,  not  a  weakening  but 
a  perversion  of  human  nature, 265 

the  first,  did  not  merely  despoil  man 
of  a  special  gift  of  grace, 265 

doctrine  of, 273-35T 

its  nature, 283-295 

definition  of, 283-289- 

Old  and  New  School  views  of,  main 
difference  between, 283 

Old  and  New  School  views  of,  not  far 
apart,. 283 

brings  body  into  non-conformity  to 
God's  law, 283 

non-conformity  to  God's  law  in  dis- 
position or  state, 283 

words  for,  do  not  limit  it  to  act, 284 

New  Testament  descriptions  of ,  refer 
principally  to  states  or  dispositions,  284 

of  'not  doing,'  sin  of  state, —  284 

ascribed  to  heart, 284 

applied  to  state  of  soul  which  gives 
rise  to  wrong  desires, 284- 

represented  as  existing  in  soul  prior 
to  consciousness, 284 

alluded  to  as  a  reigning  principle, 284 

proved  by  Mosaic  sacrifices  to  be  more 
than  act, 285- 

a  state,  according  to  common  judg- 
ment of  mankind, 285- 

a  state,  according  to  the  experience  of 
the  Christian, 286- 

voluntary,  as  proceeding  directly  or 
indirectly  from  will, 288 

the  definition  of  it  as  "a  volunta- 
ry transgression  of  known  law,"  dis- 
cussed,  

not  all,  a  distinct  and  conscious  voli- 
tion,   -  288 

the  first,  did  not  spring  from  a  de- 
praved state  Of  the  will, 288- 

intention  aggravates,  but  is  not  essen- 
tial to, 

knowledge  aggravates,  but  is  not  es- 
sential to, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


689 


Sin,  ability  to  fulfil  law  not  essential  to,  288 

various  definitions  of , 289 

its  essential  principle, 289 

as  sensuousness,  the  theory  refuted,..  289 

Schleiermacher  on, 289 

is  self-exaltation, 290 

sense-theory  explains,  by  denying-  its 

existence, 291 

as  finiteness,  the  theory  refuted, 291 

Leibnitz  on, 291 

as  good  in  the  making, 291 

rests  upon  a  pantheistic  basis, 291 

confounds  sin  with  consciousness  of 

sin,  .- --  291 

if  in  origin  necessary,  is  no  longer  sin,  291 

positive  as  well  as  negative, 292 

not  always  weakness, -- 292 

not  das  Gewvrdene  but  das  Qemachte,.  292 
referred,  in  Scripture,  not  to  man's 

limitations  but  to  his  free-will, 292 

Hegel's  view  of,  denies  holiness  to 

Christ, xxvii,  292 

as  selfishness,  theory  of,  accords  with 

Scripture, 294 

a  principle  in  course  of  development,  295 

not  yet  "full  grown," 295 

universality  of ,  ... 295 

committed  by  every  human  being 

who  has  arrived  at  moral  conscious- 


universality  of,  passages  which  seem 
to  ascribe  goodness  to  men,  not  in- 
consistent with, 296 

its  universality  demonstrated  by  cer- 
tain common  maxims, ...  297 

absence  of  consciousness  of,  a  proof 

of  blindness, 298 

unconsciousness  of,  accounted  for,..  298 
all  men  have  a  corrupted  nature 

which  is,  .- 299 

its  universality  proved  from  reason,.  300 
testimony  of  great  thinkers  regarding,  301 
its  origin  in  the  personal  act  of  Adam,  302 
as  to  its  origin  reason  affords  no  light,  302 

Scriptural  account  of  its  origin, 303 

Adam's,  its  essential  nature, 304 

originated  in  an  act  of  man's  free  will,  304 

inexplicable,  because  unreason, 304 

occasioned,  however,  by  temptation 

from  without, 305 

self-originated,  Satanic, 305 

consequences  of,  as  respects  Adam,..  306 
Adam's,  its  imputation  to  his  posteri- 


ty, 


imputation  of ,  see  Imputation,  ...308-340 
consists  in  sinning,  this  view  exam- 
ined,  310 

personal,  consists  in  sinning, 310 

there  is  a  race-sin  as  well  as  a  person- 
al,   310 

evasive  theories, 310 

no  theory  wholly  satisfactory, 310 

theories  of  imputation, 310-334 


Sin,  Pelagian  theory  of,  and  objections, 

310-313 

Arminian  theory  of,  and  objections, . . 

- 314-318 

New  School  theory  of,  and  objections, 

- 318-323 

not  all  sin  is  personal, 322 

there  is  also  a  sin  of  nature,  of  race,.  322 
Federal  theory  of,  and  objections,  322-335 
Placean  theory  of,  and  objections,  325-328 
Augustinian  theory  of,  and  considera- 
tions favoring, 328-333 

tabular  view  of  theories  of  imputa- 
tion,   334 

objections  to  Augustinian  theory  of, 

considered, 335-340 

may  exist  apart  from  and  prior  to 

consciousness, 335 

can  we  repent  of  Adam's  ? 335 

how  it  can  properly  be  the  punish- 
ment of  sin, 337 

is   reproductive,   each   reproduction 
increasing  guilt  and  punishment,  ..  337 

self-perpetuating, 338 

self-isolating, 338 

Adam's,  ruins,  as  Christ's  obedience 

saves, 339 

consequences  of,  to  Adam's  posterity, 

340-355 

depravity,  a  consequence  of, 340 

guilt,  a  consequence  of, 345 

penalty,  a  consequence  of, 350 

the  unpardonable, .349,350 

against  Holy  Ghost, .-.. 349,350 

Christ  free,  both  from  hereditary  de- 
pravity and  from  actual, 365 

Christ  "  made  to  be,  on  our  behalf," 

its  meaning, 415 

its  pretermission  justified  in  the  cross,  422 
its  pretermission  limited  in  duration,  422 
does  not  condemn,  but  failure  to  ask 

pardon  for  sin, 475 

judged  and  condemned  on  Calvary, . . 

...xxix,  475 

future,  the  virtual  pardon  of, 482 

future,  Edwards  on  justification  from,  482 

"dwelling,"  and  "reigning," 484 

expelled,  by  bringing  Christ  in, 486 

cannot  most  sympathize  with  sin, 583 

shuts  us  out  from  communion  with 

other  intelligences  and  other  worlds,  587 
eternal,  final  state  of  wicked  a  condi- 
tion of,  587 

compelled  in  a  future  world  to  display 

God's  glory, 589 

chosen  in  spite  of  infinite  motives  to 

contrary, 590 

'  Sinful,  yet  not  sin,' 318 

Sinful  acts  of  men,  attributed  in  Scrip- 
ture to  a  corrupt  nature, 299 

Sinf  ulness,  does  not  depend  on  distinct 

and  conscious  volition, 288 

nor  on  deliberate  intention  to  sin, 288 


690 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Sinf  ulness,  does  not  depend  on  knowl- 
edge of  sinful  act  or  feeling-, 288 

nor  on  ability  to  obey, 289 

Sinfulness,  general,  burnt-offering  for,  285 

Sinless  men,  according  to  Pelagius, 311 

Sinner,  the  incorrigible,  glorifies  God  in 
his  destruction, 220 

not  destitute  of  conscience, 341 

not  devoid  of  qualities  pleasing  and 
useful  to  men, 341 

each,  not  prone  to  every  form  of  sin,  341 

not  as  selfish  and  opposed- to  God  as 
he  can  be, 341 

totally  destitute  of  love  to  God, 341 

chargeable  with  elevating  some  lower 
affection  above  God  and  his  law, 341 

supremely  determined  by  a  prefer- 
ence of  self  to  God,  341 

possessed  of  an  aversion  to  God,  both 
latent  and  active, 341 

disordered  in  every  faculty, 342 

possessed  of   nothing   which   divine 
holiness  can  fully  approve, 342 

subject  to  a  law  of  constant  progress 
in  depravity, 342 

seeks   to   secure   his   own   interests, 
rather  than  God's, 342 

disobeys  fundamental  law  of  love,  ...  342 

his  religious  acts  performed  with  no 
reference  to  God's  glory, 342 

his  inability  total, 342 

unable  of  himself  to  turn  to  God, 342 

unable  to  do  that  which  is  truly  good,  342 

cannot,  by  a  single   volition,  secure 
complete  conformity  to  God's  law,  342 

cannot  change  his  fundamental  pre- 
ference,  342 

<?annot  do  anything  which  will  meet 
God's  approval, 342 

his  inability  '  natural,'  as  being  con- 
genital,   343 

his  inability,  in  what  sense  not  'natur- 
al,'  343 

his  inability  results  from  sin,  and  is 
sin, 343 

his  inability  is  both  natural  and  moral,  343 

is  responsible  for  his  inability, 343 

his  inability  shuts  him  up  to  sole  de- 
pendence on  God, 344 

under  conviction,  more  of  a  sinner 
than  before, 458 

has  no  right  to  do  anything  before 

accepting  Christ, 483 

Sin-offering,  its  character, 396 

Sins  and  sinfulness,  Mosaic  sacrifices 
for,  list  of  authors  on, 285 

of  ignorance,  omission,  and  general 

sinfulness.  Mosaic  sacrifices  for, 285 

Sins,  repented  of,  which  were  commit- 
ted without  a  thought  of  their  sin- 
fulness,  - 286 

sense  of  their  evil  increased,  when 
recognized  as  rooted  in  sin, 339 


Sins,  their  awfulness  perceived  when 
regarded  as  but  symptoms  of  a  deep- 
seated  apostasy, 339 

venial  and  mortal,  a  classification  un- 
recognized in  Scripture, 347 

all  are  '  venial,'  since  Christ  died  for 

all,. 347 

all  unpardoned,  are 'mortal,' 347 

Scriptural  distinctions  among, 348 

of    omission    and    commission,     an 

invalid  distinction, 348 

of  believers,  judged  and  condemned 

on  Calvary, xxix,  478 

of   believers,    buried   in  grave   with 

Christ, 482 

'  Six  hundred  and  sixty-six,'  the  mystic 
number  in  Revelation,  its  various 

interpretations, 570 

Skulls,  of  man  and  gorilla,  the  immense 
and  absolutely  vacant  space  which 

divides  them, 236 

Slaveholders,  inexcusable,  even  if  negro 

was  cursed  in  Canaan, 179 

Sleep,  body  rests  in,  rather  than  mind,. .  283 

4  Sleep,'  how  applied  to  death, 564 

'  Slope,  The,'  Aristotle's  doctrine  of,...  301 

Smalley,  his  views  on  sin, 319 

Smith,  Adam,  his  view  of  ground  of 

moral  obligation, 142 

Smith,     Goldwin,    on    prediction   the 

crown  of  science, 218 

his    denial  of   scientific   method  in 

history, 218 

Smith,  H.  B.,  on  Sir  William  Hamilton,     6 

on  speculative  theology, 22 

on  the  Cartesian  formula, 31 

his  criticism  on   Brougham's   state- 
ment of  Clarke's  argument, 48 

on  conscience, 257 

onEph.  2:   3, 300 

on  the  essential  nature  of  Adam's  sin,  304 

his  view  of  the  fall,  criticised, 305 

on  race-responsibility, 309 

his  review  of  Whedon, 316 

on  original  sin, 326 

was  he  aPlacean? 326 

on  Ezekiel  18, 337 

on  the  large  part  played  by  '  an  or- 
ganic relation  of  men,'  in  the  history 

of  the  race, 339 

on  '  total  depravity,' 342 

on  union  with  Christ,  as  preceding  re- 
generation and  justification,  437 

on  regeneration,  as  involving  union 

with  Christ, 

on  regeneration  of  infants, 

bases  hope  for  heathen  on  sacrifice,  . . 
on  justification,  as  more  than  pardon, 
on  union,  the  ground  of  imputation,, 
on  an  internal  change,  the  si'//<  </)w 

non  of  justification, 

Smith,  John,  of  Amsterdam,  saying  of, 
Smith,  Joseph, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


691 


Smyth,  Egbert  C.,  on  doctrine  of  Trin- 
ity,   144 

on  thinkableness  of  ontological  rela- 
tions of  Trinity, --  162 

Smyth,  Newman,    on  idea  of  God  as 

presupposed  in  revelation, 34 

on  intuitive  ideas, 35 

on  natural  selection,  an  election  with- 
out pity, 431 

on  matter  belonging  in  succession  to 

several  bodies, 578 

Society,  according  to  Hobbes,  helium 

omnium  contra  omnes, 232 

Society,  final  state  of  righteous,  one  of,  585 
Socinian,  view  of  the  image  of  God,....  268 

view  of  sin, 289 

theory  of  atonement,. 397 

theory  of  atonement,  objections  to,.  398 

Socinianism, 310 

Socinus,  Faustus, 25,  397 

Lselius, - .25,397 

their  views, 159 

Socrates,  on  men's  doing  right  when 

they  know  what  is  right, 58 

on  the  desire  to  know  with  certainty 
how  we  ought  to  behave  toward 

God  and  man, 59 

accounts  of,  by  Plato  and  Xenophon,    70 

not  mentioned  by  Thucydides, 71 

his  conception  of  virtue  and  morality,    88 

what  he  claimed, 91 

on  thought,  as  the  soul's  conversation 

with  itself, 168 

the  doubting  character  of  his  final 

words  in  relation  to  immortality,...  557 
Sola  fides  justificat,  sed  fides  non  est  sola,   487 

Solly,  on  God  and  time,- 131 

on  positive  precepts,  only  applica- 
tions of  law  of  nature, 279 

Solomon,  temple  of,  illustration  from,.      2 

Song  of,  its  interpretation, 109 

Song  of,  esteemed  by  many  distin- 
guished Christians, - 112 

4  Son,' its  import  in  Trinity, 161 

Son,  the,  to  God,  a  perfect  object  of  will, 

knowledge,  and  love, 130 

his  eternal  generation,  its  nature, 165 

uncreated, 165 

his  essence,  not  derived  from  essence 

of  Father, 165 

his  existence  eternal, 165 

exists  by  an  internal  necessity  of  di- 
vine nature, 165 

eternal  generation  of,  not  analogous 
to  physical  derivation,  but  a  life- 
movement  of  the  divine  nature, 166 

in  person,  subordinate  to  person  of 

Father, 166 

yet  in  essence  equal  with  Father, 166 

an  object  of  love  to  Father  superior 

to  any  possible  creation, 190 

'  Son  of  man,'  connotes  among  other 
things  a  veritable  humanity, 364 


Song  of  Solomon,  its  interpretation, . . .  109 

attestations  to  its  religious  value, 112 

'  Sons  of  God,'  Gen.  6:2,  its  meaning,..  222 

Sonship  of  Christ,  eternal, 164 

metaphysical, ..- 165 

list  of  authorities  on  doctrine  of, 166 

Sophocles,  earliest  manuscript  of, 70 

Sophocles,  E.  A.,  on  /San-n^w, 522 

Sorrow  for  sin,  an  element  in  repent- 
ance,  462 

implies   some    confidence    in    God's 

mercy, 464 

Soteriology,  or  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion,  358-492 

Soul,  the  unorganized,  immutable  part 

of  brain? 52 

dichotomous  view  of, 243 

trichotomous  view  of , 244 

distinguished  from  spirit, 246 

Hovey's  definition  of , 246 

origin  of  the, 248 

theory  of  its  preexistence, . . .  248 

ancient  and  modern  advocates  of  its 

pree'xistence, 248 

preexistence  of,  element  of  truth  in, .  248 

ideally  existent  before  birth, 248 

idea    of    its    pree'xistence    pervades 

modern  poetry, 248 

objections  to  preexistence  of, 248 

creatian  theory  of  its  origin, 259 

ancient  and  modern  advocates  of, 250 

objections  to  creatian  theory  of, 250 

according   to    new   physiology,    not 

something  added  from  without, 250 

introduced  into  body,  sicul  vinum  in 

vase  acetoso, 251 

'  metaphyscal  generation  'of, 251 

traducian  theory  of  its  origin, 252 

ancient  and  modern  advocates  of , 252 

considerations    favoring     traducian 

theory  of, 252 

by  Scholastics,  called  image  of  God 

proprie, 267 

always  active  though  not  always  con- 
scious,   283 

may  reach  soul  apart  from  use  of 

physical  intermediaries, 454 

not  inaccessible  to  God's  direct  ope- 
ration,  454 

as  uncompounded,  cannot  die, 555 

is  it  essential  to,  that  it  should  con- 
tinuously think? 566 

immortal  by   virtue   of  its  original 

creation, 588 

'Soul'  and  'spirit,'   used  interchange- 
ably, passages  in  which, 244 

Souls,   human,  organically   connected 

with  each  other, 313 

sinful,  grow  in  their  powers, 589 

Sources,  of  theology, 14 

supposed,  of  the  idea  of  God, 34 

South,  on  Aristotle  being  but  the  rub- 
bish of  an  Adam,..  ..  268 


692 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


South,  his  illustration  of  Christ's  hu- 
miliation, by   a  full  fountain  and 

little  pipe,. 383 

'Sovereign,  the,'  a  title  given  to  Mes- 
siah,.... 154 

Space,  a  creation  of  God, . . 131 

a  reality  objective  to  God, 131 

arelation, 132 

Space  and  time,  their  nature, 48 

relations  of  finite  existence, 130 

4  Space,  in  God,'  the  phrase  explained,..  132 
exists,  whether  mind  perceives  it  or 

not, 132 

an  a  priori  cognition  of  the  reason,..  132 

not  a  divine  attribute, 132 

Spear,  on  atonement  as  a  mere  appeal,.  401 

Special  legislation,  baneful, 274 

Species,  modification  of, 192 

Huxley  on  modification  of, 192 

majority  of,  probably  the  result  of 

modification, 192 

man  constitutes  but  a  single, 241 

Wagner's  definition  of, 241 

human,  if  not  one,  how  many? 241 

unity  of   human,   presumptive   evi- 
dence of  unity  of  origin, 241 

law  of   originally  greater  plasticity 

of, 243 

human,  propagated   through  secon- 
dary agencies,  252 

created  in  Adam, 252 

Spectator,  London,  on  the  divine  man- 
ifestation as  intended  for  the  sake 

of  the  creature, 197 

on  Goethe's  Mephistopheles  as  a  con- 
ception philosophically  false,  xxvii,  291 
Spencer,    Herbert,    his    definition    of 

knowledge,  .- - 5 

on  underlying  reality  inconceivable..      5 
on  infinite  and  absolute  Force   and 

Cause, - 5 

on  absolute  Being, 32 

how  he  differs  from  Comte, 32 

on  inscrutable  relation  between  mind 

and  nervous  action, 52 

on  relation  of  mind  and  matter, 54 

his  idea  of  God, 116 

his  definition  of  life  criticised, 121 

on  retrogression  being  as  frequent  as 

progression, 270 

Spencer,   John,   his   theory  of  atone- 
ment,  --.- --..  393 

Spenser,    his    Canto   of   Immutability 

quoted, 124 

on  angelic  ministry, 233 

Spider,  hati-ed  of,  not  removed  by  mag- 
nifying it  in  a  powerful  light, 452 

Spider's  web,  saves  Mohammed, 213 

Spinoza,  on  determinate  est  negatio, 

his  view  of  God, 48 

his  doctrine  of  natura  naturans  and 

natura  naturata, 136 

onsin,...  291 


Spirit,  the  Holy,  his  teaching  needed  to 

understand  truths  of  Scripture, 15 

his  teaching,  what  it  is, ]5 

works  through  the  word, 17 

he  hides  himself , 103 

recognized  as  God, 150 

spoken  of  as  God, 151 

attributes  of  God  ascribed  to, 151 

works  of  God  ascribed  to, 151 

honor  due  to  God  ascribed  to, 151 

associated  with  God, 151 

of  God,  must  be  God, 151 

his  divinity  supported  by  Christian 

experience, 151 

deity  of,  doctrine  of  church, 151 

deity  of,  not  disproved  by  limita- 
tions under  Old  Testament  dispen- 
sation,   151 

deity  of,  list  of  authors  on, 151 

is  a  person, 155 

designations  of  personality  given  to 

him, 155 

'the  mother-principle'  in  the  God- 
head,    155 

so  mentioned  in  connection  with  other 
persons  as  to  imply  his  own  person- 
ality,    156 

performs  acts  proper  to  personal- 
ity,   156 

affected  by  acts  of  others, 156 

possesses  an  emotional  nature, 156 

manifests  himself  in  visible  form  as 
distinct  from,  yet  connected  with, 

Father  and  Son, 157 

ascription  to  him  of  personal  subsist- 
ence cannot  be  explained  as  person- 
ification, . 157 

its  import  in  Trinity, 161 

the  centripetal  action  of  Deity, 163 

and  Christ,  characteristic  differences 

of  their  work, 164 

his  nature  and  work,  list  of  authori- 
ties on, 164 

Scriptures  intimate  an  eternal  proces- 
sion of,  165 

procession  of,  list  of  authorities  on 

doctrine  of, 155,  166 

if  not  God,  God  cannot  be  appropriat- 
ed,   169 

work  of  completing  belongs  to, 183 

a  large  part  of  his  work  an  applica- 
tion of  Scriptural  truth  to  present 

circumstances, 219 

directs  God-man  in  his  humiliation,..  377 

his  intercession, 423 

his  intercession  illustrated, 4-'4 

Dorner,  on  its  intermediacy, 437 

witness  of,  what? 468 

seal  of ,  its  nature, 469 

doctrine  of,  distinguished  from  mys- 
ticism,   

in  believer,  takes  place  of  old  sources 
of  excitement,  


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


693 


'Spirit,'  and  '  soul,'  often  used  as  con- 
trasted terms,.-. 244 

distinguished  from  body,  passages  in 

which, 244 

passages  in  which  distinguished  from 

each  other, - 244 

'Spirit,'  how  applied  to  Christ,  ..         .-161 
Spirit,     human,     distinguished     from 

God's,  passages  in  which, 244 

Spirits,  evil,  tempt, 

control  natural  phenomena, 228 

yet  execute  God's  plans, 329 

their  power  not  independent  of  the 

human  will, - 230 

their  power  limited  by  permissive  will 

of  God, - 230 

now  exist  and  act  on  sufferanc*, 230 

their  existence  said  to  be  inconsistent 

with  benevolence  of  God, 231 

organization  among  them  said  to  be 

impossible, 232 

doctrine  of,  said  to  be  immoral, 232 

doctrine  of,  said  to  be  degrading, 232 

'  Spirits  in  prison,'  who? 385 

Lutheran  view,  ..- 385 

Romanist  view, 385 

sinners  to  whom  the  prei'ncarnate 
Logos  preached  before  the  flood,.. 

385,386 

Bartlett's  exposition, 386 

Spirits,  pure,  their  modes  of  existence 

unknown  to  us, 230 

Spiritual  being  or  beings,  existence  of, 

generally  recognized, 31 

'  Spiritual  body,'  its  meaning, 576 

Spiritual  powers,  belief  in  their  exist- 
ence indirectly  manifested, 32 

Spiritualism, : .17,66 

connection  of  demons  with, 229 

Spiritualization  of  Scripture,  undue,...  110 
Spontaneity,  an  absurdity  to  Huxley,  .    53 

Spontaneous  generation, 191 

Spurgeon,  on  preachers, 10 

the  position  of  his  church  with  refer- 
ence to  baptism  and  communion,  . .  550 

Squier,  his  view  of  regeneration, 454 

on  the  deadening  influence  on  the 
pulpit  of  an  Antinomian  depend- 
ence on  the  Spirit, 456 

Stahl,  on  Adam  as  the  original  matter 

of  humanity, 340 

on  Christ  as  God's  idea  of  humanity,.  340 

on  atonement, 394 

Stanley,  A.  P. ,  as  a  commentator, 18 

on  the  spirit  of  human  society  over- 
riding the  most  sacred  ordinan- 
ces,  526 

on  baptism, 531 

Stapfer,  alluded  to, 12 

State,  what,  according  to  Old  School?..  283 

a  right,  required  by  law, 335 

State,  of  humiliation,  Christ's, 380-384 

of  exaltation,  Christ's, 384-387 


State,  final,  of  righteous,  eternal  life,..  585 
of  righteous,  degrees  of  blessedness 

and  honor  in, 585 

of  wicked, 587 

controlling  element  in,  not  the  out- 
ward, but  the  inward, 587 

State,  future,  even  saved  souls  suffer 

loss  in,  through  sin, 589 

future,  probation  and  restoration  in, 
passages  on  which  theory  founded,.  590 

intermediate, 554,562 

ultimate,  of  men, 554 

States,  permanent,  of  depravity,  Scrip- 
ture references  to, 286 

the  two,  of  Christ, .... 380-387 

Stearns,  on  the  precise  connection  be- 
tween the  first  sin  and  after  sins,  . .  339 
on  our  ignorance  of  the  method  of 

atonement, 421 

Steffens,  on    thought  in  intermediate 

state  an  "involution," 566 

Stephens,  on  law  providing  legitimate 
satisfaction  of  the  passions  of  re- 
venge,   352 

Sterility,  of  hybrid  vegetables,  denied 

byMeehan, 241 

Stevens,  Prof.  W.  A.,  on  "holily  and 

righteously,"  in  1  Thess.  2:10, 140 

on  rj/jiapTov,  in  Rom.  5:12, 331 

on  " JEnon  near  to  Salim," 524 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  alluded  to, 269 

Stewart,  Dugald,  on  a  train  of  contin- 
gent events  beyond  divine  fore- 
knowledge,   134 

Sting,  insects  who  die  when  they  plant, 

illustration  from, 488 

Stoicism, 88 

Stokes,  the  trial  of, 107 

Storr, 24 

Stourdza,  De,  on /SaTTTt^w, 525 

Strato  of  Lampsacus,  his  notion  of  the 

world, 44 

Strauss, 25 

his  view  of  prophecy, 67 

his  theory  of  origin  of  gospels, 76 

a  change  in  his  views, 76 

his  theory  examined, 77 

on  creation, 201 

on  the  "image  of  God," 267 

on  nature  as  self-realization  of  divine 

essence, 281 

on  Christianity  as  not  universal, 385 

Streams,  necessary  to  an  oriental  gar- 
den,   268 

'Street  Arabs, '  Tylor  on, 271 

Stroud,  on  the  physical  cause  of  Christ's 

death, 399 

Stuart,  Moses,  on  an  immanent  Trin- 
ity,  159 

on  Arminius  not  an  Arminian, 314 

a  praaterist  interpreter  of  Revelation,  570 

Study  of  truth,  urged  by  Scripture, 11 

Style,  Herbert  Spencer's  principle  of,..  106 


694 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Style,  of  New  Testament,  proves  it  to 

belong  to  Apostolic  age, 

of  Apocalypse,  differs  from  that  of 

gospel  of  John,  why? 75 

Suasion,  moral,  view  that  Spirit  exer- 
cises that  alone  in  regeneration, ...  • 

Sublapsarianisrn,  what?. 426 

adopted  by  synod  of  Dort, 426 

Subordinationism,  a  true  and  a  false,  ..  166 

Substance,  known,  .. - 4 

its  characteristics, 4 

a  direct  knowledge  possessed  of  it  as 

underlying  phenomena, 54 

with   which   God   works,  is  evil  and 

intractable,  theory  that, 188 

an  intractable,  in  hands  of  God,  ex- 
plaination  according  to  Mill  of  im- 
perfections of  universe, 188 

Substances,  theory  of  two  eternal, 186 

maxim  on  which  it  rests, 187 

unphilosophical, 187 

contradicts  our  fundamental  notion 

of  God's  soveriegnty, 187 

does  not  account  for  moral  evil, 188 

4 Substantia  unaet  imica,' 48 

Substitution,  unknown  to  mere  law, 410 

satisfaction  by,  the  requisite  in  atone- 
ment,   390 

satisfaction  by,  the  meaning  of  sacri- 
fice,  394 

Suffering,  in  itself  no  reforming  power,  591 
Sufferings  of  believers,  fatherly  chas- 
tisements,  555 

Sufferings  of  Christ,  their  intensity  not 
to  be  explained  as  merely  histrionic,  404 

Sumter,  Fort,  shot  fired  at, 213 

Sun  and  sunlight,  illustrative  of  relation 

between  Father  and  Son, 165,166 

'  Sunday,'  used  by  Justin  Martyr  for 

'Sabbath,' ____ 73 

Sun-dial,  illustration  from, 34 

Supererogation,  works  of, 267 

Superior  power,  universal  recognition 

of, - --.    32 

Supernatural  Religion, 64 

Supper,  Lord's,  a  historical  monument,    77 
an  adaptation  of  certain  portions  of 

Passover, 521 

symbolizes    sanctifying    power     of 

Jesus' death, -.- -  529 

referred  to  as  "breaking  of  bread,"..  532 

doctrine  of  the, 538-553 

an  ordinance,  instituted  by  Christ, 538 

could   completely   fulfil  its  purpose 

only  after  Christ's  death 539 

to  be  celebrated  until  Christ's  second 

coming, 539 

uniform  practice  of  N.  T.,  churches,..  539 

mode  of  administering, 539 

its  elements  are  bread  and  wine, 539 

Romanist  wafer,  unnecessary  in, 539 

unfermented  juice  of  grape  may  be 
employed  in, 539 


Supper,  Lord's,  wine  not  essential  to,..  539 

bread  not  essential  to, 539 

communion  to  be  in  both  kinds, 540 

wine  withheld  from  laity  in  Roman 

Catholic  Church,.. 540 

Calvin,  on  "all  drink," 540 

Bengel,   on  withholding  wine  from 

laity  in, 540 

of  a  festal  nature, 540 

a  festival  of  commem  oration, 540 

celebrated  by  assembled  church, 540 

not  observed  in  each  family  by  itself,  540 
infant  communion,  forbidden  in 

Western  church, 540 

evening   communion,   forbidden   by 

Roman  church, 540 

solitary*  communion,   forbidden    by 

English  church, 540 

death-bed  communion,  forbidden  by 

Scottish  church, 540 

responsibility  of  its  proper  adminis- 
tration, rests  with  church, 541 

may,  in  certain  circumstances,  be  ad- 
ministered by  one  who  is  not  the 

pastor,  541 

varieties  in  frequency  of  its  adminis- 
tration, permitted  by  N.  T., 541 

Carlstadt,   his  opinion  as  to   its   ad- 
ministration,   541 

symbolism  of, 541-543 

symbolizes  Christ's  death, 541 

symbolizes   our  personal  appropria- 
tion of  benefits  of  Christ's  death, ..  541 

symbolizes  union  with  Christ, 541 

symbolizes  believer's  continuous  de- 
pendence   on    Savior  for  spiritual 

life, 541 

symbolizes  reproduction  in  believer 

of  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  542 
symbolizes   union   of   Christians    in 

Christ, 542 

symbolizes  coming1  joy  of  the  king- 
dom of  God, 542 

both  retrospective  and  anticipatory, .  542 
and  baptism,  connected,  as  symbols  of 

Christ's  death, 542 

to  be  often  repeated, 542 

symbol  of  a  previous  state  of  grace,..  542 
in  what  its  special  helpfulness  consists,  543 
blessing  in,  dependent  on  faith  of 

communicant, 543 

expresses  primarily  fellowship  of  be- 
liever with  Christ, 543 

offences  of  brethren  should  not  pre- 
vent observance  of, 543 

erroneous  views  of ,    - 543-546 

Romanist   view   of,    and   objections 

thereto, - 543 

terms  which  are  unscriptural  in  con- 
nection with,  - 544 

not  a  sacrifice, 544 

Lutheran   and  High  Church  view  of, 
and  objections  thereto, 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


695 


Supper,  Lord's,  Christ's  body  not  ubi- 
quitous in, 545 

prerequisites  to  participation  in,  .  546-553 

there  are  pererquisites  to, 546 

enjoined  only  upon  Christ's  disciples,  546 
limited  to  a  narrower  body  than  pro- 
fessed believers, 546 

analogy  of  baptism,  implies  its  limita- 
tion,  546 

prerequisites   to,   are   laid   down  by 

Christ  and  his  apostles, 546 

regeneration  a  prerequisite  to, 546 

an  old  method  of  its  administration 

in  Greek  church, 547 

baptism  a  prerequisite  to, 547 

baptism  instituted  long- before  it, 547 

apostles  who  first  celebrated  it  were 

probably  baptized, 547 

Christ's  command  fixes  baptism  be- 
fore it, 547 

in  all  New  Testament  cases,  baptism 

precedes, 547 

symbolism     of    the    ordinances    re- 
quires that  baptism  should  precede,  547 
baptism  placed  before,  in  the  stand- 
ards of  almost  all  evangelical  de- 
nominations,  548 

Presbyterians  deny  it  to  Friends, 548 

Wesley  excluded  dissenters  from,  be- 
cause unbaptized,  548 

that  baptism  should  precede  it,  proved 
by   practical    results    of    opposite 

view, .548 

preceded  by  church-membership, 548 

a  church  ordinance, 548 

a  symbol  of  church  fellowship, 548 

only  believers  organized  into  a  body 

were  present  at  its  first  celebration,  549 
action  of  Panpresbyterian  Council  in 

regard  to  its  observance, 549 

action  of  Old  School  General  Assembly 

in  relation  to  observance  of , 549 

an  orderly  walk  precedes, 549 

grounds  of  exclusion  from, 549 

local  church  is  to  judge  whether  pre- 
requisites are  fulfilled, 550 

command  to  observe  it  given   to  a 

company, 550 

observance  of,  the  joint  act  of  many,  550 
its  regular  observance  requires  action 

of  some  distinct  organized  body, 550 

the  local  church  the  only  N.  T.  body 

competent  to  care  for, 550 

only  observed  at  regular  appointed 

meetings  of  local  churches, 550 

analogy  of  the    ordinances   teaches 
that  scrutiny  of  qualifications  for, 

rests  with  local  church, 550 

how  administered  in  an  orderly  man- 
ner to  the  sick,  551 

Supralapsarianism,  what? 426 

is  hypercalvinistic, 426 

Surrender  of  the  soul,  involved  in  faith,  465 


Swedenborg,  Emmanuel, 17,389 

his  treatment  of  Scripture, 100 

his  anthropomorphism, 121 

held  to  emanation, 189- 

on  the  brutish  man  enjoying  the  hell 
to  which  he  has  confined  himself,  . .  591 

'  Symbol,'  derivation  and  meaning, 21 

Symbol  is  less,  not  greater,  than  thing 

symbolized, 588 

Symbolism,  of  baptism, 527-530 

of  Lord's  Supper, 541-543 

Symbolism,  period  of, 23 

Symbolum  Quicumque, 159 

excellence  of  its  definition  of  Trinity,  160- 

Synagogue,  its  relation  to  church, 503 

Synoptic  gospels,  written  before    de- 
struction of  Jerusalem , 74 

4  Synthetic  idealization  of    our   exist- 
ence,' Comte's  definition  of  religion,  293 

Synthetic  method  of  theology, 27 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  conduct  of  a  murderer 

during  trial  at, 347 

System  of  theology,  a  dissected  map, 
some  pieces  of  which  are  already 

puttogether, 9- 

Systematic  theologian,  first,   John   of 

Damascus, 23 

Systematic  truth,  influences  character,      £ 

Tabernacle,  a  type  of  Christ, 110 

with  its  three  divisions,  according  to 

Luther,  a  symbol  of  tripartite  man,  247 
Table  of  topics,  in  our  treatment  of 

theology,  jjg. 

Tabula  rasa,  theory  of  Locke, 35 

Tabular  view,  of  theories  of  imputation 

of  Adam's  sin, 334 

Tacitus,  his  reference  to  the  Christians,    91 

on  the  Christian  religion , 93 

on  hating  those  whom  we  have  injur- 
ed,  293 

his  uncertainty  as  to  the  future  state,  557 
Talbot,  on  metaphysics  dealing  with  re- 
alities,      20 

on  the  nature  of  will, 259 

Talmud,  shows  what  unaided  Hebrew 

genius  for  religion  could  produce,.    60 
boldest  transcendental  flight  in  the,..  365 
on  appointment  of  a  ruler  in  syna- 
gogue,   503 

Tapeinoticon,  genus, 370 

Tatian,  of  Assyria, 189 

his  evidence  on  genuineness  of  John's 

gospel, 75 

Taylor,  Henry,  Sir,  his  words  replied 

to, 199 

Taylor,  Isaac,  on  not  quiescence,  but 

acquiescence, 219 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  on  the  way  of  "  best 
understanding  the  doctrine  of  the 

Trinity," xxvii,  169 

Taylor,  John,  his  views  of  continuous 

creation, 205 

Pelagian,  rather  than  Arminian, 314 


696 


INDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


Taylor,  N.  W.,  on  value  of  metaphysics,    20 

his  theological  position, 26 

on  man's  supreme  end, 142 

on  existence  of  moral  evil,  ... 180 

on  self-love, 293 

on  infants  as  related  to  moral  go vern- 

mentof  God, 300 

on  Ephesians  2:3, 300 

his  views  on  imputation  of  Adam's 

sin, ---.  319 

his  views  examined, 319 

his  views  on  regeneration, 451 

Taylor,  Wm.  M.,  his  illustration  of  the 
attitudes  of  Paul  and  James  in  their 

writings, 472,473 

Teaching  and  ruling,  gifts  of,  belonged 

to  same  individual, 510 

4  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles, ' 79 

on  mode  of  baptism, 525 

its  date, 536 

contains  no  reference  to  infant  bap- 
tism,   536 

Tea-kettle,  according  to  Spencer's  defi- 
nition, might  be  called  alive, 121 

Teleological  argument,  what  ? 42 

limited  to  nature, 42 

called  by  Kant,  physico-theological,  .    42 
its  major  premise  a  primitive  convic- 
tion,   --. 42 

its  minor  premise  a  working  princi- 
ple of  all  science, ...    43 

itsdefects, 44 

cannot  prove  a  personal  God, 44 

cannot  prove  righteousness  in  God,..    44 
requires  anthropological  argument  as 

supplement, 44 

cannot  prove  unity,  eternity,  or  infin- 
ity of  God, -.-.    44 

its  value, 44 

proves  intelligence, 44 

a  step  in  advance  of  the  cosmological 

argument, 45 

Teleology,  its  etymology, 42 

Temporal  judgments,  passages  describ- 
ing,  581 

Temporal  power  of  Pope,  its  abolition 
an  alleged  sign  of  Christ's  com- 
ing,  571 

Temptation,   providential   deliverance 

from, -.- 209 

may  only  confirm  in  virtue, 305 

has  in  itself  no  tendency  to  pervert,..  306 

Adam's,  its  course  and  result, 302 

Adam's,  Scriptural  account  of, 302 

Adam's,  contrasted  with  thatof  Christ,  306 
in  wilderness  and  Gethsemane,  their 

specific  difference, 366 

Temptation  of  Christ, .365,  366 

as  possible  as  that  of  Adam, 365 

aided  by  the  human  limitations  of  his 

knowledge, 365 

Christ  recognizes   Satan  only   at  its 
close, 365 


Temptation  of  Christ,  aided  by  his  sus- 
ceptibility to  all  forms  of  innocent 

desire,.. 365 

in  wilderness,  addressed  to  desire, 366 

aided  by  his  capacity  of  feeling  fear,.  366 

in  garden,  addressed  to  fear, 366 

'  Ueberglaube,  Aberglaube,   Unglaube, 

appealed  to, 366 

always  '  without  sin,' 366 

in  or  after  the  severest  temptation, 

never  prays  for  forgiveness, 366 

Temptations  of  Satan, 228 

Tern  pter 's  promise,  its  nature? 295 

Tendencies,  from  immediate  ancestors, 

no  responsibility  for, 336 

Tendency-theory,  of  Baur, 77 

its  presupposition,... 78 

objections  to, - 78 

Tendency,  undeveloped,  illustrated,...  470 
Tennyson,  on  the  divine  complexity,...  116 

on  the  first  paradise, 268 

on  'baseness  in  the  blood,'   30 

on    '  a  crime   of    sense,  avenged  by 

sense,' __  337 

on  human  systems  of  thought, 389 

on  love  never  losing  its  own, 562 

Terminology,  invention  of,  a  condition 

of  scientific  progress, 18 

Terms  of  Old  Testament,  to  be  inter- 
preted in  New  Testament  meaning,  559 
Terrien  de  la  Couperie,  finds  the  key  to 

the  Yh-King  of  China, 240 

Tertullian,  his  credo  quia  impossible  est,    18 
references   of,    to   New    Testament 

books, 73 

his  boast  of  progress  of  Christianity,.    91 

atraducian, 252 

on  a  delay  of  resurrection  in  faulty 

Christians, 565 

Testament,  Old,  genuineness  of, 80 

its  value  in  relation  to  New, 104 

alleged  errors,  in  quotation  or  inter- 
pretation,    110 

sources  of  such  allegations, 110 

its  intimations  of  Trinity, 152 

its  teachings,  as  to  immortality, 561 

Testament,  New,  genuineness  of,' 72-80 

its  moral  system, 86 

its  morality  of  divine  origin, 86 

its  writers  claim  and  show  inspira- 
tion,  96,97 

an   unerring  and  sufficient  rule   of 

faith  and  practice, 502 

Testimony,  science  presupposes  faith  in,      2 
amount  of,  necessary  to  prove  mir- 
acle,   - 64 

principles  of, 70 

positive,  outweighs  negative, 71 

of  witnesses,  credit  due  to, 71 

of  New  Testament  to  Old, 80 

of  Jews,  to  Old  Testament, 80 

Testimonies,  of  Fathers,  not  to  be  re- 
garded merely  as  single  testimonies,    74 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


697 


Testimonies,  conflicting,  not  necessar- 
ily false, 107 

Tests,  God  sometimes  submits  to, 218 

imposed  by  curiosity  or  scepticism, 

God  may  not  accept, 218 

there  can  be  moral, 218 

Text-books  in  theology, 28 

Thackeray,  his  anachronisms, 75 

has  no  heroes, 297 

Theologia  Christiana,  of  Abelard, 1 

TJieologia  irregenttorum,  is  there  ? 3 

4  Theologian,'   as  applied  to  John  the 

Evangelist, 1 

as  applied  to  Gregory  Nazianzen,..      1 
Theologian,   an  intuitional    habit    of 

mind  requisite  to  the, 20 

needs  an  acquaintance  with  mental, 

moral  and  physical  science, 20 

requires  knowledge   of  the  original 

languages  of  Scripture, 20 

a  holy  affection  towards  God,  indis- 
pensable to  the, 21 

requires  influence  of  Holy  Spirit,  ....    21 

Theological,  Encyclopaedia,  what  ? 22 

thought,   not  a  transient   stage    of 

mental  evolution, 272 

Theology,  definition  of, 1 

the  larger  and  the  more  restricted 

sense  of, 1 

its  aim  as  a  science, 1,2 

why  not  the  science  of  religion  ? 2 

possibility  of , 

the  three  conditions  which  render  it 

possible, 2 

possible  because  God  exists, 2 

possible,  because  human   mind  has 

capacity  to  know  God, 4 

possible,   because  God   has  revealed 

himself, 

is  not  a  mere  account  of  devout  feel- 
ings,  

parts  of  a  system  of,  wrought  out  in 

N.T., 

necessity  of,  its  grounds, 9 

necessitated  by  organizing  instinct  of 

human  mind, 

whence  hostility  to  it  proceeds, 

necessary  to  development  of   char- 
acter,  

some,  necessary  to  conversion, 10 

necessary,    in  order  to  definite  and 

just  views  of  doctrine, 10 

necessary  to  safety  and   aggressive 

power  of  church, 1C 

required  by  injunctions  of  Scripture,    11 

how  related  to  religion, 11 

sources  of, 1 

rests  on  God's  self-re velation, 14 

natural,  what  ? 14 

natural,  supplemented, 15 

of  Scripture,  not  unnatural, 15 

natural  and  Scriptural,  how  related?.    15 

its  limitations, 18 

45 


Theology,  not  exhaustive, 18 

limited  by  finiteness  of  human  mind,  18 
limited  by  imperfect  state  of  science,  18 
limited  by  inadequacy  of  language. ..  18 
limited  by  progress  of  hermeneutics,  18 
limited  by  silence  of  written  revela- 
tion,   19 

limited  by  lack  of  discernment  caused 

by  sin, 19 

most  progress  made  in,  during  times 

of  spiritual  life, 19 

a  perfect  system  of ,  not  to  be  expected ,    19 

in  what  sense  progressive, 19 

in  what  sense  non-progressive, 19 

conditions  of  success  in  constructing,    19 

method  of, 20 

requisites  for  its  study, 20 

its  divisions, 21 

biblical, 21 

biblical,   a  questionable  use  of   the 

term, 21 

historical, 21 

systematic, 22 

systematic,  distinguished  from   dog- 
matic,     22 

practical, 22 

pastoral, 22 

moral, 22 

speculative, 22 

history  of  systematic, 23-27 

Lutheran, 23,24 

Reformed, 23,24 

Federal, 23,24 

Analytic, 23,24 

Rationalistic, 24 

Transitional, 24 

Evangelical, 24 

Roman  Catholic, 25 

Arminian, 25 

Socinian, 25 

British, 25 

Baptist, 25 

Puritan, 25 

Scotch  Presbyterian, 26 

Methodist, 26 

English  Church, 26 

American, 26 

Old  School, 26 

New  School, 26 

New  England, 26 

New  Haven, 26 

two  divisions  of  Old  School, 27 

order  of  treatment  in, x 27 

Analytic  method  of, 27 

Trinitarian  method  of, 27 

Federal  method  of, 27 

Anthropologcal  method, 27 

Christological  method  of, 27 

Historical  method  of, 27 

Allegorical  method  of, 27 

Synthetic  method  of, 27 

text-books  in, 28 

Theophany,  Christ  not  a  mere, 370 


698 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Thessaloniaus,    relation    of    the    two 

epistles, Ill 

Thibetan  language,  midway  between 
Indo-European  and  monosyllabic 

languages, 340 

Thieving,  permitted  by  Vedas, 98 

Tholuck,  his  theological  position, 24,  25 

on  God's  holiness, 130 

on  recognising  inspiration  in  every 

daily  circumstance, 220 

grateful  to  God  for  the  conviction  of 

sin, 298 

Thomas,  hisdoubting, 77 

Thomas,  J.  B.,  kingdom  of  heaven  not 

a  can  of  nitro-gly  cerine, 573 

Thomasius,  his  theological  position, 25 

on  the  divine  love, 127 

on  the  divine  holiness, 130 

on  God  not  all, - 137 

not  a  trichotomist, 247 

on   Dorner's   view   of  the  union  of 

natures  in  Christ, 274 

on  the  depth  of  sin,  felt  chiefly  by 

regenerate, 287 

his  view  of  Christ's  humiliation, 380 

on  imputation  of  sin  to  Christ,  im- 
plying real  relationship, 415 

Thompson,  Chief  Justice,  on  depravity 

of  human  heart, 301 

Thompson,  Dr.  J.  P.,  on  the  unpardon- 
able sin, 350 

Thompson, Sir  Wm.,  denies  man's  evolu- 
tion from  inferior  animals, 237 

Thorn  well,  on  Pelagianism, 313 

on  mediate  imputation, 327 

on  sinning  in  Adam, .. 330 

on   the   Augustinian   theory   of  the 

race's  connection  with  Adam, 337 

Thought,  does  not  go  on  in  brain, 52 

possible  without  language, 103 

perpetual, 566 

'Thousand  years,'  of  Revelation  20,  ....  571 
Three,  recognized  in  Scripture  as  God,.  145 
Three  thousand,  baptized  on  one  day  in 

time  of  Chrysostom, 523 

Throne,   Christ  on  the,  an  important 

subject  of  meditation, 425 

Thucydides,  never  mentions  Socrates,.    71 

'  Time,  and  times,  and  half  a  time,' 571 

Time,  its  definition, 131 

in  God,  not  God  in  time, 131 

present,  has  an  objective  reality  to 

God, 131 

presents  distinctions  to  God, 131 

is  its  conception  purely  physical? 131 

Time,  space,  and  cause,  known, 4 

Timeless  existence,  is  the  human  spirit 

capable  of? 131 

Titles,  in  Trinity,  respectively  designate 
personal  distinctions  which  are 
the  eternal  basis  of  particular  self- 
revelations,  161 

Todd,  a  futurist, 570 


Tollner,  his  experience, 298 

Toplady,  his  hymn  on  the  substitution- 

ary  death  of  Christ, 482 

Torment,  final  state  of  wicked,  one  of,.  58T 
Torments,  outward,  of  wicked,  subor- 
dinate accompaniments  of  inward 

state  of  soul, 58T 

Touareg  language,  Semitic  in  vocabu- 
lary and  Aryan  in  grammar, 240 

Tower,  on  sin  displaying  God's  holiness,  58& 
Toy,  on  John's  baptism  as  borrowed 

from  Jewish, 521 

Tradition,  cannot  originate  idea  of  God,    34 
only   perpetuates   what  has  already 

been  originated, 34 

speedily  becomes  corrupt, 70 

concerning  a  'golden  age,'  supports 
Scriptural  view  of  creation  of  man,  271 

Traditions,  widely  prevalent, 241 

some,  perhaps  handed  down  from  a 
time  when  families  of  the  race  had 

not  separated, 241 

of  'gardens,'  and  a  'golden  age,'  the 
world's  recollections  of  an  historical 

fact, 269- 

Traditive  theory  of  religion, 34 

Traducian  theory,  of  origin  of  soul, 252 

its  advocates, 252 

best  accords  with  Scripture, 252 

Traduciaaism,  favored  by  analogy  of 

vegetable  and  animal  life, 252 

not  necessarily  materialistic, 252 

does  not  imply  material  separation  of 

soul, 25$ 

favored  by  transmission  of  mental  and 
spiritual    peculiarities   in   families 

and  races, 253 

allows    of   divine   concurrence   and 

special  improvements  in  type, 253 

Traducians,  Fathers  who  were, 329- 

Trafalgar,  omitted  in  Napoleon's  dis- 
patches,      71 

Transcendence,  divine,  denied  by  pan- 
theism,     55 

taught  in  Scripture, 36 

deism,  an  exaggeration  of, 204 

Transcription  of  words,  imperfections 

in, 101 

Transfer,  of  punishment  and  merit,  not 

impossible, 419 

'Transfusion    of    blood,'   union   with 

Christ  the  true, 445 

Transgression,  its  universality  set  forth 

in  Scripture, 296 

of  law,  a  stab  at  heart  of  God, 278 

not  proper  translation  of  1  John,  3:4,  284 
its  universality  consistent  with  pas- 
sages which    ascribe   goodness   to 

certain  men, 

its  universality  proved  from  history 

and  observation, 

its  universality,  proof  from  Christian 
experience, 


ItfDEX    OF    SUBJECTS. 


099 


Transgression,  uniformity  of,  a  demon- 
stration of  practical  impotence  of 

will, 322 

all  moral  consequences  flowing-  from, 

to  be  regarded  as  sanctions  of  law,-  340 
'Transitive,'  explanation  of  term  as  ap- 
plied to  divine  attributes. 137 

Transitive,  truth  of  God,  what? 137 

love  of  God,  what? 137,138 

holiness  of  God,  what? 138 

Translation  of  Enoch,  of  Elijah,  and  of 
saints  who  are  alive  at  second  com- 
ing, its  purpose,  .- 354 

a  proof  of  Jewish  belief  in  immor- 
tality,  561 

Transmigration  of  souls,  not  recognized 

by  Egyptians, 561 

Transubstantiation,  the  doctrine  of,  ...  543 
rests  on   a    false    interpretation   of 

Scripture, 543 

contradicts  evidence   of  senses  and 

leads  to  scepticism, . 544 

involves   denial   of  completeness  of 

Christ's  past  sacrifice, 544 

destroys   Christianity  by  externaliz- 
ing it,  544 

Treasures,  of  two  kinds,  laid  up, 554 

Treatment,  method  of,  adopted  in  this 

work, 308 

'  Tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,' 

probationary, 269 

'Tree  of  life,'  probably   a  means  of 

maintaining  bodily  youth, 269 

symbolic  of  divine  communion, 269 

Trees  of  life  and  of  knowledge,  symbol- 
ical,   , 302 

Trench,  on  "providential  miracles,"-..  215 

on  Satanic  possession,.. 229 

on  A.OVW, 534 

on  second  death, 555 

Trent,  Council  of,  on   man's  original 

state, 266 

on  impossibility  of  knowing  forgive- 
ness of  sins, 481 

on  sacraments  in  general, 545 

on  sacraments  necessary  to  salvation,  545 
on  baptism  administered  by  heretics,  545 

Trespass-offering,  its  character, 396 

Tribunals,  earthly,  no  acquittal  allowed 

there, 474 

Trichotomous  theory  of  man's  nature, 

stated, 244 

list  of  advocates  of, 245 

reasons  for  regarding  it  untenable,...  245 

Trichotomy,  its  derivation, 245 

element  of  truth  in, 245 

endangers  unity  and  immateriality  of 

our  higher  nature, 245 

passages    which    apparently  favor, 
capable  of  a  better  explanation,....  245 

errors  based  upon  it, 247 

held  by  Eastern  Church, 247 

often  allied  to  materialism, - ,  . ,  247 


Trichotomy,  often  allied  to  pantheism,.  247 

Trimurti,  or  Brahman  trinity, 170 

Trinitarian  method  of  theology, 27 

Trinitarians,  accused  by  Jews  and  Mo- 

harnm  edans  of  polytheism, 154 

Trinitas  dualitatem  ad  unitatem  rcducit,  163 
Trinitatem,,  I  ad  Jordatiem  et  videbis,  . . .  157 

Trinities,  heathen, 170 

what  they  suggest, 170 

Trinity,  God's  truth  to  be  understood 

only  in  the  light  of, 126 

God's  love  to  be  understood  only  in 

the  light  of, 127 

God's  holiness  to  be  understood  only 

in  the  light  of, 130 

in  relation  to  the  immanent  attri- 
butes,   130,163 

doctrine  of  the, 144-170 

exclusively  a  truth  of  revelation, 144 

intimated  in  O.T.,  made  known  in  N.T.,  144 

six  main  statements  concerning, 144 

the  term  invented  by  Tertullian, 144 

not  a  metaphysical  term, 144 

Park  on  doctrine  of, 144 

Smyth  on  doctrine  of, 144 

doctrine  of,  list  of  authors  on, 144 

in  Scripture  there  are  three  who  are 

recognized  as  God, 145 

order  of  office  and  operation  in,  con- 
sistent with  essential  oneness,  150 

doctrine    of,   how    its    construction 

started,.^: 150 

intimations  of,  in  Old  Testament,  ....  152 
doctrine  of,  had  no  foreign  sources, .  -  154 
no  doctrine  of,  set  forth  before  Christ's 

coming, .-_  154 

yet  O.  T.  intimations  contain  germ  of 

doctrine  of, 154 

why  a  clear  revelation  of,  was  de- 
layed,   155 

the  three  who  are  recognized  as  God 

are  described  as  distinct  persons, . . .  155 
the  distinctions  of  personality  in,  are 

eternal, 157 

Sabellian  doctrine  of , 158 

Bushnell's  views  on, 158 

'modal,' 158 

'instrumental,' 158 

Arian  doctrine  of, 159 

tripersonality  in,  is  not  tritheism, 159 

but  one  essence  in, 159 

the  term  'person'  in,  only  approxi- 
mately represents  the  truth, 159 

plurality  in,  not  one  of  essence  but  of 
hypostatical  or  personal  distinc- 
tions,  160 

not  simply  a  partnership, 160 

the  organism  of  the  Deity, 160 

work  of  any  person  of,  can  with  a  single 
limitation  be  ascribed  to  either  of 

the  others, 160 

intercommunion  between  persons  of, 
involves  no  separation, , 161 


700 


INDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Trinity,  three  persons  in,  are  equal, 161 

the  titles  in,  belong1  to  the  persons,...  161 

qualified  sense  of  the  titles  in, 162 

relation  of,  to  immanent  attributes,..  163 
the  life-movement  of  the  Godhead,..  163 
internal  relations  between  first  and 
second  persons  in,  set  forth  by  prep- 
ositions of  direction  and  movement,  163 
internal  relations   of,   according  to 

Dorner, 163 

its  physical  internal  relationship, 163 

its  logical  internal  relationship, 163 

its  ethical  internal  relationship, 163 

Son  therein,  exhibits  the  principle  of 

freedom, 163 

second  person  in,  organ  of  external 

revelation, 163 

third  person   in,   organ   of  internal 

revelation, 163 

generation  consistent  with  equality 

in, 164 

procession  consistent  with  equality  in,  166 

doctrine  of,  inscrutable, 166 

analogies  of  inanimate  things,  inade- 
quate to  represent  it, 167 

no  adequate  analogy  to,  in  constitu- 
tion or  processes  of  human  mind,..  167 

illustrations  of,  their  only  use, 167 

doctrine  of,  not  self-contradictory,  . .  167 
faculty  and  function  at  highest  differ- 
entiation in, 168 

its  relations  to  other  doctrines, 168 

essential  to  any  proper  theism, 168 

denial  of,  logically  leads  to  panthe- 
ism,   168 

essential  to  any  proper  revelation,...  169 

evidence  of,  in  prayer, 169 

doctrine  of,  how  best  understood,  ac- 
cording to  Jeremy  Taylor,  ...xxvii,  169 
essential  to  any  proper  redemption, . .  169 
effects  of  its  denial  on  the  religious 

life, 169 

essential  to  any  proper  model  for  hu- 
man life,  169 

sets  law  of  love  before  us  as  eternal,.  169 
shows  divine  pattern  of  receptive  life,  170 
on  the  doctrine  in  general,  list  of  au- 
thors,  170 

Tripersonality,  of  divine  nature,  imma- 
nent and  eternal, 157 

Trisagion,  the, 152 

Tritheism,  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of 

'    God,... 160 

Trivialities,  seeming,  in  Scripture,  their 

use, 104 

Trumpets  of  Revelation,  Elliott's  view 

of, 571 

Hengstenberg's  and  Alford's  view  of,  571 
Truth,   comprehension   of,  a   defence 
against  heresy  and  immorality,...    10 

is  nourishment, 10 

not  written  on  soul  prior  to  conscious- 

.    30 


Truth,  immanent,  distinguished  from 

truth  transitive, 126 

a  substantial  thing,  a  matter  of  being,  126 

defined  by  Kahnis, 126 

foundation  of  all  truth  among  men, .  126 
the  principle  and  guarantee  of  all 

revelation, 126 

not  of  God's  will,  but  of  his  being,...  127 
transitive,  of  God,  see  Veracity  and 

Faithfulness, 137 

attributed  to  Christ,.. 147 

ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 151 

hated  by  the  sinner, 452 

neither  known  nor  obeyed  without  a 

change  of  the  affections, 452 

even  God  cannot  make  it  more  true,.  453 
without  God,  an  abstraction   not  a 

power, 453 

sanctification  through  appropriation 

of  and  conformity  to, 485,  486 

its  utterance  in  organizations, 495 

Christian,  an  organism, 530 

Tunneling  into  a  sandbank,  illustration 

from, 18 

Turkish  Empire,  decay  of,  a  sign  of 

Christ's  coming, 571 

Turner,  on  essence  of  soul  being  poten- 
tiality for  activity, 566 

Turretin,  his  theological  position, 24 

his  views  on  Adam's  relation  to  race,  333 
on  the  possible  vicariousness  of  pun- 
ishment,   350 

his  statem ent  remarked  upon, 350 

'Twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days,' 571 

Twesten,  on  Trinity  in  revelation  of  God 

to  himself, 159 

on  Pelagianism  leading  to  Unitarian- 
ism, 169 

Two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-two Telugus,  baptized  on  one  oc- 
casion,  523 

'Two  witnesses,'  of  Revelation, 571 

Tyler,  on  denial  of  decrees,  what  in- 
volved in,  176 

on  the  possible  propriety  of  permit- 
ting a  forbidden  treason, 180 

on  permission  of  sin  not  submission 

to  sin, 180 

on  death  of  infants, 300 

his  controversy  with  Dr.  N.  W.  Taylor,  451 
on  the  light  of  the  last  day  inopera- 
tive to  change  the  sinner's  heart,. ..  452 
Tylor,  on  connection  of  the  peoples  of 

Java  and  Sumatra  with  Hindus, 239 

his  view  of  the  development  of  so- 
ciety,  270 

Tyndall,  on  relation  between  physics  of 

brain  and  facts  of  consciousness, . . .    52 
Type,  parable   a,  not  every  detail  of 

which  is  significant, 110 

Types,  of  Christ, 

are  intended  resemblances,  designed 
prefigurations, 


IISDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


701 


Types,  disappear  when  Christ   comes, 

as  blossoms  when  fruit, 359 

Tyrolese,  though  rude,  moral ;  though 

simple,  intelligent, 271 

Ubi  caritas,  ibi  daritas, 264 

Ubiquity  of  Christ's  human  body,  main- 
tained by  Lutherans, 386 

Dorner's  view, 386 

relation  to  Lord's  Supper, 545 

relation  to  views  of  heaven, 585,  586 

UbiSp  iritus,  ib  i  Christus, 161 

Ubi  tres  medici,  ibi  duo  athei, 20 

Ueberglaube,  Aberglaubc,  Unglaube,  the 
three  chief  avenues  of  temptation, 

according  to  Kurtz, 366 

Uhlhorn,  on  the  "it's"  of  Tacitus, 557 

Ullmann,  on  derivation  of  sapientia,...      3 

Una  navisest  jam  bonorum  omnium, 494 

Unbelief,  in  its  relation  to  sin , 293 

Uncaused  cause,  idea  of,  not  from  log- 
ical inference,  but  intuitive  belief,.    41 
Unconditioned  being,  the  presupposi- 
tion of  our  knowing, 32 

Unconscious  mental  action,  list  of  au- 
thorities on, 283 

Unconscious  substance  producing  self- 
conscious  and  free  beings,  an  im- 
possibility,    56 

Unconsciousness  of  sin,  accounted  for, .  298 
Understanding,  the  servant  of  the  will,  231 
'  Undones,  the,'  according  to  Ruskin 

expose  to  condemnation, xxix,  348 

Unicus,  as  applied  to  the  divine  nature,  125 
Unification,  of  the  work  of  the  denom- 
ination, not  inconsistent  with  Scrip- 
tural independence, 519 

Uniformity  of  nature,  a  presumption 

against  miracles, 63 

not  absolute  and  universal, 63 

not  a  truth  of  reason  without  excep- 
tions,   63 

could  only  be  asserted  on  the  ground 
of  absolute  and  universal  knowl- 
edge,    63 

disproved  by  geology, 63 

breaks  in,  illustrated, 63 

final  cause  is  beneath, 63 

moral  disorder  leads  us   to   expect 

breaks  in, 63 

Uniformity,  of  volitional  action,  rests 

on  character, 260 

of  evil  choice,  implies  tendency  or 

determination, 321 

of  transgression,  a  demonstration  of 

impotence  of  will, 322 

"Umo  peraonaZis," 373,  374 

Union  of  natures,  in  the  one  person  of 

Christ, 368 

proof  of  this  union, 368 

Union,  moral,  between  different  souls,  441 
Union  with  God,  brute  life  incapable  of,  376 
Union,believer's,  with  Christ,  and  man's 
union  with  Adam,  compared, 333 


Union,  believer's,  with   Christ,  wholly 

due  to  God,  proof  that, 429 

its  relation  to  regeneration  and  con- 
version,   436 

doctrine  of, 438-447 

reasons  for  neglect  of  the  doctrine,..  438 

Scripture  representations  of, 438-441 

represented  by  union  of  building  and 

its  foundation, 438 

represented  by  union  of  husband  and 

wife, 439 

represented  by  union   of  vine  and 

branches, 439 

consistent  with  individuality, 439 

represented  by  union  between  head 

and  members, 439 

represented  by  union  of  race  with 

Adam, 439 

believer  is  in  Christ, 440 

Christ  is  in  believer, 440 

Father  and  Son  dwell  in  believer, 440 

believer  has  life  by  Christ,  as  Christ 

has  life  by  union  with  Father,. 440 

believers  one  through, 440 

believer    made    partaker    of   divine 

nature  through, 441 

by  it  believer  made  one  spirit  with 

the  Lord, 441 

nature  of, 441-444 

not  a  merely  natural  union, 441 

not  a  merely  moral  union, 441 

not  a  union  of  essence,  as  held  by 

mystics, 442 

in  it  believer  most  conscious  of  his 

own  personality  and  power, 442 

not  conditioned  by  sacraments, 442 

organic, 442 

vital, 442 

spiritual, 443 

originated  and  sustained  by  the  Holy 

Spirit, 443 

indissoluble, 443 

by  virtue  of  omnipresence,  the  whole 
Christ  with  each  believer,....  133, 383, 443 

inscrutable, 443 

in  what  sense  mystical, 443 

list  of  authors  on, 443 

consequences  of,  to  believer, 444-447 

not  ground  of  Christ's  bearing  human 

sin, 444 

with  race,  secures  objective  recon- 
ciliation,   444 

with  believer,  secures  subjective  re- 
conciliation,   444 

involves  the  believer's  regeneration,.  444 

the  true  transfusion  of  blood, 445 

involves  the  believer's  conversion,...  445 
involves  the  believer's  justification,..  445 
delivers  justification  from  being  me- 
chanical and  arbitrary, 445 

involves    the     believer's    sanctifica- 

tion, 445 

involves  the  believer's  perseverance,  445 


702 


IXDEX    OF   SUBJECTS. 


Union,    believer's,    with     Christ,    the 
source  of  fellowship  among  believers 

on  earth,  ecclesiology , 446 

the  basis  of  eternal  communion  in 

heaven,  eschatology, 446 

justifies  believer  in  applying  to  him- 
self prophecies  and  promises  pri- 
marily referring  to  Christ, 44( 

ground  of  promises  to  prayer, 446 

consciousness  of,  gives  assurance  of 

salvation, - 447 

statements  regarding, 447 

authorities  on, 447 

its  legal  fruit,  justification, 480 

its  moral  fruit,  sanctification, 

Unique,  the,  cannot  be  known, 116 

no  science  of  the, 116 

Unitai-ianism,  its  modern  leaders, 25 

Arians,  its  ancient  representatives,...  159 

tends  to  pantheism, 168 

holds  to  Pelagian  views  of  sin, 310 

holds  to  Socinian  views  of  atonement,  397 

Unitarians,  later,  their  views, 159 

best  method  of  arguing  with, 

Unity  of  the  Bible,  in  its  diversity, 84 

wonder  of,  increases  with  variety  of 

authorship  and  date, 84 

Unity,  God's  attribute  of, 125 

taught  by  reason, 125, 144 

consistent  with  doctrine  of  Trinity, 

135, 159, 160, 167,  168 

Unity  of  human  race,  taught  in  Scrip- 
ture,..   238 

lies  at  foundation  of  Pauline  doctrines 

of  sin  and  salvation, 238 

ground  of  man's  obligation  of  natural 

brotherhood, 239 

argument  from  history  for, 239 

argument  from  language  for, 240 

argument  from  psychology  for, 240 

argument  from  physiology  for, 241 

a  common  judgment  of  comparative 

physiologists, 241 

presumptive    evidence   of  unity   of 

origin, 241 

opposed  on  ground  of  different  cen- 
tres of  creation, 242 

opposed  on  ground  of  diversities  of 

size,  color,  etc., 242 

Mtiller's  view  of  the  T^eO^a,  inconsis- 
tent with, 249 

Universalism,  its  fundamental  error,..  594 
Universality,  among  men,  of  a  corrupt 

nature, 299 

Universality  of  sin,  proved  from  Scrip- 
ture,  296 

proved  from  history  and  observation,  297 
proved  from  prevalence  of  priesthood 

and  sacrifice, 297 

expressed  in  common  maxims, 297 

proof  from  Christian  experience, 297 

shown  from  the  existence,  in  all  men, 
of  a  corrupted  nature, 299 


Universality   of  sin,  thinkers   of   the 

world  certify  to  it, 301 

Universals,  in  what  sense  they  have  ex- 
istence,    329 

Universe,  regarded  as  a  thought,  requires 

postulate  of  an  absolute  thinker, ...    33 
its  substance  cannot  be  shown  to  have 

had  a  beginning, 40 

its  present  form  not  eternal, 40 

is  its  cause  within  itself  ? 40 

if  eternal,  yet,  as  contingent  and  rela- 
tive, requires  an  eternal  creator?..  41 

its  infinity  cannot  be  proved, 41 

mind  in  it  leads  us  to  infer  mind  in 

maker, 41 

its  order  and  useful  collocations  may 
be  phenomena  of  an  impersonal  in- 
telligence,   44 

its  present  harmony  proves  a  will  and 
intelligence  adequate  to  its  contri- 
vance,   45 

facts  of,  erroneous  explanations  of, . .    51 
not  necessary  to  divine  blessedness,..  127 

exists  for  moral  ends, 217 

serves  spiritual  ends,.. 217 

a  harp  in  which  one  string,  our  world, 

is  out  of  tune, 225,587 

so  far  as  we  know,  finite, 231 

'  Unpicturable  notions,' 5 

Unus,  as  applied  to  divine  nature, 125 

Upham,  Thomas,  his  tendency  to  mys- 
ticism,      17 

his  definition  of  quietism, 219 

Upholding,  attributed  to  Christ, 147 

'  Upright,'  transferred  from  physical  to 

moral  condition, 267 

as  applied  to  godly  men, 296 

Uranos,  space,  not  earlier  than  God,  ...  230 
Ussher,  Archbishop,  his  chronology,...  106 
Utilitarian  theory  of  virtue,  criticized,.  142 
Utility,  not  the  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,   142 

Utopia,  Sir  Thomas  More's,  an  adum- 
bration of  St.  John's  City  of  God, ..  585 
Valentinus,  quotes  from  John's  gospel,    75 
an  Alexandrian  Gnostic  and  dualist, .  187 
on  the  seeming  birth  of  Christ,  the 

.Eon, 361 

Valley  of  dry  bones,  Ezekiel's  vision  of, 

itsimpoi-t, 574 

Vanity,  what? 293 

Variation,  law  of,  impressed  on  species 

at  beginning, 251 

Variations,  are  in  the  divine  operation, 

not  in  the  divine  plan, 125 

Variations  of  the  gospels,  find  explana- 
tion in  a  historical  Christ, 78 

Vedas,  on  One  Being, 31 

permit  thieving, 98 

their  scientific  and  religious  credibili- 
ty connected, 105 

earliest  date  of, 107 

Vedder,  on  the  decline  of  infant  baptism ,  573 


IXDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


703 


Vegetation   of  earliest   ages,  such   as 

algce,  easily  disappears, 194 

'  Venial,'  all  sins  so,  since  Christ  has  died 

for  all, 348 

Veracity  of  God,  his  transitive  truth, 
secures  the  consistency  of  his  reve- 
lations,   137 

what  it  guarantees, 137 

Verbal  inspiration,  nowhere  declared  to 

be  universal  in  Scripture, 101 

is  to  be  maintained,  as  to  result,  not 

as  to  method, 103,104 

Via  causalitatis,  in  determining  the  di- 
vine attributes, 118 

Via  eminenlice,in  determining  the  di- 
vine attributes,  118 

Via  negationis,  in  determining  the  di- 
vine attributes, 118 

Vials,  in  Revelation,  Elliott's  view  of, .  571 
Hengstenberg's  and  Alford's  view  of,  571 
•*  Vicarious,'  Bushnell's  unfair   use   of 

the  word, 401 

Vice,  can  it  be  created? 265 

Vinet,  on  feeling  good  to  be  good,  its 

best  evidence, 20 

Virchow,  Professor,  on  Darwinism, 236 

Virgil,  his  reference  to  representative 

expiation, 394 

Virgin,  immaculate  conception  of,  ab- 
surd,  365 

Virtue,  views  of  its  nature, 141,142 

not  obedience  to  civil  law  or  divine 

will, 141,142 

utilitarian  theory  of,  criticized, 142 

theories  of  Paley  and  Edwards, 142 

utility  often  its  test,  never  its  founda- 
tion,  142 

not  grounded  in  nature  of  things,  ...  142 
its  essence,  conformity  to  holiness  of 

God, 143 

its  nature,  list  of  authors  on, 143 

can  it  be  created  ? 265 

requires  love  to  God,  in  his  holiness,.  292 

Vishnu,  incarnations  of, 170 

*  Vision,  prophetic,'  theory  of,  authors 

on, 193 

Vitiosity,  uncondemnable,  theory  of, . .  318 
Vitringa,  a  "  continuous  "  interpreter 

of  Revelation, 570 

Volition,  ordinarily  the  shadow  of  the 

affections,  450 

executive,  what? 257 

Volitions,  subordinate,  not  always  de- 
termined by  fundamental  choice,.. 

258,484 

Voltaire,  on  noses  made  for  spectacles,    43 
saw  devil  everywhere,  even  where  he 

was  not, 232 

"  Voluntary,'  and  '  volitional,'  contrast- 
ed,   288 

Voluntary  element,  in  faith, 465 

Voluntas,  as  distinguished  from  arbitri- 


Von  Baader,  on   the   impossibility  of 

knowing  God,  without  God, 14 

Von  Hartmann,  his  views, 44 

Vorsehung,  an  aspect  of  providence, 208 

Vulgate,  its  variations  from  present  He- 
brew text, 107 

its  reading  of  1  Samuel,  18  : 1, 441 

Walk,  disorderly,  what  included  under,  549 
Wallace,  A.  R.,  on  the  cranial  capacity 

of  man  and  of  apes, 237 

on  a  superior  intelligence  guiding  the 

development  of  man, 237 

opposed  to  "  natural  selection,"  as  ap- 
plied to  man,  237 

Wallace,  Henry,  on  sacrifice, 395 

Wardlaw,  his  definition  of  holiness 128 

on  creation  out  of  nothing,  an  idea 

foreign  to  human  mind, 184 

on  election  on  ground  of  works  fore- 
seen,   431 

Warren,   J.   P.,   on    "coming"   being 

"manifestation," 568 

a  prgeterist  interpreter  of  Revelation,  570 

Water  at  Jerusalem,  abundant, 523 

'  Waters,'  best  term  in  Hebrew  to  ex- 
press a  fluid  mass, 194 

Watson,  his  theological  position, 26 

on  original  sin, 314 

his  Wesleyanism, 315 

Watts,  Isaac,  his  theory  of  a  preexistent 

humanity, 372 

his  view  of  Christ's  identification  with 

humanity, 413 

Wayland,  his  view  of  ground  of  moral 

obligation, 142 

his  definition  of  law,  defective, 273 

on  the  universal  church  before  par- 
ticular churches,  --.  496 

on  the  complete  independence  of  each 

member  of  a  Christian  church, 504 

bis   question,   as  student,   to    Prof. 

Moses  Stuart, 537 

Wealth,  decreed  to  him  who  works  and 

saves, 179 

Weber,  on  wrath  the  jealousy  of  love,.  140 

Wegscheider,  the  rationalist, 24 

Weiss,  on  the  apocryphal  gospels, _    83 

on  human  greatness  consisting  in  per- 
fect receptivity  for  God's  greatest 

gift, 441 

Wellhausen,  on  structure  of  the  Penta- 
teuch,      81 

Welsh  minister,  illustration  from, 484 

Wcltgeschichte,  die,  ist  das  Weltgericht,..  582 
Wer  Qott  nicht  fllhlt,  Rtickert's  verse,.    39 
Werther,     Sorrows    of,    Goethe's,   re- 
ferred to,  290 

Wesley,  John,  his  theological  position,.    26 
his   modifications  of  Arminian  doc- 
trine,   314 

his  perfectionism, 488 

on  involuntary  transgression  not  be- 
'  ing  sin, 489 


704 


IXDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Wesley,  John  practised  immersion 548 

excluded  dissenters  from  Holy  Com- 
munion because  unbaptized, 548 

believed  in  immortality  of  brutes,...  555 

Westcott,  onJUemra, 154 

on  the  necessity  of  the  passion, 414 

on  relation  to  one  Lord,  bond  of  fel- 
lowship,   446 

Westminister,  Catechism,  definition  of 

God  in  it, 29 

Confession,  statement  of  doctrine  of 

decrees, 176 

Confession,  Augustinian,  as  well  as 

Federal,  in  doctrine, 333 

Whately,  Archbishop,  on  the  impossi- 
bility of  apostolic  succession, 508 

on  changing1  an  atom  of  lead  to  silver 
as  difficult  as  changing1  a  mountain,  598 

Whedon,  his  theological  position, 26 

on  soux-ce  of  wisdom  and  holiness, ...  126 
on  God's  wisdom  and  holiness,  criti- 
cised,   129 

on    God's     knowledge      of     future 

events, 135 

on  the  divine  plan, 172 

his  denial  of  created  moral  desert, ...  265 

represents  original  Arminianism, 315 

on  New  School  view  of  sin, 289 

on   "passive,   prevolitional "    condi- 
tions,    317 

on  TerayjuieVoi,  in  Acts  13 : 48, 428 

Wheel,  does  its  bottom  move  ? 20 

Whewell,  his  inaccurate  definition  of 

conscience, 255 

Whitby,  a  Pelagian  rather  than  an  Ar- 

minian, 314 

his  interpretation  of  first  resurrection,  574 
White,  Blanco,  an  illustration  of  a  re- 
fined selfishness, 294 

not  made  a  believer  by  a  life  of  pain,.  589 
White,  Edward,  his  theory  of  annihila- 
tion,  589 

Whitefield,  a  Calvinist, 181 

on  the   imperfection  of  human  re- 
pentance,    464 

Whitman,  Walt,  his  egoism, 293 

Whitney,  on  language  as  a  proof   of 

unity  of  race, 240 

Whiton,  on  the  punishment  of  sin  in  its 

wider  spread  and  stronger  hold, 337 

Whittier,  on  God's  voice  respecting  the 

sanctity  of  will, 591 

Wicked,  intermediate  state  of, 564 

their  souls,  after  death,  in  prison, 564 

their  souls,  after  death,  in  conscious 

suffering, 564 

their  souls,  after  death,  under  punish- 
ment,   564 

their  final  state, 587-600 

their  consciences  justify  their  doom,.  596 
Wickedness,    spontaneous  and  uncon- 
trollable, the  worst, 286 

Wieland,  his  patriotism, 290 


Wiggers,   his  statement  of  the  seven 

points  of  Pelagian  doctrine, 311 

Wilderness,  temptation  of  Christ  in  the,  366 
the    scene   of  Satan's  appeal  to  the 

innocent  desires  of  our  Savior, 366 

Wilhelm    Meister,    Goethe's,    referred 

t0' 290- 

Wilkinson,  W.  C.,  on  head  and  heart, ...    21 

his  definition  of  inspiration, 95- 

Will,  not  under  physical  causation, 14 

the  human,  acts  on  nature  without 

suspending  its  laws, 62 

human,  acts  initially  without  means,    62 

its  poAver  over  body, 66- 

approximation  of  Calvinistic  and  Ar- 

minian  views  of, 17T 

views  of  Whedon,  Tappan,  Hazard, 

and  Calderwood, 178 

Christianity  gives  us  more,  than  ever,  219- 

definition  of  the, 257 

and  the  other  faculties, 25T 

and  permanent  states,.. 257 

and  motives, 257 

influenced  by  permanent  states, 257 

chooses  between  motives, 258 

and  contrary  choice, 258 

and  responsibility, 25& 

man  responsible  for  effects  of, 258 

inferences  from  view  of, 258- 

relation  to  doctrine  of  original  sin,...  258 
relation  to  doctrine  of  regeneration,.  25& 
its  poAver  to  put  forth  transient  voli- 
tions externally  conformed  to  di- 
vine law, 25& 

a  single  act  of,  cannot  reA-erse  moral 

state, 258 

its  inability  to  control  sinful  bent  of 

the  affections, 258- 

obeying  soATereignly,  its  possibility  an 

ultimate  phenomenon, 259 

list  of  authorities  on, 260- 

evil,  howeA*er  originated,  is  man  him- 
self, and  is  condemned, 285 

not  simply  faculty  of  volitions, 312 

such  decision  of,  as  will  justify  God 

in  condemning  men,  where  found?.  322 
its  impotence  proved  by  uniformity 

of  transgression, 322 

determination  of  the,  prior  to  indi- 
vidual consciousness,  its  character 

as  an  hypothesis, 331 

'the  cause  of  sin  in  holy  beings,' 335 

man's,  not  absolutely  as  his  character,  338 
not  bound,  by  motives  or  character,  .  338 
character  its  surest  but  not  its  infalli- 
ble index,  338 

man's  personal,  does  more  than  ex- 
press, it  may  curb,  his  nature, 338 

has  permanent  states  as  Avell  as  tran- 
sient acts,  

God's  act  on,  in  conversion, 

the     depraved,     has     inconceivable 
power  to  resist  God, 


INDEX   OF   SUBJECTS. 


705 


Will,  God's,  not  sole  force  in  universe,.  203 
God's  "revealed,"  among  old  theolo- 
gians,  435 

God's  "secret,"  among  old  theologi- 
ans,  435 

'Will,'  and  'shall,'  as  to  men's  actions, 

distinguished, 172 

Wille  and  WillkUr, 288 

William  of  Occam, 23 

Wilson,  his  view  of  1  Tim.  5 : 17, 510 

Winchell,  on  Adam  a  descendant  of  an 

older  human  stock, 239 

his  theory  a  plausible  explanation  of 

certain  Biblical  facts, 239 

objections  to  his  theory, 239 

Winer,  on  ii/rc,. 391 

Wines  of  Bible,  fermented  or  unfer- 

mented? 539 

Wisdom,  its  nature, 136 

Olmstead's  definition  of, 136 

divine,  in  O.  T.,  distinct  from,  and 

eternally  existing  with,  God, 153 

Apocryphal  description  of, 153 

Witchcraft,  connection  of  demons  with,  229 

Witness  of  the  Spirit,  what? 468 

Witnesses,  presumed  credible  till  con- 
trary shown, 70 

Witsius,  his  theological  position, 24 

Wollaston,  his  view  of  ground  of  moral 

obligation, 142 

Woman,  C.  H.  M.  on  her  creation, 440 

'  Woman  in  the  wilderness,' 571 

'Woman  taken  in  adultery,'  opinions 

regarding  its  authenticity, 113 

Women,  image  of  God  denied  to  them 

by  Encratites, 268 

their  hair,  dress,  and  speech,  N.  T.  on,  280 
in  1  Tim.  3:11,  deaconesses,  or  dea- 
cons'wives?  512 

Woods,  Leonard,  his  theological  posi- 
tion,     26 

his  views  of  sin, 319 

Woolman,  John,  quotation   from   his 
Journal,   illustrative  of   sufferings 

due  to  kinship, 414 

Woolsey,  President,  on  Christ's  suffer- 
ings,  403 

his  views  of  nature  of  baptism, 529 

on  alwios  as  not   denoting  a  world- 
period,  593 

Word,  divine,  the  medium  and  test  of 

spiritual  communications, 17 

divine,  in  O.  T.,  distinct  from   and 

eternally  existing  with  God, 153 

in  what  sense  was  Christ  the, 162 

a,  its  meaning  determined  by  prevail- 
ing usage, 525 

Wordsworth,  Bishop,  on  God's  foresee- 
ing but  not  forcing  evil  deeds, 220 

Works  of  God,  Quenstedt's  classifica- 
tion of, 183 

World-church    theory,     or    Romanist 
view  of  the  church, 507,  508 


World,  typified, 68 

age  of,  according  to  Rawlinson, 107 

end  of,  Luther  on, 569 

its  rehabilitation  after  final  conflagra- 
tion,  575 

Worship,  defined, 13 

its  relation  to  religion, 13 

depends  on  God's  glory, 123 

final  state  of  righteous,  one  of, 585 

Wrath  of  God,  the  final  state  of  wicked 

under  the, 587 

Wright,  G.  F.,  on  Christ's  preaching  to 

the  dead, 386 

on  divine  limitation  in  the  method  of 

human  salvation, 592 

on  eternity  expressed  by  reduplica- 
tion of  the  longest  time-words  avail- 
able,   593 

Writers,  of    Gospels,  were  competent 

witnesses, 83 

were  honest  witnesses, 82 

of  Scripture,  their  credibility, 83 

Wrong,  must  be  punished  whether  good 

comes  of  it  or  not, 352 

Wuttke,  on  an  echo  from  within,  kin- 
dred to  outer  revelation, 34 

on  Epicureanism  and  Stoicism, 88 

his  view  of  ground  of  moral  obliga- 
tion,  143 

on  God's  law, 277 

on  Aristotle's  view  of  sin, 301 

Wy cliff e's  ashes,  treatment  of, 578 

Xenophon,  his  account  of  Socrates  dif- 
fers from  that  given  by  Plato, 70 

his  use  of  the  term  "Memoirs,"  in  re- 
lation to  Socrates,  followed  by  Jus- 
tin Martyr  in  relation  to  Christ, ....    73 
his  use  of  the  word  O-VJU^VTOS,  in  describ- 
ing the  centaur,  throws  light   on 

Pauline  use  of  the  word,.... 439 

'  Yea,  the,'  2  Cor.  1 ;  20,  =  objective  cer- 

tanity, 8 

Yearning,  after  a  tangible,  incarnate 

God,  meets  its  satisfaction  in  Christ,  120 
after  justice,  man's,  George  Eliot  on,  536 
Th-King,  oldest  monumental  language 

in  China, 240 

'  Your  goodness  must  have  edge,  else  it 

is  none,' 293 

Youth  of  Jesus, 365 

'Zechariah,'  proper  reading  for  'Jere- 
miah,'in  Mat.  27 :  9, 107 

probable    explanation  of  variations 

in  style  of  book  of , 113 

Zeno,  founder  of  Stoic  philosophy, 88 

his  idea  of  virtue, 88 

Zockler,  on  oldest  languages  being  the 

most  inflected, 240 

on  the  law  of  plasticity  as  affecting 

species, 243 

Zoroaster,  founder  of  the  Parsees, 88 

his  probable  date, 88 

his  dualistic  theology, 88,188 


706 


INDEX   OF    SUBJECTS. 


Zoroaster,  his  system  a  better  basis  for 

morality  than  the  Indian  systems, . .    89 
the  defects  and  errors  of  his  system,.    89 
believed  himself  charged  with  a  di- 
vine mission, 91 

did  not  make  claims  such  Jesus  made,    91 
regarded   matter   as   pure   and    the 

creation  of  the  good  Being, 188 

Ahura  Mazda  according  to  him  the 

Creator, 188 

his  idea  of  twins  in  the  divine  nature,  188 
Manichaeus  adopted  some  of  his  views 

with  modifications, 188 

a  reformer  raised  up  in  God's  provi- 
dence,   358 

Zoroastrianism,  a  reformation, 185 

did  it  teach  absolute  creation  ? 185 


Zwingle,  the  reformer, 24 

his  differences  with  Luther, 24 

a  systematic  theologian  and  founder 
of  the  Reformed  theology, 24 

poured  forth  the  flood  that  flowed  in 
channels  dug  by  Calvin, 24 

alone  among  the  Reformers  did  not 
hold  the  Augustinian  theory  of 
Adam's  Natural  Headship, 328 

held  that  native  vitiosity  though  a 
uniform  occasion  of  sin  was  not 
itself  sin 329 

regarded  the  words  in  the  institution 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  not  as  a  man- 
datory "become,"  but  as  an  expla- 
nation of  the  sign, 543 


IKDEX  OF  AUTHOES. 


Abbot,  Ezra, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 146 

Genuineness  of  Fourth  Gospel, 75,  79 

Introd.  to  Schodde,  Book  of  Enoch,...  80 
Abbott,  F.  E. 

Scientific  Theism, xx v,  54,  329 

Abelard,  Peter, 23,400 

Theologia  Christiana, 1 

Ackermann,  C., 

Christian  Element  in  Plato, 359 

Adams,  Nehemiah, 

Evenings  with  the  Doctrines, 182 

^Eschylus, 557 

Prometheus  Vinctus, 394 

Agassiz,  Louis, 195,  241,  555 

Essay  on  Classification, 43 

Provinces  of  Animal  World, 242 

Ahrens,  Henri, 

Cours  de  Droit  Naturel, 275 

Aids  to  Faith, 68 

Aids  to  the  Study  of  German  Theology,  41, 
577. 

Alcuin,  Flaccus, 405 

Alden,  Joseph, 

Intellectual  Philosophy, 4,  7,  55 

Alexander,  Archibald, 143 

Evidences  of  Christianity, 32,91 

Moral  Science, 45,288,345 

Alexander,  James  W.,__ 438 

Discourses  on  Faith, 468,469 

Alexander,  Joseph  A., 

Commentary  on  Acts, 506 

Alexander,  W.  L., 

Christ  and  Christianity, 61,  66,  67' 

75,  76,  77,  90. 

Connection  and  Harmony  of  Old  and 

New  Testaments, 86 

Alford,  Henry, 570 

Commentary,.. 38, 148, 161,  224,  226,  415,  568 

Hulsean  Lectures, 224 

Prolegomena  to  New  Test., 74 

Alger,  William  R., 

Critical  History  of  Doctrine  of  a  Fu- 
ture Life, 252,558 

Ambrose, 14,328 

Ammon,  Christ oph  F., 24 

Amos,  Sheldon, 

Science  of  Law,..  ..  274 


Amyraldus,  Moses, - 24 

Anderson,  Pres.  M.  B., 

Johnson's  Cyclopa?dia, 7 

Anderson,  William, 

Regeneration,  ....450,  454,  456,  458,  460,  464 
Andrew  (see  Fuller,  Andrew),  ...xxvii,  181 
Andrewes,  Bishop  Lancelot, 

Works, 164 

Andrews,  E.  A., 

Latin  Lexicon, 11 

Andrews,  E.  Benjamin, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 496 

Andrews,  J.  N., 

History  of  the  Sabbath, 202 

Angus,  Joseph, 

Future  Punishment, 600 

Annotated  Paragraph  Bible,.... 69, 109, 146, 

209,  229,  296,  349,  379,  415,  489,  523. 
Anselm, 23,  48,  223,  247,  323,  382,  407,  409 

CurDeus  Homo, 365,408,498 

De  Concep. Virg.  et  Origin.  Peccato, .  336, 
337. 

Opera, 471 

Proslogion, 49 

Ante-Nicene  Library, 74 

Appleton,  Jesse, 

Works, 52,211 

Aquinas,  Thomas,.. .23,  293,  336,  386,  407,  409 

Suinma, 221 

Argyll,  Duke  of, 

Primeval  Man, 107,  238,  243,  271 

Reign  of  Law, 52,  55, 191,  203,  217,  275 

Unity  of  Nature, 235,270 

Aristotle 21,  23,  116,  121,  125,  442,  450,  593 

De  Anima, 250 

Metaphysics, 1 

Nicomachean  Ethics, 88,  301,  557 

Arininius,  J., 25 

Works, 314 

Arnold,  Albert  N., 

Baptist  Quarterly, 536 

Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 538 

Terms  of  Communion, 547,548,549 

Arnold,  Edwin, 

Light  of  Asia, 87 

Arnold,  Matthew, 12 

Literature  and  Dogma, 100, 122 

Arnold,  Thomas, 68,  79, 112,  287,  490 


708 


IXDEX    OF   AUTHORS. 


Arnold,  Thomas,  (continued), 
Right  Interpretation  of  Scripture,...  109 
Sermons, 100 

Arnot,  William, 354 

Arthur,  William, 
The  Divinity  of  Our  Lord  in  Relation 

to  His  Work  of  Atonement, 169 

Difference     between    Physical     and 
Moral  Law, 276 

Ash  more,  William, 413 

Asmus,  P., 
Indogermanische  Religion, 32 

Athanasius, 167,408 

AtAvater,  Lyman  H., 

Calvinism  in  Doctrine  and  Life,...  181,  340 
Princeton  Review, 54 

Auberlen,  C.  A., 
Di vi  ne  Revelation, 8,  66,  79,  330 

Auerbach,  Berthold, 

On  The  Heights, 484 

The  Villa  on  the  Rhine, 484 

Augustine,  Aurelius, 23, 108, 167, 

265,  266,  268,  288,  293,  294,  311,  329,  337, 
338,  386,  499,  565. 

Confessions, 46,194,287 

De  Civitate  Dei, 23,  252,  263,  328 

De  Genes,  ad  Lit., 194 

De  Pec.  Mer.  et  Rem., 232,  328 

De  Predest.  Sanct., 431 

Encheiridion, 23,336 

Austin,  John,  -  274 

Province  of  Jurisprudence, 139,  273 

Baader,  von,  Franz, 14 

Bacon,  Francis,  Lord, 39,  68,  126,  261, 

275,  278. 

Confession  of  Faith, 281 

Works, 302,  352 

Bacon,  L.  W.  and  G.  B., 
Sabbath  Observance, 202 

Baer,  K.  E.  von, 243 

Bahr,  K.  C.  W.  F., 
Symbolik  des  mosaischen  Cultus, 394 

Bain,  Alexander, 

Cerebral  Psychology, 54 

Mind  and  Body, 52 

Baird,  Samuel  J., .xxv,  26.  27,  319,  321 

Elohim  Revealed, .' ...  200,  206,  252,  279 

286,  294,  297,  303,  306,  318,  320,  322,  325, 
326,  328,  330,  336,  340,  342,  345,  347,  355, 
367,  368,  383,  412,  421,  444,  447,  449. 

Balfour,  A.  J., 
Defence  of  Philosophic  Doubt, 3 

Balfour,  R.  G., 
Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Rev., 403 

Bancroft,  Bishop, .. 500 

Baring-Gould,  S., 393 

Origin  and  Development  of  Religious 
Belief, 394 

Barlow,  J.  W,, 
Ultimatum  of  Pessimism, 200 

Barnes,  Albert, 

Apostolic  Church, 509 

Atonement,  .  ..403 


Barnes,  Albert  (continued), 

Commentary, 506 

Barrow,  Isaac, 

Purgatory, 565 

Barrows,  E.  P., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 380 

Barry,  Alfred, 

Manifold  Witness  for  Christ, 89 

Bartlett,  S.  C., 

Life  and  Death  Eternal, 557,  560 

New  Englander, 355 

Princeton  Review, 97,108,386 

Sources  of  History  in  the  Pentateuch, 

82,272 

Bascom,  John, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 30 

Science  of  Mind, 30,235 

Bastian,  H.  C., 

Beginnings  of  Life, 191 

Heterogeneous  Evolution  of  Living 
Things,  in  'Nature,' 191 

Modes  of  Origin  of  Lowest  Organ- 
isms,   191 

Baudissin,  W.  W.,  Count, 

Begriff  der  Heiligkeit  im  A.  T., 130 

Baumgarten,  M., 

Apostolic  History,.. 506 

Baur,  Ferdinand  Christian, 77,79 

Das  manicha'ische  Religionss3rstem, . .  188 

Die  kanonischen  Evangelien, 78 

Dogmengeschichte,  409 

Lehre  von  der  Dreieinigkeit, 159 

Baxter,  Richard, 25,485 

Methodus  Theologiae, 26 

Saints'  Rest, 99 

Bayne,  Peter, 

Christian   Life,   Social   and   Individ- 
ual,     55 

Review  of  Strauss's  New  Life, 77 

Beal,  Samuel, 

Catena  of  Buddhist  Scriptures, 87 

Beale,  Dr.  Lionel, 

Protoplasm, 191 

Beecher,  Edward, 

Conflict  of  Ages 248 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward, 594 

Life  of  Jesus,  The  Christ, 371 

Bellamy,  Joseph, 26,  318,  511 

Bellarmine,  R.P., 25,266 

Bengel,  J.  A., 105,  540,  570 

Commentary, 356,  368,  416 

Berkeley,  Bishop  George, 55,  217 

Principles  of  Human  Knowledge,  —    53 

Bernard,  St., 262 

Bernard,  Thomas  D., 

Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament,   86, 104,  111 

Bersier,  Eugene, 

The  Oneness  of  the  Race  in  its  Fall  and 

in  its  Future, 330 

Bertrand,    Henri    Gratien,   Count   de, 

Memoirs, 

Beza,  Theodore, 24 


INDEX    OF    AUTHORS. 


709 


Bible  Commentary, 113, 123, 184, 185, 

193,  338,  396,  414. 

Bible  Dictionary  (Smith's), 63,  68,  73, 

75,  75,  77,  78,  80,  108,  323,  334,  334,  239, 
340,  340,  397. 
Bibliotheca  Fratrum  Polonorum,  35,  35,397 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 4,  5,  7,  7,  8, 10, 

13,  13,  16,  32,  30,  32,  34,  34,  38,  40,  42,  43, 
45,  49,  51,  56,  77,  77,  80,  80,  82,  87,  87,  97, 
104, 106, 108,  109,  113,  122,  125, 127,  144, 
146, 153,  165,  166,  170, 174,  175, 181, 185, 
195,  204,  205,  208,  311,  231,  224,  236,  335, 
240,  241,  242,  248,  249,  253,  264,  270,  289, 
295,  312,  315,  316,  318,  319,  319,  332,  334, 
330,  330,  340,  353,  368,  371,  372,  373,  378, 
378,  380,  380,  384,  386,  386,  396,  408,  413, 
451,  468,  488,  508,  551,  553,  566,  574,  591, 
594,  594. 
Bickersteth,  Edward, 

Prayer, 318 

Biedermann,  A.  Em., 25 

Christliche  Dogmatik, .374,  373 

Birks,  T.  R., 

Difficulties  of  Belief,. 180, 190,  221,  232,  248, 
253,  305,  325,  330,  340,  348 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 83 

Victory  of  Divine  Goodness, 590 

Bissell,  Edwin  C., 

Apocrypha  (Lang-e's  Com.), 80, 147 

Historic  Origin  of  Bible, 81,  82 

The  Pentateuch,  its  Authorship  and 

Structure,  ... . 82 

Bittinger,  J.  B., 

Princeton  Review, - 349 

Black,  Prof., 508 

Blackie,  John  Stuart, 

Four  Phases  of  Morals, 86 

Theological  Eclectic, 193 

Bledsoe,  Albert  T., 365 

Theodicy, 180 

Bleek,  Frederick, 

Introduction  to  New  Testament, 74,  75 

Bliss,  George  R., 

Commentary  on  Luke, 108 

Blunt,  John  H., 

Ann.  Book  of  Common  Prayer,. 525 

Dictionary  of  Doctrinal  and  Historical 

Theology, 1,  48,  48,  72,  75,  76,  159,  189, 

213,  375. 
Boardman,  George  D., 

Creative  Week, 195 

Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 528 

Boardman,  H.  A., 167 

Bodemeyer,  J., 

Lehre  von  der  Kenosis,.. 384 

Boehme,  Jacob, 123,268 

Boethius,  A.  M.  S., 123,377 

Bohl,  Edward, 
Incarnation  des  gottlichen  Wortes,...  416 

Bossuet,  J.  B., 292 

Exposition  of  Doctrine, 25 

History  of  Variations  of  Protestant 
Churches, ..  .25 


Boston,  Thomas, ...26,  37 

A  Complete  Body  of  Divinity, 27 

Covenant  of  Grace, 444 

Human  Nature  in  its  Fourfold  State,  27, 

577. 
Questions  in  Divinity, 27 

Bowen,  Prof .  Francis, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 37 

Metaphysics  and  Ethics,  ..16,  34,  55,  59,  62, 
203,  558. 

Modern  Philosophy, 200 

Princeton  Review, 7,  54 

Bowne,  Borden  P., 55 

Metaphysics, 34,  40,  54, 132, 133,  351, 

259,  437. 

Review  of  Spencer, ....  4, 5, 6,  7, 35, 41, 43, 44 
Theism, 37 

Boyce,  James  P., 
Baptist  Quarterly,. 380 

Brace,  C.  L., 
Gesta  Christi, __    93 

Breckinridge,  R.  J., 26 

Bretschneider,  K.  G., 
Dogmatik, 24,267 

Broadus,  John,  A., 

Hovey's  Com.  on  John, xxix,  367,  878 

Immersion, 523,  525 

Brooks,  Thomas, 
Satan  and  his  Devices, 233 

Brooks,  W.  K., 
Heredity, 254 

Brougham,  Henry,  Lord, 48 

Brown,  David, 
Second  Advent, 574 

Brown,  Dr.  John, 
Spare  Hours, 181 

Brown,  T.  B., 
The  Sabbath, 202 

Brown,  W.  R., 

Inspiration  of  New  Testament, 104 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 46 

Browning,  Robert, 197 

A  Soul's  Tragedy, 127,  129 

Death  in  the  Desert, 247 

Paracelsus, 294 

The  Ring  and  the  Book, 280,  354 

Bruce,  A.  B., 

Humiliation  of  Christ,. 373,  377, 384,  390, 406 
Present  Day  Tracts,. xxv,  79 

Bruch,  J.  F., 

Eigenschaf tslehre, 120, 139 

Lehre  von  der  PrSexistenz,. 248,  249 

Bryennios,  Philotheos, 536 

Buchanan,  James, 

Modern  Atheism, 53 

Justification, 474,  483 

Btichner,  Louis, 
Force  and  Matter, 51 

Buckle,  H.  T., 318 

Buckley,  J.  M., 
Century  Magazine, xxv,  67 

BUckmann,  R., 
Zeitschr.  f.  luth.  Theol.  u.  Kirche,....    65 


710 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORS. 


Buddeus,  J.  F., 24 

Theologia  Dogmatica, 128, 129 

Bulwer,  Edward,  Lord  Lytton, 346 

Bunsen,  C.  C.  J., 

Egypt's  Place, 240,561 

Hippoly tus  and  his  Times, 537 

Philosophy  of  Universal  History,  ....  239 

Bunyan,  John, 25, 160,  548 

Pilgrim's  Progress,.. 405 

Burgess,  Ebenezer, 
Antiquity  and  Unity  of  the  Race,. .77,  239 

Burgess,  Anthony, 241,241,243 

Original  Sin, 336,  xxix,  337 

Burke,  Edmund, 275 

Burnet,  Gilbert, 
Exposition  of  the  xxxix  Articles,  ...    26 

Burnet,  Thomas, 
State  of  the  Departed, 580 

Burrage,  Henry  S., 
Act  of  Baptism, 526 

Burton,  N.  S,, 
Baptist  Review,.... 282,528 

Bushnell,  Horace,  14,  116,129,158,162,397,536 

Christian  Nature,.... 537 

Sermons  for  the  New  Life, 182 

Forgiveness  and  Law,.  164,  223,  400,  402, 589 
Nature  and  the  Supernatural,.xxv,  56, 62, 
66,  90,  199,  271,  355,  368,  450. 

Sermons  on  Living  Subjects, 591 

Vicarious  Sacrifice, .360,  400 

Butler,  Bishop  Joseph, 16, 18,  421,  555 

Analogy,.. ..XXV,  28,  39,  60,  63, 109, 181,  206, 
211,  360,  555. 

Sermons  on  Human  Nature, 46 

Works,  Bohn's  ed., 142 

Butler,  William  Archer, 
Sermons, 387 

Butterworth,  H., 
Story  of  Notable  Prayers, 217 

Buttmann,  Philip, 
New  Testament  Grammar, 391 

Byron,  George  Gordon,  Lord, 200,  587 

Manfred, 583 

Caird,  John, 

Faiths  of  the  World, 87 

Philosophy  of  Religion, 12 

Sermons, 298 

Scotch  Sermons, 447 

Cairns,  Rev.  Principal, 
Present  State  of  Christian  Argument 
from  Prophecy, 69 

Calderwood,  Henry, . .  _• 255 

Moral  Philosophy,  .  ..6,  32,  36,  37,  41, 44,  48, 

50,  52,  56,  143,  178,  377,  556. 
Philosophy  of  the  Infinite,  ..4,  6,  6, 16, 18, 
32,  36,  38,  48,  50,  132. 

Relation  of  Mind  and  Brain, 53 

Science  and  Religion, 217 

Calixtus,  Georgius, 23,  24 

Epitome  Theologiae, 27 

Calovius,  Abraham, 24,  29 

Calvin,  John,.. 20,  23,  24,  261,  293, 323,  438,  509, 
540,  569,  587. 


Calvin,  John  (continued), 

Commentaries, 346,528,596 

Institutes,.. .15,  28,  29,  30,  207,  208,  329,  345, 
357,  447,  490,  546. 

Campbell,  Alexander, 532 

Campbell,  Dr.  George, 

Miracles, 65 

Campbell,  J.  McLeod, 400,  402,  414 

Atonement, 375,282,420 

Candlish,  James  S., 

Work  of  Holy  Spirit, xxvii,  164 

Candlish,  Robert  S., 

Atonement, .-. 357,396,422 

Fatherhood  of  God, 238 

Canus,  Melchoir, 25 

Capes,  J.  M., 

Stoicism, 88 

Carey,  H.  C., 

Unity  of  Law, 275 

Carlyle,  Thomas, 204,291,297 

Life  of  John  Sterling, 486 

Carpenter,  W.  B., 

Mental  Philosophy, 7,  77,  238 

Carman,  A.  S., ...174,  205 

Carson,  Dr.  Alexander, 

Baptism, 526 

Carson,  Dr.  J.  C.  L., 

The  Heresies  of  the  Plymouth  Breth- 
ren,  499 

Carson,  R.  H., 

The  Brethren, 499 

Catechism,  Westminster  Larger, 357 

Cave,  A., 

Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice, 397 

Century  Magazine,  The, xx v,  67 

Century,  The  Nineteenth,....  58,  63, 105,  330 

525,  526. 
Chadbourne,  P.  A., 

Instinct, 335 

Chalmers,  Dr.  Thomas, 26,  27,  586 

Astronomical  Discourses, 205 

Christian  Revelation, 63,  65,  69 

Institutes  of  Theology, 27,  325 

Lectures  on  the  Romans, 454 

Moral  Philosophy, 143 

Natural  Theology, 193 

Sermons,  "Expulsive  Power  of  a  New 
Affection," 486 

Works, 199,217 

Chamier,  Daniel, 24 

Channing,  William  E.,... 368 

Charles,  Mrs.  E., 

Diary  of  Mrs.  Kitty  Trevylyan, 583 

Charnock,  Stephen, 116 

Divine  Attributes,  ....120, 125, 134, 137, 178 

Regeneration, 458 

Charteris,  Prof.  A.  H. 

New  Testament  Scriptures, 97 

Chase,  D.  P., 

Introduction  to  Aristotle's  Ethics,  ...  301 

Chemnitz,  Martin, 24,377 

Chillingworth,  W., 12 

Chitty,  Joseph, 20 


LXDEX   OF   AUTHOKS. 


711 


C.  H.  MM  see  Macintosh,  C.  H. 
Christlieb,  Prof.  Theodor, 

Modern  Doubt  and  Christian  Belief,..    4, 
30,  53,  57,  61,  66,  77,  79,  80, 170,  304. 

Chrysostom,  John, 587 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius, xxxi,132, 

297,  306,  450,  494,  557. 

De  Natura  Deorum, 21,  30,  211,213 

Clarke,  Adam, 534 

Clarke,  Dorus, 

Saying- the  Catechism, 10 

Clarke,  J.  Freeman, 

Ten  Great  Religions, 32,  86,  89, 

185, 193. 

Orthodoxy,  its  Truths  and  Errors, ....  159, 

357,  398. 
Clarke,  Samuel, - 47,132,142 

Works, 48 

Clement  of  Rome, 74,518,591 

Cobbe,  Francis  Power, 43 

Peak  of  Darien, 200,  512,  554,  557 

Cocceius,  Joannes, 24,322 

Summa  Doctrinae  de  Foedere  et  Tes- 
tamentoDei, 27,323 

Summa  Theologiae, 27 

Cocker,  B.  F., 

Christianity  and  Greek  Philosophy,  34, 359 

Theistic  Conception  of  the  World, ....    48, 
132,  204. 

Colby,  H.  F., 551 

Coleman,  Lyman, 

Christian  Antiquities, 525,536 

Manual  on  Prelacy  and  Ritualism,. ..  506, 

508,  509. 
Coleridg-e,  Samuel  T., 3,  30,  63,  301,  321 

Aids  to  Reflection, 526 

Commentary,  Popular, 386 

Comte,  Auguste, 46,  292,293 

Positive  Philosophy, 4, 271 

Conant,  T.  J., 

Genesis, 97, 102, 106, 185 

Proverbs, 154 

Matthew, 522,525,534 

Condillac,  E.  B.  de, 52 

Confession,  Westminister, 344,  345 

Conybeare  and  Howson. 509 

Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul, ---524,  360, 
528. 

Cook,  Joseph, 144,  243,  275,  288 

Cooke,  Prof.  J.  P., 

New  Chemistry, 43 

Religion  and  Chemistry, 43,  47 

Cotterill,  Henry, 

Does  Science  aid  Faith  in  Regard  to 

Creation? 195 

Couperie,  Terrien  de  la, 240 

Cousin,  Victor, 

History  of  Philosophy, 30,  xxv,  54 

True,  Beautiful,  and  Good, 30,  85 

Cowles,  Henry, 

Commentary, 107, 109,  386,  574 

Cowper,  B.  H., 

Apocryphal  Gospels, 78 


Cox,  Samuel, 

Miracles,  an  Argument  and  a  Chal- 
lenge,   63,77,195,218 

The  Resurrection, 580 

Craig,  Oscar, 

Presbyterian  Review, 5 

Cramer,  H., 
Wurzeln  des  Anselm'schen  Satisfac- 

tionsbegriffes, 409 

Crawford,  Thomas  J., 

Atonement,  238,  393,  394,  396,  400, 

401,  405,  421,  464. 

Cremer,  H., 245 

Beyond  the  Grave, 580,  592 

New  Testament  Lexicon , 138,  391 , 

393,  473,  494,  496,  523. 
Crippen,  T.  G., 

History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  408,  408,  409 
Crooks  and  Hurst, 

Theological  Encyclopaedia  and  Meth- 
odology,      22 

Crosby,  Alpheus, 

Second  Advent, 574,580 

Crosby,  Howard, 

The  True  Humanity  of  Christ, 380 

Crowell,  William, 

Church  Member's  Manual, 519 

Cudworth,  Ralph, 

Intellectual  System  of  the  Universe,  187, 
154,580. 

Cumming,  John, 570 

Cunningham,  William, 

Historical  Theology, .21,181,267,324, 

328,  342,  345,  405,  422,  427,  455,  508. 

Theological  Lectures, 101 

Cunningham,  John, 553 

The  Growth  of  the   Church,    Croall 

Lectures, 524,  535 

Curry,  Daniel, 406 

Curtis,  T.  F., 

Communion, 501,  553 

Human  Element  in  Inspiration, 50, 58, 

77,  86. 

Progress  of  Baptist  Principles, 496 

505,  527,  535,  537,  538,  548,  548,  551. 
Curtius,  Dr.  Georg, 

Griechische  Etymologic, 11 

Cuvier,  Baron  Georges, 43 

Cyclopaedia,  Biblical,  Kitto's, 535,  536 

Cyclopaedia,  Johnson's, 7,595 

Cyclopaedia,  McClintock  and  Strong,  ...  28, 
74,  315,  345. 

Cyprian, 508,565 

Cyril, 165 

Dabney,  R.  L. 

Theology, 206,  254,  313,  315,  325,  325,  481 

Dagg,  J.  L. 

Church  Order, 496,  499,  510,  517, 

522,  534,  538,  539. 
Dale,  James  W. 
Classic,  Judaic,  Christie,  and  Patristic 

Baptism, 522 

Dale,  R.  W., 413 


712 


INDEX   OF   AUTHOES. 


Dale,  R.  W.,  (continued), 

Atonement, 393,  401,  409,  444 

Manual  of  Congregational  Principles,  519 

Dalgairns,  Father  J.  B., 5 

Damascus,  John  of, 167, 169,  362,  363,  377 

Dana,  James  D., 241 

Manual  of  Geology, ....106, 193, 195 

Dannhauer,  John  Conrad, 24 

Hodosophia  Christiana, 27 

Dante  Alighieri, 221 

II  Paradiso, 123 

Darwin,  Charles, 18,  237 

Descent  of  Man, 236 

Origin  of  Species, 236 

Davids,  Rhys, 
Hibbert  Lectures, 87 

Davidson,  Samuel, 
Ecclesiastical  Polity, 500,  519 

Davis  J.  W., 
Baptist  Review, 350 

Dawkins,  W.  Boyd, 272 

Dawson,  Sir  J.  W. 

Fossil  Men, 107 

Story  of  Earth  and  Man,  ..106,  238,  243,  272 

Day,  H.  N., 103 

New  Englander, 13 

Princeton  Review, 167 

Science  of  Ethics, 256 

Defence  and  Confirmation  of  the  Faith, 


Defoe,  Daniel, 214 

Delitzsch,  Franz, 245 

Biblische  Psy chologie, 247, 265, 345, 

347,  380,  562,  566,  580.  590. 

Isaiah, 472 

De  Marchi,  see  Marchi,  Joseph 92 

De  Quincey,  Thomas, 

Theological  Essays, 65,594 

Denovan,  Joshua, 

Toronto  Baptist,  164, 281, 387, 388, 453, 476, 478 
Descartes,  Rene, 30,126,142,566 

Meditations, 48 

Deutsch,  Emanuel, 

Remains, 365 

De  Wette,  W.  M.  L., 24,76 

Biblische  Theologie, 21 

Commentary, 9,  263,  324,  356 

Dexter,  Henry  M., 

Congregationalism, 496, 506,  506, 

507,  509,  510,  511,  516. 

The  Story  of  John  Smith  and  Se-bap- 
tism,  525 

Verdict  of  Reason, 600 

Dick,  John, 26 

Lectures  on  Theology, 128, 146, 151, 

157, 171,  208. 

Dickens  Charles, 251 

Dickson,  W.  P., 

St.  Paul's  use  of  the  Terms  Flesh  and 

Spirit, 291 

Diestel,  Prof.  Ludwig, 

Jahrbuch  fur  deutsche  Theologie, ...    31, 
272. 


Dillmann,  August, 

Genesis, 184 

Diman,  Prof.  J.  L., 218 

Theistic  Argument, 4,  32,36,  39,  40, 

42,  43,  44,  44,  45,  46,  47,  53,  53,  57,  59, 65, 
204,  217,  272,  274,  443. 

Dippel,  J.  K., 405 

Dix,  Morgan, 

Pantheism, 56,98 

Dobney,  H.  H., 

Future  Punishment, 562,  588 

Dodge,  Ebenezer, 

Evidences  of  Christianity, 72 

Doderlein,  L., 24 

Dollinger,  John  J.  I., 

Gentile  and  Jew, 359 

Kircheund  Kirchen, 523 

Dorner,  A., 

Augustinus, 267 

Dorner,  I.  A., 6, 156, 191,  219,  251, 

274,  312,  376,  379,  380,  381,  406,  442,  461, 
467,  497,  542,  554,  566,  574,  582. 

Eschatology, 577,  579,  589,  590,  597 

Gesammelte  Schriften, 125 

Geschichte  prot.  Theologie,  ...4, 16, 17,18, 
167,  267,  481,  507,  532. 

Glaubenslehre, 34,  49,  57, 122,  131, 

154, 161,  203,  267,  286,  310,  311,  313,  316, 
327,  337,  350,  xxix,  351, 352, 361, 362, 362, 
363,  363,  365,  365,  365,  367,  368,  373,  377, 
385,  386,  393,  402,  404,  412,  415,  419,  424, 
437,  451,  481,  544. 
System  of  Doctrine  (translation  of  the 

preceding), 130, 160, 163, 189, 

201,  202,  310,    311,  316,  325,  329,  337, 
xxix,  351,  361, 362, 365,  366,  367,  368, 370, 
373,  377,  385,  386,  393,  402,  404,  412,  415, 
419, 424,  437,  481,  544. 
History  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Per- 
son of  Christ,.... 81, 154, 159,  282,  329, 

361,362,373. 

UnverSnderlichkeit  Gottes,  in  Jahr- 
buch f .  deutsche  Theologie, 372 

Dove,  Patrick,  E., 
Logic  of  Christian  Faith,  2,  3, 16, 16,  20,  36, 

39,  47,  48,  49,  56. 
Drummond,  Henry, 

Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  14, 
14, 18,  18,  184,  277, 350, 445,  446, 450,  459, 
485,  486,  596. 

Dwight,  Timothy, 26,319 

Theology, 142,  295,  308,  454,  458,  596 

Baches,  O.  P., 

Baptist  Review, 105 

Ebers,  George, 

Uarda, 561 

Ebrard,  J.  H.  A., 25,  29,  370,  415 

Baptist  Quarterly, 530 

Dogmatik,...12,  34,  40,  83, 104, 163,  224,  232, 

239,  246,  251,  261,  366,  371,  580. 
Eclectic,  Theological,  52,  77,  80,  81,  86,  91, 193 
Edersheim,  Dr.  Alfred, 
Life  and  Times  of  Jesus, 108,  503,  521 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


713 


Edersheim,  Dr.  Alfred,  (continued), 
Warburton  Lectures  on  Prophecy  and 

History, -69'  83 

Edwards,  Jonathan,. 26,  205,  206,  285, 287,  288, 
309,  318,  323,  327,  328,  445,  447,  452,  469, 
479,  480. 

Freedom  of  the  Will, 178, 180,  259,  322 

History  of  Redemption, 27,  360 

Lif  e  of  Brainard, 468 

Observations  on  Trinity, 161, 166,  379 

Original  Sin, 301,  304,  330,  340 

Qualifications  for  Full  Communion,..  547 

Religious  Affections, 458 

Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry  God,  588 
Works,. -.142, 198,  220,  252,  263,  286,  294,  298, 
308,  345,  410,  411,  454,  466,  482,  483,  493, 
584,600. 
Edwards,  the  younger, 

Works, 131, 175, 178,  563,  596 

Eichhorn,  Carl, 

Die  Personlichkeit  Gottes, 57,  122 

Eliot,  George, 251,  297,  417,  418,  485 

Adam  Bede, 290 

Ellicott,  C.  J., 18,245 

Commentaries, 165,  263 

Elliott,  Lectures xxv,  66 

Elliott,  E.  B., 
Horse  Apocalypticge,  ..68,  75,  224,  507,  565, 

570,  571,  573,  574. 
Ellis,  George  E., 

Half  Century  of  the  Unitarian  Con- 
troversy,      311 

Unitarianism  and  Orthodoxy, 398 

Emerson,  G.  H., 

Doctrine  of  Probation  Examined,. 590,  591 
Emerson,  R.  W.,  69, 140,  220,  253,  291,  293,  399 

Essays, 3,58 

Poems, -.  344 

Emmons,  Nathanael, 26,  205,  320,  323 

Works, 176,  319,  456 

Encyclopedia  Britannica, 38,  90,  240 

Englander,  New,  ..4,  4,  5,  20,  34,  41,  52,  54,  54, 
57,  87,  88, 100, 108, 131, 150, 272,  325,  336, 
340,  340,  355,  357,  386,  359,  386,  516,  574, 
589,  594. 

EpisCopius,  Simon, 25,  314 

Ernesti,  H.  F.  T.  L., 

Ursprung  der  Stinde, 249,  291 

Essays,  Princeton,.. 144, 159, 166, 176, 198,  286, 
311,  313,  313,  321,  322,  328,  345,  385,  400, 
405,  490. 
Estes,  H.  C., 

Christian  Doctrine  of  the  Soul, 562 

Evans,  Christmas, 

Sermons,  Remains  of, 117 

Evans,  L.  J,, 

Presbyterian  Review, 384,  564 

Evans,  Marian  (George  Eliot), 

Translation  of  Feuerbach, 9 

Everett,  C.  C., 

Science  of  Thought, 2 

Examination     of    Liddon's    Bampton 

Lectures, 150 

46 


Examiner,  The  New  York, 516,  596 

Expositor,  The, 218 

Faber,  G.  S., 574 

Fabri,  Friedrich, 
Materialismus, 51 

Fairbairn,  Dr.  A.  M., 

Contemporary  Review, -    89 

Studies  in  Philosophy  of  Religion  and 
History, 33,  34,  558 

Fairbairn,  Patrick, 
Commentary  on  Pastoral  Epistles,. .9,  435 

Prophecy, 67,  574 

Revelation  of  Law  in  Scripture, 279 

Typology, 224,  360,  396 

Fairchild,  James  H., 
Moral  Philosophy, 142,  257,  289 

Faith  and  Free  Thought,  (Lect.  Christ. 
Ev.  Soc.), 109 

Faiths  of  the  World, 
St.  Giles'  Lectures, 86,  87,  89,  89, 189 

Farrar,  F.  W., 

Eternal  Hope, 590,  594 

Fall  of  Man, 304 

Life  of  Christ, 65,  213,  229,  366 

Origin  of  Language, 240 

Seekers  after  God, 59,  86,  359 

Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  63,  66,  77,  78 
86,  89,  93,  93,  359. 

Farrar,  A.  S., 

Critical  History  of  Free  Thought, ....    78 
Science  and  Theology,. .30,  66,  67, 199,  211, 
215,  282. 

Felix  of  Urgella, 405 

Ferrier,  J.  F., 
Remains, 235 

Feuerbach,  L., 46,  51 

Essence  of  Christianity, 8 

Fick,  August, 
Vergl.  Worterb.  d.  indoger.  Sprachen,    11 

Finney,  C.  G., 26, 131, 174,  430,  452 

Autobiography, 112 

Systematic  Theology,  127, 142,  281,  488,  488 

Fish,  E.  J., 
Ecclesiology, 499,  502,  510,  512,  516 

Fisher,  G.  P., 
Beginnings  of  Christianity,  86, 100, 109,  360 

Discussions, 318,  319,  323,  325,  326,  327 

Essays  on  the  Supernatural  Origin  of 

Christianity, 12,  30,  33,  40,  44,  49,  56, 

62,  75,  91. 
Grounds  of  Theistic  and   Christian 

Belief, 259 

Independent, 546 

Journal  of  Christian  Philosophy, . .  32,  38, 
49,  66. 

New  Englander, 357,  594 

Princeton  Review, 61 

Fiske,  D.  T., 
Bibliotheca  Sacra, 175 

Fiske,  John, 

Cosmic  Philosophy, 54,  54 

The  Destiny  of  Man, 235,290 

The  Destiny  of  the  Creation,... 52,  536,  556 


714 


IXDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


Fitch,  E.  T., 

Christian  Spectator, 179 

Nature  of  Sin, 285 

Predestination  and  Election, 430 

Fitzgerald,  Bishop  William, 

Smith's  Bible  Dictionary,  art.  Mira- 
cles,   '....    62 

Fleming,  William, 

Vocabulary  of  Philosophy,... 4, 17,  30,  277 
Flint,  Austin, 

Physiology  of  Man, 191 

Flint,  Robert, 

A  nti-Theistic  Theories, 32 

Christ's  Kingdom  upon  Earth, 180 

Theism, ...  34,  36,  40,  41,  44,  45,  45,  47,  58,  200 
Fock,  Otto, 

Socinianismus, 400 

Forbes,  John, 

Predestination  and  Free  Will, 176 

Ford,  David  B., 

Studies  on  Baptism, 523 

Foster,  John, 19,  65 

Foundations  of  our  Faith, 4,  44,  481,  482 

Freer,  G., 

Miller's  History  and  Doctrine  of  Irv- 

ingism, 406 

Frohschammer,  J., 249,  252,  252 

Froude,  James  A., 2*18,  291 

Essay  on  Calvinism,  in  Short  Studies 

on  Great  Subjects,  vol.  2 : 1-53, 181 

Fuller,  Andrew, 25,29 

Calvinism  and  Socinianisin  Compared,  181 

Gospel  Worth  of  all  Acceptation, 27 

Letters  on  Systematic  Divinity, 27 

Part  of  a  System  of  Divinity, 39 

Works, 422,  436,  447,  458,  460,  577 

Fiirst,  Julius, 

Hebrew  Lexicon, 361 

Galton,  Francis, 46 

Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty,  ...219,  253 

Hereditary  Genius, 253 

Ganse,  Hervey  G., 

Use  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 

(in  South  Church  Lectures), 170 

Garbett,  Edward, 

Dogmatic  Faith, 59,86,93 

God's  Word  Written, 85 

Garbett,  James, 

Christ  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,..  425 
Gardiner,  F., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 108 

Gassendi,  Pierre,  (Gassendus  Petrus),  141, 183 

Opera, 142 

Gaussen,  L., 

Theopneusty, 101 

Gear,  H.  L., 

Baptist  Review, 132 

George,  N.  D., 

Universalism  not  in  the  Bible, 600 

Gerhard,  John, 3,  24 

Loci  Communes, 126,  545 

Gesenius,  William, 

Lexicon,  Heb.  and  Chald., xxix,  560 


,W.F.f 370 

Foundations  of  our  Faith, 5ft 

Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of 

Christ, 371 

Gibbon,  Edward, 98,  544 

History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 

Roman  Empire, 93. 

Gieseler,  John  C.  L., 

Church  History, 509- 

Gilflllan,  George, 

The  Sabbath, 202 

Gill,  John, 

Body  of  Divinity, 436- 

Gillespie,  William, 

Necessary  Existence  of  God, 34,  40,  48 

Gillett,  E.  H., 

God  in  Human  Thought, 272 

Girdlestone,  R.  B., 

Synonyms  of  Old  Testament, 472,  480,. 

496,500. 
Gladstone,  William  E., 

Juventus  Mundi, 241 

Nineteenth  Century, 195. 

Gloatz,  Paul, 

Studien  und  Kritiken, xx v,  63- 

Godet,  F., 

Biblical  Studies  in  Old  Testament,...  221,, 
223,247. 

Commentary  on  Gospel  of  John, ..75, 154,. 
162,  163,  468. 

Lectures  in  Defence  of  the  Christian 
Faith, 89,130,215 

Present  Day  Tracts, 75 

Princeton  Review, 12, 196,  447 

Goethe,  J.  W.  von,.3, 21, 289,  290,  291,  297,  450 

Faust, 230,  xxvii,  291,  346 

Goodwin,  H.  M., 

Christ  and  Humanity, 372 

Gordon,  A.  J., 130,  424,  425,  576 

Baptist  Review, 532 

In  Christ, 447 

Independent, 573- 

Ministry  of  Healing, 66- 

Twofold  Life, 457,487 

Goschel,  C.  F., 

Herzog's  Encyclopedic, 245,  25& 

Goulburn,  E.  M., 

Bampton  Lectures, 580 

Everlasting  Punishment, 599 

Gould,  Ezra  P., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 594 

Grau,  R.  F., 

Ueber  den  Glauben  als  hochste  Ver- 

nunf  t,  in  Beweis  des  Glaubens, 4 

Gray,  Asa, 

Natural  Science  of  Religion, 238 

Green,  Win.  H,, 

Hebrew  Chrestomathy, 184 

Moses  and  the  Prophets, 82 

Presbyterian  Quarterly, 109- 

The  Hebrew  Feasts, 83 

Green,  J.  R., 

Short  History  of  the  English  People,.  287 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


715 


Greenleaf,  Simon, 

Testimonies  of  the  Evangelists, 83 

Greg,  Wm.  R., 

Creed  of  Christendom, 67,  282,  413 

Gregory,  D.  S., 

Christian  Ethics, 143,  223,  252,  257 

Gregory  of  Nyssa, -  -23,  252,  408 

Griffin,  E.  D., 

Divine  Efficiency, 449,  452,  454 

Review  of  Taylor  and  Fitch, 452 

Griffin,  E.  P., 

Extent  of  Atonement, 422 

Grimm-Wilke, 

Lexicon  Graeco-Lat 391,  523 

Grobler,  Paul, 

Studien  und  Kritiken, 580 

Grote,  George, 

Plato, 77 

Grotius,  Hugo, 25,570 

Defensio  Fidei  Catholicae  de  Satisfac- 

tione, 403 

Guericke,  H.  E.  F., 

Church  History,  ..159, 187,  188,  189,  363,  506 

Studien  und  Kritiken, 406 

Guyon,  Madame  J.  M.  B.  de  la  Motte,  17,  469 
Guyot,  Arnold, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 106 

Creation, 184,193 

Earth  and  Man,' 239 

Gwatkin,  Henry, 

Studies  of  Arianism, 159 

Hackett,  Dr.  H.  B., 400 

Christian  Review, 77 

Commentary  on  Acts,.  15, 107,  226,  506,  510, 
510. 

Commentary  on  Philippians, 563 

Plutarch's  "De  Sera  Numinis  Vin- 

dicta," 59 

Hadley,  James, 

Essays,  Philological  and  Critical,.. 202, 558 
Hagenbach,  K.  P., 28 

Encyclopadie, 22 

History  of  Doctrine,. 9, 19,  21, 154, 155, 160, 
188,  267,  313,  315,  318,  329,  406,  456,  503 
Hahn,  Aaron, 

History  of  Arguments  for  Existence 

of  a  God, 50 

Hahn,  G.  L., 

Biblical  Theology  of  N.  T., 244 

Hales,  William, 106 

Haley,  John  W., 

Examination  of  Alleged  Discrepan- 
cies,  83,108,599 

Hall,  Edwin, 

Law  of  Baptism, 526 

Hall,  John, 

Lectures   on    the   Religious  Use   of 

Property, 306 

Hall,  Robert, 25,41,548,562 

Sermon  on  Atheism, 38 

Sermon  on  Cause,  Agent,  and  Purpose 
of  Regeneration, 454 

Works, ...233,436,521,551 


Hallam,  Arthur  H., 
Theodicaea  Novissima, 181 

Hamerton,  P.  G., 
Intellectual  Life, 12 

Hamilton,  D.  H., 
Autology, 62,217 

Hamilton.  Sir  William. 20,  21,  283,  566 

Discussions, .3, 18,36,  41,  47 

Metaphysics,.... 2,  5,  6,  43,  47,  53,  212 

Theories  of  Sense  Perception, 53 

Hanna,  William, 
The  Resurrection, 379, 577 

Hanne,  J.  W., 
Idee  der  absoluten  Personlichkeit,.57,  205 

Hardwick,  Charles, 
Christ  and  Other  Masters, 170 

Hare,  Julius  Charles, 
Mission  of  the  Comforter, 151 

Harless,  G.  C.  A., 

Christian  Ethics, 256 

Commentary  on  Ephesians, 300 

Harnack,  Prof.  A.,  of  Giessen, 

Independent, 523,524,525 

Westcott's     Com.    on     John    (Bible 
Com.),. 146 

Harnoch,  G.  A., 
Wegweiser, 188 

Harris,  Samuel, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 295 

New  Englander, 35 

Philosophical  Basis  of  Theism,  7,  29,  33,  37, 
39,  51,  55,  67,  87, 98, 122, 123, 235,  246,  260, 
313,  377,  574,  580. 

Harris,  W.  T., 34 

Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,.. 7,  49 

Hartmann,  Ed.  von, 44 

Philosophic  des  Unbewussten, 200 

Hartmann,  Robert, 
Anthropoid  Apes, 237 

Harvey,  A.,  Lord,  see  Hervey  A.,  Lord. 

Harvey,  H., 

Baptist  Review, 522 

The  Church, 500,  519 

The  Pastor, 511 

Hase,  Karl, 

Evangelische  Dogmatik, 27 

Hutterus  Redivivus,..289,  302,  329,  370, 381, 

558,  580. 
Life  of  Jesus, 78 

Hatch,  Edwin, 

Organization      of     Early     Christian 
Churches,. - 500,  508 

Haug,  Martin, 
Essays  on  the  Parsees, 188 

Haven,  Joseph, 

Moral  Philosophy, -143,  218,  257 

Bibliotheca  Sacra,  - 330 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  - 253 

Scarlet  Letter, 346 

Hazard,  R.  G., 

Freedom  of  Mind  in  Willing, 259 

Letters  on  Causation  in  Willing,  ..132,  437 
Man  a  Creative  First  Cause,  20, 178, 259, 450 


716 


INDEX    OP   AUTHORS. 


Hcbert,  C., 

The  Lord's  Supper :  History  of  Un- 
inspired Teaching, xxix,  545 

Hedge,  F.  H., 

Ways  of  the  Spirit, 41,  42, 186, 199 

Hegel,  G.  W.  F...... 12, 167,  200,  269,  301 

Encyclopaedia, -...22,  xxvii,  292 

Henderson,  E., 

Commentary  on  Minor  Prophets,  .154,  324 

Inspiration, ...65,  95,  96,  97,  98, 101, 104 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W., 570,  574 

Christology  of  Old  Testament,  ....153,  369 

Evangelische  Kirchenzeitung, 354 

Henry,  Matthew, 268,  405 

Henslow,  George, 

Evolution, 235,450 

Herbert,  George, 18 

Herbert,  Lord  Edward,  of  Cherbury, 

De  Veritate, 204 

Herbert,  Thomas  M., 

British  Quarterly, 52 

Modern  Realism  Examined, 6,  36,  53 

Herder,  Johann  Gottfried,  24 

Herodotus, 

History, 120 

Herschel,  J.  F.  W., 52 

Lectures, 55.  203 

Hervey,  A.,  Lord, 

Genealogies  of  our  Lord, 108 

Herzog,  J.  J., 

EncyclopSdie,....  17,  51,  78,  89, 181, 188, 193, 
199,  221,  326,  362,  371,  380,  411,  483,  562, 
566,580. 
Hessey,  J.  A., 

Bampton  Lectures  on  the  Sunday, ...  202 

Moral  Difficulties  of  the  Bible,  ....109,  203 
Hibbert    Lectures,    see    Renan,     and 

Renouf. 
Hickok,  Laurens  P., 

Moral  Science, 143 

Rational  Cosmology, 6,30,52 

Hicks,  L.  E., 

Baptist  Review, 107 

Critique  of  Design  Argument, 42, 199 

Hilary  (Hilarius  Arelatensis),... 328 

Hill,  George, 

System  of  Divinity, 175,181 

Hill,  Pres.  Thomas, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 51 

Hinton,  James, 

Art  of  Thinking, 4,143 

Hiscox,  Edward  T., 

Baptist  Church  Directory, 519 

Hitchcock,  Edward, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 63 

Presbyterian  Review, 500 

Hitchcock,  Dr.  R.  1)., 

South  Church  Lectures, 577 

Hobbes,  Thomas, 21,141,232 

Leviathan, 142 

Hodge,  A.  A., 27 

McClintock  and  Strong's  Cyclopaedia, 
article  "  Will," 177 


Hodge,  A.  A.  (continued), 

Outlines  of  Theology, ...171,  288,  345, 

438,  464,  479,  574,  584,  600. 
Preface   to   Cremer's   "Beyond    the 

Grave," 592 

Princeton  Review, 437 

Hodge,  Charles, 26,27,598 

Commentary  on  Romans, 14,  325 

Essays  and  Reviews, 159,  304,  322, 

324,  458,  519. 

Systematic  Theology,... .1, 15, 16, 17, 17,  29, 
30,  55,  66,  178,  196,  200,  203,  206,  208, 227, 
241,  250,  260,  289,  301,  314,  322,  324,  325, 
328,  330,  345,  357,  370,  372,  374,  377,  384, 
386,  404,  421,  431,  435,  454,  483,  490,  554, 
565. 

Hodgson,  S.  H., 
Introduction   to    Hinton's    "  Art   of 

Thinking," 4 

Time  and  Space, 55,136 

Hofmann,  J.  C.  K.  von, 370,  393 

Schriftbeweis, 21,  38, 153,  256,  264, 

371,  394. 

Holbach,  Baron  Paul  H.  d', 51 

Hollaz,  David, 24,126,289,325 

Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell, 253,  344 

Hooker  Richard, 26,370,500 

Ecclesiastical  Polity, 101, 263,  276 

282,  380,  429,  447,  519. 

Hopkins,  Mark, 121,  450 

Andover  Review, 199 

Law  of  Love, 142, 143,  256 

Miscellanies, 44 

Moral  Science, .256,294 

Outline  Study  of  Man, 3,  4,32,  52,  62, 

235,  256. 

Prayer  and  the  Prayer  Guage, 62, 216 

217,  218. 

Princeton  Review, 14,43,53,200, 

271,  275,  466. 

Scriptural  Idea  of  Man, 184,  224, 268, 

268,  269,  366. 

Hopkins,  Samuel, 26,323 

Works, 129,  205,  252,  263,  293,  308, 344, 

345,  411,  421,  454. 
Horace  (Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus), 

Epistles, 301 

Hovey,  Alvah, 

Baptist  Review, ..386,  526,  536,  569,  580 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, ...  . .  553 

Commentary  on  John, xxix,  458 

Doctrine   of   Higher   Christian  Life, 

com  pared  with  Scripture, 490 

God  with  Us, ....129,  200,  279,  293,  327, 

372,  377,  380,  381,  401,  402. 

Manual  of  Theology  and  Ethics,  .-~4,  LMti, 
340,  427,  430,  432,  456,  xxix,  458,  555, 
561,  589. 

Outlines  of  Theology, 335,  4i:>,  4.V> 

State  of  Man  after  Death, 566,  566 

State  of  the  Impenitent  Dead, 235, 

559,  561,  563. 
Howe,  John, 


INDEX   OP   AUTHORS. 


717 


Howe,  John  (continued), 
Calm  Discourse  of  the  Trinity, 161 

Howell,  R.  B.  C., 

Terms  of  Communion, 553 

The  Deaconship, 512 

Howson,  John  S., 
Present  Day  Tracts, 79 

Hudson,  C.  F., 

Christ  Our  Life, 562,588 

Debt  and  Grace, 562,588 

Hughes,  Thomas, 
Manliness  of  Christ, 294,366 

Humboldt,  Alexander  von, 
Cosmos, 1,  203 

Hume,  David, 32,  53,  67,  84,  216,  497,  565 

Philosophical  Works, 40,62,64 

Hunt,  John, 

Essay  on  Pantheism, 55 

Religious  Thought  in  England, 500 

Hurter,  H., 
Theologise  Dogmatic®  Compendium,    25 

Huther,  J.  E., 
Meyer's  Commentary  on  1  Timothy,.  503 

Hutter,  Leonard, 24 

Hutton,  Richard  H., 290 

Essays, 37,  38,  46,  55,  66,  79,  80,  98, 

169, 170,  220,  426. 
Nineteenth  Century, 64 

Huxley,  Thomas, 53,235,237 

Address  before  British  Association,  46, 191 

Critiques  and  Addresses, 43,  236,  241 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 191,  236 

Lay  Sermons, 63, 191,  236,  237 

Man's  Place  in  Nature, 236,  237 

Nature, ....191, 192 

Nineteenth  Century, 195 

Origin  of  Species, 241 

lamblicus, 58 

Ignatius, 74 

Ad  Trallianos, 23 

Immer,  A., 
Hermeneutics, 86 

Independent,  New  York, 523,  525,  573 

Ingham,  R., 

Handbook  of  Baptism, 523 

Subjects  of  Baptism, 534 

Inverach,  James, 

Philosophy  of  Spencer,  Examined, ...    54 
Present  Day  Tracts, 7 

Irenasus, 73 

Irving,  Edward, 406,  407,  408,  413 

Collected  Works, 406,  407 

Isocrates, 105 

Jackson,  William, 
Bampton  Lectures, 600 

Jacob,  G.  A., 

Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament,   494,  500,  508,  509,  510,  511, 

532,  535,  539,  540,  543,  544,  553. 

Jacobi,  Friedrich  Heinrich, 8,  24,  45 

Werke, 16 

Jacobi,  Prof.  J., 
Kitto's  Cyclopaedia,  ..  ..535 


Jahrbuch  fur  deutsche  Theologie, 71, 

241,  243,  272,  378,  381,  381,  386,  411,  470, 
577,  580. 

Janet,  Paul, 

Final  Causes, 42,  44, 127, 198, 199,  217 

Materialism, 51 

Theory  of  Morals, 256 

Jansen,  Cornelius, 25 

Jellett,  John  H., 

Moral  Difficulties  of  O.  T.,.. 109 

Donellan  Lectures, 217 

Jenkyn,  Thomas  W., 
Extent  of  the  Atonement, 422 

Jerome,  St., 75,  213,  250,  510 

Works, 311,  509 

Jevons,  W.  Stanley, 

Lessons  in  Logic, 36 

Principles  of  Science, 36,63 

John  of  Damascus, 23,  247,  363,  377 

John  Scotus  Erigena, 23, 116.  268 

Johnson,  Alvin  J., 
Cyclopasdia,  275 

Johnson,  Francis  H., 
Andover  Review, 236 

Johnson,  Franklin, 
Baptist  Review, 199 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel, 297 

Jouffroy,  Theodore  Simon, 142,  566 

Josephus,  Flavius, 107 

Against  Apion, 80 

Antiquities, 71,532,561 

Wars  of  the  Jews, 561 

Journal  of  Christian  Philosophy, 33,  38, 

49,  53,  66,  243,  272,  524. 

Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy, ....    49 

Jowett,  Benjamin, 
Epistles  of  St.  Paul, 397 

Judson,  Adoniram, 93 

Baptism, 526 

Letter,  in  Life,  by  his  Son, 539 

Jukes,  Andrew, 

Old  Testament  Sacrifices, 396 

Restitution  of  All  Things, 590 

Kahler,  Martin, 
Das  Gewissen, 256 

Kahnis,  K.  F.  A., 25 

Dogmatik, 8,11,  29,  97, 115, 118, 

120,  126,  249,  251,  350,  377,  377,  381,  438 

Kant,  Immanuel,  ....24,  43,  260,  301,  344,442, 
449,  557,  566. 

Critique  of  Pure  Reason, 6,  30,  40,  42} 

44,  46,  48,  49,  248. 
Kritik  der  practischen  Vernunf t,  Bes- 

chluss, 12 

Letter,  in  Jacobi' s  Werke, 16 

Metaphysic  of  Ethics,  212,  256,  257,  275,  280 
Religion  in.  d.  Grenzen  d.  bl.  Ver- 
nunft, 248 

Keble,  John, 69,303 

Keil,  C.  F., 
Biblische  Archaologie, 394 

Keil  and  Delitzsch, 
Commentary  on  Pentateuch, 23£ 


718 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


Kellogg-,  Samuel  H., 

Presbyterian  Review, 592 

The  Lig-ht  of  Asia,  and  the  Light  of 
the  World, 87,170 

Kelly,  William, 570 

Ad  vent  of  Christ  Premillenial, 574 

Kempis,  Thomas  a, 17 

Imitation  of  Christ, 287 

Kendall,  Henry, 

Natural  Heirship,  in  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury,   330 

Kendrick,  A.  C., 532 

Baptist  Quarterly, -..  522 

Baptist  Review, .12,  333,  574,  586 

Christian  Review, - 535 

Sunday  School  Times, 356 

King,  Clarence, 
Address  at  Yale  College,  1877, 192 

King,  H.  M., 
Baptist  Review, 211,499 

Kingsley,  Charles, 
Two  Years  Ago, xxvii,  210 

Kitto,  John, 
Biblical  Cyclopaedia, 521 

Kloppenburg,  John, 

Knapp,  Georg  Christian, 24 

Knight,  William, 
Lectures  on  Metaphysics, 40 

Knobel,  August, 
Exeg.  Handb.  d.  Alt.  Test,, 396 

Knox,  Alexander, 
Remains, 474 

Kohler,  H.  O., 
Realismus  and  Nominalismus, 329 

Krabbe,  Otto, 
Lehre  von  der  Siinde  und  vom  Tode,.  355 

Krauth,  C.  P., 

Infant    Salvation  in  the  Calvinistic 
System, 357 

Kreibig,  G., 

Versohnungslehre, 141, 199,  293,  338, 

354,  409,  412,  417.  ' 
»  Kuenen,  A., 

Pentateuch, 81 

Kurtz,  J.  H., 

Bible  and  Astronomy, 205 

Christliche  Religionslehre,  ....355,  360,  366 

History  of  Old  Covenant, 153, 193 

Sacrificial  Worship  of  Old  Testament,  396 

Lactantius, 
De  Ira  Dei, 1 

Ladd,  George  T., 

Andover  Review, 99 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 34,  38 

Doctrine  of  Sacred  Scripture, 99, 100 

Journ.  Christ.  Philosophy, 95,  95 

Principles  of  Church  Polity,  ..510,  538,  580 

Lange,  J.  P., 25, 188 

Positive  Dogmatik, 11, 129 

Commentary, 75,  75,  147,  161,  165,  356 

474,  534. 

Commentary  on  Apocrypha, 86 

Life  of  Christ,...  ..  415 


Lange,  F.  A., 
History  of  Materialism, 51 

Lardner,  Dr.  Nathaniel, 
Works, 75 

Law,  William, 
Serious  Call  to  a  Devout  and  Holy  Life,  287 

Lawrence,  Edward  A., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 209,  378,  412 

Does   Everlasting   Punishment   Last 
Forever? 591 

Laycock,  Thomas, 
Mind  and  Brain, 53 

Leathes,  Stanley, 

Old  Testament  Prophecy, 69 

Structure  of  Old  Testament, 86, 104 

Le  Conte,  Joseph, 

Princeton  Review 235,  238 

Religion  and  Science, 43, 193 

Lectures, 

Bampton, 43,  62,  86,  574,  580,  600 

Boston, 66,302 

Croall, 535 

Donnellan, 217 

Elliott, xxv,  66 

Hibbert, 78,  359,  561,  580,  582 

Hulsean, 357 

Madison  Avenue, 18,  511,  522,  528,  531, 

538,  539,  542. 
South  Church, 170,  577 

Legge,  James, 107 

Present  Day  Tracts, 86 

Religions  of  China. 32,87,272 

Leibnitz,  G.  W., 16,  24,  35 

Opera  Philosophica, 199 

Theodicee, 291 

Leighton,  Archbishop  Robert, 486 

Works, 198 

Leitch,  William, 
God's  Glory  in  the  Heavens, 225, 587 

Lemme,  Ludwig, 
Die  Stinde  wider  den  Heiligen  Geist, .  350 

Lenormant,  Francois, 107 

Lepsius,  see  Lipsius. 

Leo  the  Great, 409 

Lessing,  Gotthold  Ephraim, 16 

Letters  on  New  England  Theology,  see 
Tyler,  Bennett. 

Lewes,  George  H., 
Problems  of  Life  and  Mind,...  121, 187,  273 

Leydecker,  Melchior, 24 

De  Economia  Trium  Personarum  in 
Negotio  Salutis  Humange, 27 

Lias,  J.  J., 
Atonement, 413,414 

Lichtenberger,  F., 

Encyclopedic    des    Sciences    Relig- 
ieuses,.. 408 

Liddell  and  Scott, 
Greek  Lexicon, 522 

Liddon,  Henry  P., 
Elements  of  Religion,  ...12, 12,  32,  217,  250 

Our  Lord's  Divinity, 91, 146, 147, 148, 

150,  154,  368. 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


719 


Liebner,  Th.  A., 

Christliche  Dogmatik, 371 

Jahrbuch  fUr  deutsche  Theologie, . . .  374, 

381. 
Lightfoot,  J.  B.,  Bishop, 18,  536 

Commentaries, 75,  89, 109,  162, 165. 187, 

384,  508,  519,  530. 

Contemporary  Review, 79 

Edition  of  Clemens  Romanus, 518 

Lightwood,  John  M., 

Nature  of  Positive  Law, 274 

Lillie,  Arthur, 

Popular  Life  of  Buddha, 87 

Lillie,  John, 

Commentary  on  Thessalonians, 140, 

559,  598. 
Limborch,  Philip  van, 25,  315 

Theologia  Christiana, 268,  314 

Lincoln,  Dr.  Heman, 

Examiner,  New  York, 596 

Lincoln,  William, 442 

Lindsay,  W.  L., 

Mind  in  Lower  Animals, 235 

Lipsius,  Richard  A., xxv,  235 

Dogmatik, 200 

latch,  Josiah, 

Christ  Yet  to  Come, 574 

Litton,  E.  A., 

Introduction  to  Dogmatic  Theology,.    26 
Locke,  John, 30,35,103 

Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,  34, 

45,  566. 
Lombard,  Peter, 323,  383 

Libri  Sententiarum  Quatuor, 23 

Lord's  Supper,  The,  A  Clerical  Sympo- 
sium,   542 

Long,  J.  C., 

Baptist  Review, 525 

Lorimer,  James, 

Institutes  of  Law, 275 

Lorimer,  Peter, 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 79 

!Lotz,  Gulielmus, 

Qusestiones  de  Historia  Sabbati, 202 

ILotze,  Hermann, 

Microcosmos, 57 

Outlines  Psychology, xxix,  454 

Xove,  William  DeLoss, 

Christ's  Preaching  to  the  Spirits  in 

Prison, 386 

Lovelace,  Richard, 293 

Lowndes,  R., 

Philosophy  of  Primary  Beliefs,  ...29,  37, 

132. 
Lubbock,  Sir  John, 236 

Origin  of  Civilization, 270 

Prehistoric  Times, 270 

Lucian, 

Dialogues  of  the  Dead, 528 

Xucretius, 51, 187 

XUnemann,  G., 

Meyer's  Commentary, 246 

Xuthardt,  C.  E.,...  .    25 


Luthardt,  C.  E.  (continued), 

Compendium  der  Dogmatik,  ....I,  22, 117, 
120,  165,  201,  271,  289,  360,  394,  460,  464, 
558,  561, 

Fundamental  Truths, 8, 12, 16,  37,  47, 

59,  297,  554. 

Lehre  des  f  reien  Willens, 199,  451 

Lehre  von  den  letzten  Dingen, 554 

Saving  Truths  of  Christianity,....  105,  412, 
554. 

Luther,  Martin, 24, 167,  218,  230,  247,  247, 

286,  293,  375,  408,  425,  447,  456,  461,  503, 
528,  536,  546,  569. 

Commentary  on  the  Galatians, 466 

Table  Talk, 252,351 

Lyal],  William, 

Intellect,  Emotions  and   Moral   Na- 
ture,  259 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles, 184 

Antiquity  of  Man, 272 

Lynch,  Archbishop,  of  Toronto, 545 

Macaulay,  T.  B., 485,500 

Review  of  Gladstone  on  Church  and 

State, 509 

Macan,  R.  W., 

Resurrection  of  Christ, 580 

Macdonnell,  J.  C., 

Atonement, '. 411 

Macduff,  J.  R., 

In  Christ, 447 

Macintosh,  C.  H.  (C.  H.  M.),  228,  422,  475,  481, 
484. 

Notes  on  Genesis,  .100,  201,  302,  303,  396,  479 

Notes  on  Exodus, 110 

Maclaren,  Alexander, 582 

Maclear,  G.  F., 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 77 

Macpherson,  John, 

Presbyterianisrn, 608 

MacWhorter,  Alexander, 

Jahveh  Christ, 360 

Magazine  Baptist, 195 

Magee,  William, 

Atonement  and  Sacrifice, 411 

Mahan,  Asa, 

Christian  Perfection, 488 

Maimonides,  Moses, 523 

Maine,  Sir  Henry, 

Ancient  Law, 274 

Maistre,  Count  Joseph  de, 298 

Maitland,  S,  R., 570 

Manning,  H.  E.,  Cardinal, 

Temporal  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  157 
Manning,  J.  M., 

Half-truths  and  the  Truth, 55 

Mansel,  Henry  L., 

Aids  to  Faith, 62 

Lectures,  Essays  and  Reviews, 131 

Limits  of  Religious  Thought, 6,  6,  32 

Metaphysics, 29,  30,  38,  235,  256,  281,  555 

Prolegomena  Logica, 5, 122 

Marchi,  Joseph, 92 

Marck,  John,  ..  ..324 


720 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


Marcion, 73,189 

Martensen,  H.  L.,  Bishop, 

Christian  Dogmatics, ...  .18, 27, 116, 128, 130, 
134,  138,  169,  187,  190,  192, 193,  231,  238, 
250,  286,  298,  308,  313,  330,  347,  360,  376, 
389,  449,  566,  584. 
Martin,  Hugh, 

Atonement, 403 

Martineau,  James, 19,  51, 168,  295 

Essays  Philosophical  and  Theological,  4,  6- 
8,  9,  36,  40,  43,  44,  54,  55,  56, 203, 272, 552 

Nineteenth  Century, 58 

Religion  and  Materialism,  .5,  33,  53,  54,  256 

Studies  of  Christianity, 398 

Types  of  Ethical  Theory,...  143,  xxix,  450 
Martyr,  Justin, 

Trypho, 589 

Mason,  J.  M. 

Messiah's  Throne, 425 

Mason,  S.  R., 

Truth  Unfolded, 351,  355,  433,  452,  492 

Maspero,  G., 185 

Masson,  David, 

Three  Devils, 223 

Matheson,  George, 

Faiths  of  the  World    (St.  Giles  Lec- 
tures),     86 

Maurice,  F.  D., 

On  Sacrifice, 397,  400 

Sermons  on  the  Sabbath, 202 

Theological  Essays, 400,  594 

What  is  Revelation? 7 

Maxwell,  Clerk, 

Nature, 43 

McCabe,  L.  D., 

Divine  Nescience  of  Future  Contin- 
gencies a  Necessity, 134, 174 

Foreknowledge  of  God, 134, 174, 175 

McCosh,  Pres.  James, 164 

Christianity  and  Positivism,  7,  38,  44, 52, 56 

Divine  Government,  49,  52, 199, 217, 259,  466 

International  Review, 5,  53 

Intuitions,.. 4,  5,  6,  6,  7,  30,  36,  40,  52,  52,  56, 
212,580. 

Typical  Forms, 43 

M.,  C.  H.,  (Macintosh,  C.  H.),  100,  228,  422, 

481,  484. 
Mclvaine,  J.  H., 

Evidences  of  Christianity, 72,  74,  91 

Wisdom  of  Holy  Scripture, ....93, 109, 193, 

238,  302,  345,  405,  409. 
McLennan,  J.  F., 

Studies  in  Ancient  History, 271 

McLeod,  Norman, 

Temptation  of  Our  Lord, 230 

McPherson,    John,    see    Macpherson, 
John. 

Presbyterianism, 508 

Melancthon,  Philip,. 23, 167,  204,  323,  379,  415, 
433,  451,  461,  480,  487,  569. 

Loci  Communes, 24,  289 

Menken,  Gottfried, 405 

Schriften, 406 


Meyer,  H.  A.  W., 114,146, 162 

Commentary,  9,  37,  68, 101, 163, 226, 229, 238, 
246,  247,  291,  299,  353,  353,  356,  384,  385, 
391,  392,  393,  411,  465,  473,  474,  503,  505, 
507,  510,  523,  524,  524,  534,  540,  548,  560,. 
571,  590,  594. 

Macintosh,  C.  H., 100,  228,  422,  481,  484 

Miley,  J., 
Methodist  Quarterly, 452 

Mill,  John  Stuart, 142,  552 

Autobiography 46,  66,  212,  450 

Essays  on  Religion, 43,  90,  91, 187,  556- 

Examination  of  Hamilton, 7,  47,  53 

Liberty, 86 

System  of  Logic, 273,450 

Three  Essays  on  Theism, 45,  64,  66 

Miller,  John, 

Fetich  in  Theology, 16,  30, 19fr 

Problems  Suggested  by  the  Bible,.... 386,. 
413. 

Miller,  Edward, 
History  and  Doctrine  of  Irvingism,  ..  406 

Miller,  Hugh, 
Testimony  of  the  Rocks, 193 

Milligan,  William, 
Resurrection  of  our  Lord, 6d 

Milton,  John, 
Paradise  Lost,  ....134,  227,  290,  409,  486,  586 

Mind, 260,329 

Mitchell,  Arthur, 
Past  in  the  Present, 271 

Mitchell,  E.  C., 
Critical  Handbook, 7£ 

Mitchell,  J.  Murray, 
Present  Day  Tracts, 87,89- 

Mivart,  St.  George, 

British  Quarterly, 235 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 288 

Genesis  of  Species, 238 

Lessons  from  Nature,  6,  44, 57, 134, 187, 237, 
238,  270. 

Man  and  Apes, 237,238 

The  Cat, 238 

Moffat,  Robert, 31 

Molina,  Luis, 174 

Moehler,  J.  A., 507 

Symbolism, 25, 100,  263,  263,  481 

Monad  (see  Monrad,  Bishop  D.  G.), 218 

Monod,  Adolphe, 278 

Sermons  on  Christ's  Temptation, 21 

Monrad,  Bishop  D.  G., 218 

World  of  Prayer, 218 

Montesquieu,  S., 
Spirit  of  Laws, 275 

Moorhouse,  James, 
Nature  and  Revelation, 366,  580 

More,  Sir  Thomas, 
Utopia, 351,585 

Morell,  J.  D., 

History  of  Philosophy, 17,52 

Mental  Philosophy, 2«0 

Philosophical  Fragments, 50 

Philosophy  of  Religion, 3,  T 


IXDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


721 


Morgan,  L.  H., 
Ancient  Society, 270 

Morris,  George  S., 
Philosophy  and  Christianity, 123, 167 

Morris,  H.  W., 
Conflict  of  Science  and  Religion, 243 

Morrison,  C.  R., 
Proofs  of  Christ's  Resurrection, 66 

Morton, 241 

Moxom,  Philip  S., 
Baptist  Review, 253,  340,  424 

Mozley,  J.  B., 

Essays, 41,  42,  467,  560,  562,  591 

Lectures, 562 

Miracles, 3,  61,  62,  63,  64,  65,  66,  66,  215 

Original  Sin, 330 

Predestination, 329,  337,  418 

Ruling  Ideas  in  Early  Ages, 109,  281 

Muir,  William, 
Present  Day  Tracts, 77,  89 

Milller,  G.  C., 
Literature  of  Greece 185 

Mtiller,  Julius, _ 24,25 

Doctrine  of  Sin,  12, 12,  28,  30,  41,  45,  57, 116, 
124, 127, 131, 191,  206,  248,  249,  253,  259, 
264,  279,  288,  289,  xxvii,  291,  xxvii,  292. 
292,  293,  294,  298,  300,  301,  304,  313,  317, 
318,  321,  322,  325,  327,  329,  338,  345,  347, 
349,  350,  351,  353,  355,  356,  555,  566. 

Dogmatische  Abhandlungen,. 384 

Proof -texts,....  16, 165,  291,  365,  365,  424,  426 

Mtiller,  Max,. 107 

Chips  from  German  Workshop,  31, 147, 272, 
468. 

Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion, 31 

Philosophy  of  Language, 235 

Science  of  Language, 240,  241,  360 

Science  of  Religion, 125 

Murphy,  J.  G., 
Commentary  on  Genesis, 222 

Murphy,  Joseph  John, 

Habit  and  Intelligence, 40,44,62 

Scientific  Bases  of  Faith, 3,  5,  6,  7,  39, 

40,  43,  44,  45,  46,  46,  55,  56,  58,  65, 131, 
198,  203,  276, 279,  281,  330,  600. 

Murray,  Thomas  C., 
Origin  and  Growth  of  Psalms, 82,  240 

NHgelsbach,  C.  F., 
Nachhornerische  Theologie, 394 

Nation,  New  York, 43 

Nature,  London, 43 

Naville,  Ernest, 

La  Vie  Eternelle, 580 

Problem  of  Evil, 330 

Revue  Chretienne, 259 

Neander,  Dr.  Augustus, 21,  247,  499,  535 

Church  History, 21,  189,  312,  329,  361, 

361,  500,  506,  525,  536. 

Commentary  on  James, 473,  484,  500 

Commentary  on  1  John, 489 

History  of  the  Planting  and  Training 
of  the  Christian  Church  by  the  Apos- 
tles,.162,  291,  304,  356,  503,  566,  574,  580,  584 


Neander,  Dr.  Augustus   (continued), 

Kitto,  Biblical  Cyclopaedia  (Isted.),..  535 
Nelson,  John, 

Autobiography, 583 

Nevin,  J.  W., 

Mystical  Presence, 546 

Newman,  Prof.  Albert  H., 23,  536 

Newman,  Cardinal  John  Henry, 303 

Lectures  on  Justification, 474,  482 

Nineteenth  Century, 105 

University  Sermons, 4 

Newman,  Francis  W., 

Phases  of  Faith, 7,98 

Newton,  John, 298 

Newton,  Sir  Isaac, 69,570 

Newton,  Thomas, 

Prophecy, 67 

Nineteenth  Century,  See  Century,  The 

Nineteenth. 
Nitzsch,  Carl  I., 

System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  ....8, 11, 12, 
17,  21,  29,  40,  128,  246,  264,  289,  302,  350, 
470. 
Nicoll,  W.  R., 

The  Incarnate  Savior,  a  Life  of  Jesus 

Christ, 66, 149,  354,  386,  407,  576 

Noel,  Baptist  W., 548 

Essay  on  Baptism, 526 

Nordell,  Philip  A., 

The  Examiner, 138 

Norton,  Andrews, 

Genuineness  of  the  Gospels, 74 

Nott  and  Gliddon, 

Types  of  Mankind, 242 

Noyes,  George  R., 

Theological  Essays, 282 

Occam,  William  of, 23,116 

Lib.  2,  Qujest.  19,. 142 

Oehler,  G.  F., 

Old  Testament  Theology, 184,  304, 

395. 
Oldenburg,  Hermann, 

Buddha, 87 

Oliphant,  Mrs.  Margaret  Q.  W., 

Life  of  Edward  Irving, 406 

Olshausen,  Hermann, 577 

Commentary,  ....116, 167,  246,  300,  340,  510, 

530. 
Oosterzee,  J.  J.  Van, 

Christian  Dogmatics, 11, 12, 13,  36, 

40,  231,  233,  261,  267,  286,  301,  308,  319, 
349,  360,  377,  380,  384,  387,  387,  422,  425, 
487,  493. 

Origen  of  Alexandria, 9,  23,  76, 190,  248, 

400,  578,  591. 

Adversus  Celsum, 30 

Osgood,  Dr.  Howard, 

Resurrection  among  the  Egyptians,  in 

Hebrew  Student, 561,  580 

Osiander,  Andreas, 478 

Ossory,  Bishop  of, 

Nature  and  Effects  of  Faith, 464,  470, 

474,  483. 


722 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


Ovid  (P.  Ovidius  Naso ), 

Fasti, '..  394 

Metamoi-phoses, 267,  297 

Owen,  John, 25,  323,  422 

Dissertation  on  Divine  Justice,  ..140, 141, 
411. 

On  the  Holy  Spirit, 458 

On  Justification, 444,483 

Works, 157,  164, 166,  378,  454,  488,  493 

Owen,  Richard, 241 

Comparative  Anatomy  of  the  Verte- 
brates,   43,54,191,195 

Page-Roberts,  W., 
Oxford  University  Sermons, 253 

Paine,  Thomas 58,291 

Pajon,  Claude, 532 

Paley,  William, 

Evidences, 83,84 

Moral  and  Political  Philosophy, 142 

Natural  Theology, 274 

Papias, 74 

Park,  Edwards  A., 95,  138, 172, 180, 

317,  319,  459,  509,  519. 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 109, 144,  396,  508 

Discourses, 129, 131, 198,  340,  365, 

403,  404. 

Parkhurst,  Charles  H., 
The  Pattern  on  the  Mount, 246 

Parker,  Theodore, 7,  89 

Discourses  of  Religion, 98 

Experien  ces  as  a  Minister^ 21 

Parker,  Joel, 
Lectures  on  Uni versalism 598 

Parker,  Joseph, 
The  Paraclete, 151 

Pascal,  Blaise, 20,  21,  25,  65, 199,  301 

Thoughts, 339,  447 

Pattison,  S.  Rowles, 
Present  Day  Tracts, 107 

Patton,  F.  L., 467 

Journ.  Christian  Philosophy, 38,44 

Princeton  Review, 141, 181 

British  and  Foreign  Evangelical  Re- 
view,   , 352,595 

Presbyterian  Review, xxv,  142 

Patton,  W.  W., 

New  Englander, ; 

Prayer  and  its  Answers, 218 

Payne-Smith,  R.  (see  Smith,  R.  Payne), 

Present  Day  Tracts, 

Prophecy,  a  Preparation  for  Christ,..    67 

Payne,  George, 

Divine  Sovereignty, 454 

Original  Sin, 326 

Peabody,  Andrew  P., 

Audover  Review, 50 

Christianity  the  Religion  of  Nature,  ..  13, 
15,  33,  59,  72,  101. 

Moral  Philosophy, 257,258 

Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 77 

Pearson,  Bishop  John, 26,  386 

Pearson,  Thomas, 
Infidelity, 205 


Peck,  George, 
Christian  Perfection, 488 

Peirce,  Benjamin, 
Ideality  in  the  Physical  Sciences,  ....  195 

Pelagius, 250,  310,311 

Pengilly,  R., 
Baptism, 526 

Pepper,  Pres.  G.  D.  B., 

Baptist  Quarterly, 537,553 

Baptist  Review, 574 

Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 522 

Outlines  of  Systematic  Theology,  ....135, 
171,  174,  210,  275,  335. 

Perowne,  J.  J.  S., 
Psalms, 109,199,203 

Perrone,  J., 
Prselectiones  Theologicse, 25,  91,  93,  267 

Persius, 187 

Peschel,  O., 
Races  of  Men, 32 

Petavius, 25 

Peter  Lombard, 23,408 

Peter  Martyr 24,268 

Peyrerius, 239 

Pezzi,  D., 
Aryan  Philology, 240 

Pfleiderer,  Otto, 

Die  Religion, 6,12,41,49,57 

Hibbert  Lectures, -    78 

Religionsphilosophie, 34 

Phelps,  Austin, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 253 

English  Style, 587 

The  New  Birth, 454 

The  Still  Hour, 218 

Philippi,  F.  A., 3 

Active  Obedience  of  Christ, 477 

Commentary  on  Romans, 279,  331 

Glaubenslehre, 3,  11, 105, 124, 129, 136, 

186,  206,  208,  220,  221,  232,  233,  249,  261, 
262,  264,  265,  267,  274,  282,  291,  292,  294, 
300,  303,  307,  318,  322,  330,  362,  363,  372, 
377,  377,  378,  384,  386,  387,  390,  393,  400, 
409,  411,  418,  421,  425,  464,  487. 

Philo, 80,153,561 

De  Gigantibus, 248 

Pickering,  Charles, 
Races  of  Men, 239,241 

Pictet,  Benedict, 24 

Pierce,  Nehemiah, 
Baptist  Quarterly, -  456 

Pierret,  Paul, 

My thologie  Egyptienne, 185 

Placeus,  Joshua, 24.  325 

De     Imputatione      Primi      Peccati 

Adami, 326 

Plato, 15,  59,  70,  88, 126,  143,  290,  557 

Meno, 248,301 

Phsedo, '. 58,  248 

Pha?drus, 248 

Republic, 248,  585 

Second  Alcibiades, & 

Pliny, 91,92,150 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


723 


Plumptre,  E.  H,, 

Christ  and  Christendom, 380 

Commentary  on  the  Epistles  of  Peter,  76, 
78,  455,  507,  559. 

Commentary  on  Jude, 83 

The  Spirits  in  Prison, 386 

Plutarch, 276,297,433 

De  Sera  Numinis  Vindicta, 59 

Polanus,  A., 250 

Pollok,  Robert, 

Course  of  Time, 574 

Polycarp,  of  Smyrna, 73,  78 

Pomeroy,  J.  N., 

Johnson's  Cyclopedia, 275 

Pond,  Enoch, 

Swedenborgianism, 100 

Pope,  Alexander, 43 

Essay  on  Man, 199,  214 

Pope,  W.  B., 

Theology,. .26,  38, 107, 193,  291,  299,  302,  315, 

384.  416. 
Porter,  Noah, 

Human  Intellect,  ..4,  5,  6,  6,  7,  8, 12,  29,  30, 
30,  31,  33,  35,  36,  37,  40,  42,  44,  46.  48,  52, 
53,  56,  86, 122, 122, 123,  130,  131,  132,  132, 
203,  235,  246,  262,  268,  377,  450,  578,  579. 

Moral  Science, 259 

Pott, 

Die  Verschiedenheiten  der  mensch- 

lichen  Rassen, 240 

Potwin,  Lemuel  S.,  , 

New  Englander, 401 

Powell,  Baden, 

Essays  and  Reviews, 216 

Law  and  Gospel, 282 

Order  of  Nature, 213 

Prentiss,  George  L., 

Presbyterian  Review, 357 

Pressense,  E.  de, 

Jesus  Christ :  Life,  Times  and  Work,  89, 
154. 

Religions  before  Christ, 359 

Theological  Eclectic, 80 

Prichard,  J.  C., 

Natural  History  of  Man, 241 

Researches, 243 

Priestley,  Joseph, xxv,  95, 142 

Prime,  Samuel  Irenasus, 

Power  of  Prayer,  218 

Pusey,  E.  B., 

Tract  "Number  Ninety," 546 

Pythagoras, .58,  88,  91 

Quarterly, Baptist,... 20,  36,  52,  52,  54,  54,  353, 
376,  380,  380,  386,  456,  512,  521,  522,  526, 
530,  530,  532,  532,  532,  534,  536,  536,  537, 
537,  546,  553,  569,  574,  580,  586. 
Quarterly,  British,... 51,  52,  57,  60,  75,  82, 142, 
235,  499. 

Quarterly,  Lutheran, 142 

Quarterly,  Methodist  Quarterly, 452 

Quarterly,  Presbyterian, 4, 109 

Quatrefages,  A.  de, 

Natural  History  of  Man, 


Quatrefages,  A.  de  (continued), 

Revue  des  deux  Mondes, 241 

Unite  de  1'  Espece  Humaine, 239 

Quenstedt,  J.  A., 24, 183,  379,  480 

Theologia  Didactica,..100, 128,  221,  438,  477 

Racovian  Catechism, 25,  268 

Rainy,  Robert, 

Delivery  and  Development  of  Doc- 
trine,.. -. 86, 104 

Ramus,  Petrus, 24 

Rauschenbusch,  Prof.  Augustus, 
Sollen    wir    Samstag    oder    Sonntag 

feiern? 202 

Rawlinson,  George, 271 

Historical  Evidences, 90,  92, 108 

Journal  of  Christian  Philosophy,.. ..  106, 
243,  272. 

Modern  Scepticism, 108 

Present  Day  Tracts, 31 

Religions  of  Ancient  World, 170 

Raymond,  Miner, 
McClintock  and   Strong's    Cyclopas- 

dia, 177 

Systematic  Theology, 30,  175,  264,  315, 

318,  329,  345. 
Records  of  the  Past, 

Hymn  to  Amen  Rha, 185 

Reid,  Dr.  Thomas, 

Intellectual  Powers, . 131, 132 

Reid,  Dr.  William, 
Plymouth  Brethrenism  Unveiled, ....  499 

Renan,  Ernest, 32 

Hibbert  Lectures, 359 

Life  of  Jesus, 79 

Renouf,  P.  Le  Page, 
Hibbert  Lectures,.. 32,  56, 170,  185,  240,  243, 

441,  561,  580,  582. 
Repository,  Biblical,....  158, 170,  314,  359,  488, 

490,  522,  525. 
Reusch,  Fr.  H., 
Biblische  Schopfungsgeschichte,.. .xxvii, 

195. 
Reubelt,  John  A., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 371 

Reuss,  Edouard, 

History  of  Canon, 73 

History   of    Christian    Theology    in 

Apostolic  Age, 21,300,361 

Review,  American  Theological, 2,  9 

Review,  Andover, 50, 199,  236 

Review,  Baptist  Quarterly,.. 61, 100, 105, 132, 
167,  178,  199,  201,  211,  253,  258,  259,  282, 
297,  298,  340,  350,  412,  424,  499,  522,  525, 
534,  536,  537,  562,  574,  510. 
Review,    British    and   Foreign   Evan- 
gelical,   109,  168,  403,  463.  487,  595 

Review,  British  Quarterly,.. ..444,  xxix,  548 

Review,  Catholic, .,538 

Review,  Chretienne, 259 

Review,  Christian, 77,  407,  535,  536,  566 

Review,  Contemporary,. 53,  54,  79,  79,  89, 143, 

580. 
Review,  International, . .  .53 


724 


INDEX    OF   AUTHORS. 


Review.  Methodist  Quarterly,.... 32,  42,  239, 
272,  566,  591. 

Review,  North  British, 535 

Review,  Presbyterian,  5,  49,  53,  61,  66,  82,  87« 
xxv,  142,  239,  324,  357,  380, 384,  500, 509, 
510,  516,  539,  540,  562,  564,  568,  573,  574, 
592. 

Review  Princeton,  ..4,  7,  38.  43,  44,  54.  54,  61, 

62,  66,  97,  104,  108,  141,  181, 196, 200,  235, 

238,  253,  275,  319,  aSO,  340,  342,  349,  386, 

407,  437,  447,  499,  508,  551,  574,  589,  594 

Reville,  Jean, 85 

Doctrine  of  the  Logos  in  John  and 

Philo, 154 

Revision,  American, 297 

Revue  des  deux  Mondes, 241 

Revue  Theologique, 580 

Reynolds,  Bishop  Edward, 

Sinfulness  of  Sin, 330 

Ribot,  Th., 

Heredity, 254 

Richards,  James, 

Lectures  on  Theology,.... 286,  345,  422,  426 

Richter,  Jean  Paul, 284 

Ridgeley,  Thomas, 26 

Body  of  Divinity, a57,  377,  493 

Riggenbach,  C.  J., 

Lange's  Commentary, 246 

Ripley.  Henry  J., 

Church  Polity, 519 

Ritschl,  Albrecht, 400 

Christian  Doctrine  of  Justification,  482,488 

Rechtf  ertigung  and  Versobnung, 401 

Ritter,  Heinrich, 

History  of  Ancient  Philosophy, 44 

Robbins,  R.  D.  C., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, _ 591 

Roberts,  W.  Page  (see  Page  Roberts,W.) 

Oxford  University  Sermons, - .  -  253 

Robertson,  F.  W.,....20, 167,  352,  387,  532,  596 

Lectures  and  Addresses, 478 

Lectures  on  Genesis,  122, 187,  235,  282,  294, 
377. 

Sermons, 168,  293,366,  400,  583 

Robie,  Edward, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 170 

Robins,  Dr.  Henry  E., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 378,  384 

Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 531 

Robinson,  C.  S., 

Short  Studies  for  S.  S.  Teachers, 469 

Robinson,  Pres.  E.  G., 2,  345 

Baptist  Quarterly, 546 

Robinson,  Edward, 

Biblical  Researches 523 

Harmony  of  Gospels, 108,  505 

Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament,... 496,  512 
Rogers,  J.  G., 

Priests  and  Sacraments, 546 

Rogers,  Henry, 

Eclipse  of  Faith, 60,98,109 

Superhuman  Origin  of  the  Bible,  60, 77, 86, 
91, 133, 136. 


Romaine,  W., 
Faith, 470 

Romanes,  G.  J., 

Mental  Evolution  in  Animals, 235 

Scientific  Evidence  of  Organic  Evolu- 
tion,   236 

Roscelin, 23 

Rosetti,  Mai-ia  F., 
Shadow  of  Dante, 221 

Rothe,  Richard, 116, 136 

Dogmatik, 27, 120,  205,  251,  289,  373 

Theologische  Ethik, 27, 134, 135,  205 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques, 
Confessions, 298 

Row,  C.  A., 

Bampton  Lectures, 62,  66,  75,  79,  89, 

98,  215. 

Lectures  on  Modern  Scepticism , 77 

Revelation  and  Modern  Theories, 110 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 86 

Royce,  Josiah, 
The  Religious  Aspect  of  Philosophy,.    55 

Rtickert,  Friedrick, 39 

Rtickert,  L.  J., 
Commentary, 263 

Ruskin,  John, xxix,  348 

Sadler,  M.  F., 
Church  Doctrine, 532,  546 

Saisset,  Emil, 
Modern  Pantheism,  Essay  on  Relig- 

t      ious  Philosophy, 48,  56 

Sales,  St.  Francis  de, 17 

Salmon,  George, 

Introduction  to  New  Testament,  xxv,  79 
Reign  of  Law 282 

Salmond,  S.  D.  F., 
Popular  Commentary, 386 

Samson,  G.  W., 

Bible  Wines, 540 

Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 511 

Water-supply  of  Jerusalem, 523 

Sanday,  William, 

Authorship  of  Fourth  Gospel, 75 

Gospels  in  Second  Century. 75 

Sartorius,  Ernst, 
Person  and  Work  of  Christ,... 375,  377,  383 

Savage,  Eleazer. 
Church  Discipline, 517 

Sayce,  A.  H., 
Principles  of  Comparative  Philology,  240 

Schaff,  Philip, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 159,  312,  340 

Germany,  its  Universities,  Theology 

and  Religion, 24 

History  of  the  Christian  Church,  311,  360, 
361,  377,  546. 

Person  of  Christ, 90,366,368 

Princeton  Review, 66,330 

Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 350 

Teaching  of  Twelve  Apostles, 503,  525 

Schiller,  Friedrich, 

Die  Braut  von  Messina, 337,  345 

Thekla,...  554 


INDEX   OF  AUTHORS. 


725 


Schleiermacher,  Friedrich  E.  D.,.,8, 12, 116, 
136,  xxvii,  291,  554. 

Biblical  Repository, 158 

Christliche  Glaube, -.264,  289 

Glaubenslehre, 18 

Schliemann,  H., 

Troy  and  her  Remains, 271 

Schmid,  C.  F., 

Bib.  Theol.  des  N.  T., 21,  38 

Schmid,  HM 

Dogmatik, 397 

Schmid,  Rudolph, 

Theories  of  Darwin,  .. ....195,  238,  243 

Schneckenburger,  M., 

Ueber  das  Alter  der  jtldischen  Prose- 

lytentaufe, 521 

Scho'berlein,  D.  L., 

Jahrbuch  fur  deutsche  Theologie, _ . . .  378 

Studien  und  Kritiken, 411.  447 

Schodde,  George  H., 

Book  of  Enoch, 80 

Scholz,  Paul, 

Gotzendienst  und  Zauberwesen, 31 

Schopenhauer,  A., 43 

Die    Welt    als    Wille   und    Vorstell- 

ung, 200 

Schrader,  Eberhard, 

Keilinschriften, 201 

Schwegler,  Albert, 

History  of  Philosophy, 167,  257 

Schweizer,  A., 

Glaubenslehre,  .. 116 

Popular  Science  Monthly, 221 

Scott,  Pres.  Walter, 

Existence  of  Evil  Spirits, 221 

Scott,  Sir  Walter, 85 

Scotus  Erigena,  John, 23, 116,  268 

Scribner,  G.  Hilton, 

Where  did  Life  Begin?.. 240 

Sears,  E.  H,, 

Fourth  Gospel, -...  108 

Secretan,  Charles, 

Liberty,.... 41,330 

Seelye,  Pres.  J.  H., 

A  Century  of  Dishonor, 270 

Christian  Missions, 573 

Seneca,  M.  Annaeus, .88,  200,  450,  480 

Delra, 297 

Epistles, 297 

Shairp,  J.  C., 

Princeton  Review, 38 

Shakespeare,  William, 82,211 

Shaw,  Benjamin, 

Positivism, 44 

Shedd,  William  G.  T.,  ...26, 117, 138,  266,  299, 
336,  417,  428. 

Commentary  on  Romans, 331 ,  428 

Discourses  and  Essays, 9, 128, 140, 

141,  141,  252,  287,  301,  330,  342,  411,  419, 
420. 

Doctrine  of  Endless  Punishment,  594,  595, 
596,  597,  598,  600. 

Homiletics,  ..  .14 


Shedd,  William  G.T.  (continued), 
History  of  Doctrine,.. 4,  21,  49,  56, 115, 150, 
159, 165,  166,  167,  las,  189,  252,  263,  267, 
286,  313,  314,  318,  328,  362,  368,  380,  400, 
405,  409. 

Philosophy  of  History, 21,  411 

Sermons  to  Natural  Man,  12,  141,  263,  297, 
307,  340. 

South  Church  Sermons, 345 

Sheldon,  D.  N., 

Sin  and  Redemption, 311,  398 

Shipley,  Orby, 

Theory  about  Sin, 294 

Short,  Augustus, 

Bam pton  Lectures, .. 469 

Simon,  D.  W., 

Christian  Doctrine  and  Life, 10 

Expositor, 411 

Smalley,  John, 26,319 

Smeaton,  George, 
Our  Lord's  and  his  Apostles'  Doctrine 

of  the  Atonement, 396 

Smith,  Adam, 142 

Smith,  Charles  E., 

Baptism  of  Fire, 164,  485,  524,  534 

Smith,  Goldwin, 218 

Contemporary  Review, 143 

Smith,  Henry  B., 
Faith  and  Philosophy,  2,  3,  6,  22,  34,  56,  77, 

80,  129,  259, 1301,  316,  319. 
Introduction  to  Christian  Theology,  1, 36, 
49,66. 

Lectures  on  A  pologetics, 61 

New  Englander, 35 

Presbyterian  Review, 479 

System  of  Christian  Theology, 121, 143, 

257,  281, 294,  299,  300,  304,  305,  309,  320, 
326,  337,  339,  342,  352,  365,  436,  437,  449, 
456,  468,  475,  476,  479,  481. 
Smith,  H.  P., 

Presbyterian  Review, 82 

Smith,  J.  Pye, 

Mosaic  Account  of  Creation, 193 

Scripture  and  Geology, 193 

Scripture    Testimony    to    the    Mes- 
siah,    153 

Smith,  Lucius  E., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra,  article:   Is  Salva- 
tion Possible  without  a  Knowledge 

of  the  Gospel? 468 

Smith,  Philip, 

Ancient  History  of  the  East, 272 

Smith,  R.  Payne  (see  Payne-Smith,  R.) 

Present  Day  Tracts, 82 

Prophecy  a  Preparation  for  Christ,  67, 113 
Smith,  T.  T., 

Hulsean  Lectures, 467 

Smith,  Thomas, 

Unity  of  Races, .239,  240,  240,  241,  243 

Smith,  W.  Robertson, 
Old  Testament  in  Jewish  Church,  ....  104 

Pentateuch, 81 

Prophets  of  Israel, 130 


726 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Smyth,  Egbert  C., 

Edwards'    Observations  on   Trinity, 
Introduction, '. ..144,  162 

Smyth,  Newman, 

Dorner's  Eschatology , 590 

New  Englander, 34 

Old  Faiths  in  a  New  Light, 63,  578 

Orthodox  Theology, ..431,594 

The  Religious  Feeling, a5 

Snodgrass,  W.  D., 

Scriptural     Doctrine    of    Sanctifica- 
tion, 490 

Socinus,  Faustus, 25,159,397 

Socinus,  Lselius, .25,159,397 

Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology,  Trans- 
actions,  201 

Solly,  Thomas, 
The  Will,  Divine  and  Human, 131,  279 

Sophocles, 70 

Sophocles,  E.  A., 

Lexicon  of  Greek  Usage  in  Roman 
and  Byzantine  Periods, 522 

South,  Robert, 
Sermons, 268,383 

Southall,  James  C., 
Recent  Origin  of  *  Man, 271 

Spear,  Samuel  T., 401 

Spectator,  Christian, 430,  451 

Spectator,  London, 55, 197,  xxvii,  291 

Spencer,  Edmund, 
Faerie  Queen, 124,233 

Spencer,  Herbert, 5,32,116,270 

Biology, 121 

Essays, 106 

First  Principles, ...5,  6,  40,  41 

Psychology, 52,  54 

Spencer,  John, 
De  Legibus  Hebraeorum,  394 

Spencer,  O., 

Catechism  of  the  Church  of  Latter 
Day  Saints, 321 

Spinoza,  Benedict  de, 6,48,  136 

Ethics, ... 56,291 

Splittgerber,  F., 

Schlaf  undTod, 562 

Tod,  Fortleben,  und  Auferstehung,..  580 

Spurgeon,  Charles  H., 10,550 

Sermons, 182 

Squier,  Miles  P., 
Autobiography, 454,  456 

Stahl,  F.  J., 

Christliche  Philosophic, 394 

Philosophie  des  Rechts, 340 

Stallo,  J.  B., 
Modern  Physics, 51,195 

Stanley,  Arthur  P., 18 

Baptism,.... 526,  531 

Christian  Institutions, 544 

Com.  on  Corinthians, 114 

Historical      Aspects     of      American 

Churches, 525 

Nineteenth  Century, 525 

Sinai  and  Palestine,  ..  ..107 


Stapfer,  J.  F.,. 12 

Quotations  by  Jonathan  Edwards,  ...  328 
Starkie,  Thomas, 

On  Evidence, 65,  69,  71,  79,  83 

Stearns,  Prof.  L.  F., 

New  Englander, 65,  a39,  421 

Steffens,  H., 566 

Stephen,  James  Fitzjames, 

Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity,  ...  352 
Steudel,  J.  C.  F., 

Biblical  Theology  of  Old  Testament,.    21 
Stevens,  Prof.  W.  A., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 77 

Commentary  on  the  Thessalouians,..  140, 
246,  567. 

Journal  of   the  Society   of  Biblical 
Literature  and  Exegesis, 524 

Notes  on  Epistle  to  Romans,. 331 

Stewart,  Dugald, 134 

Active  and  Moral  Powers  of  Man,.212,  294 
Stirling,  J.  H., 

Half  Hours  with  Modern  Scientists,..  191 

Storr,  G.  C...... 24 

Stourdza,  Alexander  de, 525 

Strauss,  D.  F., ...25,  67,  76,  201,  385 

Glaubenslehre, 169, 191,  231,  267,  281 

Life  of  Jesus,... 77 

Strivings  for  the  Faith, 77,  79,  83,  86,  86 

Strong,  Dr.  A.  H., 444 

Baptism  of  Jesus, 530 

Baptist  Quarterly, 20 

Baptist  Review, 61, 178,  258,  345 

The  Examiner, 516 

Stroud,  William, 

Physical  Cause  of  Our  Lord's  Death,. 364, 

399. 
Stuart,  Moses, 570 

Biblical  Repository,..  158, 159,  314,  521,  522, 
525. 

Essays  on  Future  Punishment, 566 

Student,  Hebrew, 561,  580 

Studien  und  Kritiken,...41,355,  407,  409,  411, 
447,  580. 

Supernatural  Religion, 78 

Swedenborg,  Emmanuel,  ....17, 100, 121,  591 

Divine  Love  and  Wisdom, 189 

Symington,  William, 

Atonement  and  Intercession, 422,  425 

Tacitus,  C.  Cornelius, .91,  92,  293,  557 

Talbot,  Pres.  Samson, 20 

Baptist  Quarterly, 52,  54,  143,  375 

Baptist  Review,.. 259 

Talmud, 133 

Berachob, 503 

Tatian, 75 

Diatessaron, 189 

Taylor,  D.  T., 

Voice  of  the  Ch-urch  on  the  Coming' 

and  Kingdom  of  the  Redeemer, 574 

Taylor,  Sir  Henry, 199 

Taylor,  Isaac, 

Natural  History  of  Enthusiasm, 219 

Taylor,  Jeremy, xxvii 


INDEX   OF   AUTHORS. 


727 


Taylor,  John, 205,  314 

Taylor,  N.  W., 20,26,142 

Concio  ad  Clerum, 300 

Moral  Government,  ...64, 140, 180,  208,  274, 

293,  319. 
Revealed  Theology,... 293,  319,  430,  451,  474 

Teaching:  of  the  Twelve  Apostles, 525 

Temple,  Bishop  Frederick, 62 

Bampton  Lectures, 6,  43,  238 

Education  of   the  "World,  in  Essays 
and  Reviews, 60 

Tennyson,  Lord  Alfred, 268,  301 

In  Memoriam, 366,  389,  562 

Palace  of  Art, 116 

Two  Voices, 248,  558 

Vision  of  Sin, 337 

Tertullian, 18,  73,  91,  328,  329,  565 

DeAnima, 252 

DeBaptismo, 74,525 

DePoenit., 525 

Teulon,  J.  S., 

History  and  Teachings  of  Plymouth 
Brethren, 499 

Thackeray,  William  Makepeace, 297 

Henry  Esmond, 75 

Thayer,  Prof .  J.  H., 74 

Theodosia  Earnest, 553 

Theological  Eclectic, 79,  403 

Tholuck,  F.  Augustus  G., 24,  25,  220,  298 

Biblical  Repository, 31, 125,  359 

Bliithensammlung  aus  der  morgen- 

landischen  Mystik, 17 

Commentaries, 38, 130,  246 

Vermischte  Schriften, 66 

Thomasius,  G., 25, 137,  287 

Christi  Person  und  Werk.  25,  27,  116,  120, 
126,  127, 129,  129, 130, 141,  150,  159, 164, 
166, 169, 169,  247,  261,  274,  300,  330,  347, 
360,  366,  388,  370,  380,  409,  415,  421,  447, 
483. 
Holiness  of  Christ 130 

Thompson,  Archbishop  William, 
Aids  to  Faith, 

Essay  on  Atonement, 405 

Outline  Laws  of  Thought, 36 

Thompson,  Robert  A., 
Christian  Theism, 45,49 

Thompson,  J.  Radford, 
Modern  Pessimism, 200 

Thompson,  Joseph  P., 350 

The  Holy  Comforter, 164 

Thompson,  Sir  William, 237 

Thornton,  William  S., 
Old-fashioned  Ethics, 65,  219,  351 

Thornwell,  James  H., 
Collected  Writings,  2, 143,  313,  325,  327,  330, 
337,  345,  347,  348,  463. 

Thucydides, 71 

Tillotson,  John, 
Sermons, 447 

Titcomb,  J.  H., 
Strivings  for  the  Faith, 86 

Todd,J.H., ..570 


Toplady,  Aug.  M., 582 

Tower,  F.  E., 589 

Townsend,  W.  J., 

The  Great  Schoolmen  of  the  Middle 
Ages, 23 

Toy,  C.  H., 

Baptist  Quarterly, 521 

Private  Letter  to  Author, 521 

Quotations  in  the  New  Testament,...  110 

Tracts,  Present  Day,  7,  53,  79,  xxv,  79,  80,  86, 
86,  87,  89,  89,  89, 107, 169,  200,  272. 

Tract  Number  Ninety, 546 

Treffrey,  R., 
Eternal  Sonship  of  Our  Lord, 166 

Tregelles,  Samuel  P., 
Muratorian  Canon, 73 

Trench,  Archbp.  R.  C., 

Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches, 555 

Hulsean  Lectures, 366,  447 

Miracles, 215,229 

Studies  in  the  Gospels,.... 223,  232,  305,  447 
Synonyms  of  New  Testament, 496, 524 

Trent,  Council  of , 266 

Tulloch,  John, 

Doctrine  of  Sin, 281,291 

Modern  Theories, 4,  53,  200 

Theism, 30,43 

Turnbull,  Robert, 
Baptist  Quarterly, 36 

Turner,  G.  L., 
Wish  and  Will, 64,  566 

Turretin,  F., 24 

Institutes,  250,  322,  323,  345,  350,  370, 422,  427 

Twesten,  A.  D.  Ch., 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 168, 169,  221 

Dogmatik, 12, 15, 16, 159, 164 

Tyerman,  L., 
Oxford  Methodists, 548 

Tyler,  Bennett, 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 366 

Letters  on  New  Haven  Theology,  293,  300, 

319,  430,  452. 

Memoir  and  Lectures,  175, 176, 179, 180, 450, 
451. 

New  Englander, 594 

Works, 345 

Tylor,  Edward  B., 
Primitive  Culture, 32,  239,  270 

Tyndall,  John, 

Belfast  Address, 8,46 

Fragments  of  Science, 52,  54,  215 

Tyng,  Stephen  H., 
Christian  Pastor 405 

Uhlhorn,  Gerhard, 557 

Modern  Representations  of  the  Life 
of  Jesus, 80 

Ullmann,  C.,   3 

Sinlessness  of  Christ, 90,  366,  407 

Ulrici,  H., 

Gott  und  die  Natur, 32 

Leib  und  Seele, 30,  32,  52 

Theodicee,  in  Herzog's  EncyclopHdie,  181 

Unseen  Universe, 184,  580 


728 


IXDEX   TO    AUTHORS. 


Upham,  Thomas  C., 17 

Divine  Union, 447 

Interior  Life, 219,447 

Life  of  Madame  Guyon  and  of  Fen- 

elon, 447 

Ussher,  Abp.  James, 106 

Ursinus,  Z., 

Loci  Theologici, 27 

Vani9ek,  Alois, 

Gr.-Lat.  Etym.  Wb'rterbuch, 11 

Van  Oostersee,  J.  J.  van,  see  Oosterzee, 

Van. 
Vaughan,  Henry, 

TheRetreate, 248 

Vaughan,  Robert  A., 

Hours  with  the  Mysties, 17, 100 

Vedder,  Henry  C., 

Baptist  Review, 537,  xxix,  548 

Veitch,  John, 

Sir  William  Hamilton,  (Blackwood's 

Philos.  Classics), xxv,  54 

Venn,  J., 

Characteristics  of  Belief , 470 

Vincent,  Marvin  R., 

Presbyterian  Review, 66 

Vinet,  Alexander, 

Outlines  of  Philosophy, 20 

Virchow,  Professor, 236 

Virgil, 

^Eneid, 394 

Vitringa,  Camp., 570,  574 

Volkmar,  Gustav, 80 

Voltaire,  Francois  M.  A.  de, 43 

Waffle,  A.  E., 

Baptist  Review, 412 

Waldegrave,  L., 

Bampton  Lectures, 574 

Walker,  James  B., 

Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 151 

Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation,.  60, 

203,  360,  454. 
Wall,  William, 

History  of  Infant  Baptism, 538 

Wallace,  A.  R., 

Nature, 271 

Natural  Selection, 55,237 

Wallace,  Henry, 

Representative  Responsibility, 395 

Wardlaw,  Dr.  Ralph, 67 

Systematic  Theology, 1.  67, 128, 184, 

403,  422,  431,  454. 

Warren,  J.  P., 570 

Warren,  W.  F,, 

Earliest  Creed  of  Mankind, 272 

Parousia, 568 

Watson,  Richard, 26,315 

Theological  Institutes, 26, 166, 175, 

200,  308,  314,  523. 

Watts,  Isaac, 372,  413 

Watts,  Dr.  Robert, 

The  Newer  Criticism, 82 

Wayland,  President  Francis, 142,  496, 

504,537. 


Wayland,      President      Francis    (con- 
tinued), 

Apostolic  Ministry, 54 

Moral  Science, 143,256,273 

Principles  and  Practices  of  the  Bap- 
tists,   500,  516,  526,  531,  534,  535 

Weber,  F.  A., 
VomZorne  Gottes, 140,  396 

Webster  and  Wilkinson, 
Commentary, 415 

Wegscheider,  J.  A.  L., 24 

Weiss.  Bernhard, 83 

Bib.  Theol.  N.  T., 37, 166,  300 

Life  of  Jesus, 74,  77,  79,  441 

Weiss, 
Premillcnial  Advent, 574 

Weisse,  C.  H., 
Studien  und  Kritiken, 355 

Wellhausen,  J., 

Geschichte  Israel's, 81 

Israel,  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, . .    81 

Wesley,  John, 26,  314,  489,  548,  555 

Christian  Theology, 488 

West,  Nathaniel, 

Defence  and    Confirmation    of   the 
Faith, xxv,  66 

Westcott,  B.  F., 

Bible  Commentary  on  John's  Gospel,  75, 
123,  154,  414,  446. 

Gospel  of  the  Resurrection, 63 

History  of  the  New  Testament  Canon,  73, 
70,  79. 

Weston,  Pres.  Henry  G., 
Madison  Avenue  Lectures, 539 

Wette,  See  De  Wette. 

Wetzer  und  Welte, 
Kirchenlexicon, 294 

Whately,  Archbp.  Richard, 508 

Essays  on  a  Future  State, 566,  574 

Good  and  Evil  Angels, 221 

Historic  Doubts  as  to  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte,    83 

Logic, 34,36,41 

Origin  of  Civilization, 270 

Whedon,  D.  D., 135,  172,  315 

Bibliotheca  Sacra, 315 

Commentary  on  the  Romans, 316,  428 

Methodist  Quarterly  Review, 519 

On  the  Will, 126, 129, 178,  265,  289,  317 

Whewell,  William, 

Elements  of  Morality, 255 

History  of  Scientific  Ideas, 41 

History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences, ..  .2,  43 

Whitby,  Daniel, 314,574 

White,  Blanco, 294,591 

White,  Edward, 
Life  in  Christ, 589 

Whitman,  Walt, 293 

Whitney,  William-  D., 

Comparative  Philology, 240 

Life  and  Growth  of  Language, 240 

Oriental  and  Linguistic  Studies, 

Study  of  Language, 


IN"DEX    OF    AUTHORS. 


729 


Whiton,  James  M., 

Is  Eternal  Punishment  Endless  ? 337, 

589,  594. 

Whittier,  John  GM 591 

Wieland,  Christoph  Martin, 290 

Wieseler,  Karl, 71 

Wiggers,  G.  F., 

Augustinism  and  Pelagianism,....311,  345 
Wilberforce,  Robert  I., 

Incarnation, 362,  366, 367,  375,  377, 

378,  379. 

New  Birth, 546 

Wilkinson,  W.  C., 21,  95 

Edwin  Arnold,  Poetizer  and  Pagani- 
zer, -  -- 87 

The  Baptist  Principle, 537,  553 

Wilkinson,  W.  F., 

Present  Day  Tracts, ..    53 

William  of  Occam  (see  Occam), 23,116, 

142. 
Williams,  A.  P., 

The  Lord's  Supper, 553 

Williams,  Monier, 

Nineteenth  Century, 188 

Williams,  N.  M., 

Baptist  Review, ....  298 

Williams,  Rowland, 

Christianity  and  Hinduism, 55 

Willmarth,  James  W., 

Baptist  Quarterly, 532,  580 

Wilson,  C.  T., 

Primitive  Government  of   Christian 

Churches, _.._ 510 

Winchell.  Alexander, 

Preadamites, 239 

Winer,  G.  B., 

Confessions, 267 

N.  T.  Grammar,  -... 391 

Witsius,  H., 24 

The  Economy  of  the  Covenants, 27 

Wollaston,  William. 143 

Wood,  W.  C., 

Sabbath  Essays, 202 


Woods,  Leonard, .26,  319 

Works, 422,458,460,464, 

490,  493,  574. 
Woolman,  John, 

Journal, 414 

Woolsey,  President  T.  D., 403,  593 

New  Englander, 108 

Sunday  School  Times, 529 

Wordsworth,  Bishop  Christopher,... 220,  330 

Commentary, 38 

Wordsworth,  William, 

Intimations  of  Immortality  in  Early 

Childhood, ..248,558 

Wrig-ht,  Charles  H.  H., 

Ecclesiastes, ....81,  200 

Fatherhood  of  God, 238 

Wright,  Chauncey, 

New  York  Nation, 43 

Wrig-ht,  G.  F., 

Relation  of  Death  to  Probation, 386, 

590,  592,  5P3. 
Wilnsche,  Aug.  De, 

Die  Leiden  des  Messias, 396 

Jahrbuch  f .  prot.  Theologie, 580 

Wuttke,  Adolf, 

Christian  Ethics, ...34,  86,  87,  88,  88, 

88,  143,  262,  277,  301. 
Xenophon, 70,  439 

Memorabilia, 73 

Young1,  John, 397 

The  Christ  of  History, 90,  91 

The  Lif e  and  Light  of  Men, 400 

The  Mystery,  or  Evil  not  from  God...  180 

Zeitschr.  f.  luth.  Theol.  u.  Kirche, 65 

Zockler,  Otto, 

Die  Urgeschichte  der  Erde  und  des 
Menschen, .xxv,  107,  xxvii,  238,  243 

Handbuch    der    theologischen   Wis- 
senschaften, xxv,  22 

Jahrbuch  f  Ur  deutsche  Theologie,  . . .  240, 
2J1,  243. 

Theolog-ie  und  Naturwissenschaft,  ...195, 
261. 


INDEX  OF  SCBIPTUBE  TEXTS. 


GENESIS. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CII.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

3    15 

84,*359,*365. 

19  :  30-38 

108. 

1:    1 

157,  161,  164. 

3     19 

352. 

20:    6 

209. 

1:    1,2 

152. 

3    20 

238,239. 

20:    7 

388. 

1:    1-3 

136. 

3    21 

*396. 

20:  13 

152. 

1  :    1-7 

*185. 

3    22 

152,  268. 

22:    8-14 

208. 

1:    1-31 

112. 

3    22,  23 

*558. 

22  :  11-16 

153. 

1:    2 

151,156,*158, 

3    24 

*224. 

22:  15 

395. 

186. 

4      1 

252,  358,  569. 

22:  16 

127. 

1:  11 

*207. 

4      3 

201. 

25  :    8,  9 

500. 

1  :  11-20 

192. 

4      3,4 

396. 

27  :  19-24 

108. 

1  :  22,  27,  28 

252. 

4      3,  4-16 

*308. 

28:  12 

233. 

1:  25 

185. 

4      9 

313. 

29:  27 

201. 

1:  26 

152,  268. 

4     14-17 

239. 

31  :  11-13 

153. 

1  :  26,  27 

*558. 

4     26 

148. 

31:  24 

209. 

1:  27 

185,  234. 

5      3 

252,  *263. 

32:    1,2 

233. 

1  :  27,  28 

192,238. 

5    24 

561. 

32:    2 

*224. 

1  :  27-31 

249. 

6      1-2 

239. 

32  :  20  LXX 

393. 

1:  31 

198,  225,  247, 

6      2 

*222. 

32:  24 

233. 

261,  265. 

6      3 

156,  350,  386. 

33  :  18,  19 

107. 

2:    1 

*222. 

6      6 

124,  127. 

33:  19 

107. 

2:    1-3 

112. 

6      9 

*489. 

35:    1 

125. 

2:    2 

203,  252. 

6    11 

559. 

35:    7 

152. 

2:    3 

201. 

7     19 

*106. 

35:  18 

244. 

2:    3-7 

185. 

8      1 

*125. 

35:  29 

560. 

2:    4 

112. 

8     10-12 

201. 

41:    8 

244. 

2:    7 

267,  283,  234, 

8     20,21 

395. 

41:  26 

543. 

*235,  *558. 

9      3 

396. 

41  :  41-44 

152. 

2:    7-9 

192. 

9      6 

262. 

46:  26 

252. 

2  •    7-22 

252,238. 

9     19 

238. 

47:    9 

562. 

2:    8 

563. 

9     20-27 

108. 

48  :  15,  16 

153. 

2:    9 

269. 

9     25 

179. 

48:  16 

153,  233. 

2:  16 

268. 

10     16-29 

*106. 

49:  26 

592. 

2:  17 

303,  306,  352, 

11      5 

267. 

49  :  29-33 

560. 

354,  559,  559. 

11      7 

152. 

50:  20 

173,  179,  210. 

2:  19 

268. 

15      6 

471. 

2  :  19-22 

185. 

15    16 

341. 

EXODUS. 

2:  ^3 

*439. 

16      9-13 

153. 

1  :  16 

220. 

3:    1 

*222,  228. 

16     13 

134. 

2:    7 

434. 

3:    1-3,4,5,6 

*303. 

17      1 

136. 

3:    2-4,5 

153. 

3:    1-4 

100,  227. 

17      8 

592. 

3:    5 

153. 

3:    4 

*403. 

17      8,  13 

592. 

3:  12 

96. 

3:    5 

228,295,*303. 

17     13 

592. 

3:  14 

*122,  123. 

3:    6 

*303,  307. 

18      2-13 

153. 

4  :  14-16 

97. 

3:    8 

267,  267,  268. 

18      4 

136. 

4:  16 

146. 

3  :    8,  16-19,  22- 

18     19 

428. 

4:  21 

210. 

24 

559. 

18    25 

138,  267. 

6:    3 

123. 

3:  12 

292. 

19     24 

152. 

7:    1 

97,  146. 

*  The  asterisk  prefixed  to  the  number  of  the  page  indicates  that  on  that  page  the  text 
cited  is  more  or  less  explained  or  commented  upon. 


732 


IXDEX    OF   SCBIPTURE   TEXTS. 


CH.     VERSE.                          PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE.                         PAGE. 

1  KINGS. 

7  :  13                   210. 

23  :  19                   124,  137. 

8  :  15                   210. 

23  :  21                   228,  475. 

II.      VERSE.                          PAGE. 

7  :  26                 *107. 

12  :  27                   396. 
12:  36                   209. 

25:    9                 *107. 
25  :  13                   392. 

8  :  27                   120,  131,  133, 
267. 

13:    2-13              415,529. 
15  :  11                    128. 
16:    5,20.30        201. 
19  :  10-16              128. 
20:    1-17              279. 
20:    5                 *337. 
20:    8                   201,289. 
20  :  12                   108. 
20  :  25                   108. 

27:    3                  353. 
32  :  23                   140. 

DEUTERONOMY. 
1  :  39                   356. 
4  :  19                   224. 
6:    4                    125. 
7:    2-16              109. 
8:    3                   208. 

8  :  46                   296,  490. 
12  :  15-24              173. 
17  :  21                   244. 
18  :  36-38                61,  218. 
19:    5                   226. 
22  :  19                   224. 
22  :  23                   229. 
22  :  31                   295. 

21:    6                   593. 

16:    2-6                392. 

2  KINGS. 

21  :  24                   108. 

17:    3                   224. 

1  :  10-12              108. 

22  :  28                   146. 

18  :  10,  11              561. 

2  :  11                   561. 

23:    7                    472. 

18  :  11                    561. 

5  :  14                    523. 

28:    9-12              424. 

18  :  15                  *388,  569. 

5  :  26                       8. 

29  :  38-46              396. 

21:    1-9              *395. 

6  :    5-7                  62. 

32  :  30-32              395. 

21  :  23                  392. 

6  :  17                    231. 

33  :  11                   434. 

24:    1                    108. 

6  :  19                   109. 

33  :  18                   123. 

25:    1                   472. 

19  :  35                  226. 

34  :    9                   313. 

29  :  29                   179. 

34  :  10                   186. 

32:    2                   598. 

1  CHRONICLES. 

35:  25                      3. 

32:    4                   126,138. 

18:    4                  107. 

36  :  21,  22              196. 

32  :  40                   130. 

21:    1                  209. 

36  :  22                   196. 

33:    2                   223,226. 

22  :  14                 *107. 

37  :    6-9               224. 
39:    7                   196. 

33:    3                   490. 
34:                          72. 

2  CHRONICLES. 

4  :    5                 *107. 

LEVITICUS. 

JOSHUA. 

6:    2                   593. 

1:    3                   285,396. 

2:    1-24              108. 

13:    3                 *107. 

1:4                   395. 

2  :  18                   110. 

16  :  12                   219. 

4  :  14,  20,  31        285. 

10  :  12,  13             106. 

18  :  16                   224. 
26  •  20                   587 

4  :  14,  20,  31        396. 

JUDGES. 

29  :  19                   490! 

4  :  20                   395. 

4  :  31,  35             395. 

4  :  17-22              108. 

EZRA. 

5:    5                   285,396. 

5  :  24                   108. 

9:    6                    338. 

5:    6                   285,396. 
5  :  10,  16              395. 

6  :  17,  36-40          61. 
13  :  20-22              153. 

NEHEMIAH. 

5  :  17                   286,  347,  392. 
6:    6-10              396. 

14  :  12                   201. 
20  :  16                   283. 

1:6                  338. 
9:    6                   203,224. 

6:    7                   395. 

1  SAMUEL. 

ESTHER, 

13  :  45                   286. 

1  :  11                 224. 

4  :  16                   559. 

16:    1-34              395. 

15  :  11                 124. 

6  :    1                   213. 

16  :  16-21              284. 
16  :  21                   393. 

15  :  29                    126. 
16:    1                    208. 

JOB. 

17  :  11                   395,  396. 

18  :    1                   441. 

1:                         229. 

20  :  27                    561. 

18  :  10                 *209. 

1  :    1                  *489. 

NUMBERS. 
6  :  24-26              152,  423. 
7  :  89                   101. 
8:    1                   101. 

23  :  12                   133. 
24  :  18                   209. 
28:    7-14          '    561. 
28  :  19                   560. 

OQ  •      4                               QQ2 

1:    5                   395. 
1:6                   227. 
1:    9-11              227. 
1  :  12                  210. 
1  :  12,  16,  19        228. 

8  :  17                   490. 

&v   .       *                                    ').'.„. 

2:                         229. 

11  :  29                   389. 

2  SAMUEL. 

2:    4,5               227. 

14  :  34                  392. 

3:    1                   484. 

2:    6                   210. 

15  :  28                   283. 

8:    4                   107. 

2:    7                   228. 

16  :  22                   244. 

11:    1-4               108. 

3  :  13-18              560. 

16  :  29                    353. 

14  :  20                  222. 

7:    9                  560. 

16  :  30                   186. 

16  :  10                   209. 

7  :  20                  203,  490. 

19  :  16                   280. 

23  :  23                    99. 

11:    7                    18. 

20  :  24                 ,560. 

24:    1                  *209,209. 

11  :    7-9                1£2. 

INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


733 


CH.      VERSE.                          PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

12 

23 

208. 

36 

9 

xxxi. 

104: 

*202. 

14 

4 

299,  &55. 

40 

5 

134. 

104:    4 

*226. 

H 

5 

173. 

40 

6-8 

*110. 

104  :  14 

208. 

U 

12-15 

575. 

42 

6 

244. 

104  :  21-28 

208. 

U 

22 

560. 

4° 

7 

376,  528. 

104:  24 

133. 

19 

25-27 

561. 

44 

0 

182,  432. 

104  :  29,  30 

203. 

a 

13 

175,  196. 

45 

2 

3C6. 

105:  15 

388,  475. 

•23 

13,14 

125. 

45 

6 

152. 

106  :  12,  13 

465. 

M 

6 

560. 

45 

6,7 

154. 

106  :  13 

219. 

26 

14 

136. 

49 

15 

560. 

107  :  20 

153. 

27 

3 

243. 

50 

5 

392. 

107  :  23-28 

214. 

27 

5 

472. 

51 

1,  2,  10,  14 

462. 

110:    3 

431,*436,  461. 

n 

8 

243. 

51 

2-5 

283. 

113:    5 

132. 

88 

4 

244. 

51 

3,  7,  11 

462. 

113:    5,6 

137,  122. 

33 

24 

395. 

51 

4 

295,  404. 

115:    1 

198,  433. 

37 

5-10 

208. 

51 

4-6 

346. 

115:    3 

136. 

88 

7 

225,  227. 

51 

5 

299,  355. 

116:    8 

218. 

88 

8 

222. 

51 

5,  7,  10 

462. 

116  :  15 

555. 

42 

7-9 

395. 

51 

6 

286,  288,  299, 

118  :  12 

438. 

PSALMS. 

313,  347. 

119  :  18 

xxxi. 

1 

6 

428. 

51 

6,7 

299. 

119  :  36 

264,  457,  453. 

2 

6-8 

424. 

51 

10 

185.  264,  448, 

119  :  89 

153,  141. 

2 

4 

7 
4 

152,155,*164. 
*110. 

51 

11 

460. 
151. 

119  :  91 
119  :  96 

173. 

278,  490. 

4 

8 

208. 

58 

3 

299. 

119  :  97 

487. 

5 

12 

208. 

63 

8 

208. 

119  :  176 

559. 

7 

9-12 

138. 

66 

7 

208. 

121:    3 

208. 

7 
7 

11 
12,13 

110,  125,  346. 
208. 

68 

68 

10 
17 

208. 
223,  598. 

123:    1 
124:    2 

132. 
210. 

8 

4,  8 

366. 

68 

18 

*110,  146. 

124  :    4,  5 

528. 

g 

5-8 

268. 

69 

2 

528. 

130:    4 

474. 

8 

6 

424. 

72 

18 

*222. 

135:    6 

208. 

9 

7 

581. 

75 

6,7 

208. 

ia5:    7 

208. 

11 

6 

208. 

76 

10 

*210. 

137:    9 

*109. 

14 

1 

104. 

78 

25 

*222. 

139:    2 

133. 

16 

7 

*17. 

78 

41  (marg.) 

123. 

139:    6 

133. 

16 

9-11 

561. 

78 

49 

229. 

139:    7 

151. 

16 

10,11 

*446. 

81 

12,  13 

209. 

139:    Isq. 

132. 

18 

24 

138. 

82 

1 

146. 

139  :  13 

250. 

19 

14. 

82 

6,7 

146. 

139  :  14 

250. 

19 

1 

123. 

82 

7 

146,  324. 

139  :  16 

208. 

19 

1-6 

14. 

84 

11 

187. 

143:    2 

296,  472. 

19 

It  7 

*276. 

85 

4 

460. 

143  :  11 

196. 

19 

12 

*284,  288,  299, 

85 

10 

141. 

145:    3 

122. 

347. 

85 

10,11 

116. 

146  :    4 

500. 

19 

a 

13 

26 

209,349. 
562. 

86 
88 

11 

5 

*580. 
344. 

147:    4 
147  :  15 

133. 
153. 

22 

28 

208. 

89 

2 

*123. 

147  :  16 

153. 

25 

11 

198. 

89 

7 

225,  *225. 

147  :  20 

428. 

25 

14 

21. 

89 

35 

197. 

148  :    2-5 

221. 

29 

1,2 

*225. 

90 

2 

180,  186. 

149:    6 

346. 

29 

3 

209. 

90 

7-9,  11 

353. 

PROVERBS. 

31 

5 

407. 

90 

16,17 

*453. 

1:  23 

460. 

32 

1,2 

472. 

91 

11 

226. 

3:  19 

153. 

32 

8 

214,  219. 

93 

1 

*106. 

3:  26 

219. 

33 

6 

152,  157,  224. 

96 

10 

*199. 

4:  18 

459. 

88 

13-15 

133. 

97 

7 

146,  *346. 

5:  22 

337,  350. 

33 

14,15 

*209. 

97 

10 

139. 

8:    1 

153. 

84 

7 

233. 

102 

27 

124,  130. 

8:  22 

153,  165. 

34 

8 

*3,  457. 

103 

19 

208. 

8:  23 

147,  186. 

36 

1 

21. 

103 

20 

222,  226. 

8:  30 

153. 

88 

6 

203. 

103 

21 

598. 

8:  31 

153,  165. 

734 


INDEX   OF    SCKIPTURE   TEXTS. 


CH.     VERSE.                         PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.     VERSE.                         PAGE. 

16:    1 

209. 

41:    4 

130. 

9:  23 

*116. 

16:    4 

196. 

41:  20 

186. 

9:  24 

3,  *116. 

16:  14 

393. 

41  :  21,  22 

135. 

10:  10 

116,  121. 

16:  33 

208. 

42:    1 

245. 

10:  23 

209. 

17  :  15 

472. 

42:    1-7 

378. 

10:  24 

129,350. 

19:  21 

209. 

42:  21 

403. 

13:  23 

299,448. 

20:    9 

296. 

43:    3,  4 

393. 

17:    9 

284,  299. 

20:  24 

209, 

43:    7 

196. 

23:    6 

529. 

20:  27 

246. 

44:    3 

96. 

23:  23 

132. 

21:    1 

*209,  *431. 

44:    6 

125. 

23:  24 

132. 

30:    4 

152,  165. 

44:  24 

136. 

23:  29 

448. 

ECCLESIASTES. 

44:26-28 
44:  28 

68. 
133,  173. 

24:    7 
25:    5 

3,457. 
463. 

2:  11 

200. 

45:    1,4,5 

432. 

25  :  15-18 

*109. 

3:  21 

245. 

45:    5 

208. 

31:    3 

433. 

7:  20 

296,  477. 

45  :    7,  8 

186. 

31:  18 

460. 

7:  29 

262. 

45:  22 

434. 

31:  22 

186. 

9:  10 

560. 

46:    9 

133. 

32:  18 

*339. 

11:    3 

565. 

46:  10 

133. 

33:  33 

448. 

12:    7 

244,  250,  558, 

48:  11 

196. 

44:    4 

140,  207. 

563,564. 

48:  16 

152. 

50:  15 

109. 

48:  18 

134. 

50:  29 

109. 

CANTICLES. 

49:    1-12 

378. 

51  :  41 

*68. 

1  :    4 

460. 

49:    8 

393. 

49:  17 

559. 

LAMENTATIONS. 

ISAIAH. 

50:    8 

472. 

3:  42 

338. 

1:    5 

284. 

52:  10 

*123. 

5:    7 

392. 

4:    5 

186. 

52  :  13 

378. 

5:  21 

460. 

5:    4 
5:  18 

200,435. 
*349. 

53: 
53:    1-12 

388. 
395. 

EZEKIEL. 

5:  23 

472. 

53:    2 

36«. 

1: 

224. 

6:    1 

146. 

53:    5 

393,  399. 

1:    5 

224. 

6:    3 

123,  128,  140, 

53:    6 

393. 

1:  12 

224. 

152. 

53  :    7-12 

392. 

2: 

96. 

6:    5 

*286,  338. 

53:  10 

367,  *440. 

2:    7 

599. 

6:    5-7 

128. 

53:  11 

472. 

3: 

96. 

6:    8 

152. 

53:  12 

378,  423. 

3:  10 

599. 

6:  10 

156. 

54:    5 

439. 

3:  11 

599. 

7:    9 

471. 

55:    6 

434. 

3:  18 

599. 

7  :  10-13 

*218. 

57:    1,2 

559. 

3:  19 

599. 

7  :  14-16 

*68,  569. 

57:  15 

132. 

10: 

224. 

8:  13 

146. 

57  :  16 

250. 

11:  19 

448,460. 

8:  20 

219. 

57:  19 

186. 

14:    6 

460. 

9:    6 

154,367,*440. 

59:    2 

555. 

14:  14 

113. 

9:    6,  7 

*68. 

59:    9-16 

313. 

18: 

*337. 

10:    5 

210. 

59:  20 

460. 

18:  20 

*336,  *346. 

10  :    5,  7 

220. 

60:    1 

110. 

18:  24 

493. 

10: 

*68. 

61:    3 

196. 

18:  31 

460. 

11: 

*68. 

63:    7-10 

152. 

18:  32 

460. 

13:  16-18 

109. 

63:    9 

128,446. 

20:  25 

280. 

14:  26 

173. 

64:    4 

208,  389. 

28:  22 

129. 

25:    4 

361. 

65:  12 

434. 

32:  21 

560. 

25:    7 

359. 

65:  17 

186. 

33:    9,10 

460. 

26:    9 

574,  581. 

66:    1 

120,  267. 

33:  31,  32 

465. 

26:  19 

561,  575. 

66:  13 

155. 

36  :  21,  22 

129,  351. 

28:  16 

438,  471. 

36:  26 

460. 

28:  21 

599. 

JEREMIAH. 

37: 

571. 

39:  23 

477. 

1:    5 

208,  250. 

37  i    1-14 

*561,*574,  575. 

31:    6 

353,460. 

1:    5-8 

96. 

37  :    9-14 

164. 

40:    3 

146. 

2  :    1 

389. 

40:    8 

137. 

3:  15 

10. 

DANIEL. 

40  :  15,  16 

*197. 

3:  20 

*439. 

2:  28-36 

388. 

INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


735 


•CH.     VERSE.                        PAGE. 

ZECHARIAH. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

2     34 

*573. 

CH.     VERSE. 

PAGE. 

5 

17,18 

280. 

0 

35 

*573. 

3:    1 

227. 

5 

17-19,  48 

487. 

2 

44,45 

569. 

3:    2 

228,  475. 

5 

18 

96,  137. 

3 

25,  28 

153. 

6:    1 

*173. 

5 

19 

109. 

4 

31 

101. 

6:    8 

*411. 

5 

21 

346. 

4 

35 

173,  208. 

12:    1 

*235,  244,  250, 

5 

22,28 

278,  284. 

6 

?2 

226. 

558. 

5 

23,24 

*392,  516. 

'7 

10 

223. 

14:    7 

193. 

5 

28 

278,  284. 

7 

13 

366,368. 

5 

31,32 

108. 

7 

18 

593. 

MALACHI. 

5 

32 

147. 

M 

25 

571. 

1:    6 

341. 

5 

38,39 

108. 

9 

24 

529. 

2:  10 

*238. 

5 

39 

10S. 

9 

26 

559. 

2:  15 

*123. 

5 

41 

378. 

10 

12 

226. 

3:    1 

154. 

5 

44,45, 

137. 

10 

13 

226. 

3:    6 

124,  125. 

5 

45 

137,  208. 

10 

21 

226. 

3:  16 

133. 

5 

47 

126. 

11 

I 

226. 

3:  18 

492. 

5 

48 

138,  279. 

12 

1 

226. 

4:    5 

574. 

6 

8 

133,  208. 

12 

2 

564,  577. 

6 

10 

181. 

12 

2,3, 

13         561. 

MATTHEW. 

6 

12 

296,  346. 

12 

3 

*472,  561. 

:    1 

*106. 

6 

12,14 

296. 

12 

8,9 

69. 

:    1-16 

371. 

6 

13 

123,  225,  598. 

12 

12 

571. 

:    1-17 

364. 

6 

14 

296. 

12 

13 

561. 

:  20 

153,  370. 

6 

16 

559. 

:  22 

68. 

6 

19 

225. 

HOSEA. 

1:  23 

68. 

6 

20 

554. 

1 

o 

*109. 

2:  15 

68. 

6 

22 

246,  256. 

1 

I 

*109. 

2:  22 

391. 

6 

22,23 

246,256. 

1 

7 

152. 

3:    1 

531. 

6 

23 

246,  256. 

2 

2-5 

*439. 

3  :    1-12 

464. 

6 

24 

448,  482. 

2 

6 

*209. 

3:    2 

531. 

6 

26 

208,  219. 

4 

7 

434. 

3:    3 

146. 

6 

33 

137,  198. 

4 

17 

209,  350. 

3:    6 

523,  531. 

7 

11 

299. 

8 

• 

*324. 

3:    8 

463. 

7 

22 

61. 

8 

1 

324. 

3:    9 

136. 

8 

9 

388. 

8 

o 

324. 

3:  11 

523,  531. 

8 

11,12 

468. 

11 

68. 

3:  13 

527. 

8 

12 

468.  587. 

11 

8 

434,  598. 

3  :  13-17 

521. 

8 

17 

*402. 

12 

12 

233. 

3:  15 

*391,  415,  473, 

8 

22 

354,  559. 

529. 

8 

23 

386. 

JOEL. 

3:  16 

157,  *378. 

8 

24 

364. 

2 

28 

96,  389. 

3  :  16,  17 

157. 

8 

29 

229,506. 

12 

12-14 

460. 

3:  17 

157,  165,  416. 

9 

4 

147. 

AMOS. 

4:    1-11 

366. 

9 

6 

368. 

4:    2 

364. 

9 

12,13 

*296. 

3 

O 

428. 

4:    3 

228. 

9 

13 

*296. 

5 

a 

12 

393. 

4:    3,6,9 

228. 

9 

21 

388. 

D 

. 

245. 

4:    4 

10,  96. 

9 

24 

564. 

JONAH. 

4:    6 

96,  104,  228. 

9 

29 

486. 

3 

4,10 

*124. 

OXfJ 

4:    4,6,7 
4:    6,  7 

96. 
104. 

9 
10 

36 
1 

364. 
96. 

4 

11 

ooo. 

4:    7 

96,104. 

10 

6,  39,  42 

559. 

MlCAH. 

4:  10 

3H5. 

10 

7 

96. 

_ 

9 

154. 

4:  11 

*226,  227. 

10 

15 

348,  593. 

^ 

1  Q 

5-7 

388. 

10 

19 

96. 

' 

lo 

5-8 

279. 

10 

19,20 

96. 

HABAKKUK. 

5:    1 

107. 

10 

20 

99. 

1 

13 

207. 

5:    1-12 

285. 

10 

28 

231,  244,  355, 

-9 

4 

471. 

5:    3 

361. 

558. 

HAOGAI. 

5:    8 

3,    37,  118, 
268,  457. 

10 
10 

29 
30 

133,208. 
133. 

1 

13 

153,226. 

5:  17 

84,  391. 

10 

32 

494. 

736 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


CH.   VERSE. 

PAGK. 

CH.   VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.   VERSK. 

PACK. 

10:  37 

*367. 

18:  3 

356. 

25  34 

139. 

10:  38 

46. 

18:  4 

356. 

25  37 

598. 

10:  39 

559. 

18:  5 

356. 

25  41 

224,  22S,  229,. 

10:  41 

534. 

18:  6 

S56. 

355,  587. 

10:  42 

559. 

18:  7 

492. 

25  41-46 

559. 

11:  9 

*388. 

18:  10 

225,  226.  356. 

25  45 

347. 

11:  10 

96. 

18:  14 

a56,  356. 

25  46 

109,  333,  585, 

11  :  13,  14 

573. 

18  :  15-17 

516. 

587,*588,*593, 

11:  14 

543,  573. 

18:  17 

495,  496,  497, 

*594. 

11:  19 

153. 

498,  *506. 

26  24 

*592. 

11:  21 

133,  428. 

18:  19 

423. 

26  26 

364,*541,*543. 

11  :  27 

118,  140,*375. 

18:  20 

423,  534. 

26  26-29 

502. 

11:  28 

405,  434. 

19:  3-10 

113. 

26  27 

540. 

11  :  28,  29 

465. 

19  :  7-9 

108. 

26  28 

101,  364,  392, 

12:  28 

151. 

19:  8 

280. 

*543. 

12:  31 

156,  349,  594. 

19:  14 

*348,*a55,*356, 

26  29 

M9,  542. 

12  :  31,  32 

349,  594. 

*535. 

26  39 

366,  391,  416. 

12:  32 

349,  350,  594. 

19:  26 

136. 

26  53 

224,  36(5,  382,. 

12  :  33,  35 

448. 

19:  28 

584,  590. 

389. 

12:  34 

299. 

19:  29 

593. 

26  63,64 

149. 

12  :  34,  35 

494. 

20:  1-16 

*585. 

26  69-75 

108. 

12:  a5 

494. 

20  :  12-15 

427. 

27   3 

462. 

12:  36 

*285,  583. 

20  :  13,  15 

431. 

27   9 

107. 

12:  37 

472. 

20  :  17-23 

521. 

27  42 

366,  416. 

12:  39 

64,  218. 

20:  28 

244,  364,*391, 

27  46 

399,  404,  416, 

13:  5,6 

306. 

393,  409. 

27  50 

244. 

13:  6 

306. 

20:  30 

101,  108. 

28   1 

201. 

13:  19 

225,  227. 

21  :  25 

521,  547. 

28   2 

227. 

13:  20 

465. 

22  •  3 

434. 

28   9 

498. 

13:  21 

465. 

22:  21 

500. 

28  18 

147,  424. 

13:  23  , 

110. 

22:  30 

*222,  223. 

28  18-20 

286,  573. 

13  :  25,  47 

492. 

22  :  31,  32 

*561. 

28  19 

148,  151,  156, 

13:  28 

305. 

22:  32 

109,  561,*577. 

501,  520,  530^ 

13  :  30,  38 

570. 

22:  33 

208. 

534,534. 

13  :  31,  32 

*569,  573. 

22  :  37-39 

294. 

28  19,  20 

96,  505,  511, 

13:  38 

232,  570. 

22  :  37-40 

279. 

522,  547. 

13  :  38,  39 

228. 

23:  8-10 

500. 

28  20 

147,  369,  378. 

13:  41 

584. 

23:  23 

341. 

443. 

13:  42 

584. 

23:  32 

*349. 

13:  47 

492. 

23:  34 

389. 

MARK. 

13:  52 

11. 

23:  37 

567. 

1   4 

531. 

13  :  57 

388. 

23  :  37,  38 

598. 

1   4,16 

531. 

14:  23 

364. 

24: 

*68. 

5,8 

524. 

14:  24 

101,  *5il. 

24-25 

388. 

5,9 

523. 

15:  19 

284,  448. 

24:  5 

570. 

8 

524. 

16:  18 

494,  *,r>07. 

24:  11 

570. 

9 

523,  524. 

16  :  18,  19 

*507. 

24  :  12 

576. 

10 

524. 

16  :  19 

*507. 

24:  14 

569,  574. 

16 

531. 

16  :  26 

391,  393. 

24  :  15 

75. 

2   7 

368. 

16:  27 

572. 

24  :  23,  27,  34 

566. 

3   5 

364. 

16  :  27,  28 

581. 

24:  24 

570. 

3  11 

228. 

16:  28 

566,*574,581. 

24  :  29,  30 

570. 

3  11,12 

228. 

17:  1-8 

366. 

24:  30 

567,  570. 

3  12 

228. 

17:  2 

378. 

24:  36 

222.  568. 

3  29 

349,*587,  594,. 

17:  3 

*579. 

25: 

*68. 

595,  596. 

17:  3,4 

*579. 

25:  10 

565,  594, 

4  15 

228. 

17:  4 

*579. 

25:  29 

556. 

4  39 

368. 

17:  5 

165. 

25:  31 

227,  567,  574, 

5   2-4 

228. 

17:  7 

64. 

584. 

5   9 

228. 

17  :  15 

228. 

25  :  31,  32 

148,  424. 

6   3 

365. 

17  :  15,  18 

228. 

25  :  31-33 

572. 

6  27 

74. 

17:  18 

228. 

25  :  31-46 

581. 

6  40 

75. 

INDEX    OF   SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


737 


VERSE. 

PAGE.                        !      CH.      VERSK. 

PAGK. 

CH.      VBK8E. 

PAGE. 

4 

523. 

3  :  38 

238. 

16  :  15 

472. 

34 

64. 

:    4-12 

96. 

16:  18 

113. 

36 

245. 

:  13 

366. 

16  :  19-31 

*590. 

36,37 

245. 

:  14 

157. 

16:  22 

563. 

37 

245,  293. 

:  22 

366. 

16:  23 

226,  560,*564. 

38 

225,  543. 

:  25-27 

432. 

16:  25 

*582. 

25 

228. 

:  34 

222. 

16:  26 

565,  594. 

43 

594. 

5:    8 

140,  286. 

17:    5 

470,  486. 

43,48 

594. 

5  :  20,  21 

378. 

17:    7-10 

139. 

48 

594. 

6:  17 

107. 

18:  13 

286,  402,  404, 

5 

8*0. 

6:  19 

378,  389. 

*463,  472. 

11 

113. 

6  :  43-45 

299. 

18  :  13  marg. 

*393. 

21 

341. 

6:  45 

284. 

18  :  13,  14 

472. 

21 

•      364. 

7:  29 

472. 

18:  14 

472. 

32 

366,  414. 

7:  35 

153. 

18:  23 

462. 

38 

391,  524,  527, 

»:  27 

386. 

18:  35 

101,  108. 

528. 

8:  30 

229. 

19:    8 

463. 

45 

391. 

9  :  22-24 

391. 

19:    8,9 

*464. 

29 

279. 

9  :  52-56 

108. 

19:  12 

*573. 

29,30 

279. 

10:  17 

229. 

19:  17 

585. 

30 

245,  246,  278, 

10  :  17,  18 

229. 

19  :  17,  19 

585. 

279. 

10:  18 

229. 

19:  19 

535. 

30,31 

278. 

10:  29 

472. 

19:  23 

*278. 

31 

278. 

10  :  30-37 

296. 

19:  38 

424. 

19 

186. 

11:  11 

391. 

20:  36 

*222,  223. 

32 

150,  365,  568. 

11:  13 

296,  499. 

21:  12 

570. 

23 

540. 

11:  20 

62. 

22:    4-6 

523. 

24 

101. 

11:  38 

523. 

22  :  15 

414. 

25 

539,  542. 

11:  49 

96,  153,  389. 

22:  18 

542. 

27 

96. 

12:    2,8,9 

583. 

22:  19 

539. 

39 

74. 

12:    4,5 

600. 

22:  21 

101. 

9-20 

*112,  *296. 

12:    8-28 

570. 

22:  22 

173. 

15 

434. 

12:  12 

156,  445,  491. 

22  :  28-30 

584. 

16 

296,  357,  520, 

12  :  47,  48 

347,  348,  588, 

22  :  31,  40 

230. 

531. 

597. 

22:  32 

423,  461. 

19 

386. 

12:  48 

289. 

22:  34 

364. 

12:  50 

391.  414,  521, 

22:  37 

393. 

LUKE. 

524. 

22:  42 

524. 

1-3 

95. 

13:    2 

336. 

22:  43 

227. 

6 

473. 

13:    2,3 

336. 

23:  34 

232,  348,  423. 

35 

147,  157,  164, 

13:    3 

336. 

23:  42 

*563. 

320  margin, 

13:    4 

346. 

23  :  42,  43 

563. 

365,  370,  373. 

13:  11 

228. 

23:  43 

560,  563. 

11 

424. 

13  :  11,  16 

228. 

23  :  43,  46 

563. 

13 

224,  227. 

13:  16 

228. 

23:  46 

168,  407,  563, 

14 

196. 

13:  33 

388. 

24:  26 

417. 

21 

415. 

14:  23 

435. 

24:  33 

505. 

21-24 

529. 

14  :  26 

*367. 

24:  39 

364,  375,  757. 

22 

415. 

15:    8 

262. 

22-24 

285. 

15:  10 

225. 

23,24 

415. 

15  :  10-24 

464. 

JOHN. 

24 

396. 

15  :  11-32 

113,  238. 

1      1 

2,  *145,  *147r 

25 

569. 

15:  12 

295. 

*159,  186,  389. 

40 

*364. 

15  :  12,  13 

295. 

1,2 

157. 

46 

*364. 

15:  13 

295. 

2 

157. 

49 

*364. 

15:  17 

289. 

3 

147,  158,  186. 

52 

*364. 

15:  20 

416,  480. 

4 

147. 

17 

594. 

15  :  20,  21 

480. 

9 

38,*315,  *389. 

21 

157. 

15:  21 

480. 

12 

238,  436,  457, 

21,22 

157. 

15  :  22-24 

475. 

465,  467,  475. 

El 

157,  159. 

15:  32 

&54,  559,  574. 

1     12,  13 

238,  436,  457, 

23-28 

364. 

16  :    1-8 

113. 

467. 

738 


INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


.       VKRSE. 

PAGE. 

CH 

VERSE. 

PAGE, 

CH.      VERSE. 

PAGE. 

:  13 

238,  344,  430, 

5 

3,4 

*113. 

8:  34 

284,  344. 

436,  449,  457, 

5 

4 

*113. 

8:  36 

459. 

*xxix,   *458, 

5 

17 

125,  161. 

8:  38-58 

389, 

467. 

5 

17,19 

161. 

8:  40 

364. 

14 

110,  364,  369, 

5 

18 

149. 

8:  44 

225,  302,  353. 

370. 

5 

19 

161. 

8:  46 

365. 

14,18 

165. 

5 

21 

367,  448. 

8:  51 

354,  559. 

16 

*123,  445. 

5 

22 

161,  583. 

8:  57 

366. 

17 

*xxv,  *50. 

5 

22,27 

583. 

8:  58 

147,157,*367. 

18 

117,  146,  157, 

5 

23 

148. 

9:    2,3 

336. 

163,  165. 

5 

24 

a54. 

9:    3 

*346. 

25 

•an. 

5 

24-27 

575. 

9:  39 

581. 

29 

99,  347,  388, 

5 

25 

574. 

10:  11 

393. 

392,  405. 

5 

25,  28-30 

562. 

10:  16 

'  *446.  468. 

31 

529. 

5 

26 

*116,  121,  147. 

10  :  17,  18 

382,  *562. 

50 

123. 

5 

27 

147,  366,  368, 

10:  18 

382,  389,*562. 

11 

378,  389. 

583. 

10:  26 

429. 

19,21 

110,  *562. 

5 

27,28 

147. 

10:  28 

443. 

23,24 

465. 

5 

28 

147,  576. 

10  :  28,  29 

491. 

24 

465. 

5 

28,29 

572,  574,  575, 

10  :  28-30 

482. 

24,25 

147,  367. 

581. 

10:  30 

149. 

2 

465. 

5 

29 

572,  574,  581. 

10:  34 

389. 

3 

448,  452. 

5 

30 

294. 

10  :  34-46 

146. 

3,5 

296,  494. 

5 

32,37 

155. 

10:  35 

*96. 

5 

344,  449,  455, 

5 

37 

155. 

10:  36 

155. 

531. 

5 

40 

466. 

11:  11 

*560,  565. 

5,6,8 

*531,  532. 

5 

42 

341. 

11  :  11,  14 

*560. 

6 

253,  299,  313, 

5 

44 

125. 

11:  26 

354.363. 

371,448,*531, 

5 

46 

113. 

11:  33 

364. 

532. 

6 

14 

388. 

11:  35 

364. 

8 

102,  151,  156, 

6 

19 

101. 

12:  24 

367. 

164,  448,*531, 

6 

27 

145. 

12:  27 

244,  364,  399, 

532. 

6 

29 

469. 

416. 

11 

*369. 

6 

32 

126. 

12:  31 

574,  581. 

13 

xxix,   *367, 

6 

37 

429. 

12:  32 

434. 

*378. 

6 

41,51 

370. 

12  :  32,  33 

464. 

14 

414. 

6 

44 

344,429. 

12:  41 

146. 

16 

115,  137,  155, 

6 

45,46 

448. 

12:  47 

296. 

238,  296,*356, 

6 

47,  53,  63 

559. 

12:  48 

584. 

391. 

6 

50 

296. 

13:  10 

461,*484,*490 

18 

296,  346,  374, 

6 

51 

370. 

13:  21 

244. 

466,  583. 

6 

53 

465,  *541. 

13:  27 

228. 

18,19 

581. 

6 

53,  56,  57 

*440. 

13:  29 

502. 

18,20 

466. 

6 

53,63 

543,544. 

14:    1 

465. 

18,36 

296. 

6 

54,58 

593. 

14:    2 

586. 

19 

581. 

6 

55 

141. 

14:    2,3 

586. 

20 

466. 

6 

56 

*440. 

14:    3 

354,  563,*574. 

22,25 

529. 

6 

57 

*-J40. 

14  :    3,  18 

566. 

23 

524. 

6 

65 

430. 

14:    6 

12l,*126,  147. 

25 

529. 

6 

69 

147. 

14:    9 

147,  149,  388. 

33 

137, 

7 

17 

3,    21,457, 

14:    9,10 

367. 

34 

378. 

467. 

14:    9,11,18 

161. 

36 

296,  346,  594. 

7 

18 

284,  294. 

14  :  10,  23 

440. 

1,2 

521. 

7 

39 

*151. 

14:  11 

61. 

6 

150,364. 

7 

53 

113,  *341. 

14:  13 

*446. 

9 

391. 

8 

l-ll 

*341. 

14:  16 

423. 

14 

465. 

8 

Q 

341. 

14  :  16,  17 

*155,  164,  593. 

24  marg-. 

120,  145,  163, 

8 

11 

113. 

14  :  1H,  18 

*574. 

564. 

8 

12 

465. 

14:  17 

137. 

29 

388. 

8 

21,24 

*590. 

14  :  17,  18 

485. 

48 

61. 

8 

26 

388. 

14:  18 

378,  387. 

3 

*113. 

8 

31,36 

258. 

14  :  20 

413,  440. 

INDEX   OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


'39 


CH.   VKRRK. 

FAM. 

CH.   VERSK. 

PAGK. 

CH.   VKKSE. 

PAGK. 

14:  26 

96,  155,  424. 

17:  23 

*116,  160,  369. 

4  :  28 

173,  210. 

14:  28 

150. 

17:  24 

127,  389,  421, 

4:  31 

499. 

14:  30 

*365,  366. 

425. 

4:  32 

442,  580. 

15:  1 

*367. 

17  :  24,  26 

389. 

5:  1-11 

*498. 

15:  1-10 

*439. 

17:  26 

389. 

5:  3,  4 

151. 

15:  3 

448. 

18  :  36,  37 

424. 

5:  3,4-9 

156. 

15:  3-5 

485. 

19:  11 

347,  348. 

5:  14 

500. 

15  :  4,  5 

344. 

19:  28 

364. 

5:  29 

501. 

15:  5 

442,  *500. 

19:  30 

364.  364,  416. 

5:  31 

430,  463. 

15  :  5,  10 

160. 

19  :  30,  34 

364. 

5:  42 

*540. 

15  :  15 

219. 

19:  34 

364,  S99. 

6:  1 

498. 

15:  16 

428,  431. 

20:  17 

*563. 

6:  1-4 

511,  512. 

15  :  19 

427. 

20:  19 

378. 

6:  3,5 

505. 

15:  26 

96,  155,  161, 

20  :  21,  22 

*96. 

6:  5,6 

497,  512,  513. 

165. 

20:  22 

*96. 

6:  8-10 

512. 

15  :  26,  27 

96. 

20:  26 

201. 

7:  2 

123. 

15:  27 

96. 

20:  27 

375,  577. 

7:  16 

*107. 

16:  7 

*155,  378,  387. 

20:  28 

146,  148. 

7:  22 

561. 

16  :  8 

151,  156,  228. 

20:  31 

465,  470. 

7:  28 

507. 

286. 

21:  19 

173. 

7:  38 

*496. 

16:  8,9 

164,  467. 

24:  25 

378. 

7:  42 

*224. 

16:  8-11 

164. 

7:  51 

156. 

16:  8,13 

164. 

ACTS. 

7:  53 

226. 

16:  9 

467. 

:  1 

387. 

7  :  55 

386. 

16:  10 

416. 

:  2 

150,  378,  382. 

7  :  59 

148,  558,  564. 

16:  11 

479. 

:  4 

96. 

7:  60 

*354. 

16  :  12,  14 

*389. 

:  7 

568. 

8:  3 

*540. 

16  :  12-16 

*502. 

:  10 

227. 

8  :  4 

501. 

16:  13 

151. 

:  11 

567,  567. 

8:  12 

454,  531. 

16  :  13,  17 

*96,  151,  467. 

:  15 

505. 

8  :  16 

534. 

16:  14 

155,  156. 

:  21 

547. 

8:  26 

153. 

16  :  14,  15 

151. 

:  21,  22 

547. 

8:  29 

156. 

16:  15 

149,  151. 

1;  22 

547. 

8  :  38,  39 

524. 

16:  21 

479. 

1  :  23-26 

498,  505. 

8:  39 

524. 

16:  25 

389. 

1:  25 

355,  587,  596. 

9:  5 

101. 

16:  26 

*379. 

2: 

502. 

9:  15 

428. 

16  :  30 

147. 

2:  1 

201. 

9:  31 

496,  508. 

17:  2 

367,  429. 

2:  4 

156. 

10:  19 

156. 

17:  3 

3,  6,  37,125, 

2:  22 

61,  364. 

10  :  19,  20 

156. 

126,  140, 

2:  23 

125,  133,  173, 

10:  20 

156. 

375. 

385. 

10  :  31,  34,  35, 

44  468. 

17:  4 

156,  407. 

2:  27 

99. 

10  :  35 

*296,  473. 

17:  5 

123,  147,  150, 

2:  33 

423. 

10:  38 

150,*157,  228, 

186,  379,  381, 

2  :  37,  38 

*531,  531. 

378,  382. 

382. 

2:  38 

*148,  455,  463, 

10:  42 

428. 

17:  5,24 

159. 

482,  520,*531, 

10:  43 

67. 

17:  6 

429. 

*532.  534. 

10:  47 

531. 

17:  8 

96,  388. 

2:  41 

498,  523,  530. 

10:  48 

534. 

17:  9 

423,  429. 

2:  42 

532. 

11  :  18 

430,  464. 

17:  9,20,24 

421. 

2:  42-46 

539. 

12:  7 

.153. 

17:  10 

149. 

2:  46 

*540,  541. 

12:  15 

226. 

17:  11 

149,  491. 

2  :  46,  47 

*548. 

12:  17 

510. 

17  :  11.  12 

491. 

2:  47 

485,  498,  500, 

12:  23 

226. 

17  :  11,  22 

149. 

502,  548. 

13:  2 

156,  507. 

17:  17 

485. 

3:  8 

470. 

13  :  2,  3 

505,  512,  513. 

17:  19 

416. 

3  :  13-26 

378. 

13:  33-35 

*165. 

17:  20 

421. 

3:  21 

590. 

13:  38 

*474. 

17:  21 

146,  161. 

3:  22 

388. 

13  :  38,  39 

*474. 

17  :  21-23 

*440. 

4:  12 

296,  468. 

13:  39 

437,*445,  474, 

17  :  21-28 

*442. 

4:  23 

587. 

479. 

17:  22 

149. 

4  :  27,  28 

173,  210. 

13:  41 

559. 

17  :  22,  23 

160. 

4  :  27-30 

378. 

14:  16 

209. 

740 


INDEX    OF  SCKIPTURE   TEXTS. 


CH.   VERSE. 

14  :  16,  17 

PAGE. 

*359. 

22:  17 

PACK. 

386. 

CH.   VERS.*. 

3  :  10 

PAGE. 

296. 

14:  17 

14.  59,  *359. 

22  :  26 

113. 

3  :  10,  12,  19 

20, 

14:  23 

495,  505,  505, 

22  :  26,  29 

113. 

23 

296. 

512,  513. 

22:  29 

113. 

3:  11 

448. 

14:  27 

505. 

23:  5 

*113. 

3:  12 

296. 

15:  2,4,22, 

30  505. 

23:  6 

561. 

3:  19 

296,  34(3. 

15:  7-20 

507. 

23  :  26,  30 

113. 

3:  20 

279,  296,  462. 

15:  8 

133,  430. 

24  :  J5 

560,  562,  575, 

3:  22 

*421. 

15:  8,9 

430. 

576. 

3:  23 

278,  296. 

15:  9 

430,  486. 

24  :  25 

557,  581. 

3  :  24-26 

475. 

15  :  13 

510. 

26:  6-8 

561. 

3  :  24-30 

471. 

15:  18 

133. 

26  :  24,  25 

17. 

3:  25 

59,  209,  350, 

15  :  25 

386. 

27  :  22-24, 

31    179. 

422. 

15:  28 

156. 

27  :  24,  27 

*433. 

3  :  25,  26 

*392,  392,  410. 

16:  6 

156. 

3:  26 

141,*392,  392,. 

Ifi:  6,7 

156. 

] 

ROMANS. 

410. 

16:  7 

156. 

1:  3 

*164,  369. 

3:  28 

470,  565. 

16:  14 

448,  453,  457. 

1:  3,4 

*164. 

3:  31 

487. 

16  :  15,  40 

*535. 

1:  4 

*164,*165,  416. 

4:  4,5,16 

470. 

16:  16 

228. 

1  :  5 

470. 

4:  5 

470,  474. 

16  :  31 

465,  468. 

1  :  6 

435. 

4:  6,8 

472. 

16:  33 

523,  *o35. 

1:  6,  7 

4a=5. 

4:  16 

470. 

16  :  33,  34 

*535. 

1  :  7 

435. 

4:  17 

136,  186. 

16:  40 

*535. 

1:  16 

407. 

4  :  20,  21 

468. 

17:  3 

414,  417. 

1:  17 

469,  471,  486. 

4  :  24,  25 

*9,  353. 

17:  4 

*429. 

1  :  17,  18, 

19,  20, 

4:  25 

391,  416,  473, 

17:  18 

467. 

32 

14. 

5:  1,2 

475. 

17:  21 

441. 

1:  18 

14,  127,  392, 

5:  6-8 

393. 

17:  23 

15,  *15. 

555. 

5:  8 

391. 

17  :  25-27 

59. 

1  :  18-28 

*590. 

5:  10 

392. 

17:  26 

173,*239,  575. 

1:  19 

8,  14.  *14. 

5:  11 

475. 

17:  27 

38,  132. 

1  :  19,  20 

8.  14. 

5:  12 

21,  249,  308, 

17  :  28 

203,  413,  491. 

1  :  19-21, 

28,32  37. 

308,  311,  320, 

17:  30 

296,  348,  350. 

1:  20 

14,  37,  120, 

324,  327. 

17:  31 

161,  574,  581. 

593. 

5  :  12  sq. 

101,353. 

18:  8 

531. 

1:  23 

123. 

5  :  12-14 

*300. 

18:  9,10 

429. 

1  :  24 

*337. 

5  :  12,  14,  16, 

17  353. 

18:  10 

429,  433. 

1  :  24,  28 

209. 

5  :  12-19 

*9,  238,  239r 

18-:  24 

75. 

1:  25 

53,  137. 

321,  331. 

18  :  27 

498. 

1:  28 

38,  209. 

5  :  12-21 

a30,*340,  355,. 

19:  1-5 

*534. 

1:  32 

14,  348,  353, 

439. 

19:  4 

*464,  502,  521, 

462. 

5:  14 

353,  355,  370, 

531,  547. 

2:  4 

59,  137,  463. 

5  :  14,  19-21 

*356. 

19  :  32-39 

496. 

2:  5 

554,  587,  588. 

5:  16 

308,  353. 

20:  7 

201,  498,  539, 

2:  5,6 

588. 

5  :  16-18 

327,  473. 

540,  541,  548, 

2:  6 

138,*139,  347, 

5:  17 

353. 

* 

550. 

588. 

5:  18 

*315,  473. 

20:  17 

510. 

2:  6-11 

427. 

5  :  18,  19 

472. 

20  :  17-28 

498,  *509. 

2:  6-16 

*590. 

5:  19 

308,  324,  391, 

20:  20 

511,  *xxix. 

2:  12 

289,  348,  584. 

472. 

*540. 

2:  14 

*276,*296,  341. 

5:  20 

279,  358. 

20  :  20,  21,  35 

511. 

2  :  14,  15 

*276. 

5:  21 

*284,  559. 

20:  21 

464,  511. 

2:  15 

14,  37,  38, 

6:  2-5 

531. 

20:  25 

127. 

*255,*276,  583. 

6:  3 

*148,  527,  529, 

20:  28 

*146. 

2  :  15,  16 

583. 

534,  *543. 

20  :  28-31 

510. 

2:  16 

581,  583. 

6:  3-5 

520. 

20:  30 

549. 

2:  26 

326,  473. 

6:  3-6 

521. 

20:  31 

600. 

3:  1,2 

428. 

6*  4 

*524,  527. 

20:  35 

511. 

3:  2 

428,  465. 

6:  4,  5 

575. 

21  :  18 

510. 

3:  4 

137. 

6:  5 

*439,  528,  575. 

21  :  31-33 

113. 

3:  8,31 

487. 

6:  7 

*472. 

22:  16 

531,  532. 

3:  9 

296,  342. 

6:  7,8 

448. 

INDEX    OF   SCEIPTUEE   TEXTS. 


741 


•CH.       VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.      VEKSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.      VERSE. 

PAGE. 

6:    7-10 

*416. 

8  :  21,  23 

567. 

13:    1 

198,  428. 

6:    8 

448. 

8:  23 

*475,  566,  567 

13  :    1-3 

571. 

6  :    9,  10 

353. 

576,  580. 

13:  14 

486. 

6:  11 

440. 

8:  24 

489,  554. 

14:    4 

501. 

6:  12 

284,  484. 

8:  26 

163,  164,  228 

14:    7 

294. 

€:  13 

448,  531. 

*441. 

14:    8 

555. 

8  :  1H-18 

473. 

8  :  26,  27 

*423,  470. 

14:  17 

473. 

6:  14 

487,  487. 

8:  27 

470. 

14:  23 

284. 

6  :  15-23- 

258. 

8  :  27-30 

*428. 

15:    3 

294. 

«:  17 

448. 

8:  28 

*169,*171,  181 

15  :  19 

156,*157. 

6:  19 

337. 

200,  208. 

15:  22 

487. 

«:  23 

139,  346,  353 

8  :  28-30 

429. 

15:  26 

498. 

7  :    4 

*4S9,  445. 

8:  30 

435. 

15:  30 

127,  151,  156. 

7:    6 

488. 

8  :  31-39 

433. 

16:    1,2 

512. 

7:    7,  8 

279. 

8:  32 

*127,  137,  165 

16:    2 

512. 

7:    8 

279,  284. 

200. 

16:    5 

495,  540. 

7:    8,9,10 

*284. 

8:  33,  34 

472. 

16:  17 

*507,  550. 

7  :  10,  11 

527. 

8:  34 

*423,  472,  475 

16:  26 

593. 

7  :  11,  13,  14,  17, 

8  :  35-39 

443. 

22  :  23 

196. 

20 

284. 

8:  39 

*131. 

7:  13 

284. 

9:    1 

*256. 

1  CORINTHIANS. 

7:  14 

*276,  284. 

9  :    5 

*145. 

1  :    1,  2 

496. 

7:  15 

428. 

9:    6 

493. 

1:    2 

97,  485,  490, 

7:  17 

283,  284. 

9:  11 

356. 

495,  496,  500. 

7:  18 

258,*290,  342, 

9  :  11-16 

428. 

1:    2,30 

485. 

342,  344,  371. 

9  :  16-21 

431. 

1:    3 

*148. 

7:  20 

284. 

9:  17 

173,  196,  210 

1:    3 

423. 

7:  23 

301,  342. 

9  :  20,  21 

427. 

1:    9 

137. 

7  :  24 

286,  299,  344, 

9:  21 

427. 

1:  10 

504. 

555. 

9  :  22,  23 

434. 

1:  16 

101,  511,  535. 

8:    1 

281,  354,  440. 

9  :  22-25 

428. 

1:  18 

560. 

8:    3,2 

555. 

9:  23 

123,  429,  434. 

1:  23 

467. 

8  :    1,  17 

445. 

9  :  23,  24 

429. 

1  :  23,  24 

407. 

8:    2 

151,  301,  444, 

9:  24 

429. 

1:  24 

407,  429,  435. 

449,  555. 

10:    3 

473. 

1  :  24,  26 

435. 

8:    3 

*165,  279,*365, 

10:    4 

276,  279,  391, 

1  :  24-28 

429. 

391,  416,  529. 

487. 

1  :  26 

291. 

8  :    3,  10,  11 

*353. 

10:    6,7 

132. 

1:  28 

186. 

8:    4 

276,  488. 

10:    7 

*385. 

1  :  29,  30 

475. 

8:    7 

266,  290,  295, 

10:    9 

147,  466. 

1:  30 

*387,  *429,*445 

341,  462. 

10  :    9,  10 

495. 

473,  475,  485 

8:    7,  8 

344. 

10  :    9,  13 

148. 

490. 

8:    9 

387,  440,  443, 

10:  10 

448. 

2:    6 

207,  *489. 

485,  487. 

10:  17 

148. 

2:    7 

130,   173. 

8:    9,10 

*440,*443,  485. 

11:    2 

428. 

2:    9 

137,  585. 

8:    9,10,15 

487. 

11:    5-7 

427. 

2:  10 

8,    17,    96, 

8  :  10 

*353,  440,  443, 

11  :  12-15,  25-27 

571. 

151,  156,  163. 

446,  473,  485, 

11:  24 

439. 

2  :  10,  11 

156. 

542,  555,  563. 

11:  25 

17,  570,  571. 

2  :  10,  12 

8. 

8:  11 

151,  156,  164, 

11  :  25,  26 

570. 

2  :  10,  13 

96. 

*248,*353,  446, 

11:  26 

570. 

2:  11 

122,  151,  156. 

*576. 

11:  29 

429,  435,  491. 

244. 

8:  13 

&54,  559. 

11:  32 

209. 

3:  13 

*11,    18,*101 

8  :  13,  14 

*484. 

11:  33 

18,  133. 

2:  14 

244,  344. 

8:  14 

164. 

11:  36 

186,  196. 

3:    1 

10. 

8  :  14,  15 

238. 

2:    2 

21,  486. 

3  :    1,  2 

10. 

8:  15 

238. 

2:    3 

430. 

3:    2 

10. 

8:  16 

256,  466,  468. 

2:    6,  8 

503. 

3:    6,  7 

449. 

8:  17 

445. 

2  •    7 

512. 

3:    7 

449. 

8  :  19-23 

*577,  586. 

2:    8 

503. 

3  :  12-15 

10. 

8  :  20-22,  23 

*198. 

2:  16                 <-504. 

3:  14,15 

585. 

8  :  20-23 

353. 

2:  19 

418. 

3:  16 

151,  151. 

742 

INDEX   OF   SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 

CH.      VKRSK. 

PASS. 

CH.      VERSE.                             PAGE.                                 CH.      VKBSE. 

PAGE. 

3 

17 

559. 

11 

2                    505. 

15:  21 

364. 

3 

18 

*366. 

11 

2,  23              541. 

15  :  21,  22 

238. 

3 

20,21 

476. 

11 

3                   166. 

15:  22 

308,  310,  315,. 

3 

21    , 

200,  476. 

11 

7                   262. 

330,  333.  370, 

3 

21,23 

445. 

11 

10                  *226. 

439,  575. 

3 

22 

555. 

11 

16                    498. 

15  :  22,  45 

370,  528. 

3 

23 

445. 

11 

18                    252,  540,  548, 

15  :  22,  45,  49 

*439. 

4 

4 

472,  *472. 

550. 

15:  23 

562. 

4 

5 

147. 

11 

18,  20,  22,  23, 

15  :  25 

598. 

4 

7 

432. 

34                   540. 

15:  26 

307,  590. 

4 

15 

*207. 

11 

18,  20,  22,  33  550. 

15:  28 

150,  196,  379.. 

4 

17 

495. 

11 

18,  22              548. 

15:  34 

*38. 

5 

3 

244. 

11 

19                    492. 

15:  37 

578. 

5 

3,5 

*97. 

11 

20                    540,  550. 

15:  41 

*501. 

5 

3-5,  13 

*516. 

11 

23                     96,  540. 

15  :  43 

575. 

5 

4,  5,  13 

498,  506. 

11 

23-25              539. 

15:  44 

244,  248,*576. 

5 

5 

*97,  229,  498, 

11 

23-26              498. 

15  :  44,  50 

572. 

506. 

11 

24                    541,  *543. 

15:  45 

151,  161,  269, 

5 

7 

392. 

11 

24,  25             *148. 

367.  378,  446. 

5 

9,11 

549. 

11 

24,  26            *540. 

15  :  45,  46 

*558. 

5 

13 

*516. 

11 

26                   280,  522,  539, 

15  :  45,  49 

*366. 

6 

2,3 

584. 

541,  544. 

15:  49 

*360,  446. 

6 

3 

222. 

11 

27-29              546. 

15  :  50 

572. 

6 

11 

445,  475,  484. 

11 

29                    535,*5iO,  *543 

15:  51 

568,  575.  584. 

6 

13-20 

576. 

11 

30                   565. 

15  :  51,  52 

584. 

0 

15,19 

439.    , 

11 

as              550. 

15:  52 

562,  584. 

6 

I"* 

490. 

11 

34                   xxix,  *540. 

15:  53 

577. 

6 

17,19 

*441. 

12 

3                    147. 

15  :  53,  54 

577. 

6 

17-20 

446. 

12 

4-6                148,*151. 

15  :  54 

577. 

6 

19 

151,  248,  485. 

12 

4,  8,  11        *157. 

15  :  54-57 

354. 

6 

20 

391,  477. 

12 

6                    207. 

15  :  55 

555. 

7 

10 

*113. 

12 

8                  *157,*470. 

16:    1,2 

498. 

7 

10,12 

*113. 

12 

8,  9              *470. 

16:  12 

201. 

7 

14 

300,  320,*355, 

12 

8-11               156.                     16  :  15 

428,  *535. 

493,*535. 

12 

8,  28              *97.                      16  :  22 

159. 

7 

17 

97. 

12 

9                   430,  *470.             23  :  24 

*505. 

7 

22 

488. 

12 

11                  *157. 

7 

23 

391. 

12 

12                  *439,   543. 

2  CORINTHIANS. 

7 

40 

114. 

12 

13                   528.  *543. 

1:  20 

*8,  137. 

8 

3 

*264,  428. 

12 

28                    *97,*388,  496, 

2:    6 

506. 

8 

4 

125,  *229. 

502,  508,  511, 

2:    6,  7 

506. 

8 

6 

*9,  147.  158, 

512. 

2:    7 

506. 

162,  186. 

13 

7,13              491. 

2  :  14-17 

600. 

8 

12 

256. 

13 

10                   554. 

2:  15 

434,485. 

9 

10 

xxxi. 

13 

12                     *6,  389. 

2  :  15,  16 

434. 

9 

13,14 

544. 

13 

13                   491. 

2:  16 

434,  566. 

9 

16 

513. 

14 

23                  *498. 

3:    1 

498. 

9 

27 

*493. 

14 

35                 *xxix,  *540. 

3:    5 

344. 

10 

1,2 

524. 

14 

37                   502,  549. 

3:    6 

18,  102. 

10 

1-6 

*110. 

14 

37,  38                97. 

3:  15 

4. 

10 

4 

543. 

14 

38                     97. 

3  :  15,  16 

4. 

10 

8 

*107. 

14 

40                   498. 

3:  16 

4. 

10 

11 

568. 

15 

*558. 

3:  17 

161,  378. 

10 

12 

493. 

15 

3                       9. 

3  :  17,  18 

161. 

10 

13 

210,  230. 

15 

3,4                   9. 

3:  18 

*150,  161,  357, 

10 

16 

440,  539,*541, 

15 

4                       9. 

378,  486,  490, 

543. 

15 

6                   505. 

490. 

10 

16,17 

*440,*543. 

15 

12,  22              528. 

41:    2 

455. 

10 

17 

*542,  548. 

15 

13,  17,  22,  43, 

4:    4 

162.*263,  263. 

10 

20 

229. 

51,  52             575. 

4:    4,  6 

*459. 

10 

31 

198. 

15 

17                    575. 

4:    6 

136,*163,  459. 

10 

34 

528. 

15 

20,  23              562. 

4:  17 

123,  198,  585. 

INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


743 


(II 

VERSE.                             PAGB. 

CH 

VKRSK.                             PAGB. 

CH 

VKHSK.                              PAGE. 

5 

1-8                          *563. 

2 

19,  20             527. 

1 

9,  10            *590,  590. 

5 

1-9                35*. 

2 

20                   170,  295,*440, 

1 

10                   221,  225,  586, 

1 

3,  4                566. 

443,  478,  487, 

590. 

5 

4                  *111,  566,  580. 

527. 

-| 

11                   122,136,171, 

5 

8                    564. 

2 

21                   565. 

173,  208,  428. 

5 

10                   572,  581,  583, 

2 

30                    445. 

1 

13                    468. 

588,*590. 

3 

6                    464,  475. 

1 

14                  *155,  429. 

5 

11                   600. 

3 

6,  7                464. 

1 

17                      59,  455. 

5 

13                     17. 

8 

7                    464. 

1 

17,  18              455. 

5 

14                   527. 

3 

11                    471. 

1 

18                   435,  447,  455,  . 

5 

14,  21            *445. 

3 

13                   353,  392,  478, 

457. 

5 

15                    294.  331,  357, 

487. 

1 

18,  19             447. 

391. 

3 

16                  *110. 

1 

19                   136,  447,  449. 

5 

17                    437,  440,  444, 

3 

19                   226,  227. 

1 

19,  20             449. 

449. 

3 

20                  *109. 

1 

20                   449. 

5 

18,  19              392. 

3 

22                    296. 

1 

22                   369,  386,  424, 

r) 

19                    161,  370,  419. 

3 

24                    279. 

439,  494. 

5 

19-21              472. 

3 

26                    238,  467. 

1 

22,  23              369,  386,  439, 

5 

21                   346,  365,  365, 

3 

27                   527,  534. 

494. 

*391,*391,  404, 

4 

3                   358. 

1 

23                   147,  207,  369, 

*445,  473,  475, 

4 

3,  4             *&58. 

386,  439,  494. 

528. 

4 

4                   125,  155,  165, 

0 

1                    265,  344,  354, 

6 

17                   238. 

358,  391. 

448.  555,  559, 

7 

1                   128,  342,  460. 

4 

4,  5               415. 

574. 

7 

2                   559. 

4 

4-£                162. 

i    2 

1,  5,  6           575. 

7 

9,  10              462. 

4 

5                    415,  475. 

2 

2                   224,  228,  228, 

7 

10                    462,  464. 

4 

6                    155,  161,  238. 

231,  448. 

7 

11                    506. 

4 

9                    428. 

2 

3                   308,  320,  346,. 

8 

5                    501. 

4 

10                   201. 

355. 

8 

6                    381. 

4 

10,11             201. 

2 

5                   445,448,575. 

8 

9                    382. 

4 

11                   201. 

2 

5,  6               445. 

8 

19                    505. 

5 

6                    469,  470. 

2 

6                    445,  575. 

9 

9                    593. 

5 

11                    407. 

2 

7                   475. 

10 

5                   278,  485. 

5 

14                    294. 

o 

8                  *429. 

11 

1  sq.             101. 

5 

16                    485. 

o 

8-10              344. 

11 

2                   439. 

5 

17                  *484. 

2 

9,  10              430. 

11 

3                   302. 

5 

19-22              285. 

2 

10                   173,  179,  209, 

11 

14                   225. 

5 

21                    488. 

266,444,  449,. 

12 

2                    558. 

5 

22                   430,  470. 

449,  462. 

12 

4                      18,  563. 

5 

22-24              487. 

2 

12                      38,  392. 

12 

7                    228. 

6 

1                   349. 

2 

13                   449. 

12 

12                    *97. 

6 

7                   596. 

9 

15                   280,  446. 

13 

4                    386. 

6 

7,  8               596. 

2 

16                   392. 

13 

11                   504. 

6 

8                   596. 

2 

16-18              369. 

13 

14                  *148.  151,  156. 

6 

15                    448. 

p 

18                   163,  423. 

423. 

2 

20                 *388,  507. 

10 

23                    568. 

EPHESIANS. 

2 

20-22              438. 

2 

21                   369. 

GALATIANS. 

1 

4                    130,  186,  421, 

2 

21.22              369. 

427,  428,  430, 

2 

22                    369. 

1 

1                     97,  148. 

440,  445. 

3 

1                    220. 

1 

1,  2                 97. 

1 

4-6                427. 

3 

5                  *388. 

1 

4                   391,  391. 

1 

4-7                421. 

3 

9                  *15,  15,  17,  59, 

1 

12                     97. 

1 

5                 *162,  196,  238, 

186. 

1 

15                   208. 

428,  429,  475. 

O 

9,  10             196. 

1 

15,  16              429,  444,  449. 

1 

5,  6               238. 

3 

10                   I33,*223.225, 

1 

16                   429,  444. 

1 

5,  6,  9           196. 

231,  494,*598.  . 

1 

19                   510. 

1 

5-8                429. 

3 

10,  11             173. 

2 

11                   103,  507. 

1 

6                   196,  238,  423. 

3 

11                 *171,  173. 

2 

11-13            *113. 

1 

7                   471,  475. 

3 

12                    423,  475. 

2 

12                   510. 

1 

9                    122,  196,  428, 

3 

14                   148,  *238. 

o 

17                    465. 

590. 

3 

10,  17             443. 

744 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


VERSE.                                PAOE. 

CH 

VERSK.                             PAGE. 

CH 

VEKSK.                             PAOE. 

17                    440,  443,  445, 

2 

7                    150,  373,  529. 

3 

4                   486. 

465. 

2 

8                    382,  391. 

3 

9,  10              485. 

19                       6,  *17. 

2 

10,  11              148,  590. 

3 

10                   261,  *262. 

20                   136. 

2 

12,  13              179,*436,  441, 

3 

12                   428. 

3                    504. 

448,  460,  485. 

3 

15                    149. 

5                    528. 

2 

13                   209,  430. 

4 

16                     97. 

6                    161. 

2 

30                    498. 

7,  8                146. 

3 

6                   496,  508. 

1  THESSALONIANS. 

8                     96,  110,  146. 

3 

8,  9               276,  475. 

1 

6                   386. 

10                    369,  386. 

3 

8,  10              375. 

1 

9                   121. 

11                     11,  503,  510, 

3 

9                   279,  445. 

2 

12                   435,  485. 

*510. 

3 

10                   542,  575. 

2 

14                    495. 

13                    486. 

3 

11                    580. 

2 

18                    228. 

15                    485. 

3 

12                    486. 

3 

5                   228. 

15,  16              439. 

3 

12-14              297,  490. 

3 

12                   485. 

18                   342. 

3 

14                  *435. 

3 

13                    128. 

18,  19             347. 

3 

15                  *297,  485,*489. 

4 

2-8                  97. 

22,  23            *484. 

3 

18                    498. 

4 

7                    128. 

23                   244. 

3 

20,  21              446. 

4 

13-17              576. 

23,  24              448. 

3 

21                    366,  478,  486, 

4 

14                   565. 

24                    261,*262,486. 

575,  576. 

4 

14-16              575. 

26                  *110,  139. 

4 

3                    429. 

4 

14-17              443. 

30                    127,  151,  156. 

4 

5                    111,  568. 

4 

15-17              111. 

1                    278. 

4 

13                   446. 

4 

16                   223,  567,*567. 

2                   392,  401. 

4 

19                   208. 

4 

16,  17              562,  562,  584. 

10                     17. 

4 

17                   446,  568. 

14                  *110,  354,  448, 

COLOSSIANS. 

5 

10                  563,  565. 

460,  559,  755. 

1 

9                   219. 

5 

11                   501. 

18                    485. 

1 

13                   448. 

5 

12                   428,  511. 

21                     148. 

1 

15                   120,  149.  162, 

5 

12,  13             502. 

23                  *367. 

*164,  *165,  262. 

5 

22                  *399. 

24,  25              494. 

1 

15-17              157. 

5 

23                   244,*246,  446, 

25                    480,  494. 

1 

16                    147,  158,  186, 

484. 

25,  26              480. 

188,  221,  223. 

5 

24                    137. 

25-27              391. 
26                   480,  531,  532. 

1 

17                    147,  147,  186, 
203,  383.  413. 

2  THESSALONIANS. 

29                  *580. 

1 

18                    366,  367,  494. 

1 

1                   549. 

29,  30              439,  442. 

1 

19                  *149. 

6-9                427. 

31                  *384,  *439. 

1 

20                    225,  392,  586. 

6-10              572. 

31,  32            *439. 

1 

21,  22              391. 

7                   222. 

32                  *439,  443. 

1 

22                    475. 

7,  8               581. 

11                    230. 

1 

24                   446. 

7-10              567. 

12                    188,  222,  228. 

1 

27                   *11,  375,  443, 

9                   355,*559,  *587 

17                     10,  17,  448, 

467. 

2 

1-3                568. 

450. 

1 

27-29              4&5. 

0 

2                     74,  *567. 

23                   148,  430. 

2                   375. 

2 

3,  4               295. 

3                   147. 

2 

3,  4,  7,  8       570. 

PHILIPPIANS. 

5                   498. 

2 

4,  9               228. 

1                    498,  503,  509, 

6,  7              *439. 

2 

7                   304. 

510,  512. 

7                  *438. 

'2 

9                   229. 

6                   485,  491. 

9                    146,  149,  370. 

a 

11                   209. 

9                  *219. 

9,  10              482. 

2 

13                    428. 

19                    161. 

10                  *221. 

2 

14                    435. 

21,  23              354. 

11,  12              520. 

16                  *148. 

22,  23            *563. 

11-13              386. 

Q 

3                   491. 

23                   354,  399,*563. 

12                   455,  524,  528. 

3 

6                   516,  549. 

27                    504. 

2 

12,  13              575. 

3 

6,  14,  15        506. 

5                   446. 

2 

14                   487. 

3 

11,14     -         549. 

6                    146,*149,  150, 
157. 

2 
2 

15                   230. 
16,  17              201. 

1  TIMOTHY. 

6,  7                382. 

2 

18                  *226,  227. 

1 

9                   488. 

6-8                137,  *384. 

3 

1-4                478. 

1 

11                   116. 

6-11              381. 

3 

3,  4                448. 

1 

12                     513. 

INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


745 


CM.        VKRSK. 

PAGE. 

CH.      VERSE. 

PAGE. 

CH.      VERSE, 

PAGE. 

:  13-15 

348. 

3     16 

*97. 

2:  15 

487. 

:  14 

479, 

4      2 

*11. 

2:  16 

222,  238,  371, 

:  15 

286. 

4      6 

111. 

419,  432. 

:  15,  16 

432. 

4      8 

568. 

2:  17 

393. 

:  17 

120,  125,  130, 

4     13 

104. 

2  :  17,  18 

378,  423. 

593. 

4     14 

588. 

2:  18 

364,  378,  423. 

1:  20 

*229. 

4     18 

*563. 

3:    1 

435,  507. 

2:    1 

424. 

3:    3,  4 

*xxvi,  *147. 

2:    4 

*435. 

TITUS. 

3:    8,15 

583. 

2:    5 

364,  369,  379. 

1      2 

137. 

3:  12 

284,  284,  342. 

2:    6 

391,  421. 

1      5 

505,  509,  510. 

3:  13 

501. 

2:    7 

*513. 

1      5,7 

509. 

4  :    9 

585. 

3:    1,2 

503. 

1      6-9 

513. 

4  :  12 

244,*246,448. 

3:    1,8 

509. 

1      7 

509,  510. 

4:  13 

133. 

3:    2 

11,    20,  510, 

1       9 

11. 

4:  15 

365,  366,  366, 

510. 

1     11 

*540. 

446. 

3  :    2-7 

513. 

1     15 

*256,  342. 

4  :  15,  16 

378,  423. 

3:    5 

511. 

2     10 

161. 

4:  16 

378,  423. 

3  :    8,  10,  12 

510. 

2     11 

421. 

5  :    7 

364. 

3  :  10,  13 

512. 

2     13 

*145. 

5:    8 

361. 

3:  11 

512. 

2    14 

391. 

5:  14 

10. 

3:  15 

10,  496,  504, 

3      4 

137,  475. 

6:    2 

*9,  599. 

505,  508,  551. 

3      4,7 

475. 

6:    4-6 

*493. 

3:  16 

*9,    9,  *146, 

3      5 

151,  455,  531. 

6:    7 

9. 

370,  *375,*416 

532. 

6:    8 

*590. 

473,  479. 

3      7 

475. 

6:  11 

*469. 

4:    2 

256. 

3     10 

549. 

6:  13 

*197. 

4:    7 

486. 

6:  18 

137. 

4:  10 

421. 

PHILEMON. 

6  :  18,  19 

245. 

4:  14 

512.  513,  513, 

13 

393. 

7  :    9,  10 

*109. 

532. 

7:  10 

252. 

4  :  16 

600. 

HEBREWS. 

7:  16 

121,  147,  469. 

5  :    6 

354,  559. 

1  :    2 

153,  158,  161, 

7:  23-25 

422. 

5  :    9 

498. 

186,  203,  369. 

7:  24,  25 

379. 

5:  17 

511. 

1  :    2,  3 

203,  369. 

7  :  24-28 

390. 

5:  21 

225,  226. 

1:    2,10 

158. 

7:  25 

379,  423. 

5:  22 

512,  513. 

1:    3 

123,  136,  149, 

7:  26 

147,  *365. 

5:  24 

*349. 

153,*162,*163 

8:    2 

126. 

6:  16 

118,  130. 

203,  262,  369, 

8:    8 

*324. 

6:  20 

16. 

383,  416,  424. 

8:    9 

324. 

2  TIMOTHY. 

1      5,6 
1      6 

*165. 
146,  148,  165. 

9:    1 
9  :  11,  12 

473. 
392. 

1  :    9 

429,  435,*592. 

1      7 

226. 

9  :  13,  14 

394. 

1:    9,10 

421. 

1       8 

145,  379,  424. 

9:  14 

150,  158,  163, 

1:  10 

59,  307,  421. 

1     10 

147. 

165,  186,  365, 

1:  12 

37,  491. 

1     11 

147. 

378,  382,  392, 

1:  13 

10. 

1     13 

147. 

401,  593. 

1:  14 

485,  491. 

1     14 

*222,  222,  226, 

9:  15 

392. 

2  :  10 

433. 

564. 

9:  22 

346. 

2:  11 

445. 

2      2 

226. 

9  :  22,  26 

392. 

2:  15 

11. 

2      2,3 

347. 

9:  26 

529,  *592. 

2:  18 

576. 

2      3 

347. 

9:  27 

565,  581,*590. 

2:  19 

*492. 

2      6-10 

366. 

9  :  27,  28 

581. 

2:  22 

434. 

2      7 

150. 

9:  28 

392,*544,  565, 

2:  25 

225,  430,  464. 

2      7,8 

385. 

567. 

2:  26 

222. 

2      8 

385,  424. 

10:    3,4 

395. 

3:    2 

295,  341. 

2      8.9 

424. 

10:    5-7 

110. 

3:    4 

341. 

2     10 

411. 

10:  22 

256,*256,  524. 

3:    7 

449. 

2     10,18 

364. 

10  :  22,  23' 

531,  532. 

3:    8 

567. 

2     11 

*375. 

10:  25 

498,  501. 

3:  13 

337,  341. 

2    13 

*367. 

10:  26 

349. 

3:  15 

445. 

2     14 

230,  364,  370. 

10  :  26-29 

*493. 

746 


INDEX    OF    SCRIPTURE   TEXTS. 


CH.      VBRSK. 

PACK. 

CH.      VERSK. 

PAGI. 

CH.       VEK8». 

PAGE. 

10:  27 

581,  583. 

4  :  13-15 

209. 

1       3 

137. 

10  :  28,  29 

347. 

4:  17 

278,  284,  347. 

1      4 

369,  376,  378, 

10  :  30,  31 

140. 

5:    7 

568. 

*441.  448. 

10:  31 

277,  351,  355. 

5:    8,9 

568. 

1     10 

*77,  435,  448, 

10:  38 

245. 

5:    9 

Ill,  568. 

469. 

11:    1 

465. 

5:  11 

113. 

1     11 

425. 

11:    3 

*186. 

5  :  19,  20 

472,  *472. 

1     19,20 

*69. 

11:    4 

396,  471. 

5:  20 

354,  472,*472. 

1     21 

97,  100,  156, 

11:    4-7 

471. 

164. 

11:    5 

561. 

1 

PETER. 

2      1 

391,  421. 

11:    6 

344,  *446. 

1:    1,2 

145,  151,  156, 

2      4 

140,  189,  225, 

11:    7 

471. 

225,  427,  428, 

432,584. 

11  :  13-16 

561. 

430,  433,*480. 

2      4,5 

386. 

11:  31 

108. 

1:    3 

*207,  449. 

2       4,9 

*564,  581. 

12:    2 

311,  *365. 

1  :    5 

419. 

2      9 

566. 

12:    6 

129,  351,  555. 

1  :  10 

111. 

2     11 

222. 

12:    9 

238,  244,  250. 

1  :  10,  11 

386,  492. 

2    20 

493. 

12:  14 

140,*448,  586. 

1:  11 

69,  100. 

3 

*586. 

12  :  14,  23 

486. 

1  :  11,  12 

97. 

3      2 

97. 

12:  16 

391. 

1:  12 

222,225. 

3      3-12 

568. 

12  :  22,  23 

222. 

1:  16 

138,  140,  278, 

3      4sg. 

111. 

12:  23 

161,  244,  258, 

487. 

3      5 

256,  289. 

494,  563,  564, 

1  :  18,  19 

392. 

3      6,7 

*559. 

583,  585. 

1:  19 

365. 

3      7,10 

572,  581. 

12:  24-26 

389. 

1:  20 

428. 

12:  27 

199. 

1:  23 

18,  448,  485. 

1 

JOHN. 

12:  28 

446. 

2:    2 

485. 

1 

364,  375. 

12:  29 

128,  129,  351. 

2:    4,5 

438. 

3 

440,  446. 

13:    7 

510. 

2:    5 

423. 

5 

129,  167. 

13:    7,17 

511. 

2:    5,  9 

445. 

6 

487. 

13:    8 

147. 

2:    8 

173,  434. 

7 

*392. 

13:  17 

511. 

2:    9 

198,  429,  448. 

7,8 

346,  *480. 

13:  20 

541. 

2:  21 

366. 

8 

296,  346,*480, 

13:  21 

*148. 

2  :  21,  24 

391,  399. 

486,  490. 

2:  22 

365. 

1       9 

137,  402,  405, 

JAMES. 

3:    8 

504. 

419. 

1:    5 

*127,  219. 

3:  15 

*146,  148,  477. 

2      1 

164,  402,  423. 

1:  13 

207,  290. 

3:  16 

*256. 

2      2 

393,  421,  445. 

1  :  13,  14 

207,  290. 

3:  18 

369,  393,  416. 

2     18 

568. 

1:  14 

207,  290. 

3:  18-20 

*385. 

2     19 

492. 

1:  15 

295,  303,  337, 

3:  19 

*564. 

2     20 

500. 

554. 

3  :  20,  21 

524. 

2     23 

159,  170. 

1:  17 

124,  175. 

3:  21 

*256,  454,  527. 

3      1,2 

238. 

1:  18 

430,*448,*454 

3  :  21,  22 

425. 

3      2 

238,  268,  357, 

*495. 

3:  22 

222. 

383,  446,  487. 

1:  21 

245. 

4:    6 

*353,  416,  535. 

3      4 

*284,  559. 

1:  25 

282,  488. 

4:    7 

Ill,  568. 

3      5,2 

365. 

1:  26 

484. 

4:  11 

198. 

3      6 

487. 

1:  27 

12. 

4:  13 

446. 

3      6-9 

*489. 

2:    8 

294. 

4:  14 

123. 

3      7 

365. 

2:  10 

279. 

4:  19 

137. 

3      8 

230. 

2  :  14,  26 

469. 

5:    1 

507. 

3      9 

*207,  485. 

2:  19 

465. 

5:    1,2 

*509. 

3     14 

354. 

2  :  21,  23,  24 

*472. 

4:    2 

498. 

3     16 

127,  147. 

2:  23 

429. 

5:    2,3 

511. 

3     20 

347. 

2:  25 

108. 

5:    3 

501. 

4       1 

17,  219. 

2:  26 

244,  469. 

5:    8 

227,228. 

4      2 

369,  370,  371. 

3:    2 

490. 

5:    9 

230. 

4      3 

159. 

3:    9 

262. 

4      7 

38,294. 

4.    5 

*484. 

2 

PETER. 

4      7,8 

3. 

4:    7 

230. 

1:    1 

*145. 

4      8 

3,  127,  264. 

4:  12 

279. 

1:    2 

16. 

4     10 

137,  393,  418. 

INDEX    OF   SCEIPTUKE   TEXTS. 


747 


CH.       VF.KSB 

.                             PAGE, 

CH.      VERSK. 

PAGE. 

CH.        VKKSK. 

PAGE. 

4    13 

468. 

2:  21 

467. 

19:    2,5 

351. 

4     16 

440. 

2:  23 

588. 

19:    5 

351. 

4     19 

376. 

3: 

*505. 

19:    7 

439. 

5      4 

492. 

3:    1 

354,  493,  559. 

19:    8 

475. 

5      6 

137. 

3:    1,7,14 

510. 

19:    9 

101. 

5      7 

126. 

3:    7 

147,  510. 

19:  10 

67,  467. 

5     10 

468. 

3:  10 

491. 

19:  14 

224. 

5     10,11 

97. 

3:  12 

585. 

19  :  15,  16 

424. 

5     11 

97. 

3:  14 

*147,  510. 

19:  16 

424. 

5     14,  15 

4?0. 

3:  20 

434,  465,  566. 

20:    2 

210,  222,  228, 

5     15 

470. 

3:  21 

445,  584. 

302. 

5     16,17 

349. 

4:    6-8 

224. 

20:    2,3 

210. 

5    17 

284,  349. 

4:    8 

140. 

20:    2,10 

189.  222. 

5     18 

491. 

4:  11 

196. 

20:    3 

210. 

5     18,19 

225. 

5:    6 

*161,  423. 

20:    4 

245. 

5    19 

225,  296. 

5:    6-8 

573. 

20:    4-6 

570. 

5     30 

*126,  *145. 

5:    9 

224,  391. 

20:    4-10 

*571,  572. 

5:  10 

445. 

20:    6 

445. 

2  JOHN. 

5:  11 

223. 

20  :  10 

189,  222. 

7 

567. 

5  :  12-14 

148. 

20  :  11-15 

572. 

5:  15 

364. 

20:  12 

xxix,  581, 

3  JOHN. 

6:    9 
6:    9-11 

244,  245. 
564. 

20  :  12,  13 

*584. 
59. 

2 

244. 

6:  10 

566. 

20:  13 

59,  575. 

7:  16 

423. 

20:  14 

555,  564,  574. 

JUDE. 

7  :  16,  17 

423. 

20  :  14,  15 

560. 

3 
6 

97,  505,  544. 
225,  230,  584, 
*593. 

7:  17 
9:    2,11 
10:    6 

423. 
587. 
*131. 

20:  15 
21: 
21:    1 

429. 

447. 
586. 

6,7 

7 

*593. 
*593. 

10:    8-11 
12:  10 

456. 
228. 

21:    1,5 
21:    3 

199,  575. 

585. 

9 

*223. 

12:  14 

571. 

21:    4,5 

*577. 

14 

*80. 

13:    8 

*15,*141,  416. 

21:    5 

101,567,*577. 

19 
21 

244,  *246. 
156. 

13:  11 
13:  14 

571. 
571. 

21:    6 
21:    8 

147. 
555,  560,  587, 

23 

501,  600. 

13  :  14,  15 

571. 

*596,  598. 

24 

487,  491. 

13:  15 
14:    1 

571. 

598. 

21:  14 
21  :  16,  24,  25 

507. 
598. 

14  :    5 

487. 

21:  23 

123. 

REVELATION. 

14  :  10-12 

587. 

21:  27 

429,  585. 

3 

569. 

14:  11 

355. 

22: 

*447. 

'   7 

567,  567. 

14:  13 

564. 

22:    3 

148,  585. 

8 

130,  147. 

15  :    1-4 

129,  351. 

22:    4 

37,  268. 

10 

201. 

15:    3 

130. 

22:    8,9 

153,  227. 

1     10,11 

101. 

16:    3 

245. 

22:    9 

153,  222,  222, 

11 

101. 

16:    5 

129. 

227. 

18 

593. 

16:  10 

*224. 

22:  11 

473,  565,  596, 

1     20 

226. 

16:  12 

571,  571. 

596. 

2 

*505. 

17  :  12,  13 

571. 

22:  12 

569. 

2      1,8,12,18    510. 

17:  13 

571. 

22  :  12,  20 

569. 

2      7 

563. 

17:  17 

173. 

22:  14 

269. 

2      8 

510. 

17:  19 

571. 

22:  15 

585. 

2     11 

555,  560. 

18:    5,6 

588. 

22:  16 

367. 

2     12 

510. 

18:    6 

588. 

22:  17 

435. 

2     13 

*224. 

19:    1 

585. 

22:  20 

569. 

2     18 

510. 

19:    2 

129. 

IJSTDEX  OF  APOCRYPHAL  TEXTS. 


1  ESDRAS. 


CH.      VKBSE. 

1:  28 
4:  38 
6:  1 


80. 

126. 

80. 


2  ESDRAS. 


7 

19 
11     46 
11     48 
11     118 
21 


12      7 


332. 
332. 


JUDITH. 
523. 


ESTHER.                       CH.   vi 

RSE.                              PAGK. 

CH.       VERSE. 

PAGB. 

24  :  23-27                80. 

147. 

25:  24 

332. 

WISDOM. 

31:  2 

48:  24 

523. 

80. 

2    23 

332. 

2    24 

332. 

BARUCH. 

7    26 

153. 

2:  21 

80. 

7    28 

153. 

BEL 

AND  THE  DRAGON. 

9      9 

153. 

9     10 

153. 

60. 

11     17 

186. 

1  MACCABEES. 

ECCLESIASTICUS,  Or  SlRACH. 

147. 

Prologue 

80. 

12:    9 

80. 

2:    1 

484. 

2  MACCABEES. 

2:  30 

481. 

6:  23 

80. 

18:    1 

222. 

7:  28 

186. 

INDEX  OF  GEEEK  WOEDS. 


n-n,  an  illustration  of  the  inadequacy 
of  language  to  express  divine 
ideas, - 18 

rr]v  aydTTT/j/,  1  John  3 : 16,  the  personal 
Love, 147 

397 

?,  its  derivation  and  meaning, 560 

ayvaxriav  9eov  rive?  e^owo-i,  its  meaning,  .-     38 

afitKia,  its  meaning, 284 

its  Hebrew  equivalent, 284 

aBeoi  e>To>  KOCT/MOJ,  forsaken  of  God, 38 

diSios,  its  application  to  God's  "  power 
and  divinity,"  and  to  "chains" 
which  endure  to  judgment  day,  ..  593 

aipwv,  its  meaning  in  John  1 :  29, - 392 

flucrflrjo-i?,  spiritual  discernment,  Phil.  1 : 9,  219 

a>.u>v, 589 

does  occasionally  have  its  etymolog- 
ical force  of  "  age,"  Heb.  9: 26, .130, 592 

its  reduplication, ..  593 

contrasted  by  Plato  with  xpo^°s, 593 

attributed  by  Aristotle  to  God, 593 

sets  forth  sometimes  the  period  in 

which  punishment  takes  place,...  593 
but  in  such  connections  does  not 

mean  "world-period,". 593 

number  and  classification  of  its  oc- 
currences in  N.  T., 593 

force  of  the  word,  in  its  application 
to  punishment  in  a  future  state, 
determined  by  related  passages, ..  594 
list  of  authors  on  meaning  of  word,  594 

aiwvios, ._ 589 

applied  to  future  punishment, 592 

occasionally  has  its    etymological 

meaning  of  "age-long," 592 

expresses  longest  duration  of  which 

subject  is  capable, 592 

connected  with  eufitos, 593 

there  is  no  stronger  word  in  Greek 
language  to  express  "eternal,"...  593 

Woolsey 's  opinion  on, 593 

applied  to  the  abiding  Holy  Spirit  in 
believers,  and  to  the  life  of 

Christ, 593 

used  to  describe  the  future  happi- 
ness of  the  righteous  as  well  as 
future  sufferings  of  wicked, 593 


alwi'to?  (continued), 

number  and  classification  of  its  oc- 
currences in  N.  T.,  593 

its  meaning  in  relation  to  future 
punishment  determined  by  other 
descriptions  of  the  ,  condition  of 

the  lost, .- 594 

Meyer  on  the  word  as  conveying 
"the  absolute  idea  of  eternity,"..  594 

list  of  authors  on  the  word, 594 

aAi?0eia,  its  etymology  and  meaning, 98 

aA.Tj0rj?,  the  veracious, 126 

distinguished  from  a\r)6iv6<;, 126 

<iA7)0iv6s,  the  genuine,  the  real, --  126 

distinguished  from  aA>j0j)?, 126 

1  John  5 : 20,  6  aATj0u>bs  #e6?,  by  all 
rules  of  composition,  applies  to 

"his  Son  Jesus  Christ," ,  145 

dAAo  /cai  aAAo,  correctly  descriptive  of 
the  two  natures  which  in  Christ 
constitute  the  els, 362 

aAAo?  Kal  aAAos,   united  by  o-vva<£eta,  the 

formula  of  Nestorius, 362 

a/aapravetv,  its  meaning  in  Rom.  5:12-19,.  332 

afjiapria,  its  etymological  meaning, 283 

its  Hebrew  equivalent, 283 

passages  in  which  it  occurs, 283,  284 

applicable  to  dispositions  as  well  as 

to  acts, 283,284 

itsN.  T.  definition, 284 

in  what  sense  Christ  was  made, 415 

ai/aAOo-ai.  Hackett  on, 563 

its  meaning,. 563 

its  close  connection  with  <rvv  Xpio-rai 

elvat, 563 

avacrraffii'   /ue'AAeiv    e<7€o-0ai,    the    Constant 

formula  in  relation  to  the  resur- 
rection,   562 

oV0p(07ros,  its  derivation, 269 

avo/ou'a,  lack  of  conformity  to  law,  law- 
lessness,   284 

descriptive  of  sin  as  a  state, 284 

avraAAayjAa, 391 

ifTi,  never  confounded  with  virep, 391 

the  prepositon   of   price,  bargain, 

exchange, 391 

in  Mat.  20:28,  denotes  substitution,.  393 
,  diaconal  gifts,  - 503 


752 


INDEX    OF   GREEK   WORDS. 


d  i/v7roo-Ta<7i'a,  unpersonality, 367 

rejected  by   Fathers  in  favor    of 

ej/vTi-oo-Tao-ia,  inpersonality,. 367 

not  mentioned  in  Chalcedon  sym- 
bol,   363 

a»ra£,  once  for  all,  Heb.  9:28, 544 

aTrau-yacr/aa, 163 

implies  Christ's  co-equality  and  co- 
eternity  with  the  Father, 163 

,  1  Pet.  3  : 18-20,  Bartlett  on,.  386 

s,     a^aA-yeli/,     a     HlOSt      Sinful 

state, 347 

is   eV,  TO,   a   unity    destructive   of 

knowledge, - 116 

KdAu^is,  1  Cor.  2 : 10-12,  internal  reve- 
lation,       8 

distinguished  from  <f>avep<oo-(.s, 8 

the  Holy  Spirit,  its  organ, 8 

equivalent  to  "Amen,"  or  subject- 
ive certitude,  in  2  Cor.  1 : 20 8 

an  "unveiling,"... 99 

i,  of  the  gospel,  Rom.  1 : 17 ; 
of  wrath,  Rom.  1:18, :    14 

arro/u.VT)ju.ovev/xaTa,  '  memoirs,' 73 

employed  by  Xenophon  in  relation 

to  Socrates, 73 

employed    by     Justin     Martyr  as 

equivalent  to  'gospels,' 73 

why  so  used  by  him, 73 

oiroo-racna,  implies  state  as  well  as  act,  284 
"a  falling  away,"  a   precursor   of 

Christ's  second  coming, 570 

aTToreAecr/Aa,  genus  cipotelcsmaticum, 370 

aTrpoaArjTTTOi'  <cal   aOepdirevrov,  TO,  a  patris- 

tic  dictum, 362 

awwAeta,  destruction, 393,  559 

dirwAeTo,  perished,  2  Pet.  3:6, 559 

Plumptre  on, 559 

apToAaTpt'a,  a  word  coined  by  Gerhard,..  545 
dpxdyyeAo?,  applied  by  Philo  to  his 

Logos, 154 

apxf?,  ev,  Godet  on, 147 

Meyer  on, 147 

apxn  of  motion,  Plato  describes  mind  as,  147 
ipxtepeus.  applied  by  Philo  to  his  Logos,  154 

a<re/3eia, 283 

in  LXX  for  #^5, 283 

a<^avi'£a>,  does  not  imply  absolute  anni- 
hilation,   559 

i^opiaare,  Acts  13:3.  Meyer  on, 505 

/3airTi£u>,  its  meaning  in  Greek  writers,  522 

in  Church  Fathers, 522 

in  Greek  version  of  O.  T., 522 

in  the  Lexicons, 522 

Conant  on  the  word 522 

Dale  on  its  meaning  being  "to  put 

within," 522 

Harvey  on  the  word, 522 

the  meaning  required  in  every  pas- 
sage where  it  occurs  in  N.  T., 523 

Lightfoot  and  Wetstein  on  word,..  523 

Meyer  on  word, 523 

its  use  in  Apocrypha, 523 


Ti^w  (continued), 

the  meaning  "  immerse  "  not  incon- 
sistent with  facilities  at  Jerusa- 
lem or  in  eastern  jails,  523 

not  inconsistent  with  numbers  bap- 
tized at  Pentecost, 523 

Dollinger  and  Harnack  on  the  word,  523 
its  meaning  confirmed  by  the  fact 
that  the  word  is  never  used  in  the 
passive  voice   with  water  as  its 

subject, 525 

its   meaning   determined  from  its 

use  with  prepositions, 525 

used  with  eis,  524 

used  with  ev, 524 

its  meaning  determined  by  attend- 
ant circumstances,  524 

by  its  use  in  figures, 524 

Conybeare  and  Howson  on  the  word,  524 

by  practice  of  early  church, 525 

by  doctrine  and  practice  of  Greek 

church, 525 

,  ei>,  Luke  16:23, 564 

/San-Taj,  Dale  on  the  word, 522 

Harvey's  examination  of  Dale  on 
the  word, 522 

jSao-iAev?  rStv  aioicwv,. 130 

/Sfie'Avyfta   Try?    ep^jmuicrew?,    a    Gra3CO-Ara- 

mjean  expression  of  first  century, . .    75 
£ovArj,  arbitrium,  Willkllr,  implying  vo- 
lition, distinguished  from  0e'AT)Ma,__  288 
/Bpaxv    TI,    its    possible     rendering    in 
Heb.2:7. 385 

•yvtoo-ts,  1  Tim.  6:20;   Cf.  eiriyvwvis,  2  Pet. 

1:2, 16 

yvwo-Tbv  rov  Oeov,  TO,  that  which  is  known 
of  God,  Rom.  1:19, 14,38 

fievTepos  Sec?,  applied  by  Philo  to  his 
Logos, 154 

8e£aM«/oi,  in  1  Thess.  1 :  6,  aorist  partici- 
ple describing  an  action  not  prior 
to  time  of  principal  verb, 386 

8ia  nitrriv,  justification  not,  but  6i<i  n-iV- 

TCOJS  or  e/c  TriVTetos, 481 

8ia  TO  evoiKOvv  and  Sto.  ToO  evoiKovvros, 

Rom.  8:11, 576 

SiaTouTo,  in  Rom.  5:12, 16 

&La.KOvelv  Tpa7re'£eus, 512 

SiaKovia, 503,  512 

Siaxoi'os,  ..  ..  503 


6id/3oAos, 227 

,  1  Cor.  2:13, 101 

Meyer  on  the  word, 101 

o-KaAos, 503 

to?,  Cremer  on, -.  138 

ioo-uvT>,  state  of  one  justified, 473 

secondarily,  the  moral  condition  of 

the  believer, 473 

ioo-ih'Tj  Oeov,  Rom.  1:17, 469 

fiiAcatoo-vvij  required  and  provided  by 

God, 473 

<.o(TvvT)v,  TTJV  ifii'ttv,  inveighed  against 
by  Paul, 473 


INDEX   OF   GREEK   WORDS. 


753 


SiKaiocrvvr)  Trt'crrecos,  or  e<c  irtcTTew?,  .......... 

6i<cai6w,   its    virtually   uniform   mean- 

ing, ...........................  -  ..... 

proper  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  in 

Dan.  12:3,  .......................... 

SiKauo/oia,  act  accomplished  of  declaring 

a  man  just,  ......................... 

secondary  meaning  of  '  statute',  '  act 

of  justice,'  ..............  .......... 

StKaiuo-is,  act  in  process  of  declaring1  a 

man  just,  ..............  *.  .......... 

stands  to  (Si/cauo/ua  as  'poesy'  to 

'poem,'  ____  ............  _______  ...... 

SOACW,  1  Cor.  7  :  10,  Meyer  on,  ............. 

root  of  Docetse,  ....................  . 

(Wex/mei?,  '  powers,'  ...................... 

eyyvs,  Phil.  4:5,  may  mean  'near'  in 

space,  .....................  ........ 

eyeVero,  does  not  imply  transmutation.. 
eiKciv,  Heb.  1:3,  .......................... 

ets  and  eirl,  Rom.  3  :22,  their  interpreta- 

tion, ................................ 

ek  ovopo,  .................................. 

ets    TOP    ic6\nov,    John    1  :  18,    implying 
movement  in  Godhead,  ........... 

eis  TO  ovona,  its  meaning  discussed,  ...... 

*E/c5ocri5  axpt^rj?  TI)S  bp9oS6£ov  IIicrTecos,  ear- 
liest work  on   Systematic  Theol- 
ogy, .............................  .... 

eKelvos,  applied  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  ...... 

e/cecwo-ei/,   Phil.   2:7,   root   of   Kenosis, 
Kenotics,  ....  ...................... 

etripvgev,  1  Pet.  3  :  18-20,  discussed,  ....... 

e/c/cAT/o-i'a,  its  meanings  in  N.  T.,  ........ 

its  derivation,  ........................ 

etymological  meaning  lost  in  N.  T. 
times,  ....  .......................... 

its  analogue  in  Hebrew,  ............ 

list  of  references  on,  ......  .  ........  . 

ev,  its  force  With  /SaTrri^w,  ................ 

«"  <*Pxf>,  John  1:1.  Godet  on,  ............. 

Meyer  on,  ............................ 

eVSeifis,  in  Rom.  3:  25,  .................... 

efVTToo-Taora,  '  inpersonality,'  favored  by 
the  Fathers,  ........................ 


155 


,  ...........................  363 

c£aieoAov0eu,  to  be  on  a  false  track,  2  Pet. 

1:16,  ................................    77 

e£  anopfav  vAijs,  Wisdom  11:17,  ..........  186 

e£tAa<ropat,  .............................  393,402 

<=£  OVK  OPTO)!/,  ex  nihilo  fecit,  2  Maccabees, 

7:28,  ................................  186 

eTrevSvcrao-tfai,  2  Cor.  5:1-8,  putting  on 
heavenly  body  over  present  one  at 
coming  of  the  Lord,  ............  111,563 

en-epwrrj/xa,  1  Pet.  3:21,  inquiry  of  soul 

after  God,  ......................  454,455 

Plumptre  on,  ........................  455 

iwiyvuMw,   2  Pet.  1:12;  compared  with 

•yi/a><ri5,  1  Tim.  6:20,  ................    16 

en-iyvwo-i?  d/aaprias,  ........................  462 

emevfjiia,  suggests  disposition  or  state,..  284 


eTTt'cr/coTros,  ............  _____  .....  ___  ......  ..  503 

co-ordinate    with    wpecr/SvTepo?    and 


os,  1  Tim.  3:2,  ................  510 

his   duties,  iroi/uaiVe«/,    Acts   20:28; 

eiricricoireiV  noiftviov,  I  Pet.  5  :  2,  ......  509 

nomen  dignitatis  est.  Jerome,  _______  500 

-KOTreij',  exercise  oversight,  act  as 

bishops,  1  Pet.  5  :  2,  ................  509 

-KOTroui'Tes,  why  omitted  by  some 

versions  in  1  Pet.  5  :  12,  .....  ..  .....  509 

aveia,  a  term  applied  specially  to 

the  Son,  never  to  the  Father,  .....  145 
,  'works,'  designates  miracles  ob- 

jectively, ...........................    61 

v  rov  Oeov,  why  faith  is  so  called,  ____  469 

rai  uipa,  John  5  :  28-30,  distinguished 

from  /cat  vvv  eo-TiV,  _____  ...............   563 

jvwaev,    John    1  :  14,    '  tabernacled'  ; 
tabernacle  a  type  of  Christ;  an  al- 
lusion  to   the  Shechinah  of  the 
Mosaic  tabernacle,  ..............  ...  371 

rjv,  'ordained,'  'appointed,'  without 
present  technical  sense    of    'or- 
dain,' .................  ............  .  513 

-yijTo?,    Rom.    9  :  5,  not  a  doxology 
but  a  description,  .........  .  ........  145 

i'?,  being  found  in  outward  condi- 
tion as  a  man,  Phil.  2:9,  ...........  384 

e<£'  (p,  on  the  ground  of  the  fact  that,  for 
the  reason  that,  because,   Rom. 
5:12  ...............................  21,332 

e<J>0aprj,  Gen.  6  :  11  LXX,  was  corrupt,  ____  559 

e\0pa,  naturally  suggests  disposition  or 

state,  .......................  .  .......  284 

£w»j,  Rom.  5:18,  ........................  21,23 

2  Tim.  1:10,  opposed  to  0ava-ros,  ____  332 

r)ju.apToj/,  Rom.  5  :  12,  Prof.  W.  A.  Stevens 

on,  ......................  .  ...........  331 

the  author  on,  .......................  332 

ripe^ia,  stillness,  rest,  of  summit  of  Aris- 

totle's 'slope,'  ......................  301 

0ai/aros,  ...................................  332 

0avaTai0eis.lPet.3:18-20,  ...............  386 

0e'ATjju.a,  voluntas,  Wille,  includes  prefer- 

ence, .............................  288 

fleoTrceuo-To?,  2  Tim.  3  :  16,  applied  to  Scrip- 

ture itself,  .........................  99 

9v<ria,  .....................................  397 


iAa<r/u.6s, 397 

Ka.0a.ipo), 397 

/cafloparai,  Rom.  1 : 20,  spiritually  viewed,    37 
voovpeva  /caflopaTai,  are  clearly  seen 
in  that  they  are  perceived  by  the 
reason, 38 

KaTdpa,  Christ  made  a,  Gal.  3:13, 411 

KO.T  olicov,  Acts  2 : 46 ;  R.  V. :  'at  home ' ; 
Jacob:  'from  one  worship-room 

to  another,' xxix,  539 

this  meaning  suitable, 540 

KonjpTioTieVa,  Acts  13 : 23,  '  fitted  '=  fitted 

themselves, . .  . .  428 


754 


LNDEX    OF   GREEK    WORDS. 


75 


iW,  ccnturio,  instance  of  internal 
correspondence  of  N.  T.  writings 
with  land  and  times  in  which  they 
profess  to  have  been  written,  ..... 

v,  1  Pet.  3  :  18-20,  Luther's  notion 
of,  ..................................  385 

Dorner  on,  ...........................  385 

Wright  on,  ..........................  .  386 

Bartlett  on,  ..........................  386 

xoivwi/ia,  1  Cor.  10:  16,  17,  participation;.  440 
fellowship,  1  John  1  :  3,  ..............  440 

xoii/wj/ia  TOV  (TuijuaTos   rov  XpicrroG,  1  Cor. 

10  :  16,  17,  spiritual   partaking  of 
Christ,  ..............................  543 

a  setting  forth  symbolically  of  the 
soul's  actual  participation  in  the 
life  of  Christ,  ......................  440 

xoAa£o/ueVovs,  2  Pet.  2:6,  under  punish- 

ment. ...............................  564 

xoAao-i?,  etymologically  a  'cutting  off,'.  588 
occurs  only  in  Mat.  25:46,  and  in 
1  John4:18,  ........................  588 

1  John  4  :  18,'  fear  hath  punishment,'  588 
x6<rju.os  POTJTO?,  applied  by  Philo  to  his 

Logos,  .......................  .  ......  154 

xri'o-ts,  creatura,  world  not  exclusively 

a,  ..................................  .  192 

xv/Sepvrjaeis,  1  Cor.  12  :  28,  gifts  needed  by 

pastors  .............................  503 

xvpia/crj,  Kirche,  kirk,  church,  belong- 

ing to  the  Lord,  ...................  495 

xupios,  6  Kupios  MOV,  John  20  :  28,  can  refer 

only  to  Christ,  .....................  148 

does  not  occur  in  1  Maccabees,  _____  147 

xupiov  JTP  ev/aarp?,  2  Cor.  3  :  18,  Lord  of  the 

Spirit,  ..............................  150 

AajSw./,  Phil.  2;  5-9,  'emptied  himself  by 

taking,'  ............................  384 

A6yo?,  =  word  -f  reason,      expression  + 

thought,  idea  -f  fact,  ..  ..........  2,  162 

Godet  on  the  word,  ..................  162 

its  usage  in  Plato  and  Philo,  ........  162 

Meyer,  Neander,  and  Bushnell,  on 
the  word,  ..........................  162 


M«7«?,  by   Gregory 
of  Nysea,  ...........................    23 

o-TrepjuaTi/cos,  of  Justin  Martyr,  ____  358 
Ao-yo?   reAeios,   a  plastic  word,  the  law 

not,  .................  ..  ..............  282 

Adyou  $ei'ov  Tti'O?,  of  Plato,  ......  .  .....  ____     58 

Aouw,  implies  bathing  not  a  part  of  body 

but  the  whole,  ................  ...  524 

AVTT-T/  Kara  #edi/,  sorrow  for  sin  as  hateful 

to  God,  .............................  462 

AU'TTTJ  rov  Kocrpov,  remorse  and  despair,...  462 

Awrpoi',  ....................................  391 

r),    used   by   Eutychians  to  de- 
scribe union  of  natures  in  Christ,  363 

i,  indicates  emotional  element 
in  repentance,  .....................  462 

evrk  i>e6s,  the  only  begotten  God,  a 
variant  reading  in  John  1:18,  .....  146 


yei/rjs  i^eos,  (continued), 
Tischendorf  on,  ...................... 

Westcott  and  Hort,  Harnack  and 
Revised  Version  on,  .............. 

proof  of  Christ's  eternal  Sonship,.  .  . 
eo5,  Phil.  2  :  5-9,  contrasted  with 
ovAov  ;  he  surrendered  not 
substance   of    Godhead   but   the 
"power  of   God,"   and  assumed 
the  "form  of  a  servant,"  becom- 
ing subordinate  as  man,  .......  ... 

M"'w,  to  close  the  eyes,  root  of  'mys- 
tic,' ............................. 

Mu>o%    aTTiKi'^oi',      a     Greek-speaking 
Moses,  term  applied  to  Plato  by 
Philo,  .......  .  ...................... 

VO/AOS,  from  venta,  'something  appoint- 
ed,' ..............................  ... 

yd/mo?  re'Aeio?,  an  operative  and  effective 
law,  Jas.  1:25,  ...........  .  .......... 

yoou/uei/a,     Rom.      1  :  19-21,      perceived 
through  the  vov<s,  .................. 

vooviu.ei/a  /ca^oparai,  'are  clearly  seen  in 
that  they   are  perceived  by  the 


146 


146 
165 


384 
17 

358 

273 

282 

37 


reason, 


voi)?,  Christ  according  to  Apollinarians 

had  no  human, 

Basilides  held  that  a  divine,  entered 

Christ  at  baptism, 

6,  its  force  in  John,  1:1  and  4:24, 

oi/aa,  a  private  house, 

OIKOS,  a  worship-room, 

yet  seems  sometimes  to  mean  a  pri- 
vate house, xxix, 

contrasted  with  place  of  meeting,  in 
1  Cor.  11:34, xxix, 

Ojuoiwjuom  o-apKO?  ajuapria?,  ei>,  its  implica- 
tion,   

oi  TTaj/res,  2  Cor.  5:14,  indicates  organic 

unity  of  race,  

ot  iroAAot,  Rom.  5:18, 

6/u.ouos, 

ov  rporrov,  Acts  1 : 11,  means  more  than 
certainty;  means,  visibly,  and  in 
the  air, 

opyrj,  Rom.  1 : 18,  opposed  to  x<ipis, 

6p#o>?    Trpoa-eveyKy;,    Gen.    4:7      LXX,    'if 

thou  doest  well,'  'if  thou  offerest 
correctly,' 

oupai'6?, 


ovo-ta,  essence,  substance,  nature,  be- 
ing,   161, 

OWTW?,  Rom.  5:12,  shows  the  mode  in 
which  historically  death  has  come 
to  all, - 

TTOUS,  does  not  mean  'child'  or  'son,' 
but  servant, 

nav,  TO,  in  Scripture,  universe  never  so 
designated, 

navra,  ra,  designation  applied  to  uni- 
verse in  Scripture, 

Travres  rj/uaproi',  Rom.  5:12,  aorist  of  in- 
stantaneous  past  action,... 330,  331, 


361 
145 
540 
540 

540 
540 

384 


332 


567 
14 


396 
147 


33:,! 

378 
M 
56 

332 


I^DEX    OF    GREEK    WORDS. 


755 


f,  Comforter,  by  advocacy,  in- 
struction, patronage,  guidance, 
all  which  ideas  are  in  the  word  ac- 
cording to  classic  usage 155, 156 

ira.pa.Kori,  set  over  against  Christ's  un-a/cor?,  333 

Trapeo'i?, 411 

Hep!  Apxwv,  of  Origen  of  Alexandria,  . .    23 

Ilepl      TOU      nvi^cryoptKoi)      Bt'ov,     of    Jam- 

blichus, 58 

Trepixwprjo-is,     circumincessio,    intercom- 

municatio,  circulatio,  inexistentia,  161 
7re0v/c6s,  Aristotle's  Ethics,  1 : 11,  inborn 

principle, 301 

Tuerrevw,  'trustful  surrender  or  commit- 
tal,'  465 

warns,  'trustful  self-surrender  to  God,' 

Meyer, 465 

•n-ArjptoMa,  church  the,  of  Christ, 439 

irvevna,  spirit,  denotes  man 's  immater- 
ial part  in  its  highest  capacities 

and  faculties,. 244,246 

contrasted  with  ^ivxnt  soul, 245 

Goschel  on  the  word, 245 

in  Judel9, -  246 

Gnostic  view  regarding, 247 

Apollinarian,  Semi-pelagian,  Anni- 

hilationist  views  of, 247 

used  of  brute  creation, 245 

Mtiller's  view  of, 249 

creatianist  view  of, 250 

view  on  the  scheme   of   preexist- 

ence, 250 

Apollinarians     denied     a     human 

7rrevMa  to  Christ, 362.370 

Christ's  soul  becomes  nvevfj-a  for  a 
time, -.-. -.--  385 

TTOiijjuaa-tv,  TOIS, 37 

TTOi/ueVe?, _   503 

jroiVTj,  raot  of  '  pain '  and  '  penalty,'  and 
implies  that  desert  accompanies 

their  infliction, 350 

TToAv/xepw?,  an  epithet  of  inspiration, 104 

TToAvrpoTrajs,  an  epithet  of  inspiration, ...  103 
TrovTjpt'a,  suggests  disposition  or  state,  as 

well  as  act, 284 

7rpa<rtai  Trpacriai, 75 

7rpeo-/3vTepos,  tinmen  cetatis  est,  Jerome,  .  509 

TrpoitTTajiteVos, 502,  503 

wpos,  John  1 : 1,  not  equivalent  to  napd, 
but  expresses  movement,  inter- 
course,   163 


,  person,  distinction,  mode  of 
subsistence, 161,363 

,  fore-teller,  for-teller,  forth- 
teller,. 388 

TrpwTOToicos  irao-Tj?   KTurews,   begotten  first 

before  all  creation, 165 

pacTiVioi/Tat,,  a  variant  reading  in  Mark 

7:4, 523 

reasons  against  its  adoption, 523 

payTKr/u.os,  so  Greeks  call  Latin  panTL<r- 

M°?,  —  .-  525 


<rap£,  human  nature  devoid  of  the  in- 
dwelling Spirit  of  God, 290 

Meyer  on, 291 

Pope,  Miiller,  Dickson  on, 291 

human  nature, 371 

orrj/aetov,  sign,  marking  moral  end, 61 

cro^eiv,  artificially  to  elaborate. 77 

o-TreKouAaTtop,  speculator, 75 

(Tvyxvo-is,  a  Eutychian  term  for  union 

of  the  natures  in  Christ. 363 

w,    root   of    symholum,   a   con- 
densed statement, 22 

<£vKaJs,  used  by  Lucian  of  Centaur,  528 

ecr|3vTepos, 509 

ITOS,    grown    together,    used    by 

Xenophon  of  Centaur, 394 

<rvva(J>eia,  junction  and  indwelling  of  the 
divine  and  the  human  according 
to  Nestorius, 362 

o-uvTe'Aeia  TOU    atajvo?,   Mat.   13 : 39,  what  it 

imports, 582 

aw/xa,    its    place    in    the   trichotomist 

theory, 247 

Goschel's  view  of,. 245 

in  Christ, 362 

o-oxrai,  its  force  as  distinguished  from 

o-co^j/at, _ 435 

o-u>$ptui>,  characteristic  of  bishop,  1  Tim. 

3 : 2,  sober-minded,  well-balanced,    20 

Tacr<ru>,  never  employed  by  itself  in  mid- 
dle sense, 428 

in  1  Cor.  16 : 15,  takes  eavrovs, 428 

reAeios,  signifies  a  relative  perfection, 
sincere  piety,  maturity  of  Christ- 
ian judgment,  489 

re'para,  wonders,  describes  subjective  as- 
pect of  miracles, 61 

Teray/jievoi,  Acts  13:43,  a  passive  not  a 

middle  participle, 428 

TOU  fiiSorro?  t^eov,  the  giving  God ;  giving 
is  not  an  episode  in  his  being,  it  is 
his  nature  to  give, 127 

viraicori,  applied  to  Christ's  work, 333 

Tn'o-Teto?,  obedience   resulting   from 
faith. 470 

vn-ep,  ivTt  never  confounded  with, 391 

V7rep/3aAAou<ra  rrjs  yvo6<rews,  Surpassing  full 

knowledge  of  believers, 17 

vTroo-rao-t?,  person,  distinction,  mode  of 

subsistence, 161,  363 

^a^e'pwert;,  Rom.  1 : 19,  20,  external  reve- 
lation,   8 

</>ep6/u.evoi,  2  Pet.  1 : 21,  used  of  Scripture 

writers, 99 

(JuJei'puj,  does  not  involve  literal  annihila- 
tion,  559 

^vAoxfj,  6f,  1  Pet.  3:19,  under  constraint, 

or  guard, 564 

<£v"(ris,  natura,  applicable  to  creation  as 

a  bringing  forth 192 

jp,  impress,  counterpart,  Heb.  1 : 3,  162 
avrl  xapiros,  a  measure  of  grace 
used  securing  a  larger  measure, ..  123 


756 


INDEX    OF    GREEK   WORDS. 


X<ipt?,  opposed  to  opyr?, 14 

xeipoTovijo-avTes,  its  literal  interpretation 

not  to  be  pressed, 505 

Hacketton,  506 

Meyer  on, 506 

xpovos  and  aicov,  contrasted  in  Plato, 593 

7,  soul, 244 

man's  immaterial  part  in  its  inferior 

powers  and  activities, 244 

denotes  man  as  a  conscious  individ- 
ual,  244 

distinguished  from  irvev^a, 244 

Delitzsch  on, 245 

Goschelon 245 

Cr emer  on, 245 


xri  ( continued ), 

used  of  brutes, 145 

ascribed  to  Jehovah, 245 

capable  of  highest  exercises  of  re- 
ligion,  245 

to  lose  it  is  to  lose  all, 245 

it  looks  earthward  and  touches  the 

world  of  sense, 246 

in  Christ,  according  to  Apollinari- 

ans, 247 

Miiller's  view  of, 249 

Apolliuarian  view  of, 362 

\ai,  applied  to  disembodied  dead, 245 

io-jmei'os,  passive  participle.  Acts  10:42,  428 
?,  Hosea  6 : 7  LXX,. 324 


1JTOEX  OF  HEBREW  WOEDS. 


Codex  Sinaiticus,-.--146,  234,  367,  378,  472, 

495,  509,  523. 

DN,  'poor,'  whence  term  'Ebionite,'.  360 
,  Hos.  6:7,  D1K3,  w?  avdpuiros  LXX, 
"  like  men  that  break  a  covenant,"  324 

ix,  .....................................  147 

.n^,  Exod.  3:14,  1  am,  .............  122,123 

,  a  singular  noun,  might  have  been 


used  instead  of  . 

,  to  fear,  to  adore,  root  of 


152 
,-  152 

152 

employed  with  plural  verb,  ........  -  152 

applied  to  Son,  .......................  152 

not  a  pluralis  majestaticus,  ..........  152 

according  to  Oehler,  "a  quantitative 
plural,"  .  ...........................  152 

its  derivation,  ........................  152 

list   of   Fathers  who  saw  in  such 
plurals  a  reference  to  the  Trin- 
ity, ................................  .  153 

J,  2000,    in  1  Kings  7:26,  confounded 

with  j,  3000,  in  2  Chron.  4  :  5,  .......  107 

JOD,  implies  production  of  effect  with- 

out natural  antecedent,  ...........  140 

in  Kal  used  only  of  God,  ............  184 

never  has  accusative  of  material,  .  .  184 
used,  in  Gen.  1  and  2,  to  mark  intro- 
duction of  world  of  matter,  life, 
and  spirit,  ....................  ______  184 

distinguished  from  words  signify- 
ing '  to  make  '  and  '  to  form,'  .....  185 

in  Gen.  1  :  2,  must  mean  '  calling  into 
being,'  .............................  185 

the  original  signification  'to  cut,' 
thovigh  retained  in  Piel,  does  not 
militate  against  a  more  spiritual 
sense  in  other  species,  .............  185 


&O3  (continued), 

the  only  word  for  absolute  creation 
in  Hebrew,  ........................  185 

j',  2  Chron.  4  :  5,  substituted  for  the  3  of 

1  Kings  7:26,  .......................  107 

,  'the  likeness  of  God,'  according 
to  Moehler:  'the  pious  exercise  of 
nS^,  the  religious  faculty,'  .......  266 

according  to  Romanist  theologians, 
a  product  of  man's  obedience,  ____  265 

this  view  combated,  .............  265,  266 

T,  "  seed,"  Gen.  22  :  18,  referred  to  in 
Gal.  3:  16,  ...........................  110 

,  <WpT<xi/o>,  Hiphil,  to  make  a  miss, 
Judges  20:  16,  ................  xxvii,  283 

/aaprta,  missing1,  failure,  appli- 
cable not  merely  to  act  but  like- 
wise to  state,  .......................  283 

,  2  Kings  5:14,  paTrr^eti/,  ............  524 


rnrv 


147 


DV, 'day,'  Gen.  1, 18 

its  hyperliteral  interpretation, 193 

advocates  of  this  interpretation,. ..  193 
often  used  for  a  period  of  indefinite 

duration, 193 

authors  on  meaning  of  'day,' 193 

theory  that  'six  days'  indicates 

series  merely, 194 

a  scheme  harmonizing  the  Mosaic 

4  six  days  '  creation  with  the  order 

of  the  geologic  record, 194, 195 

"i}r, 185 

D"3^3,  Ez.  1,  Ex.  37  : 6-9,  Gen.  3:24,....  224 
to  be  identified  with  the  '  seraphim ' 

and  '  the  living  creatures,' 224 

are  temporary  symbolic  figures, 224 

symbols  of  human  nature  spiritual- 
ized and  sanctified, ...  ..  224 


758 


INDEX    OF   HEBREW    WORDS. 


'3^3  (continued), 
exalted    to  be   the  dwelling-place 

of  God,  .............................  224 

symbols  of  mercy,  ...................  224 

angels    and    cherubim    never    to- 

gether, .............................  224 

in  closing  visions  of  Revelation  no 

longer  seen,  ...........  -  ............  224 

some  regard  them  as  symbols  of 

divine  government,  ...............  244 

list  of  authorities  on,  ...........  ____  244 


^tfrp,  identifies  himself  with  Je- 
hovah, .........  .  ....................  153 

is  so  identified  by  others,  .........  ...  153 

accepts  divine  worship,  .............  153 

with  perhaps  single  exception  in 
O.  T.,  designates  pre-incarnate  Lo- 
gos,.... ...........................  153 

authorities  for  and  against  this  in- 
terpretation, .......................  153 

,  aSiKia  LXX,  bending,  perverseness, 
iniquity,  referring  to  state  as  well 
as  act,  ..............................  284 

,  judicial  visitation,  punishment,  ..  353 

ere'peia  LXX,  separation  from,  re- 
bellion, indicative  of  state  as  well 
as  act,  ...........................  283,284 

'i  Gen.  1  :  26,  according  to  Moehler, 
'the  religious  faculty,  '  ............  266 

according  to  Bellarmine,  '  ipsa  natu- 
ra  mentis  et  voluntatis  a  solo  Deo 
fieri  potuit,'  ........................  266 


03?  (continued), 

according  to  Scholastic  and  Roman- 
ist theologians,  alone  belonged  to 

man's  nature  at  its  creation, 265 

required  addition  of  supernatural 
grace  that  it  might  possess  original 

righteousness, 265 

this  theory  combated, 265,266 

n"l¥,  Hiphil  f orm  in  Dan.  12:3,  best  ren- 
dered '  they  that  justify  many,'. . .  472 
Snp,  its  meaning  in  O.  T.  and  Targums,  497 
perhaps  used  by  Christ  in  Mat.  18 : 17,  497 
how  it  differs  from  e<KAr)<n'a, 49T 

nr% 147 

jn,  bad,  evil  (from  ##"%  to  be  unquiet, 
in  movement,  with  the  sound  of 
breaking,  shattering  —  Gesenius, 

Lex.,  8th  ed.) 284 

j?tBh, a  wicked  person  (J7t!h,  wickedness, 
from  J-'tjn,  to  be  slack,  loose,  un- 
trustworthy ;  hence  ungodly,  un- 
righteous —  Gesenius,  Lex.,  8th 

ed.), 284 

,  an  alleged  root  of  Sheol,  ....xxix,  560 

i  a  probable  root  of  Sheol, xxix,  560 

K%  its  derivation, 560 

its  root-meaning, xxix,  560 

the  soul  is  still  conscious  in, 560 

God  can  recover  men  from, 560 

,  Is.  6  :  2,  to  be  identified  with  the 
'  cherubim '  of  Genesis,  Exodus 
and  Ezekiel,  and  with  '  the  living 
creatures'  of  Revelation 224 


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